Moving Right Along...

On the morning of July 29th we didn't have a birthday party so it was strictly a moving day.

Except for that evening when Nana, Grandpa, and Emily got to go to the Circus!

When they arrived home it was clear that they'd had a great time!

And just like Daddy suggested, Emily got a program (she also got to choose one souvenir and she chose a big circus horse - perfect for her big princesses)...

and was very happy to go through it with us right away.  She told us all about each act - 

like the lion tamer kissing a lion...

and the amazing elephants.

Everett didn't get to go to the circus, but Grandpa read him our circus book the next morning...

(Everett channeling the elephants)

and Emily went through her program with him too...

before it was time to get moving again.

(Everett was impressed with Emily's ability to unload with the grown ups)

I am sure he was also impressed with her as she ate her lunch and helped him eat his...

while they watched Grandpa paint in the backyard.

Grandpa's first big project (maybe the biggest of the move) was building a picket fence for the playroom.

It was a pretty detailed job.

But, with everyone working tirelessly, we were ready for the movers' arrival on August 1st.

They were very nice guys, and very strong too!  

While they loaded the furniture, we continued to work in the kitchen.  (Those cabinets just kept giving and giving and giving - ugh.)

And after a few hours, we were over at the new house...

and ready to unload.

Okay, so we did have a little time to just hang out while the movers did the heavy lifting...

and we couldn't unload our UHAUL and 3 cars at the same time... 

**(Remember this picture)

so we directed the move and watched Emily play in her new backyard.

Before too long, there was furniture in the new house!

Though not every room came together so easily.

And the next morning we had the locksmith out to rekey the locks.  (This is of note because it was a 7AM appointment and he showed up AND RANG THE BELL at 6:43AM.)  

With those set appointments behind us it was time to keep the kids busy (Emily and Nana painted in the backyard)...

and bring over some additional loads. 

I asked Nana to take the picture above because that is how I looked much of the time.  Tired!  No, what I wanted to record is that I had Everett on one hip and a box on the other.  Poor little guy did not know WHAT was going on and wanted to be right next to me, lest I sneak away.  And if he wasn't on my hip, then he was checking on Grandpa's projects.

Emily too.

This particular project was in what I like to call the "multipurpose room."

It is a closet under the stairs that provides a lot of storage space (most of our Christmas decor) but is also the coat closet.  And since we left a DREAM pantry at the old house and have a nightmare pantry here, things were tight.  So, Grandpa and his helper...

added a third purpose... auxiliary pantry!!!

Over the next several days we unpacked, "personalized" the new house, and I also went back to undo...

the giraffe wall...

and the guest room flowers.

The old house was ready to be turned over (minus a cleaning crew) on August 4th.

** That picture of Paul walking with Everett and our UHAUL plus three cars is important because I recently used it in my 4 appeals for our 4 parking tickets!  As it turns out, we are not allowed to park on the street on the 1st and 3rd Wed. of the month between 12-4PM because of street cleaning.  (Our move was on Wed, Aug. 1st!)  It didn't matter that we had a HUGE tractor trailer parked in front of our house and were moving at the time.  Grumble, grumble.  I haven't heard back about my appeals yet.

*Photo credit to Grandpa at the circus and our moving truck