the big move

It happened. We made it to Utah.  We sold our condo to a cute new family and could move on. I have to say,  it was a great feeling to sign those papers. The original plan was to sign the papers and hit the road,  but once again I was reminded that just because I make a plan doesn't mean it will happen. Jared had to stay and work another week so we checked into a hotel instead.  The benefit of this was we had time to say goodbye to our Virginia friends. There are three things that are irreplaceable about Virginia,  at least to me.  1) W&OD trail 2) Wegmans 3) our friends. We made great friends there and it was sad to say goodbye.

And now to the drive.

We hit the road Saturday morning at 4:50 am on the dot.  I'm a much better morning traveler than night traveler.   The goal for day 1 was a stop in Chicago to see the Walkers.  As we were driving we realized we were paying the national air force museum in Ohio.  Who knew?  It was a great break for everyone.  Despite a major fail by Google maps,  we made it that night and we're able to spend Sunday with them which we loved.

Monday morning was early again.  4:45.  We pretty much just saw corn that day.  The highlight was a little cowboy motel jared found in Nebraska for the night.   What a little gem in an unexpected place.

Tuesday was our last day of driving.  It started at 4:30.  Once again,  nothing too exciting, just lots of open space.  I did learn that Wyoming is very windy. And Connor was pretty excited about pooping in Wyoming.  He wasn't excited about pooping,  but the fact that it was in Wyoming was pretty awesome.

What a feeling it was to finally pull into my parents driveway.  Maybe it was Wades welcome sign that made such an impact,  or the fact we didn't have to spend the next day driving 12 hours.  Or just maybe it was such a great feeling because we did it.   We knew this is what we wanted for our family and we made it happen.  Mission accomplished.

we like to be outside

Keeping a house clean and "show" ready is a challenge.   It's much easier to keep it clean if we're not there.  We've spent the last few Saturdays doing "hikes" around here.  Connor has been walking the whole way by himself so he'll be ready to hike with grandpa bench. He's pretty excited about that.

Jared is an excellent catcher of tadpoles and frogs 

Connors eye surgery

Connor had surgery number two for strabissmus. His last one was when he was a baby.  It's really hard being a parent and having to decide these things for your child and then hope you made the right decision.

Connor was awesome.  I am so impressed he handled it so well.  We told him a week before the surgery what was going to happen.  We showed him pictures from his last surgery and he asked questions all week long.  We were told over and over he didn't want the surgery. So sad.  I shed a lot of tears the night before.

The morning of the surgery we let Connor sleep until the last possible moment.  We dropped Sierra off at a friends and headed to the surgery center. Connor was so cooperative in everything they asked him to do.  The hardest part was convincing him to put on the hospital socks.  I'll take it.   We had told him his bed would have wheels and he'd get to take a ride on it to the operating room.  His goodbye was an adventure for him and he was excited to get his astronaut mask the nurse told him about.  No tears and no I don't want to gos. Thank goodness.

Jared and I kept with tradition and did a crossword during the surgery.  When the nurse came and told us we could go back with him she warned us that most kids are pretty unsettled waking up.  That there is usually a lot of crying and they are hard to console at that stage.  But of course Connor was Connor. He woke up,  wiggled some,  and then wanted to snuggle.   After a while we forced him to wake up and drink some juice so we could do or snuggling at home.

He's done great since the surgery.  His eyes are really red,  and he has double vision.   His double vision should go in a week or so.  I would think it would be quite bothersome to have double vision but after the first day it hasn't seemed to be an issue for him.   What a kid.

Such a sleepy boy

They had a dog waiting for him on his hospital bed.  He named him rocky

our $90 hike

We made the long trek to Maryland (a whopping 30 minutes) for a hike at Great Falls State Park. There is a Va side and MD side with the Potomac River running through the middle.  The VA side is a dirt walking path.  The MD side has what's called the billy goat trail. It's called this because the majority of the hike is climbing over boulders,  just like billy goats.  It was only a little nerve wracking to do with a 5 and 2 year old.   They absolutely loved it.

Connor was smiles the whole time

My little billy goats

Someone was pretty worn out

Smiles and dirt 

We call this a success

And we had a $90 parking ticket waiting for us when we got back to the car.  That's the last time we follow the crowd when the parking lot is full.

tree climbers

we all got the flu

We were a pretty sad sight for a while.  Everyone is feeling much better now.

Walker Nature Center

The weather was perfect today.  Much too nice to stay inside.   The nature center by us was having a festival and it was a successful afternoon outside.