Oceanside wrap up :(

Well here is the FINAL sunset picture from Oceanside... I have to admit I got a little sad after this. It has been an indescribably awesome year for so many reasons, one of them being the fact that for the first time in my life, I knew what time the sun was going to set every single night :)

 A 180 degree view from the front deck...

 Our neighbors had a little goodbye dinner for us (and the food with them never disappoints). We enjoyed muscles (my first time having them!), seared ahi (my first "raw" fish since before I was pregnant), artichokes, corn, ribs, and root beer floats for dessert (my newest dessert obsession). It was so tasty.

 There were a few days our last week there that were a bit chilly (especially in the morning and evening). I was loving it, knowing that we would soon be in a very hot and humid climate. This is one of my very favorite pictures of Rowan...he has gotten so interactive. He's always been a smiley baby, but now it is very purposeful and reactive.

 Because we had no furniture we spent a lot of time out on Carol's balcony. This couch was one of my favorite spots in Oceanside. Rowan slept so soundly, I would sit there in awe of the beauty around us, and my house was just a couple steps away. This picture may look calm, but in reality, this was in the middle of a serious battle to get us all flights together to come to Okinawa. Grateful that Grant is such a kind and patient person (the people he was dealing with should be grateful also). I'm blessed to have a husband that will go through so much to make sure that my transition over there was as good as possible if he could do anything about it.

 This is what our house looked like in the end. We used a borrowed air mattress and pillows as a couch, had birthday balloons and a dental poster that we hadn't yet thrown away, and we ate, slept, played and hung out, essentially on the floor.

 Our "last supper" in Oceanside, fish and chips at Rockin Baja.

And the final day, we did a lot of packing. I am so glad we decided to just pay someone to clean so I didn't have to worry at all about that! It was amazing how long it took to pack, making sure our suitcases weren't too heavy, and we still didn't know if we'd be flying together at this point so had to make sure Grant had his stuff and not any of mine or Rowan's. I'm pleased to say we made it all fit though! (even though we found out when we went to the airport that we could have had twice as many bags and they were allowed to be up to 70 lbs!) Oh well...I'm glad I didn't know that beforehand ;)

 This is how I felt about packing by the end...

And while I packed, this is what they did.... (not fair!) However, this was after we had come home from finding out that we'd all get to travel together, so I was just elated about that and didn't care about much else at that point. Looking at this is so cute that it almost makes up for me not getting to join in on the nap.

 Because we ended up flying out early Thursday morning instead of Wednesday night like the original plan was, we got to stay around to celebrate Tyler's birthday and enjoy another delicious beach dinner. Carol was kind enough to let us sleep in their guest room too since our least was up that day and we really didn't have anything left in our house at that point.

I will never forget this year, it was one of the best of my life. So many family and friends came to visit, I got to live on the beach (my favorite place in the world), we made new wonderful friends, I had a gorgeous baby boy, and Grant and I were able to spend a lot of quality time together. 

...on to a serious new adventure in our lives...Okinawa, here we come!