Vacation Evacuation

So...we have some catching up to do! I've been without internet for a couple weeks and life has been a little hectic...maybe an understatement. We've bought a car, went on vacation, moved, housed visitors, celebrated Kate's first birthday, and gotten Rachel registered and off to school. It's been a lot of fun and I can't wait to share it all with you.

First off, the car. A really long story but I'll try and condense it.

Let it be know that it is NOT EASY trying to buy a car when you don't have a car. Jake trained out to Brooklyn, Conneticut, Staten Island, and New Jersey to find one. He buys one up that was a great car but really beat up on the inside. I wasn't thrilled about it. The seller ends up desperately wanting it back. We buy another one and then he pulls back on his offer. He's a millionaire, but in heavy debt and couldn't get the money to us in time. So I was stuck with 2 cars in NYC, with no husband, and having to deal with street parking and moving the cars for the street sweeper. Probably one of the craziest days of my life! I end up driving one car (with no registration, insurance, etc) down to Princeton and heading to Boston for the week with the other one. It all ended happily ever after as we were able to trade in a car and end up with the much nicer one...and a happy and relieved wife.Having a car gives you so much freedom. I'm loving it! We had great time in Boston spending time with our friends and enjoying the last days of summer. I loved talking to my friend Maria and our kids get along so well. It's amazing to watch Rachel and Andrew pick up where they left off and have such a great time together.

One day we went to a pond to go swimming. The kids were loving it until we found out about the elevated e. coli in the water. We're dealing with the consequences of that this week :)
Another day we went to a farm, had a delicious fresh lunch, picked blueberries, played on the old playground and fed some animals. I WAS LOVING IT! It's been too long since we've done anything like this.
Eating the fruits of our labor.
This girl loves animals.
We also spent a lot of time at home. These kids were busy with treasure hunts, swimming, water balloons, bubbles, chalk, finger painting, and just having fun.
It's so fun to have kids all the same ages...

We ended up staying a few extra nights because our neighborhood was under mandatory evacuation for the Hurricane. I was expecting to come home to flooding and broken windows. but the storm ended up not hitting as hard as they predicted. A little anti-climatic but good for us because our movers were scheduled to come the next morning.

Taking one last look at the statue and the view from the river.
We've known about this move for about 6 months now so we've been more than ready for it. But it was still hard to say goodbye to friends and to close the doors on our cozy apartment and the memories we've had. I got teary eyed looking out our window one last time as I reflected upon the struggles and the triumphs we've experienced here. It was a tough year and I reached breaking points I never thought possible, but I don't regret living here one bit. It has strengthened and humbled me and will forever be a part of me.

So, goodbye New York City we will miss you (maybe not the smells, dogs, crowds, and noise) but we'll definitely come back to visit (as we're only a 45 minute train ride away)