Summer BBQ

So I visit this forum online for military wives.

It's set up for all branches and also broken up into groups according to location.

Before we moved from Rhode Island, I started reading and posting just a little on the group for the northwest. It was a great way to learn about what life was like in this part of the country.

I've been off the board for a while during our settling in time, but last week I logged back on.

The first thread I opened was an invitation to a BBQ for military wives and significant others in the northwest area.

Thinking this would be just what I needed to feel like I had more connections here, I RSVP'd that we'd be coming.

And I'm glad I did.

It is typical of me to meet online friends in person.

I did it in California when I met the mom's from my April 2003 mommies online group and I still have a couple of great friend from those meet ups.

I also did it when we went to the Summer in the City BBQ in New York City where I met ladies that I have been interacting with online for three years. That was particularly fun because I already felt like I knew the ladies that I was meeting for the first time in person.

And I did it again when we went to a birthday party for a designer friend's daughter on the second week we moved here to Washington. I really enjoyed that day and meeting Shelia was so wonderful.

This meeting was a bit different in that I really did not have a feel for what these women were like before I met them. I had not spent enough time online with them to have any sort of connection.

But, I'm glad I put myself out there and can now put faces to names when I go online.




Madison, Zach and Bren went with me.
Madison and Zach were so good to endure what they viewed as painful boredom. They were the oldest kids there by far and just sat and listened to us adults for about 3 hours and only begged me to go home about 15 times. I think they ended up enjoying themselves despite what they thought.
It was neat for them to see all the young moms and little ones. It gave them a feel of what it must have been like for David and I when we first started our family.
The highlight of the day was the recently discovered birds nest in the hanging flower basket complete with hungry baby birds! The mother flew around scolding us all afternoon for being too close to her little ones.
The food was great and the conversation was interesting. It is always fun to meet new people and this was no exception.