Month: June 2017

We signed all the papers yesterday. Today we arrived at the house all ready to start unpacking. A few hours later than expected, our truck showed up and the fun started.

Spoiler – This has been the worst move from start to finish. Don’t use Arpin – not that we were given a choice with our relocation benefits.

As Wade and I got in the car this morning in Batavia, NY, I happened to look at Facebook and see pictures of my sister and her kids visiting their grandparents – in New York. I looked at a map and decided they weren’t too far off our path (I thought). I called Melissa and talked to her. It turns out we would go through a town about 30 minutes from them and it happened to have a restaurant they wanted to visit. Perfect! I got an impromptu visit with my sister and nieces!
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Wade picked me up at the airport early this morning and we got right on the road. Madison is in the backseat and we let Tabit out of her carrier to roam around. She immediately ended up in Wade’s lap – and he claims the cat hates him.

We have a hectic few weeks but that seems to go hand-in-hand with moving. I drove the kids all down to Paducah on Tuesday (6/20). Wednesday morning (6/21), Judy and Jerry arrived early to take Kaitlyn with them to Memphis. She’ll stay until Sunday (6/25). I am spending a few days in Paducah with my Mom and the boys. Then on Saturday morning (6/24) I am taking an early flight to Chicago. Wade will pick me up at the airport and we will immediately start a two day drive to Boston (with the dog and cat). My Dad will get the boys on Saturday evening (6/24) and then take them to Memphis on Sunday (6/25). He’ll pick Kaitlyn up and bring her back to his house for the night. On Monday (6/26), my Mom gets Kaitlyn and will have her all week. Judy and Jerry are driving the boys to Paducah on Friday afternoon (6/30). Wade is flying to Paducah on Friday evening (6/30). Saturday morning (7/1), Wade, Judy, and the kids will begin a two day drive to Boston. (I was rather adamant they had to make it by Sunday so I could see Kaitlyn on her real birthday.)
Did that make sense to everyone? It will be a miracle if everyone ends up where they are supposed to on any given day! While I am in Paducah, Wade is in Barrington overseeing the movers. From what I have heard so far, it is going to be a challenging move. I requested pictures of the house with boxes and he was nice enough to help.
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Several of my friends gave me small presents before we left, but I didn’t get a chance to fully appreciate them until I got to Paducah and could sit down with them today.
I am forever grateful that Teague made a friend in Jake because his mom, Mary, is one of my favorite Chicago people. We are fairly similar in parenting and life philosophies and always have a good time together. She and her crew stopped by the beach one last time yesterday and left us with a goody bag for the trip. There was something for everyone and a letter for me that truly made me tear up. (If you know me, you know this is highly unusual.) She also suggested a quick picture and I think it’s the only one I have of the two of us.

As we were literally walking out the door for the final time, Maria brought over two books for the kids. These are two of my favorite gifts ever! I don’t think she could have picked two more appropriate ones that summed up some of our favorite neighbor activities.

Then I opened them and saw the pictures and signatures. She also made bookmarks out of pictures of AJ and Leah with their favorite neighbor memories on the back. We will treasure these always.

It’s a little hard to believe but today was our last day in Barrington. I had the kids packed for a trip to their grandparents and then I got us all ready for a last day at the beach. Our Milwaukee friends arrived and we spent the morning and afternoon playing. We had a solid 15 minute rain shower but we just huddled under umbrellas and waited it out. I completely forgot about Kaitlyn’s nap and she took care of that herself. We had a few extra visitors stop by and then it was back to the house for a final change of clothes and loading of the car. I think this leaving might have even been a little more emotional for me than our initial move from Milwaukee.
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Today is our last full day in Barrington. We invited everyone we could think of for one last playdate at the beach (except our Milwaukee friends – they are coming tomorrow). The weather wasn’t ideal but we were thankful so many people came to play and say good-bye.
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We said our first good-bye today. Our neighbor, Johnny, is leaving for camp and will be gone the entire week. (Our last day is Tuesday.) These kids have loved being neighbors and will be impossible to replace.

Kaitlyn has been talking about her birthday since the boys had theirs in February. Her biggest requests were a party, pink cake, and presents. We decided to celebrate a few weeks early so that she could have a “real” party with her Chicago and Milwaukee friends. Hoping to make my life a little easier, I planned a beach birthday party and prayed for sun. We pulled up to the parking lot 15 minutes before her party and sat and watched it pour.

Miraculously the sun came out 5 minutes before her party was supposed to start and stayed out till just after her party ended. Nobody was scared off by the rain and everyone showed up to help us celebrate.
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We had planned this day at Hoyt Pool for a while and were sad the Kubickis wouldn’t be joining us – especially since I hadn’t been able to get a picture of the three big boys yet. (Nicki had to work.) Tony came to the rescue and brought Glenna and Riley! There was a dad in the sand burying his kids. The minute he was done, both Grant and Kaitlyn wanted to be buried. They loved it.
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Now for my favorite part. Let’s compare past years of the entire group (2015, 2016, 2017)
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Here are the big boys year after year (2014, 2016, 2017)
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I’m pretty sure needing to carry on this picture tradition ensures a trip to Milwaukee next summer for the kids and I.

Knowing we are moving quite a distance away, lots of extra fun activities have been planned. Amber had the great idea to plan a “Girls’ Day” for Glenna, Iris, and Kaitlyn (and the moms)! We met up for shopping, lunch, and build-a-bear. The girls had so much fun!
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