Snow Day

We woke up this morning to snow on the ground. Actually, the snow covered everything. It continued to snow all day long. So much for it being spring.

Caleb's reaction to the snow was to say "Off". He apparently thought that we should brush the snow off of the entire state of Colorado. Looking out the window, he pointed and said "Off". When I took him outside to play in the snow, he kept saying "Off" and attempted to brush the snow off the deck himself.

Campbell's first words about the snow were "Snow in March!" She just could not believe that there would be snow in March. She so looked forward to seeing the snow in Colorado. Apparently though, she didn't think it should snow in March.

It was a bit shocking. I mean it has been in the upper 60's since we arrived here 4 weeks ago and suddenly today we have 7 inches of snow on the ground. It was beautiful though. The white snow contrasted against the new green leaf buds, quite lovely. We will be glad to see the 60's return on Saturday, though!

Museum

This last weekend, we went to the Denver Museum of Science and Nature. As an added bonus to all the wonderful things we saw, we discovered that with our military ID we get in for free. This is especially good considering that in about 3 hours we were only able to see most of one floor. There are 3 floors total plus the IMAX movies. We will definitely need to go back a few times to see everything.

We decided to start on floor 3. That's where the dinosaurs and mummies were. The first section we went through was the dinosaurs. Caleb put his new concerned look and squeal to use here. We'll have to put this behavior on video for you guys. He squinches up his face and fake cries when he thinks something is scary. The dinosaurs were scary, to him at least. We were able to see a lot of very neat fossils. This section was where we spent most of our time.

We then went through the Explore Colorado and the Africa sections. In the Explore Colorado there were a bunch of diaramas depicting lakes, mountains, tree lines and animals of Colorado. Africa had the same but African animals. Connected to the African display was display of gem carvings. These carvings were amazing. They were all of people and they had different colors that were created with only gems, no paint. Very cool!

The last display we saw was the mummies. Campbell and Aaron both really wanted to see this. Campbell could not get enough of the mummies. There were two mummies, one a rich woman and the other a poor woman. Campbell kept looking between the two mummies to see the differences in the wrappins and the coffins. She found this to be extremely interesting. She is definitely our little history buff.

The display we missed on the 3rd floor was the Ben Franklin display. Campbell is on spring break this week, so maybe we will go back to check that out. Also we will be heading over to the Denver Mint to see how money is made. We'll report on that when we go.

Zoo's and Gardens

Aaron drills the second weekend of the month. While he was drill this month, the kids and I went to the zoo. The zoo here is much bigger than the zoo in Greenville. We saw a lot of very neat animals. Caleb loved seeing the giraffes and camels. Campbell though the camels were ugly and smelly. They are different kids.

We got to see wolves, buffalo, wild horses, and the regular zoo animals. The kids enjoyed their day at the zoo. The day started out nice and warm but cooled off after lunch. Because of that, we didn't stay and hang out as long as we had wanted to in the afternoon. We will be going back, though. I'm thinking that yearly passes are in order.

This last weekend the entire family was able to go to the Denver Botanic Gardens. There was not much in bloom, but with temperatures in the upper 60's we wanted to do something outside. We did see a few bulbs in bloom and they were pretty. They had a really neat tropical display that we went throught. There was also a nice cactus display. My favorite was the Japanese garden. Even without flowers in bloom, this garden was so beautiful. As we were leaving we discovered that it was a free day at the gardens so we were able to get our fee back. That was even better!

We can't wait to go back to the gardens later in the spring. So many of the gardens are going to be gorgeous when the plants come up and the flowers bloom. Even withouth flowers in bloom, we spent two hours walking around. When the flowers are there I am thinking a picnic will be involved.

Those are the two big adventures we have taken so far. We plan on more and we will keep you informed on our fun.

Catching Up

Ok. We have now been here for three weeks. Let's get you all caught up with what we have been up to.

Campbell started school on March 5. School, of course, has been great. The school here is giving her much more of a challenge. Even the spelling words are more difficult. She had to take a spelling, math, and reading test so that they could group her. In SC they didn't do any grouping at her school, so this is a great improvement for her. Of course, in reading and spelling she has been placed in the top group. She takes after her father when it comes to math. Mommy is trying to change that. She does well in math and is in the middle math group, but she does not like it. So we are working on that. She has made a lot of friends, and has even brough home phone numbers. She is definitely adjusting very well.

Caleb seems to be enjoying staying at home with Mommy. His schedule is working great with Darla's work schedule. The days are busy but he takes a good 2 hour nap during the middle of the morning which allows for good work time. He has also learned to play really nicely by himself. He does occasionally love to sit in Mommy's lap and help with the typing though. He had a rough time with the time change but has finally adjusted.

Aaron has gone back to work and seems to be enjoying it. A couple of his Greenville co-workers were in town last week, so he had a night out. James even went out to dinner with the family one night. We all enjoyed that! He also started drilling with his new reserve unit here in Denver. It sure is nice to have drill close to home.

