We had a good flight out here --- it was long, but the boys held up very well. Jack and Thomas were exceptionally good, and Peter was about as good as can be expected for such a long trip. We had a few "we're that family with the crying baby" moments, but honestly he kept it together pretty well.
We left the rental car parking lot (in a white Toyota Sienna!) around 5PM on Thursday and went hunting for something good to eat on the way to the apartment. For some reason, I expected our town here of Williamsville to be smaller and more rural than Ramona, but it's actually much more developed. Within 15 minutes of our apartment, there are a million places to eat, lots of grocery stores, department stores, fabric stores, home improvement stores (we won't be needing too many of those now, woohoo!), etc. I'm used to driving 45 minutes to Target, Walmart, Home Depot, etc., so this will be a pleasant change. Actually, there is a Target and grocery store within short walking distance of our place. Nice! And David's work is about 15 minutes away also, which will be great. Maybe we'll be able to have dinner together as a family each night.
We brought dinner back to the apartment and then let the kids run crazy. They had a great time running (or in Peter's case "crawlking") all around the rooms, checking it out. The apartment is beautiful ... it has new paint, new carpet, very nice furniture, a larger kitchen than ours in Ramona, etc. My only concern is any dings, dents, or dirt we might inflict on it before we leave in April.
On Friday, we all slept in until about 9AM, although I suppose we were all still on Pacific time, so that's probably expected. We got a great breakfast at Bob Evans (the kids were great, and we got comments on their good behavior, which always makes my day!) and then we treated the kids to Toys R Us (about 5 minutes away) to pick out one toy each. Then we made big trips to Target and Wegman's (our closest grocery store) to stock up on food and supplies. Wow --- I forgot how expensive it is to stock a kitchen from absolutely zero supplies!! Also, we had a heck of a time finding mexican food products even to make our own enchiladas and burritos (i.e. no enchilada sauce packets, very small selection of tortillas, refried beans, etc.). I expected there to be few mexican restaurants out here (there are a few, and they are all very concerned with advertising how "authentic" and "real" their mexican food is). But, I didn't expect there to be a problem finding basic ingredients so that I could make my own mexican food! I did get the feeling that Wegman's is kind of a hybrid between an expensive Trader Joe's and a regular grocery store, so maybe another store will have a better selection. However, we did notice that they have a million different types of apples (varieties I've never heard of before!), and they seem very fresh. And there is a whole freezer section devoted to pierogies, so there you go.
After all that, we ended up having lunch around 3PM (still on Pacific time, obviously), and got the kids in bed around 8PM.
This morning, everyone got up closer to 8:30AM, and we had lunch by noon and I think we're well on our way to being on Eastern time.
The weather so far has been mostly gray, but no real big rainfall, just sprinkles. The temperature is probably in the low 60s outside, but this apartment retains heat really, really well. We're all comfortable in short sleeve shirts and long pants inside, and I think Jack is even wearing shorts today.
After breakfast, we took the kids to the little playground in our complex. It was wet, and the grass was wet and squishy around it, but that didn't stop the boys from having a great time. There are lots of grassy areas (away from the street) for the kids the just run free. And when we do get out first snowfall, there are lots and lots of good places for snowmen, snowforts, etc. The ground is pretty level, though, so we'll have to hunt around for a good place to go sledding.
The boys seem to be adjusting pretty well. Today was the first time Jack said "I want to go back to the white house", but we tried to cheer him up a little, and he seemed better.
Tomorrow we're going to check out our closest Catholic church, St. Gregory the Great. Apparently there is another church nearby that was built in 1812, so hopefully in another week or two we can check that out.
Next week, I need to shop around for winter clothes and find out what we need to do to get our cars "winterized", plus I need to get Jack back into his school work after the craziness of last week, so that should keep me busy (but thankfully not as busy as I had been with getting out house packed and ready to rent!). I'll be sure to update this blog with those adventures.
In the meantime, here are a bunch of photos of our apartment and surrounding area:
David and Peter is the hallway.
The boys' room (they're sleeping on "special couch cushion beds" until their bunks arrive next Saturday)
Happy walker!
Exterior of our townhouse ... ours is just to the left of the parked car.
Jack on the playground.
Open space with trees behind the playground.
Some of the trees are just starting to change color.
The entrance to our apartment.
The living room.
The dining room.
The kitchen.
View from our little patio.
Our bedroom.
1 comment:
Brilliant post. You didn't seem so far away until I read it. Your apartment looks very comfy.
We can't wait to come and see all the green (white) that you have around your place. I am so pleased that there is shopping very close to you, I want to come and take you all shopping.
It looks like a great start to your new adventures. Home Sweet Home.
Lots of love to all.
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