A4 Update - January 2016

Today is my first chance to open Blogger to write a blog post. It's been a super busy month!

The family rang in 2016 with a sleep over at our college friends' house. Time with friends was just what we needed after the busy holidays with family.  

We arrived in Raleigh on 4 January. The flight from Chicago was comically short. Without any furniture at the new house, we spent the first week in a corporate apartment.    

Our container arrived on 15 January, and we promptly slept in our new digs. Happy to say that by the end of the month almost all of the boxes were empty (the photo above is only about 1/3 of the boxes).  The only boxes left are those that await a home on yet to be purchased shelves.    

The return to reality happened fast when we bought two cars. Public transportation just isn't the same as London. ;)

I thought enrolling the children in school would be a piece of cake compared to London, but I was mistaken. Look for a post about that soon, but so far both kids are happy with school, whew.

Maybe that's because they hardly attended school once they enrolled. They started on a Wednesday and promptly had an early release day that Friday. Then the next week brought Martin Luther King Jr. day, an institute day, and 2 1/2 days off due to a huge ice storm! All told they went to school 8 days in January. No need to call the truant officer, it's all good now.  

Matt traveled back to Europe for meetings in Dublin & Warsaw to finish up pursuits he started before we left. Hopefully his travel back to Europe isn't a trend.

Holly's parents spent a week at the house helping with a few home improvement projects. Dad was brave to climb the extension ladder to wash the windows that seem to be 100 feet off the ground. Mom used her sewing skills to make Oldest Kiddo a Greek dress from a bed sheet for class. They also kindly returned the items we stored in their basement whilst in London. The Kitchen Aid mixer has returned, and it already made cookies & muffins.  I sure missed that machine.  

The home improvement projects don't stop. Some are to fit the way we live such as replacing the grossly inefficient master closet organizer.  Others are imperative such as the bathroom sink that leaks into the cabinet below.  That's the joy of home ownership, right?

The weather in NC is absolutely gorgeous, aside from the ice storm a week ago.  We had lunch on the deck the other day when the temperature was 72F.  Not a bad thing for January.

Stay tuned to see what February holds. We need to get out and about in Raleigh to enjoy our new home town!

A4 Update - December 2015

While the London expat adventure is officially over, it does not mean the adventure stops.  The theme of December was Leaving London.

Holly sold many household electronic items that could not come back to America.  Happy to know that someone in London is enjoying our alarm clock & blender.    

Both kid had Christmas shows at school, which are always interesting.

We attended several going away events with our much loved friends.  

The week of December 14 we had the pleasure of spending time with movers, a professional cleaning team, and the landlord checkout clerk.  Happy to report that the checkout clerk was pleased with the condition of The Manor.  

Our final flight out of Heathrow was after lunch on Friday 18 December amid many tears from the whole family.  

The tears dried up as the strong sunshine of Aruba hit our pasty skin for four days in the sun.

Christmas was spent among our family & friends.

That's a wrap on 2015!

Trip Advisor Review - Home For The Holidays

⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️  A Lovely Holiday Stay

date of stay 23 December-31December

Our family booked a stay at Nana & Papa's Inn during one portion of our repatriation adventure. We arrived on a cold Northern Illinois evening to warm hugs and kisses for the whole family.  Nana immediately bombarded our family with offers of fresh Christmas cookies and milk.  

Our two room booking provided enough space for our family of four. The adults cozied into a full size bed with a television connected to satellite TV. The children shared the second bedroom with two twin beds, which was a welcomed sight since they hate sharing a bed. Both rooms overlooked a nicely landscaped front yard. However, we didn't see much of it since we thoroughly appreciated the blackout curtains.

The shower always had an ample supply of hot water & fresh towels.    

The cuisine at Nana & Papa's Inn was American fare. Each morning Papa provided a lovely hot breakfast and plentiful coffee. We dined on eggs, breakfast burritos, and french toast. During the day the pantry was stocked with crackers and chips. The family had dinner at the Inn just a few times because of holiday obligations, but when we dined it was delicious. The Christmas cookies continued throughout our stay with a fresh batch baked midway.