Work is going great for Darla. She still works for the college in SC but does it from home. Telecommuting is definitely the way to go. Being able to work in pj's is a huge plus. Not to mention that we save a ton of money in daycare since Caleb is at home too.

All in all, everyone is adjusting well. We do all miss our family, friends and Greenville as a whole. But we are making Denver home.

Move In Day

It's actually been a pretty smooth transition. We've been blessed with DD working from home, getting an AIMCO discount, and the benefits of big-city bundled utility service. We're actually living cheaper here than back in G'ville! Of course, all that changes once a house comes into the picture (the STICKER shock), but we'll hold off on that for a while. Township at Highlands is a pretty nice property, so we're staying put for the time being.
The commute's not as bad as I thought it'd be. Most of that is due to my being able to ride the motorbike most days. Today in the snow I realized just how many cars there are on the road. When you're in a truck you have a much bigger footprint to worry about.
The only hiccup was back on 1 March when I got temp labor to help me offload the truck. The truck arrived on time, it was snowing the night before and I was worried we wouldn't get the truck in. The sky opened up and the snow melted off the road just in time. The temp guys were late, however. I called the agency and asked for their cell #. The guy answers "bueno?". Great... They speak no english... and I speak no spanish. They eventually show up, Jesus and Guadalupe. Jesus was 65 if he was a day... These are the guys they send to help me offload a truck of furniture? He crawls out of the car all bent over... I just knew he was going to die on me. Everytime he went to lift something he'd go "Un, dos, MUSICA!!!!". I dunno what music has anything to do with lifting stuff, but everytime he said it I imagined Mariachis jumping out of the bushes playing "El Jarabe Tapito" (the mexican hat dance). It took twice as long as I wanted it to, but we got it all inside just as the snow started in again. I learned some spanish in the process: "arriba" is up, "abajo" is down, and "diablito" is what they call a dollie ("the little devil"; How true is that?).

Travel Day 3

Stats:
550 miles
2 states - Kansas and Colorado
hotel - none (We stayed in our new home.)

We got up and had breakfast at the hotel. We then piled into the car and prepared to drive to the rest of the way to our new home. Again, the children surprised us by not complaining one bit.

The drive through Kansas was by far the dullest part of the trip. There is nothing in Kansas. In Campbell's words all there is to see is "grass and tumbleweeds". Oh, how correct she is. To help the time go by for her we introduced her to the jack-a-lope. Now, if you have never heard of a jack-a-lope I am surprised. This is a legend that I think is required for parents to pass on to their children. A jack-a-lope is a rabbit with antlers. Surprisingly, Campbell did not see a single one of the creatures. But she sure did look for them.

We did stop in Kansas. We were going to go the the "zoo" where you could see the largest prairie dog in the world. According to the billboards, it is 800 pounds. Unfortunately, the "zoo" was closed for the season. We did however, get to smell cow manuer. We quickly got back in the car and headed out of Kansas.

We finally crossed into Colorado in the early afternoon. For an idea of how bored we were, we watched our cell phones for 30 minutes waiting to see when they would register the time change. Who knows when the changed but they were on the correct time when we arrived in Denver.

About an hour out of Denver we saw a "scenic route". We decided that since we were so good on time and the weather was so beautiful we should take the scenic route. Uh-oh. The first part of the route was more of what we had seen most of the day; rolling hills, grass, and tumbleweeds. When we reached a spot where it may have been a bit more scenic, it started to snow, big fat can't see snow. The last 40 miles of our trip was on a two lane "scenic route" covered in snow. Welcome to Colorado!

We did arrive in Denver safely. We went to the townhouse and dropped off the stuff we had with us. We then headed to the mall and grocery store to get a few necessities. After getting the necessities we needed, we prepared to sleep in our new home for the first time. That night we slept in sleeping bags on the floor after watching a movie on a portable DVD player. I wish I had a picture of this family of 4 watching a movie on that itty bitty screen. That was a sight!

Travel Day 2

Stats:
550 Miles
3 states - Illinois, Missouri, Kansas
Hotel - Courtyard Mariott

We started our morning in Marion, IL. To our surprise, neither kid complained when it was time to get in the car again. They bot just hopped in and were ready to go. As we came into St. Louis Missouri, we made sure to tell Campbell to watch for the Arch. We decided at the last minute that since the Arch was so close to the interstate, we should stop.

Tuesday morning at around 10:00 is the perfect time to stop at this park. We had whatever parking we wanted. There was hardly anyone at the arch. In fact, outside we saw maybe 5 people. The arch really is quite a neat site. It is huge! We also decided to walk through the museum under the arch. Campbell is really into the "Little House" series of books. So this museum was right up her ally. It had covered wagons, Indians, buffalo etc. It was a great distraction from the hours of riding in the car that lay ahead. All told, we spend about an hour at the park. To top it off, Caleb got his diaper changed on the front seat of the car in freezing cold weather. See, everyone had a great time!!

