cousins

Huge thanks to Uncle Matt, Aunt Jess, and Cousins Kayley and Trevor for the awesome piano rock-n-roll bouncer for KC - It's the best housewarming treat!  There was tons of cousin fun at our place tonight for fajitas and ice cream ;)  It will be fun for the cousins to get a chance to hang out now that we are so close.  Above is a photos of all four of them, which is about as good as it gets with this snap camera...  Kayley was so sweet with little KC and knows how to hold him just right - what a good big sister/cousin!  Trevor loves babies too and it was so fun to see him stomp around the house. The video is KC's first dance in his brand new bouncer:

muscle man

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natural history

A hippo lover at the Natural History Museum!

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tres

We are feeling relatively settled here with only a few more boxes to unpack (which is amazing considering we had 268 inventoried items to arrange!)  Since my job is mommying now (woohoo!), I got to work on making some new friends online before we arrived.  We got an invitation to a new friend's third birthday shark party.  There was cupcake chomping, splashing and dressing up... Aiden's favorite was the "chum" bucket he got full of treats.  He wanted to chum the waters in his bath to attract the sharks!

air and space

Happy Birthday to Robot Pop Pop!  Here are some snaps from our trip to the Air and Space Museum shortly after we arrived.  Pop Pop knew all the tricks to get us an awesome parking spot right across the street... mainly because he's awesome like that and we were always on the move during our family vacations back in the day.  I thank him for showing me how important it is to work hard to have fun even if it means taking a walk in 90 degree heat ;) and it does end up being fun - especially for his lucky grandsons!

family

Just over a week ago we left O-HI-O after many HIs!  Here are a few of my favorite snaps - Thanks so much for all the cuddles!  Huge thanks especially to my folks for following us on our crazy path down here and helping so, so much!  We literally could not have done it without you and hope you know how much we appreciate it!

happy bday

It's Daddy's birthday!  Big happy birthday to J's Brother and Nana too! He asked for a a house that was fairly well in order (although added he'd like it done magically so no one was troubled) - but thanks to my folks I'm feeling pretty good on the shape of the house when he arrived home from his conference.  It's been a great year and cheers to an even greater year ahead!  We celebrated with cake and a present hunt that Aiden set up.  Here is Aiden's birthday message, and since he shimmies away from the camera lately, his cooperation is a special treat ;)

Here's last year's:
http://ababybrennan.blogspot.com/2010/07/happy-bday.html

rollercoaster

This roller coaster at the Oktoberfest in Willoughby was a definite highlight for Aiden.  He rode it twice and could hardly contain his excitement even after the ride.  The cruddy phone photos and the video doesn't do it justice.  He was beyond excited that he was tall enough (which I tried to convince him he wasn't but his dad helped him out...)

Rollercoaster from LB on Vimeo.

smooth move

The case against our smooth move is pretty strong.  

But despite some hot bumps, we are staying cool.

The prosecution would like to present their evidence against a smooth move.

Exhibit A:

Yes, the EXT 106 degrees means that it is 106 degrees in DC and that is without factoring in the 128 heat index - which I guess means it felt like it was 128 with humidity.  Tucson did not prepare us properly.  But the defense would like to note that we still had a rocking good parking spot to visit the Air and Space Museum on the Mall (more on that later).  AND, when the power went out throughout the neighborhood for three hours it didn't even really get that hot in the house, although it was 9pm-12 midnight. 

Exhibit B:

The very excited new Virginia resident couldn't see the Capital building because he was too busy covering his face from the hot sun.

Exhibit C:

The first tow truck couldn't even get it out and after a long wait it was finally returned unharmed.  The cable guy was parked across part of the drive and someone (who did rock the whole drive from Ohio) didn't want to hit him.  The firefly on the side may have made it a nice lawn ornament, but it was recovered eventually without any damage...our sense of humor was in tact as well...

Exhibit D:

I think the camera lens was literally taken over by the humidity because these shots I nabbed before we all ran inside were all blurry.  Heat advisories don't keep people out of the museums.

The smooth move defense team would like to report that the new home is living up to expectations so far. We even took a morning walk to the beach despite the rising temperatures.  Although the sink in the kitchen won't drain right now and J took some cold showers because the faucet in the bathtub was slipping, we are really enjoying the views from our big windows at our new place.  It's too hot to enjoy that huge hammock, but it's ready and waiting:

This screened gazebo has "fall dinners" written all over it.  The view on the right is out the back door.

 Exhibit B:

These charming little outdoor guys are what Aiden told his old teacher and school friends about after we visited in June.  He says that he knows he's home when he sees the "foot cleaner hedgie guys!"

Verdict:

The move is almost over, and whether it was smooth or not won't matter much when we are enjoying our new place and everything this area has to offer.
This lawyer is going back to unpacking boxes...

steamers

We had such a nice time in Ohio, and a definite highlight was a chance to reunite with an old middle school teacher, Mr. Elliott.  He was particularly influential to me because he took me to the space camp I worked at every summer throughout high school (even drove me back and forth every day!)  Thanks to Facebook I found him and was so excited to hear about his new passion, the Lakeshore Steamers.  The trains are all made by hand along with the miles of track that snake through the Penitentiary Glen forest.  He took us on the behind the scenes tour.  As we zipped through the forest, I cuddled KC close and was smiling like a giddy middle schooler.... Aiden hung out with Mt. Elliott's grandkids and checked out all the choo choos (including one transporting the Snoopy gang).

 We also enjoyed the Snakes-n-Such event at the Penitentiary Glen.

wrapping up

Making sense of all this moving required not just lists (logistics diagram to the left shows the flights/drives and the icky plan that never happened!) and tons of money thrown at our moving company but a very flexible, accommodating Gran and Pop who shuttled Aiden to Ohio (it was like grateful parent endorsed kidnapping)...  My dad joked that they were going to race KC and I to the Cleveland airport.  The race was on at 7:30 in the morning after Aiden helped me carefully pack up his nighttime animal friends in their "treasure chest" aka. a big office storage box.  We had a high five at the door and he hopped in the car very enthusiastically... not even close to realizing that he was leaving the only house he's ever lived in... J, the baby, and I walked back in for another few hours while the movers arrived to start the real action.

I could not believe how when you pull everything out it just expands and explodes.  One packer spent over three hours on our bedroom (with the two built ins and two closets) and he said it was a record in his 13 year career.  He started around 9:00 and didn't come downstairs until 2:30!  I knew I was good at squirreling things away, but I could not imagine the floor to ceiling boxes.  I snuck around them patching nail holes and trying to be somewhat useful.  KC and I left for Ohio around 4:00 and I left J to take care of everything else.  I do need to thank him for putting up with all the details....and the boredom and my somewhat emotional frustration.

I am so sad to leave that house...where I brought my boys home from the hospital... I fell in love with that house immediately.  It was my closest to love at first sight.  And it was quite a sight - a big room full of shrunken barn board and pink laminate cabinets in the kitchen!  Really how did I find the place in my heart to love that house despite it's quirks?  and it's desire to eat up all our money... ;) We do have buyers that are in the last stretch to close on July 29 - Phew is all I can say... Oh well, I will always fondly remember 65 "Haud-Dorn Dive" as Aiden used to say when he first learned his address... Here he is on our last morning in the house when I videotaped every nook and cranny but I'll spare you the detail ;)