Grafton – North
This may be one of my favorite stories from this summer. Alex has had a little bit of trouble adjusting to a new city and house. Sometimes that manifests in throwing things that he shouldn’t. Today he got mad and threw a nerf gun at the wall. It actually put a small divot in the wall and removed some paint. After he calmed down, we talked and I showed him the result of his anger. Later in the day, I walked by to see that he had “fixed” the imperfection in my wall.
Madison will happily follow me into the pool but otherwise she is content to stay on the deck. Today I was under the water taking pictures quite a bit and realized Madison was in the water looking for me. I tried to photograph her, but it turns out it’s tricky to get an underwater picture of a dog (who doesn’t put her face under).
Wade has always been very anti-pools (and probably would still prefer if we didn’t have one). However, I’ve been pleasantly surprised by how much fun he has in the pool with the kids. We often swim after Kaitlyn’s nap so we are in the pool when Wade gets home from work. He’ll run upstairs to change and then join us for a little bit before we all start thinking about dinner.
We’ve had a lot of crazy mail delivery due to the move, forwarding mail, setting up mail, etc. Kaitlyn has loved getting belated birthday cards and gifts (that should have reached her well before we moved). Today she got a card from B and Mary. I knew she was carrying it around but I was shocked when I went in to check on her later and she was hugging the card in her sleep. I never saw the card in her room or how she got it in her bed.
Reggie spent about 10 days with one of Wade’s co-workers while we were moving and getting settled. He’s been home a few days and doesn’t seem to be handling the heat very well. Our house doesn’t have air conditioning and the window AC units we have from previous houses haven’t arrived yet (there is a second truck of things arriving in a week or so). Wade took him to the local vet hospital and is trying to get some fluids into him.
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.
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.



Trying to buy a house in Boston has been challenging. The market is insanely hot and houses often sell the same day they are listed with 6-9 offers (above asking). I have made one trip up to see houses, but we knew realistically Wade was going to have to buy a house I hadn’t been able to see in person. He found one a few weeks ago and the owners were nice enough to open up their house tomorrow for the kids and I to see it. We are currently on the road and should make it by tonight, but here are the listing pictures of our new house in Grafton.