Ice Cream Social

Today was Glendale's annual ice cream social at City Hall. It was well attended, and the kids had a good time. We saw a few of our new neighbors there, and Amy talked with some other moms she has met already.

Emily is quickly adjusting to her new school. She is getting to know her new classmates, and was elected to Student Council today, although she has no idea what it is. Emily also went to a pool party after school today, so both she and Amy got to know other people.

Unfortunately for me, this is my last day of "vacation" before starting my new job on Tuesday. It will be good to get back into a routine, however I've enjoyed the last month spending time with Amy and the kids.

Exterminator Needed?

Ninny Kathy is becoming quite the artist. She did a great oil painting of Emily, has been doing face painting for Emily and her friends, and now she topped it all by painting quite a collection of bugs on Adam's wall. For those who haven't been around him for a while - he LOVES bugs (alive or dead) and he keeps them in his bug cage. He was really excited to see these on his wall tonight. He even said goodnight to them at lights out!

Mom and Dad Kreidler stopped in on their way home from Colorado this week. Once again, those two are workhorses. We unpacked and setup our basement playroom, hung pictures, etc.

Ninny Kathy also demonstrated her new skills in face painting, as you can see from Emily above.

Less than a week and I have to do this thing they call "work" - I'm not sure I even remember what that is any more.

We're getting settled into our new house and neighborhood very well, and think we're going to love it here.

Fast Friends

I've blogged before about Emily's new friend 2 doors down. It turns out that her little sister and Adam (both age 2) have become friends as well!

FINALLY

Finally we're emerging from underneath the stacks of boxes and packing paper. Other than the kids rooms, which are relatively unpacked, we managed to finish our living room today. There are no pictures on the walls yet, but at least everything is unpacked and in its place!

First Day of School!

Big Girl Ready for the 2nd Grade

Emily's new friend (and neighbor), Hailey - also a 2nd grader

Walking to school

Emily and her teacher, Mrs. Heinicke

Ready to work!

Today was Emily's first day of 2nd grade in her new school, in her new state, in her new city. She said she was nervous and excited at the same time. She was happy to wear a special new dress and shoes (typical girl), but we had to ditch the shoes when we got into her room because they gave her a blister. Hopefully this will be all of the excitement, as she threw up after her first day of Kindergarten due to all the action.

One new twist today was that she was able to walk to school, which she did with her new friend (and our neighbor), Hailey. No more busses until middle school.

As usual, this day was harder on Mom and Dad then it was on Emily. We're looking forward to picking her up from school and taking her for ice cream to hear all about her day.

More to come...

Back from Islamorada

We took a great trip to Islamorada, FL this past weekend to surprise Mom Strack for her 60th birthday. The surprise held, and she was shocked to see her entire family at lunch at the Islamorada Fish Company on Thursday.

I tend to get stressed out about flying with the kids, but they were both great. Adam enjoyed seeing the planes, and Emily was a great help to all of us.

We had a good time in the Keys - the fishing was slow (witness my monster Tuna), but Jeff, Shawn, Dad Strack, and Eric (mate) all had fun nonetheless. Spending any length of time with Jeff is always entertaining. By the way Jeff, you're behind. I'll post video of my fierce battle with a 10 pound clump of weeds as soon as I re-format it (long story).

I'll blog more tomorrow after we see Emily off to the first day of 2nd grade.

PK

Weekend in Islamorada

We're having a great time in Islamorada celebrating Ninny Cindy's 60th birthday. The weather has been good and the kids are having fun. The fishing has been slow, but Paul successfully landed a 10 pound clump of weeds.

Wow it's HOT!

Finished!

I'm happy to report that all 3 walkers successfully finished all 60 miles today at 3:00, 1.5 hours ahead of schedule. They are all feeling fine despite a few blisters, and they're looking forward to dinner tonight. Here's a picture of the crew just after crossing the finish line.

Breast Cancer 3-Day (3rd and Final Day)

Today is the last day of the walk. I received this note from Shawn at 3:30 this morning:

Well... We've survived day 1 and 2 over 22.7 each day and scheduled for 18.3 today. Don't know about your math but mine that is more than 60.

I'll bet you're wondering why I'm emailing (even I don't get up this early.
Our morning proved camping really is fun. We were waken up by houling wind, lightning, and then rain and then a person screaming get to the bldg. After standing in a long line in the pouring rain and wind we're finally inside.
Actually a fun way to end the week and makes for a good story. Hopefully it will end soon.

Jeff came and cheered us on in several different places in several differnt get ups and posters. Which was great.