The common area of the Inn were so comfortable! Nana always had a huge supply of quilts for everyone to stay warm and cozy. The internet connection was a bit slow so binge watching YouTube videos was difficult. However, it allowed us to have more personable conversations. 

One day Papa was very kind to drive me to the Drivers License Bureau to renew my license. I was impressed with his above and beyond spirit as the office was out of town, and we needed to wait for the office to open.  He kindly treated me to breakfast at a nearby cafe while we waited.  

My husband and I enjoyed a night out with complimentary babysitting. They said the kids went to bed on time but we are suspicious of that report.  

The surrounding area provided easy access to the expressway to zip into the Chicago suburbs or just over the Wisconsin border.  The Inn had plenty of self-parking. The driveway was promptly shoveled after an icy snowstorm. The staff were extremely helpful with the luggage.  Onsite laundry facilities were a major plus.

Overall our stay at Nana & Papa's Inn was a memorable holiday experience.  I highly recommend you book a stay any time of year.  I hear there's a great garden in the summer with plenty of samples if you help weed the tomatoes.  

   

A Tale of Two Cities

Our friends and family back in Chicago are dealing with some outrageous weather today.  The windchill is predicted near 50 below zero fahrenheit, and the wind chill warning lasts until noon on Tuesday.  Schools are closed today for fear of the little cheeks & noses that might freeze on their way to school, no matter how short the walk.  I also think about my colleagues that drive from some more rural areas that would have to deal with drifting snow on the roads.  Good choice by the school districts to be safe.  Chicago Public Schools are even closed today, and that rarely happens.

In addition to the significant wind chills, the midwest has experienced quite a bit of snow in the last week.  Over New Years Eve & New Years Day our former hometown received 12 inches of snow.  Since then a few more inches have fallen to put the total amount of snow on the ground to almost 20 inches.

The kids would love to have a little bit of snow in London, but we can certainly do without the extreme wind chill.  Stay warm my friends!

Happy Anti-Thanksgiving

For the second year in a row we celebrated with an anti-Thanksgiving.  This idea started last year when no one really wanted to cook a big meal nor deal with the day after turkey hang over.  Since we had a good time last year, we decided to give it a go again this year. 

We booked a hotel room in the big city and made reservations for Thursday night.  Nana & Papa were joining us for the duration of our stay while Grandma & Grandpa were going to join us only for dinner.

What the kids do when the shower fogs up the windows

On Wednesday we let the kids jump on the hotel beds while we caught up with N & P.  For dinner we walked down to Cantina Loredo.  From first look one would think it would not be kid friendly, but we were surprised.  They had a kids menu and it was slightly loud (which was great for dining with G).  I had the steak fajita tacos, and could have eaten them all night.  Then I realized I needed to save room for dessert.  Totally worth it.

Putting the kids to bed was a lesson in why we try to get hotel rooms with separate bedrooms.  Of course G needed to go to bed before the rest of us, and Matt volunteered to sit with him in the room while M and I hung out with N & P.  I brought the baby monitor along so we could put him to bed and then play some games while still monitoring the boy.  The monitor turned out to be our entertainment.  We could hear G talk to Matt in the dark while Matt passed the time on his computer.

G - "Daddy, I go to sleep now?"
Matt - "Yep, buddy it's time to sleep."
G - "Daddy, my eyes tired."
Matt - no response
G - "Daddy, my eyes tired.
Matt - no response
G - vehemently "Daddy, my eyes tired.
Matt - "Yep, buddy it's time to sleep."
G - "Daddy, you sleep now?"
Matt - "Yep, buddy it's time sleep."

Cut to N & P's room and imagine hilarious laughter.  90 minutes later the boy finally fell asleep.

On Thursday morning we knew our options for the day were limited since not many stores were open.  After breakfast we walked to the Christkindlmarkt at Daley Plaza.  We visited last year and the weather was so biting cold that it was a super short visit.  We felt that the weather outside was quite nice when we walked out of hour hotel.  Walking a few blocks into more open areas proved our forecasting inaccurate.  We were a bit chilly...