The rest of the day was not nearly as exciting. All we did was drive. Oh and we stopped for lunch and gas. Very exciting stuff! As we drove through Kansas City, we thought of our friends that we knew from the Navy who live there. We're not sure exactly where they live, so we didn't stop but we thought of them.

We ended the day in Salina, Kansas. After being in Salina for about 5 minutes, we decided that we don't want to live there. I know one of our old neighbors used to live there and said it was a nice place, but we think she might be a little crazy! Just kidding!!

The Mariott was nice. No free drinks, but still nice. The kids and Aaron swam again. We went to dinner at Red Lobster. We could not convince Caleb that the fish did not growl. He insists that fish growl. We did find out that he does love to eat shrimp though. He couldn't get enough of them.

After dinner we head back to the hotel. We needed to prepare for the 3rd and final leg of our trip. We were sure this would be a long leg as we were traveling through Kansas.

Travel Day 1

Stats:
550 Miles
6 States ( South Carolina, North Carolina, Georgia, Tennessee, Kentucky, and Illinois)
Hotel - Drury Inn Suites

The travel actually went suprisingly well. We were a bit concerned. Campbell had thrown up the night before and shortly after starting the trip she said she didn't feel well. We stopped for some sprite and a light breakfast. We also had to instruct her not to read for a while. Anyone who knows Campbell, will know that this was torture for her. But, about an hour later she had color back in her cheeks and all was well.
We stopped at about 11 for lunch. It was actually only 10 though because of the time change, so we ended up having breakfast for lunch. Oh well, at least it was food. We also took a brief walk through Wal-mart and stopped for gas. We didn't stop again until we were almost to our hotel. Aaron needed a drink.
We stayed at the Drury Inn that night in Marion, Illinois that night. Let me recommend this place. First they had a pool for the kids to play in. The pool was actually a little too chilly but they enjoyed the hot tub. Applebees was right next door so we wer able to walk to dinner. And they gave the adults 3 free cocktails each. Everyone slept well that night.
We went to bed thankful that both children handled day one well and could only hope that day two would go as smoothly.

Moving Day

Moving Day was Saturday February 24. The day was full of hard work, good fun, great friends, and of course lots of emotions.

Campbell had spent the night before at her friend Olivia's house and was scheduled to spend that night with her friend Julianne. Her weekend was definitely full of friends and fun. She also ended up going to a movie with her friends that day. This was wonderful for her to spend so much time with her friends and we thank Lori and Joanne for this immensely!

Adam and Laurel came down from Charlotte to help. Aaron's friend and co-worker Dave came to help. And of course our wonderful neighbor Brad came over to help. All the help was so much appreciated. Thank you to all of you!

Evrything was already packed so it was much more about loading the truck than anything. Bob the truck driver arrived four hours early. He pulled up to our tiny cul-de-sac in an 18 wheeler with a 53 foot trailer. It was no easy task backing that thing up to our drive way. Bob was a genious packer. Once everyone arrived to help, he was able to get all of our household good, two motorcycles, and a pickup truck loaded into under 38 feet of space. It was amazing! It took a little longer than Aaron had hoped but all was good.

After the packing, the best neighbors ever had a little dinner/get together at their house. All of our best friends were there to say good bye. It was a wonderful time! Thanks everyone. The best part was sitting up until way late just talking. We stayed the night with our neighbors, since all of our furniture was obviously gone. That was so wonderful that have that extra time. Thanks guys!

The next day we got up cleaned up the house. That is where the hitch in our plan was realized. We couldn't find the key to the car. This was not good as the spare key was on the truck on its way to D.C. All we had was the valet key. We decided that would have to work.

We picked up Campbell and prepared to say goodbye to the best neighbors ever. Yes, there were tears involved. I don't thing either husband knew exactly what to do with tears. The goodbyes were said and we headed to Aaron's mom for the rest of the day/night. The next day, a three day (1500 mile) drive with an 8 year old and a 1 year old would begin.

Background

Let's start with why we moved.
Back in October, Aaron was offered a promotion to project management. The only hitch was that the promotion involved a move to the corporate headquarters in Denver. Professionally the move was the right thing for him. Personnaly, the decision was a little harder for the entire family. We had lived in Greenville for almost seven years. We all had great friends there. Our house that Aaron had worked so hard on was there. Darla's job was there. We had moved to Greenville when Campbell was only 18 months old, so Greenville is all she knew. Caleb had been born in Greenville. We had family nearby with Aaron's mom only 1 1/2 hours away. Other family was as close as 4 hours away in Charleston.
Ultimately, we decided that the move was the best decision for our family. The promotion was great for Aaron. Darla would have plenty of job opportunities. The schools would be great for Campbell. So, we decided that we would spend our last Christmas in our Greenville home and prepare the house for sale.
We put the house on the market at the beginning of January and three days later we had an offer on the house. After a few days of counter offers, an agreement was reached and the house was under contract. We would be closing on February 25th. Things went smoothly from there.
That brings us to the move itself...