This was a week of errands. Ugh, I think we can quit running errands any time and I'd be fine. the kids, as usual, were great sports about the whole thing. We tried to run our errands in the mornings and then hit the pool in the afternoon. We made it to the pool a couple of times and even made it an extra evening with dad. The weather has been crazy hot that I'm not sure whether to stay inside all day or hit the pool.

The kids are starting to play together a bit more and more each week it seems. Samantha continues to be very protective of Blake and often tries to mother him even though Travis and I are right there. She is always concerned that he is going to get away from us. It never fails that which one is up first they go looking for the other in just a few minutes.

We enjoyed a busy weekend which started off with Friday night supper when we had a guest in. It just happens that the gentleman that is running the other nursing home that is affiliated with Travis' is a friend from my college days. In fact, I actually lived with him and his family for a summer. It was good to see him again and get caught up.

Sabbath we visited the Chapel Oaks Church again. We were so happy that we visited again and realized that we love the kids' Sabbath Schools. Blake's is excellent and though I didn't get to visit Samantha's I heard it was very good and she is still playing Sabbath School. We were fortunate to get invited for lunch and enjoyed an afternoon getting to know some new people.

Today we worked around the house a bit and then ran a couple of errands. As a special treat we visited Sheridan's Custard as I had heard it was yummy. Let's just say I'm not sure it's a good thing we have one so close to our house, it's delicious. I think we'll have to start taking all of our company there for a treat:)

We're looking forward to this week as BeBe and Papa are coming into town AND Tracy and Cheryl will be visiting us.

Playing at the playground at Shawnee Mission Park last Sabbath...

Helping mom with the salad for Friday night supper...

Licking the batter from Angel Food cake...

We enjoyed corn-on-the cob one night for supper...
While going through the basement we found one of my old toys that Samantha loves...

While out and about we enjoyed Sheridan's custard...

It seems we've been very busy ever since we got to Kansas City. This has been our first weekend without company!

The kids and I have found our way around to numerous spots and have gotten several places down pat. We pass by a Target every time we go on the interstate and WalMart is a couple of miles in the other direction.

We've visited Barnes and Noble for their Wednesday story time twice now. Samantha really enjoys it and asks if we can go back. The gentleman that does it is a good reader and adds character to the stories.

The biggest thing we've done is that we've bought a summer swim pass for our family. The City of Olathe has a pool very close to our house so we decided to take advantage of it. The kids and I have gone 3+ times and dad joined us one evening. Blake prefers the little kiddie pools but Samantha enjoys the zero entry pool (it enters just like the ocean). We've learned that the evenings are the quietest and we hope to make Thursday night family swim night. Samantha even had to get a pass for the pool and she was quite excited.

Blake has started saying so many new words. He says sky, drop, fish, amen, Samantha (his version), and ball are the words I can think of off the top of my head. He's finally learned to sign more and really only uses it when he wants a bottle and he signs more milk.

Samantha has really enjoyed having her own room, especially now that we've gotten it decorated it. We added a "reading corner" where we have her book shelf, a chair and a light where she can read books. She also loves the pool and the playground we found.

Last weekend we enjoyed having Travis' aunt and uncle come into town for the weekend. It had been about 1 1/2 years since we had seen them so it was fun to get caught up. They were great sports and came with us while we did a bit of shopping then we all walked The Legends, a nice new shopping center with a fountain. After supper we took the kids to a playground and they helped us watch them. Samantha really enjoyed getting to know more relatives and can't wait to see them again.

This Sabbath we headed out after the rain and visited Shawnee Mission Park. We did a bit of driving around and saw several deer before finding the playground. We keep exploring our city so we took a different way come. Last evening we spent a lot of time playing with the kids.

Today we went with Travis while he worked on his office. The kids still love going to dad's work and Samantha has started to warm up to the residents a bit and has started to talk with them. I worry often that they feel way to familiar around there but the residents do enjoy seeing the little kids all around.

This is what happens when you forget to cover your sand box and you get a big rain...

Samantha with her first I.D.-her swim pass...

Enjoying a drink...

Samantha looking at pictures of friends in Tennessee...

Our new carousel at the mall...

I am just going to do this in diary form to make it a bit simpler:

5/25: Dad left for KS again and BeBe came in to Chattanooga. Her plane was a bit late but the kids got baths and supper while waiting for her. We got to the airport just in time to see her plane land which they really enjoyed.

5/26: Ran errands in an attempt to finish things up before the move. We also finished up some packing. BeBe and I watched a movie instead of packing that night.

