May 18th: ran around the house trying to gather everything we would need for 3 weeks. We kept 4 suitcases with all of the clothes/shoes/toiletries we would need, 4 pillows, 2 sets of sheets, the kids' lovies, some plastic silverware, paper plates, everything from our refrigerator, some of the food from our pantry, all important documents for traveling, 2 bikes, a tricycle for Ivy, a plasma car, 2 scooters, a basketball, the wifi equipment, iPads, and a few bottles of wine. Believe me, I needed the wine:) We borrowed Uncle Jeff's futon mattress for M and M, some blankets, a pack-n-play for Ivy, a toaster, car seats, a mattress for me, and I'm sure more that I can't think of right now!
May 19-21: The packers came Monday May 19th. There were 4 guys and they were really nice. By far our best packers we've had in our moves. They worked all day Monday and were most of the way done with the main floor and had the capped garage done. Chris was home part of Monday which was nice because he answered lots of their questions. May 20th they came back to finish up. Apparently they had a little more to finish than they originally thought because I could tell the pack job got a little shaky by the end. I tried to help. When they were at lunch I packed up a few boxes only for them to come back and re-pack. Apparently either I need a lesson on packing or they were very anal. May 21st the truck that was going to bring our stuff to Edmonton came and a small crew from the quad cities drove up and they loaded the truck. It was 85 degrees and I felt terrible for the guys. They got it all loaded and out the door by 4pm. When the kids came home from school, I was really scared that they would be upset, but they were giddy. An empty house is apparently a kid's dream.
May 22-23: The kiddos and I learned to live with only the necessities. It was actually really nice for a change. Every item in our house was something I needed. The kids were fantastic. They played with emtpy tape rolls that the movers left for hours. They raced them, they built towers with them, they colored them, etc. The weather was great so they played outside most of the time they were home from school. I really couldn't have asked for a smoother transition with minimal stuff. In fact, it makes me want to get rid of half the stuff we have. I just need to locate a goodwill one of these days and find out how many bags of garbage I can put out on garbage day:)
May 24-25: We spent the weekend in Decorah. The kiddos had lots of cousin time, I got some help with the kids, got to see some of my favorite cousins that I never get to see and I honestly can't remember what we did the rest of the time!
May 27-May 30: May 27th Chris flew home to finish up a few things, say some good-byes and get the car ready to pack and drive to Edmonton. May 28th we had our last cook out with the neighbors. We cooked out hundreds of times in the years that we lived there. Some planned, some not planned. The last one was definitely bittersweet. I'm going to miss the times when it's 6pm and none of us have any idea what we're doing for dinner and then all of a sudden, we're having a cook out. May 29th, Chris said good bye to his buddies. May 30th all 5 of us had dentist appointments and he took off with our Acadia full of anything extra we had in the house that could not fit in 4 suitcases and 4 carry-ons.
May 30-June 1: Spent the weekend in Decorah again. Had a really nice virtual shower for Tara at Tony's parents house on Friday. On Saturday my cousin Kelsey took the kids to the pool and then that night we were able to see lots of family members for a nice dinner! Chris drove up to the twin cities, was able to see a few friends, picked up Chloe from his parents house and spent one night at the cabin. Sunday June 1st he met his parents at the cabin and his dad and he took off for Canada! I am so thankful that he had someone to ride with and share the driving with. According to Chris it was a great trip and some good bonding time for him and his dad.
June 2-5: The kiddos last week of school. Lots of fun things going on at school, lots of artwork and other goodies coming home in the backpacks that I didn't plan for, lots of "I'm going to miss this" going through my head. Wednesday June 4th our shipment arrived in Edmonton and Chris and David were the lucky ones that had to start the unpacking process! Thankfully, David built some shelves for our storage room and the two of them got a lot of the prep work done so that when the kids and I came, things were somewhat in order. That day back home, I was a mess. Had my last glass of wine with the neighbors, the last time my kiddos would play capture the flag in our backyard, etc. It wasn't fun. June 5th my dad came to Dubuque bright and early and we worked the whole day trying to get the house packed/cleaned up. I did manage one last coffee date with a friend downtown, to get my paperwork for my license in Canada, to forward my mail and have lunch with some friends:) After the kids got off the bus we had one last goodbye with a bunch of people and lots of tears. We planned to leave around 4:30 and it was around 5:40 when we eventually pulled out. Very tough to pull away from the house that had so many good memories. (That's all I can write right now! I'm tearing up just thinking about it so need to move on) We headed to Decorah that night.
June 6th: the big day was finally here! We got up really early (5:15) and pulled out of Decorah at 6:15. My dad took the kids, my mom and I to Rochester to catch the Rochester Express. It took us to the airport where we would be catching an 11:30 flight to Edmonton. We got to the airport with plenty of time to spare and were very thankful there were no delays with our flight. When we got to the gate, the attendant at the desk was asking for 9 people to take the next flight at 5:30pm in exchange for a $500 voucher. I was very tempted. I called Chris and he said no, I asked my mom and she said no as well. About 15 minutes later, the lady bumped it to $600/person. Again I was very tempted, but didn't do it. Chris was waiting for us in Edmonton and was very ready for us all to be together. About 15 minutes later the lady went to $800/person and I immediately took it without really asking anyone. I figured....shoot, we can hang out in the airport for 6 hours extra in exchange for $4,000 worth of vouchers, right???!!? So we hung out and I know someday when I book a bunch of flights for free, it will be worth it:) Thankfully, my mom was a really good sport and helped out a ton with the kiddos. We even got vouchers for dinner and my mom and I spent the whole $10 on alcohol. Eventually we got on a plane at 5:30 pm and got into Edmonton around 7:45pm Mountain time. After waiting in the customs line for what seemed like hours, we got through okay and went to get our bags. Except 3 of the 5 bags didn't show up!! Probably because of the flight bump I'm sure. Anyway..we got that all squared away, stood in line at immigration for a long time, got a visitor record put in my passport so next time we fly in, we can go right through customs as if we're Canadian citizens. Phew! We met Chris and headed to our new house.
That's it for now! Stay tuned to hear about my initial thoughts on Canada, and my first experience at a doctors office. It's a doozy!
1 comment:
I'll sell all of my stuff with you! We loved living simple too. It's been a crazy busy month for you all. I hope it slows down as you get settled. Thanks for the updates!
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