Gracie was REALLY excited for the first day of school.
Colin… not so much.
But the excitement of riding the bus was enough to cheer them up!
And they’re off!
Its a new era. We no longer have babies, toddlers or preschoolers. We have KIDS.
Its bittersweet.
Goodbye, summer.
Goodbye, beach days.
Goodbye, lazy days of fun.
Goodbye, grand family adventures.
We’ll be back next year!
I was driving yesterday and it struck me.
We live here.
Not in a “Wow, its so pretty, we’re so lucky” way. But a “We actually LIVE here.”
We’re not on vacation. We’re not going home.
This is our home. This is our new town. Our new school. Our new grocery store. Our new Target (sans Starbucks. SOB!). Our new church.
Now the permanence of the move is sinking in. As we see our stuff unpacked and settling into the new house. As we see life in our old community going on without us. As we make plans here.
Its half good, half depressing. 90% of the time, I’m happy. I’m loving our new home and our new neighborhood. So many times a day, I’ll be doing something around the house or running errands around town… and I just stop and look around.
And smile. I really do love it here. Even when we’re not flying kites on the beach at sunset…
But, the other day, I found myself thinking of a friend. And suddenly missing her so much, I started to cry. So many important, treasured, loved people are no longer a quick coffee date away. I can see them online, but its not the same. Seeing my nephew turn two via Instagram is not the same as being there are seeing his smile and hearing his giggles. Seeing pictures of the ultrasound on Facebook isn’t the same as seeing my friend’s baby bump in person. Google chatting with my co-workers all day isn’t the same as sitting in the same office and seeing their faces and hearing their laughter.
I love it here. But I miss so very much.
We really moved!
It sounded like such a theoretical thing for so long. Were we really going to just pack up everything and move to a entirely new place? Where we’ve never lived before? Where we didn’t know anyone?
We did it.
We moved in just over 2 weeks ago and we are loving Rhode Island so far! We have fallen completely in love with our new neighborhood. The kids have made fast friends with the neighbors and have had a blast running from house to house with their new ‘gang’. We even had a s’mores party last weekend:
We have been settling into our new home, trying to unpack and figure out where to put things and filling in gaps (like our family room with a single armchair in it). The kids have been extremely patient while my husband and I have dragged them store to store debating couches.
We got our town beach pass. Its incredible that we have a gorgeous beach we can go to whenever we want! We’re on the bay, so no big waves, but we have been told by friends about some beautiful state beaches close by that we can try.
We just can’t believe how beautiful it is here. I was driving back from the grocery store the other day and I had to stop and take a picture. We really live HERE.
Eventually, I’ll be back writing here. Now, I’m still practically in a coma by 7pm. We’re all totally exhausted from this move and trying to recover before school starts in two weeks.
But we’re here. We made it. We’re adjusting. We’re happy.
This is the big week!
This week we are moving into our new house! Finally! Its been almost 5 weeks since we moved out of our house in Philadelphia. We’ve certainly had lots of fun and adventures since then. but we are very ready to settle into our new home and just be normal again. We’re driving the 10 hour drive out to Rhode Island on Wednesday, close on the house on Thursday and move in on Friday.
The kids are beyond excited – they’ve never seen the house. Only a few pictures. We can’t wait to show them their new home.
I can’t wait to sleep in my own bed. Unpack clothes in my new [huge] closet. Cook in my new kitchen.
I can’t wait to show you the house!!
Today my sister and I kidnapped my nephew from daycare.
BOY did we have fun spoiling Jake all day!
We played….
We ate…
And we snuggled while he slept
HEAVEN. Baby heaven.
We made it to Greece safely WITH all of our luggage! Despite a tight 40 minute layover in Moscow, where we had to go through customs and security and literally DASH through the airport, we made it in one piece!
The kids were amazing. A little whiny after only getting about 4-5 hours of sleep on Saturday night, but frankly, I was a little whiny too!! We arrived at our friends house and were immediately treated to a yummy lunch on the patio with glimpses of the sea and lovely breezes and hours of conversation.
We’re all still really jet lagged, but having a blast. Yesterday we went to the Monastiraki Flea Market and saw the Roman Agora (the old marketplace) – including the Tower of the Winds, where Socrates conducted his classes and was later imprisoned.
And of course, we had dinner at an outdoor cafe.
And – by the way – you haven’t had a Greek salad unless you’ve been to Greece. Tomatoes picked hours before, fresh feta and oregano, drenched in olive oil….
Yesterday we left.
Our house was packed up into a (extremely full) van.
We said goodbye to our home. One last swing on the swingset, one last ride on the tire swing. Colin kissed every room.
We shut the door behind us, with the keys inside.
And we drove away.
Some of us were in tears. All of us were sad.
But we left. Our 5 weeks of homeless adventuring have begun! For the next three weeks, we’re traveling all over the place. Husband and I both took 3 weeks off work and we are ready for anything!!
To start out, we drove to Ocean City, MD. We wanted to get the kids away from home and focused on what’s to come. We wanted to have a few days to relax as a family and recover from an INCREDIBLY stressful and tiring few weeks.
Its just what the doctor ordered.
14 days from today… we’ll be gone.
We’ll be packed. The moving van will be loaded.
And we’ll say goodbye to our house.
We’ll be on our way.
I’m wondering how we will make it. Today I was in tears at Gracie’s classroom watching pictures of her and her friends at the end of the year party. Sunday we said goodbye to some of our oldest friends.
I swear I’m going to cry every day until July.
The kids had a day off school last week, so we took the whole family to Longwood Gardens. We had so much fun!
This was the first time we’ve been able to enjoy the outside at Longwood! We’ve been inside the Conservatory several times, but its been too cold or rainy! Such a treat to enjoy the grounds and explore some areas we haven’t seen in awhile!