5/27: Ran more errands and finished up more packing. There seemed to be a lot of last minute stuff to go into boxes. We were invited to Alex’s for lunch which was great and it meant that we didn’t have to eat out AND the kids got to play yet another time.

5/28: The big moving day! The movers came in with a whirlwind and ready began packing our breakable things. The driver started loading the truck (he had to put it on a transfer truck due to our private bridge) and they had our house loaded in 3 hours. The storage didn’t take much longer and we were able to get on the road. We traveled about 3 ½ hours that day and made it almost to Paducah. The kids loved the motel room because I’m not sure either one of them had spent a night in one before. It took a little bit for them to calm down but once they did they were out cold. It had been a big day for all of us!

5/29: The remainder of the drive took us about 9 hours which included several stops. We tried to make each meal a good stop so that the kids could get out and walk around a bit. We arrived at Travis’ hotel around 6 and after a bit went to his work to store a few valuable things. Papa also met us at the hotel that evening so he could spend the weekend with us.

5/30: We spent Sabbath at the New Haven church and really enjoyed ourselves. The church was quite friendly and the kids programs were good. That afternoon we checked out our new house, showed my parents Travis’ work and visited a new park. Another big and tiring day.

6/1: Papa and BeBe headed home to WI and we explored town, did laundry, took a dip in the very chilly pool and relaxed.

6/2: The kids and I took our time getting ready then headed out to Travis’ work to meet everyone and have lunch with him. The kids love going to his work because they have 2 fish tanks and 2 aviary’s. Blake, especially makes himself right at home. That afternoon I took them to the mall for a walk around and so that they could ride on the double decker carousel (Samantha loves carousel’s) and play at the play ground.

6/3: I had woken in the night very sick and it continued all day Tuesday. Travis’ truck wouldn’t start and my glasses broke. Not our day! Luckily the kids were great in the hotel room and we survived with a lot of TV.

6/4: Our household goods came. The movers were all done moving our things in my 1:00 that afternoon. It was great that the cable guy and the company to hook up my washer and dryer all came that day too. Now we were ready to begin living again. It had been an extremely early morning because we had to drop Travis off at work and by the time picked him up, ate and got the beds made it was so late the kids were beyond tired. One tough night!

6/5 Time to pick out glasses and make a Target run for some necessary things. I was also the first day to really hit those boxes (we had 355 items to work on).

6/6 We got a few more things put away in anticipation of Grandma and Grandpa Willy coming.

6/7 We tried out the Chapel Oaks church and really enjoyed the Sabbath School. I ran into a girl I went to college with which was nice to see a somewhat familiar face. That afternoon we went to Deanna Rose Farms. Everyone had told us we had to go there, it’s a free petting zoo with playgrounds, gardens, etc. It was a nice way to spend Sabbath afternoon and a place we’ll be going back to.

6/8 After breakfast Grandma Linda watched the kids so that we could tackle boxes. We basically finished up unpacking everything and getting the boxes we were not going to tackle now in their appropriate places. The kids really enjoyed the time with the grandparents and we liked getting everything done.
This week has really been a week of settling in and knowing our way around town. We went to Barnes and Noble story time, visited a friend and made a couple of trips to the grocery store.

Here are some highlights from the kids:
1. Samantha needs to learn that we’re living in a city now where she can’t yell for me, and ride her bike without much supervision. She also needs to learn the way of the road and sidewalks.
2. Blake has started to talk a lot more and knows a lot of animals sounds. He knows a dog, cat, monkey, rooster, kitty, duck, and rabbit.
3. Samantha has asked to go back home several times but I’m hoping now that we’re pretty much settled and we start doing things she’ll adjust.
4. The kids did great in the motel room despite us living in a very small space. They all slept quite well even during naps.
5. They love playing on the piano and you can often hear Samantha singing.
6. Blake is teething and working on a molar. Never mind he only has 6 other teeth!
7. Samantha loves to watch the weather and see when it’s going to rain. She hates thunder though and always covers both ears (day or night) whenever it’s thundering.
8. Samantha said that dad did a good job picking out our house and I agree, we love our bigger space!
9. Blake is running places and can get away fast.
Hopefully we’ll get into somewhat of a routine fast and get back on track soon.


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At the hotel on the road...

Life at the hotel...




Moving is tough work...
The kids helped with unpacking...


Playing with the sprinkler...


Samantha created her own craft while we were unpacking boxes...
Blakes loves his bottle so much!
At Deanna Rose Farms...

Samantha wanted to play with a scissors so I found a "safe" one I had gotten for her. She cut up a ton of pieces but pretty much mastered the scissors...