A Time of Change

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The world is upside-down right now. Our family is also shifting in occupation, location and direction. With Dave's impending retirement from the Marine Corps, Rachelle and the kids needed relocate early to the place where we can settle and grow some roots. We loved our military experience, but everyone is ready for stability.

So, Rachelle, Brody and Adeline took a trip to scope out cities, neighborhoods, jobs and schools. You can see from one of the photos, the kids had definite opinions about the choices. In the end, we started (virtually at first for Brody) in a new home- straight from a 50's TV show. We saw kids on bikes carrying fishing rods, lemonade stands and everyone walking dogs. Brody's new middle school shares a playground/field with Addy's next year kindergarten, so they'll be able to walk to school together for a couple years.

Here's a brief explanation of the photos above- top to bottom, left to right

1) Our last military 4th of July. Our blonde firecracker helped make cookies and salads for our little cookout to watch the fireworks display.

2) In anticipation of our road trip, we bought scooters so that we could cruise prospective neighborhoods and enjoy some fresh air. Addy rides with Mom or Dad and can't wait till she can have her own. (She does enjoy her pink bike with training wheels, but these are faster!)

3) Dave has been rebuilding his old Jeep, and he finished that gigantic project in June. We love cruising in the summer evenings- it'll be much better when we can stop for a bite or drink and visit neighbors. For now, it's just good to get out of the house.

4 & 5) We traveled nearly 1000 miles and visited twelve states. Mom interviewed at five different places- some beautiful, some okay, some not good. Kids got to see their possible new schools, athletic parks and playgrounds.

6) Brody's first day of in-person school= Addy was so jealous that he got to go. We were actually glad that he was in Zoom! classroom for the first month- at least he could see the faces of his new classmates. Poor dude. He was very ready to get into the middle school building. 6th grade is tough for everyone- starting 6th grade in a pandemic as a new kid takes a special personality and resilience. Glad he has those. He's done really well, made a decent bunch of buddies, started playing tackle football (mom fears for his handsome head every day!) and got straight A's the first quarter.

7) Addy doesn't mind tagging along when Brody has practice or games. His athletic fields are all attached to pretty neat playgrounds, and there are plenty of other little sibs to share her adventures.

8) Rachelle's mom, "Mimi," came to stay with us until Dave was released from his duty station. A retired school teacher, she took over Adeline's lessons and was a tremendous help. Those two became partners in crime, shopping buddies and "ladies who lunch."

9) Addy's "classroom" During the pandemic, she learned to read and write all her letters and numbers, read a little and do first grade level math. She does exploratory lessons on animals and actually corrected a tour guide at the zoo when identifying an animal! Smart girl!

10 & 11) Some arts, crafts and playtime- anything to pass the time while her mom's at work and Brody's at school

12) Time to start Pre-K. We researched a while and found a safe school for Addy. The lessons with Mimi are excellent, but she really missed sharing with other children. So she got a sparkly new backpack and headed off on her own first day!

13) As the leaves changed, Adeline never tired of taking in the beautiful scenery during a neighborhood stroll.

14) One nearby park has a trail through the woods with over 50 fairy houses. We love exploring here, and we made one of our own. What type of fairy do you think will live here? I hope it keeps those pixies warm in the winter.

15) Halloween, COVID-style. Brody is the weird-looking mummy, and one of his friends (rock star) joined the Pirate Fairy Princess in trick-or treating in the rain.

16 & 17) Finally, Dad formally retired from the military. We traveled to DC for the ceremony and saw him out in style. A bright and beautiful November day. Even brighter is the prospect that he'll be at home with us for good.

Looking forward to spending the holidays in our new home. Hopefully next year we can share with family and friends- we're missing everyone and can't wait till we can put this pandemic and all of the stress behind us.