It's all good . . .

I Promise, We Didn't Disappear

It has been two weeks since we left North Carolina, and it has been pretty busy.  The first week was spent driving across the country and finding a house to buy, and the second we have spent in Idaho with family.  In fact, I still have one more week in Idaho with the kids, but we had to send Kevin back to North Carolina to out-process from Ft. Bragg.  It sure was sad to see him go.  He'll join us the middle of August.

So for now, it is just the kids and me getting ready to get to our new house in Colorado.  It is exciting and scary all at the same time.  It will be such a great thing for us all.  And yes, eventually I will post about the last few weeks, but as I am using other people's computers and my pictures are all still on my camera, that will have to wait.  So I will just leave you in suspense until then :).

A Shred of Sanity in the Whirlwind of Moving

We are moving.  Have I mentioned that?  We are moving to Colorado Springs, Colorado because Kevin has been assigned to Ft. Carson. 

It all happened rather suddenly, and although it is such an exciting thing, it has been pretty crazy trying to get everything ready, especially since I won't be around when the movers come - Kevin will be taking care of that - which makes me a little nervous, since he has never even been around when the movers came before now.  I also needed to have the house cleaned as much as possible, so he has as little as possible to do before handing the keys over to the landlord.

All that aside, I have been trying to make time for real summer in the three weeks since school has released until we leave tomorrow.  The kids have had a chance to stay up a little later, and maybe "sleep in" a little (6:30 am is sleeping in for them, just not what I had in mind - he he!).  We also made time for some good-byes and get togethers with friends.  Some of the bigger things we did were:

Swimming Lessons- The kids had two weeks of swimming lessons at the local YMCA, and they LOVED it.  Lily got quite good and really overcame some of her fears, and Derek just had a blast playing in the water.  He had a permanent grin on his face for the whole lesson :).  You can see it in the pictures . . .

 Here are some pictures of Lily in the pool too . . .

(As I watched them each day, I have to say I was pretty jealous of them being in the pool, as it is so hot and humid here.  I would sit and the shade and sweat would pour off of me - so gross and uncomfortable.  I will not miss the summers in the South, that is for sure.)

Dates with Kevin- Kevin and I got to take advantage of using our babysitting Co-op a few more times.  One night we went out to dinner and had so much fun miniature golfing afterward.  I was even in close contention with Kevin, until one hole completely destroyed me.  It's all good, I was playing Kevin after all - it is not as if I really thought I could win :).  Another date, we went to dinner and then saw "The A-Team" - which was an awesome movie.

Kevin Playing Pinehurst- Speaking of golf, one bright side to living in this area, is that we are very short drive from Pinehurst - a very famous, very beautiful golf course on which they have played many PGA tournaments.  We couldn't move without Kevin getting a chance to play, and so I got him a tee time and he got out to play on Monday.  He loved it, shot an 85 (even with not putting well and not being able to hit his irons) and had such a fantastic time.  I am so glad he got to do it!

Harvesting My "Crops" - I have had quite the crop of cherry tomatoes, a few large tomatoes, and even some strawberries.  I have loved using my fresh herbs too.  It has been great :).  Now I have to give them all away though, but don't worry, I found them a good home. 

Playing as a Family - Kevin's schedule has been pretty crazy, but we have tried to make the most of the time we do have with him.  Whether it was watching "Wipe-Out" on TV, or going as a family to see "Toy Story 3" - which is fabulous, by the way :).

Taking Portraits - I have squeezed in time to do a few portrait sessions in the past few weeks, and yes, even though they take up time, they were a great stress reliever for me.  If you want to see what I have been up to, go to my photography blog.

Lily's Bike Riding Lessons - I have been wanting to teach Lily for a while, but when we lived in Georgia, all we had was a balcony, which was not conducive to riding a bike.  Last summer, when we moved here, we bought the kids bikes, but Lily was too nervous to even think about doing it with her training wheels.  A month ago, she decided she was ready, and so we began.

I used Derek's smaller bike to teach her, so she could feel more stable, and I really took it slow, teaching her to ride in 5 minute increments over a couple weeks.  This was for a few reasons: 1) I didn't want to turn her off to the idea, as she gets very stubborn and scares easily.  2) I didn't want to lose my patience and get angry with her, which I have a tendency to do if she gets stubborn or scared.  3) It is way too hot to be outside more than 5 minutes at a time :).

Well, this past week she got it down.  It was so exciting, and although she still needs quite a bit of practice to gain stability, she can do it and loves it :).

And so now we are moving.  It will be a little crazy, but we will have three weeks in Idaho to have a little bit more summer, and we are visiting friends and family along the way.  So, it will probably be pretty crazy, but it will be a lot of fun too.  So wish us luck, because we are on the road again . . .