Parris Island

 It was a truly amazing trip to South Carolina for Pete's graduation from Marine Corps recruit training. As we were driving to the base on Thursday at 0545 for family day, I took a look at facebook on my phone and had a bunch of notifications. Oh, hey! It was my birthday! We had all forgotten.  We were all so focused on Pete and getting to where we needed to be. It was my best birthday ever! (even better than 12-12-12)

Our first glimpse of Pete was when the whole company ran by for the motivational run at 0700. 

Pete loves his new quilt, but it will have to stay here for a few months until he finishes training.

 Pete served as a lay reader for his platoon and led the Catholics in prayer every night before lights out. He and the other Christian lay reader gathered the platoon together after graduation for one last prayer. See the Marine in the foreground with the camera? Her photo appeared on the Parris Island facebook page with this caption:

New Marines of Platoon 3100, Lima Company, 3rd Recruit Training Battalion, embrace after being dismissed from Parris Island, S.C., by their senior drill instructor Dec. 13, 2013. The Marines spent 13 long, demanding weeks alongside each other as they were molded into the nation’s finest. Today, the young men are more than training partners – they are brothers in arms.

This might be our Christmas card photo.

 

I'm so glad my brother came with us. He's been proud and supportive from day one. I love the shirts we wore for family day. The 3rd battalion logo is on the back.

 

Julia has the best shirt ever. Who needs a superhero when your brother is a Marine!

Julia got some good news on family day. She was offered an internship at the Pine Bush Nature Preserve. It is a great opportunity to see if this is really the career she wants to pursue. We knew she was perfect for this job with all of her Girl Scout experience and environmental education.

We had some time to kill before our flight, so we stopped at the Angel Oak near Charleston. 

 

I've always had a thing for taking pictures of my kids walking away from me. I've done it on hikes and on vacations since they were little. Here are two more for my collection: Family day on base and on board USS Yorktown at Patriots Point.

Before heading home, we introduced Pete to little Mollie. He's rocking the high and tight haircut. His Eagle Scout promotion to Private First Class went through at the last minute thanks to a very kind Master Sergeant who called me on Monday morning for documentation.

He reported to the recruiting office this morning, and I miss him already. It's hard to let him out of my sight. We're looking forward to celebrating the holidays together before he ships out to Camp Pendleton for SOI West- ITB in January.