Moving in

A lovely gift of drinks chocolates, pool toys and
goggles for the kids from the previous owners.

The day the kids finished school was the day we got the keys for the new house. The kids all did a half day at school, and in the afternoon David had a 4th grade party at Timarron pool and Alice had a friend over and they were going pool party too. In the midst of me packing, the kids loaded up the car boot with swim stuff, snacks and drinks and we left in a rush for the pool. Except my boot was still open and as I reversed out of the garage the door bent back against the garage wall above the door and it wouldn't stay closed, argh! This was doubly frustrating as I needed my car to move boxes over to the new house. Moving day was set for a week later to give us the chance to pack, and my intention was to pack up a few boxes every morning and take them over to the new house and unpack them whilst the kids play in the pool. Everything had to come out of the side doors of the car as the boot was held closed with duck tape, it was back-breaking but we managed it. Rob took several car loads - and I've got a big car - over the weekend, so that when removal day came around, my kitchen, most of our clothes, and a lot of stuff that could go in the numerous built-in cupboards was moved and unpacked. The removal men mainly had to shift all the big items of furniture, they started at 8am and it was done and dusted by mid-afternoon. The week-long moving process has left us absolutely exhausted, and there's still lots to unpack and sort out, boxes that haven't been opened since they were packed up in the UK. Our rental house needs to be cleaned up too, which I'm really struggling to muster the energy for.

Moving again. Bess is enjoying the space of the empty house but the kids have to eat their pancakes standing up.

It feels glorious to be in our own home again. There's still lots to do but the house is lovely and the kids are really enjoying the garden, pool and trampoline, something our rental house lacked. Here's their first plunge...