Moving On Up...(North)

William said goodbye to Goldie (the beta).  She headed North to Minnesota with Daddy, and she made it!

All our stuff piled up fast!!

The most exciting part was watching the movers back the truck into our little parking lot!

Our stuff took up the first part of the truck, basically right up to the first door. 

We said Goodbye to our dear little townhouse.  Lots of happy memories here...

The drive was LONG, but we had dual DVD players and lots of snacks!  We left on Tuesday at noon and arrived in Minneapolis on Thursday at about 6pm.  Not too bad!

Our first view of Minnesota!  This was crossing the Mississippi...


 

So, we found out near the end of July that Jason's job finally came through.  He had to start on the 12th, and so it all started to quickly come together.  The company paid for movers THANK GOD! and they even packed!  I worked till the 9th, and then spent the week getting ready for the move.  Jason came home for the weekend and we spent the time cleaning and organizing.  We had never had movers before so it was an interesting experience.  They were amazing, fast, organized, and really knew exactly what they were doing.  They packed the whole place in 8 hours and loaded it in less time than that.  We brought the kids back from the hotel to see the place one last time and we had a pizza picnic on the floor, and said goodbye.  It was sad, we have had lots of happy times in that house.  The next morning we got on the road after dropping Jason off at the airport shuttle.  We drove and drove and then arrived in Minneapolis on Thursday night.  Friday morning I met up with a realtor and I picked out a place to live.  I had to do it fast in order to be able to register William for school in time.  I found a great place that I will post more about when we move in.  For now we are living at a Homewood Suites and I can't complain.  It's a 2 bedroom, 2 bath, with breakfast and dinner, and maid service. Who can complain??

Where Did I Leave Off?

Well, it's been quite a summer:

Mom got hit by a man running from the police on the way home from work,

He landed on her trunk!  Thank God she wasn't hurt at all, and she left for England the next day!

The water main in front of our townhouse had to be replaced...so happy we were renting!

We picked lots and lots of blueberries..

Charlie kept saying "Kaplink, kaplunk" like in Blueberries for Sal...

The zoo is always popular with these boys, I think they feel right at home...

I love this little face!

William and I spent some time with the Calabrese kids again this summer.  We took a visit to a nearby cave and it was so cool!  In more ways than one...

We made a trip to feed the calves one last time before we left Maryland...

Grandpa finally for a chance to come out and see us.  He and Charlie got along great!  Will and Charlie were both very excited to see "Gampa"

Charlie is such a serious little man.  He takes so much more time to warm up to things, this expression says a lot about his personality...
 

We have had such a whirlwind summer.  I haven't had a second to blog.  Things are finally falling into place and I should be able to get on track again.  I know I will regret not keeping this thing going.  The boys grow so fast, I want to not let it all pass by undocumented!

Summer....

Kitty has become Charlie's constant companion.  He will drop blanket and his binky, but he insists Kitty is always along. 

Kitty also gets the first bite or drink every time!

May 24th was William's last day of Pre K!  Here he is with his best friend Towa.  Towa is the one who William told Santa Claus about last year...

William and Annabelle.  Such good little buddies!  They kinda look alike...

William and his two teachers.  Mrs Wikman on the left and Mrs Yazurlo on the right.  William was so lucky to end up in this particular class this year.  We couldn't have asked for 2 more loving, patient, and experienced women to help us help William.  They really, truly cared about him, and enjoyed him for all he is.  All the while taking care of 11 other kids!

Charlie and Will went hiking with Daddy and Charlie was insistent on pointing to every trail blaze along the way. 

Looking for Badgers...

Charlie climbed in the basket of the stroller and stayed there for a long time...

My nature loving boys...

Chincoteague Pics...

Charlie wasted no time in choosing a building site...

He looks so serious here, like a real lifeguard!

The pure joy, pictured here, is why I will drive hours and hours so they can have a few hours of this....

Charlie decided that the tracks from the park police jeeps were train tracks, and he was the train, it was hard chasing him in the sand!  Daddy had to be called in.

William wanted to ride a pony, so I found a place to do it.  He killed us all though by stating "I only want to go around 2 times." to which the lady answered, "But you paid for 3." and Will said " I didn't pay for it!"  So funny!

Charlie had his first pony ride! He liked it, as long as kitty and Daddy were right there with him...

I have no idea what he was seeing in there, but it must have been shocking! When William was looking in it, he said he could see God.  Powerful telescopes. 

Will at the Tom's Cove Visitor Center.  This is the gift shop where he bought his new Horseshoe Crab named "Horny" which he then accidently forgot at the Chincoteague Museum the next morning.  They were kind enough to mail it to us, so we were reunited today!  William was very happy to see his friend again...

The second day was very stormy and rainy.  We went to the beach for a little while, but it was pretty miserable.  It reminded me of the trips we made to Ocean Shores over the years. 

Charlie loved the ocean this time.  He loved to run down to the waves and then run up the shore again just in time.  So cute!

Charlie took up William's old favorite activity of letting the waves hit him over and over, I love his expression!

William graduated up to the boogie board this year.  He was so good at it.  He rode in wave after wave and got tumbled around many times, but was always willing to get right back on.  So resilient!

Footprints!

A whale rib...

And, lastly, Misty of Chincoteague herself.  It really freaked me out that the horse featured in the book was right here, stuffed in front of me.  Kinda gross.