On the walk we passed by the tail end of the State Street Parade and watched for a few minutes.  Then it was time for the Christkindlmarkt with a few thousand of our closest friends.  Matt and Papa took G for a spin around the plaza since glass ornaments & G don't really mix.  We got to use our scant bit of German when Nana was purchasing ornaments.  Megan said danke schön to the cashier and she got a huge smile on her face and replied with bitte schön!  That's about it for my German other than how to say one (eins), no (nine), Tuesday (Dienstag - thanks to German MTV promos) and car (das auto - thanks to VW commercials).

After a brisk walk back to the hotel we had a little lunch and then napped until dinner.

Dinner......now that was a meal.  All the grandparents joined us at Buca di Beppo for some obnoxious amounts of pasta.  Carb hangover was had by all, especially Matt.

Matt got the really big spaghetti :)

Remember last night's conversation with G when he went to bed?  Just copy that conversation here.

September Slide Show

September certainly zoomed on by this year.  Getting back into the swing of school and all of Matt' traveling had us busier than usual.  Since the month zoomed by, here's a zoom of the month.

A little brown nosing with my principal

My school Facebook posting.  It's tricky to come up with witty school appropriate sayings

Helping dad unclog the driain

Racing with G

Levitating

Water taxi & Renegade Craft Fair with T

Friday night fun with a tow truck

Too much Friday night fun with a tow truck

Picking tomatoes in Papa's garden

Testing the weight limit of the crib

Maybe we go to Starbucks a bit much?

Yes, every toy had to be dumped

Wore an 8 1/2 and needed a 10 1/2, whoops!

I still cry when Mufasa dies

After many, many, many days of rain the sun finally rejoined us

Yeah, I should do the dishes

:)

Can you believe my school library was purging this book?  Thankfully I saved it.

You always put your milk on the airplane wing, right?

Cupcakes :)

Back to Work :(

Before school started we took one last trip into the big city.  We walked a fair distance, and were thankful that M's legs kept up!

The fam at the Bean

M started 2nd Grade!  She was so ready to go back to school.  Her brother was driving her insane and the fighting between the two of them was driving me insane!  She was thrilled to learn the name of her teacher.  She had been pining for this particular teacher since last year, and I am so happy that it worked out.

One of the downsides of my job in education is that I am often unable to attend significant events for my own child's education.  The first day of school for her is also the first day of school for me, and I can't in good conscience take that day off.  We try to make the morning special and I demanded that Matt take the day off so he could do drop off and pick up.  Thankfully a text photo after drop off put a smile on my face.

Now for real challenge of the week, getting the kids out the door while Matt travels.  Thankfully I only have to be to work early one day this week.

11

Eleven years ago today Holly and Matt became Mr. and Mrs!  We got married in our hometown and honeymooned in Florida.  From then life went into the fast lane!  In eleven years we've had a lot of laughs, driven a lot of miles, flown to many a city and country, and made some amazing memories. 

Here are just some of the highlights...

Bought a house in the ‘burbs

A super old photo!  Our house the day we bought it!  
It looks so much cuter now.

Had two kids

M

G

Finished Grad School

Traveled to Europe 3 times

Out back of Buckingham Palace

Schloss Neuschwanstein in Germany

 

Visited some pretty neat places in the good old USA

Golden Gate Bridge

The Bean in Chi-Town

The Bay Bridge

The Arch in The Lou (btw - the best hotel view, ever!)

Ronald Reagan Library in Simi Valley, CA

Grauman's Chinese Theatre in LA

Matt went from a traveling job, to a desk job, and back to his love of a traveling job (love the frequent flier miles!)

Skyping with Daddy

Saw a few concerts

Coldplay!

Rascal Flatts

The Subdudes

Did a few renovations to the house

Gleaming new floors

There were some things that didn’t quite pan out

Buying a vacation home (still on the list!)

Adding a second story or moving to a bigger house (darn economy)

Holly taking a leave from work to stay home with the kids (Oh, well)

I can’t wait to see what happens next!