Monday, August 31, 2009

Fun Evening Outing at Schupp Park.

We really enjoyed the below-90 degree temperatures today, especially since it has been 100+ every other day this month since we have moved down here. And, since the weather was cooler today, we decided to take a break from our regular evening swim after dinner and drove to one of the city parks here in McAllen for a change of pace. The boys' bikes were loaded into the back of the car and Sydney was even able to join in on the family fun. The park hosts a really nice fitness trail that was packed with runners and walkers (and a few bicycling children too), and there are some really fun playground structures too! Next time, I'll have to remember to grab my camera. :) After we walked/rode bikes around the park, the boys tried climbing one of the mesquite trees before finally heading over to one of the play structures. This will be a place we will visit with frequency.

Settling in.

It has been ages since my last blog post, and a lot has happened since then. We packed our house, took a trip to Raleigh to visit friends, came back to do more packing and start saying our good-byes to all of our wonderful friends in Virginia and to the place we had called home for the last 4 years. We cleaned said house, loaded a moving truck, said more good-byes and then took off on a 3-day journey to southern Texas to begin a new season of our lives. After arriving in TX, we unloaded the truck, and I began my whirlwind of unpacking boxes. By the time we had been in the house for 1 week, about 90% of our things (in the house--not counting the garage boxes...) were unpacked, organized and put away. Whew...I get tired just thinking about everything that we did.

Since moving to TX, we have spent hours splashing and swimming in our swimming pool. We have dreamed and talked about things we'd like to improve in the house once it is ours (a new toilet in the master bathroom that actually flushes the first time would be nice). We've cleaned, seen lizards, explored our community a bit (had to find the grocery store and other essentials, of course!). We've played and I've done a LOT of baking too! Rob started teaching today. The boys and I started our new homeschool year last week, and we have finally found a church to call "home" in the valley. David has lost 2 teeth since moving here. Aidan has had a couple of "shiners" from his rough play. There are still things to do (um, like getting the car registered in TX and getting our TX drivers' licenses, oh, and signing on our house tomorrow too!!!). There are still things to dream and plan about, but it is nice having that feeling of being settled in and feeling a new sense of home.