So far everything is good. It's still only been a week and a half here, and most of that first week was unpacking boxes, but I feel like we've done a lot toward starting to make this place "home".
In the apartment, most everything is put away. We still need a bookcase for the living room so we have a place for the Oxford English Dictionary, and I need to figure out some sort of accessible but neat storage for the play room. I'd also like to get a fold-out thing that will fit in the playroom so we can have somewhere for guests to sleep when the visit. I'd love for people from home to be able to visit often. We have most of our pictures hung. All the curtains are hung, including the Ikea curtains I had planned to hang in the old house six years ago, but never got around to altering to fit. Plus, this week the kids and I started back into the routine of school.
I kept the same color-scheme of red, blue, green, yellow, white, pink, and obnoxiously bright.
The kids and I have had a chance to do a good number of outside activities this week while we work on meeting people and making new friends. On Tuesday there was a bowling night for our apartment community. I believe it was mostly staff members in attendance, but it was a nice group. The kids fit in right away with the other kids that were there, and they all cooperated with bowling together. The older ones helped the little ones and the little ones cheered for the big ones. It was really cute. I had a nice time, too, but didn't really talk much. I guess I'm just more shy than the kids are.
We joined a homeschool group that meets weekly to play at different parks in the area, and this week we also went on our first park trip. It was a bit chilly so there weren't too many families there, but the two that were there were very nice. It seems like this will be a good state for homeschooling, from my conversations with the moms.
The Big One struggled a little at the park. Though the kids were around his age, very friendly, and were playing things he liked (boy things with zombies and sticks and bases and stuff), I think he was a bit overwhelmed and I'm sure is missing our old home as well. The Little One was her usual self.
The park was called Sandy Bottom. It is in the woods and has a large lake with paddle boats and canoes for the summer, camping areas, and walking trails. I thought it was interesting that next to the playground there was a swamp.
After our time at the park there was an Easter Egg hunt at our apartment community. I assured the kids that it wouldn't start right on time at 3:30 and that we'd be fine arriving a little late, but when we pulled up at 3:38 all the kids were sitting around in the grass counting their eggs already. The staff here is super nice and re-scattered some eggs, and our two kids got to have their own private egg hunt. Prizes were awarded by age brackets based on who had collected the most eggs. The staff had saved one prize for people arriving late, and since we were the ones who were late, we won the prize. So, it really worked out in their favor that we weren't right on time.
After the hunt the kids and parents gathered in the club house for coloring and playing, and the Easter Bunny made an appearance for the littler guys.
Matt is enjoying his new job. Today they had a welcome cook-out for him and the other new guy, and the kids and I were allowed to come. Everyone was incredibly nice and welcoming. They fed us really well, and then let us go up in the tower. The Little One called out with delight "It's flying!!" when a plane took off.
I did make the mistake this week of showing the kids how to do temporary tattoos by themselves, then walking away to take a shower. The Big One has been meeting all these people this week with a lightning bolt tattoo on his forehead.
This weekend we are driving back home to visit family for Easter, which will be nice. It is kind of tiring to be around people you don't really know all day. Being home alone with two kids in an apartment isn't much better. I've been missing family and friends at home, as well as our old house and yard.
I am also looking forward to the weekend after, however, when we will finally get some time with all four of us just hanging out and exploring the area. Last weekend Matt drove home and back to get the cats, so we still haven't had a good day with him here and nothing pressing to do since he's returned from his eight week out-of-state trip.
Things I like about here so far:
-Close to everything. Everything is less than 30 minutes away, and most things are only 5 minutes. There is all the shopping and food you could ever need or want.
-Everyone's really nice. Everyone.
Things that aren't too great:
-Major roads are everywhere, so everywhere is near a major road. I guess I'll get used to the road noise, but right now it seems so loud. There has been a major multi-lane rod or highway easily visible at all three parks we've visited. It's just different than being out in the country.
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