This has been a great experience so far that I would definitely do again (of course I haven't done a wet day 3 yet). NO CAMPING.

Super Jeff on the scene (see below) reports that all walkers are in good spirits this morning despite last night's events. I forgot to mention that Amy called around 8:30 and they were already in their sleeping bags ready to go to sleep.

At 8:30 our crew made it to their second rest stop - 5.5 miles in the books, about 12 to go!

Breast Cancer 3-Day (Day 2)

Today's 22 mile route took our walkers right past my brother Joe's house in Mount Prospect. Amy took a quick break to say hi to the kids.

Jeff is working hard as a one-man cheering section.

I heard from the walkers during their break. They're tired and a bit sore, but doing fine.

17 miles in the books at 4:30 PM. Our reporter on the scene says that most walkers are getting tired, but Team Cindy is still going strong.

Talked to Amy around 8:30 - they all finished today's 22 miles. Sounds like sore feet and rashes are common among all walkers, but there's just one day left!

Magic House

We were all getting a bit stir crazy, so we took a trip to the Magic House - the St. Louis Children's Museum. It was a bit busy, but the kids burned off some good energy. The weather here is HOT this week. It's supposed to be in the high 90's today, and 102 on Sunday/Monday. Tomorrow's big adventure will be to a place called "Monkey Joe's" - supposedly a nicer version of Chuck E Cheese.

Adam is taking his normal 3-4 hour nap (yes!) and Emily has 2 new friends over playing in the basement.

Game On!

Amy applauding the crowd?


Power walking?

Getting ready at Jeff & Shawns

The walk has begun. The reporter on scene says that the first 2 miles took 55 minutes. Let's hope the pace picks up!

Update: At 11:30AM, our walkers are at mile 8.8 enjoying a PBJ sandwich. Here are some new pictures just received.

Update: At 2:45PM the walkers report that they have made it past mile 15. They have also seen the first person removed via ambulance.

Talked to Amy tonight. They finished the day's route (22 miles) at around 6:30. They carbo-loaded at dinner and went to bed early.

We're Here

We're here in Glendale. The moving truck is empty. Our house is a disaster. Amy is gone until Monday. I may go crazy.

I'll post about our whole moving experience/saga tomorrow.

Moving Day 4 - Sweat and Lots of It

Today is our last day in Springfield, or at least that's what the movers would have us believe. There is still a LOT of stuff in this house, but they seem confident that they'll get it out of here today.

To make matters worse, there is a heat advisory here until Thursday.

This will be our last post/e-mail communication until Thursday when we get hooked up in St. Louis.

Moving Day 3 - Lock and Load

The movers were back bright and early today to start their inventory and begin loading the truck. They loaded all day long, and you can hardly tell they put anything in the truck it is packed so well.

We got a reminder of why we aren't packing professionals - one of the boxes we packed collapsed and swallowed another box that was stacked on top of it. Hopefully nothing important was inside.

The weather today was in the high 80's with a heat index in the high 90's, but it was cloudy and that helped it feel cooler. I took down our basketball hoop today, broke down our swing set, and took a panel off our fence. That was enough work for me.

Tomorrow they will finish loading the truck, we'll load our U-Haul trailer, and hit the road for St. Louis.

Moving, Day 2

All is quiet on day 2. Our visitors are gone, and the movers won't start up again until tomorrow.

We're finding lots of things we could use today that got packed yesterday - some pots/pans, Emily's swimming suit, yard waste stickers, etc.

We're living in restauraunts now until at least Wednesday night. By then a home cooked meal will probably taste good.

A few last things to pack up today/tonight and we'll be pretty much ready to go. The movers will inventory everything tomorrow, and will load on Tuesday.

The Old Miss

Start the Madness

7:45AM: The Bekins crew arrived to pack us up. Much to the kids excitement, they brought their semi with them. Things are moving fast and furious now, leading up to us closing the doors on this house on Tuesday. Now if we could just sell it....

10:45AM: These guys move fast. I can't see them being here much past noon...

1:00 PM: We're packed. They're gone. Monday morning they inventory and begin loading the trailer.

We've Closed

We closed on our new home earlier today, and moved a few things in with the help of my Mom and Dad. Little did we know, but their help has been crucial to our ability to get ready for this move, and our ability to spend some time with our friends and coworkers as we say goodbye.

The closing went smoothly, and we are ready to begin moving more things this weekend followed by the big move early next week. We are ready for the move to be over with!

Luckily for us, Amy's Mom and Grandfather are coming for a visit tomorrow, so we'll have even more help with packing a few things and looking after the kids.

More to come...