A visit with family

Our family decided to visit Florida before taking the hop across the pond. We hadn't been to see all of my husband's family since before Tessa was born and thought it would be easier to stop through on the way. Easy? This brilliant plan involved us being without an actual home, or car, or much of anything for an additional few weeks, and meant bringing clothes suitable for Florida weather in addition to England weather, not to mention the Christmas gifts and plenty of school work as Sophia ended up missing a few weeks of school. However, it was great for all of us to see Chuckolate's family and spend some time visiting.

We spent most of our days driving around town, stopping in to visit as many people as we had time for before Tessa became too tired and cranky. One night we went out to dinner with several family members. I worried about Tessa being a grouch (What? A three year old cranky when stuck in a restaurant after spending the day being told to be good, be quiet, don't touch? No way!) However, she fell fast asleep on the way there and spent the first half of dinner snoozing on my lap! When she finally woke up, she ate a little and was quite pleasant! My left arm was numb for the next few days, but I was more than willing to sacrifice a limb for a peaceful dinner.

Chuck's mother, Janice, with two of her sisters, Joyce and Virginia.Everyone at dinner.Tessa's new friend, Maureen.Maureen and TurtleUncle Larry and Aunt VirginiaCousin Ax and his wife Jeannettecousin Ax with his mom, Virginiathe sisters again

On another night, we picked up Chuck's son Ryan, his sister Layla, and Chuck's mom and then we all went out to dinner.

the kids posing for a picture the kids together againall of usChuck and his momSophia making a funny face and Layla smiling at her

Tessa with a BIG grin

Surprise!

I thought a lot of traveling and staying in hotels would be boring, so I bought a little present for the kids to open on the plane. They were so excited to get something special unexpectedly and to unwrap it right there on the airplane. The presents were just little princess dolls that come with extra dresses for changing into, but it was a new toy at just the right time.

NM Biopark with the Garrett family

Group picture of the kids, but wait, someone's missing...
There's Aidan!
Aidan, Sophia, Tessa, Mackenzie, and Ethan flamingos!

The kids feeding the ducks... Miss Jessica too!

The kids fed the ducks our leftover bread, tortillas, crackers, the kitchen sink...

Another view of the duck pond

The lion was awake and roaring away...he must have known we were leaving.

My own little lion

Not sure how the monkeys escaped.

Our favorite chair in NM!

We have been to the Biopark many times in the four years that we lived in NM, and had to get in one last trip to the zoo before we left. Our friends, the Garrett family, are also members and were happy to join us.

Sophia says goodbye to her first Elementary School

Sophia's last day of school before the move was
also the last day of school before Thanksgiving Break,
so the class made Oreo cookie turkeys.


Then, Sophia handed out a snack to the class (she chose Baklava and grapes, but we brought cookies too, just in case some kids didn't like the look of the Baklava). Finally, she packed up all of her stuff and said goodbye to her classmates.

Sophia and Tessa show off their turkeys.

goodbye hugs

last time on the playground

Then we went back into her class for her final progress report. Her teacher only had good things to day, except for her occassional tendency to rush through her work and let her letters get sloppy. She does excellent in reading, spelling, writing paragraphs/making books, math, social studies, and science. We were very proud of her and took her to yet another sushi dinner and then stopped off at an educational store because she had received a coupon for a toy from the treasure box. It was a great last day.

Moving Days

For the several days that it took to pack up our house, things like playing, reading, snacks, napping (for Tessa) and homework (for Sophia) looked a little different than usual. However, we attempted to keep life as normal as possible, with a few fun boxes around. Tessa decorated some boxes with stickers.

Then she used them as chairs to sit on and read.

Purplicious was the book of choice.

Sophia used the boxes as a table for homework.

Tessa cuddled up on what remained of the sofa to read some more.

Sadly, this was the last picture taken of Itsy Bitsy. He seemed to do well while we were packing up and even befriended one of the movers but passed away while at the groomers a few days later due to a heart issue. It was really hard on all of us to be without him so suddenly, even as we were in the midst of moving and figuring out if it was even possible to bring him with us, as we had previously planned. I suppose not being in our normal routine may have helped to get over the loss a bit, but we will continue to miss our beloved family member of the past twelve years.

More homework...

An attempt at napping...she actually managed to close her eyes for a few minutes.

Then she woke up to take a picture of Sophia and I playing Top-It, a math game.

Of course, the girls had to climb in a few boxes and they became houses, caves, cars, beds, anything you can imagine.

They even created steps and a slide, though it didn't work out as well as they had hoped.

Decorating some boxes...

Tessa helped.

Little princesses were there to play with, too, though Tessa clearly does not appreciate being interrupted for another picture!

Packing up was fun, but wait until we get there and get to unpack it all! It will be the biggest Christmas ever, just a little bit late.