Moving Day

The morning of our move, we woke up to snow on the ground.  May 13 in the U.P.  I shouldn't have been surprised.  Yet it was much better than rain for moving furniture and boxes in and out of the moving van.

Our crew of helpers (my dad, three brothers, and our good friend Kevin) showed up around 11 to load the truck.  Several nieces and nephews came to help too.  It was amazing how quickly things started disappearing from our house with all those helpers.  By 2:30 pm (3.5 hours later), we had unloaded everything at the new house and Matt was ready to drive the u-haul back.

It was great to see the cousins having so much fun playing together with all the space to run and things to do.  Our friends left a swing in one of the old apple trees and a fun fort under some pines, full of old silverware and dishes for kids to play with.  The kids loved that.  They also loved our chickens, especially Alaina and Bri, who love animals.

Amidst the craziness of unpacking, driving Clare the 10 miles to and from school everyday, vet appointments, spring concerts, etc. we are finding time to enjoy our new place.  Matt and I went for a walk across our field and to the pond the other night.  It was so peaceful: new spring color in the trees and a couple Canada geese in the field.  We felt incredibly blessed to have such a beautiful piece of land.

Looking south toward the house and barn.

Molly loved the pond.  We own about 2/3 of it. 

 The kids love all the space to run and play.  I've really been liking the privacy and lack of cigarette smoke.  I'm also so excited to start hosting family gatherings and play dates and things that were just harder to do in a smaller house.

Nora can play for a long, long time with dirt.  (Clare hung the No Trespassing sign on their fort with a hammer and nails all by herself.)

...or gravel.  

Clare with her (my) hammer.  I think this girl is getting a toolbox for her birthday.

So all in all, our move went smoothly and the unpacking is going as good as can be expected with a busy schedule and beautiful weather that beckons us outdoors.  I just need to get the kitchen stuff put away and organize some of our clothes and we should be good for a bit.  Ironically, this new kitchen is a lot bigger but less practical (fewer upper cabinets, no handy, space-saving drawers like our old kitchen had...) but maybe I've just accumulated too much stuff.

Yesterday we closed on our old house; no regrets or sad feelings there (except maybe the kitchen and my hard-working main floor bathroom).  In our new home, there's a lot of work ahead of us, but it's a great old farm house (1916) with a lot of character and more space than we had before.  Once I get a few more things put away, I'll post some pictures of the interior.