Day 792 | Robbe's Senior Photo

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It's been a busy and exhausting day. We celebrated Chris's mom's birthday with a big party filled with delicious food, good friends, and lots of laughter. The perfect celebration for such a lovely person.

Unfortunately, I didn't snap any photos there so this one of Robbe that Chris took will have to do. Apparently the little man asked for a photo in the jungle with his new fork lift. Hahaha. It might be my new favorite photo of him. 

Day 790 | Like a Dream

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I finally downloaded the photos from the little park get together we hosted last weekend. I'm going to miss these faces. Saying goodbye to these folks (and several others who aren't pictured here) has been about the toughest thing I've done.

Right now, it just feels like we're on our typical Wisconsin summer vacation. The boys and I flew in yesterday and will be living out of a suitcase until our moving truck arrives next weekend. We're heading to Chris's hometown tomorrow...just like we usually do.

Our first day back in Wisconsin could not have been better. It was sunny and 70 degrees. It was filled with family and fun. I even got a bit of a kid-free time when the boys went to the farm with Grandpa. This is why we made the decision we did. This is why we need to live here. These people, this pace of life, the freedom that comes from growing up as a little kid in a small town.

For now, this whole move seems like a dream. I'm in this fuzzy world between the friends and house I said goodbye to yesterday and the boxes and paperwork yet to come next weekend. It's actually probably the perfect place for me right now.

Speaking of dreams...you might be wondering what's going to happen with the blog now that I'm no longer living in the District (I guess I should have picked a more generalized name, who would have thought?). To be honest, I'm not sure where I'll go with the blog. New name? New concept? Maybe. I'm pretty sure I'll continue it in some fashion, but I'm just too wiped out to commit to anything new. For now, keep checking in here on a daily basis. I'll do my best to capture this next chapter.

Day 788 | One More Sleep

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The moving truck arrives at 9:00am tomorrow. We're finishing up the last few boxes and contemplating our to do list for tomorrow amidst feelings of extreme excitement and extreme sadness.

The boys have been using a countdown chain to prepare themselves for the big move (as if stealing all their toys and books hasn't been enough of a clue). Tonight there was great celebration as they tore off the last link of paper. Do they have any idea what's actually going on here? I'd like to think so. They're smart kids. 

Day 787 | Working Hard

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We've been working our tales off all day and somehow we still have things to do. I feel like our possessions reproduce while we're sleeping somehow.

We did, however, manage this lovely coffee break while we waited for the car to be serviced (we're efficient like that). Just one more day of this chaos and then *fingers crossed* we can take a bit of a breather. A well-deserved breather. 

Day 786 | Final Farewells

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Well, we didn't make it to the top of the Washington Monument, sorry Chase, but we did make it down to the Mall for one final stop to take in the beauty of the District. And man, was it the perfect outing. The weather couldn't have been better, we found a parking spot (always a challenge), the crowds were manageable, and the monuments were awe-inspiring, as usual. It's like DC was trying one last time to lure us into staying. Unfortunately, we have too many boxes packed to let it convince otherwise.

As if the goodbye to the monuments wasn't enough for one day, we hosted a park party to say goodbye to all our friends this afternoon. We had a bunch of amazing people show up to play one last time at the park that sold us on this neighborhood originally (here's one of the original Tree Park posts). I held it together shockingly well...until the last two goodbyes. Then I lost it. Saying goodbye stinks. Saying goodbye to the best friends a girl could ask for really stinks.

I'm going to miss this city. I'm going to miss this neighborhood. I'm going to miss this house. I'm going to miss Chase's school. I'm going to miss the monuments and museums. I'm going to miss the playgrounds. I'm going to miss the walk-ability. I'm going to miss the Metro (even if it is a mess a lot of the time). I'm going to miss our favorite restaurants. I'm going to miss the energy. I'm going to miss the tourists (no, really!).

But, at the end of the day, I'm really really going to miss the people. It's always the people that make anything memorable, isn't it. I keep telling myself that my three best friends (Chris, Chase, and Robbe) are all coming with me, but I'm beyond sad to be saying goodbye to all my non-family friends. I've worked really hard to make these friends and it seems too early to be saying farewell.

We'll call it "see you later" instead. That sounds better.

Day 785 | Packing

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Chris and I promised a year ago that we were going to hire movers to pack our house up if we actually ended up deciding to move back to Wisconsin. We've tackled that challenge five times in 10 years and decided we were done. Twelve months later and about 40 boxes in, that decision was thrown out the window. Why, you might ask? I decided I wanted to save the money to splurge on nice patio furniture for our new, amazing three-season room. That's a fair trade-off, right?!? And, you know what dawned on me, I don't actually mind packing. And here's why:

Top five reasons I don't mind packing:
  1. There's nothing more satisfying that the perfectly packed box. Man, I've had some really impressive ones this time around. If only photos could do them justice, maybe I'd create some sort of calendar out of all my favorites.
  2. It makes the move seem real. I didn't like the idea of living a totally normal life right up to the day before our move. I don't think it would have been great for my emotional state and definitely would have been harder for the boys to understand. Now, they see the boxes every day and me packing every day and we're talking about the move nearly constantly.
  3. The money saved. This one is obvious, I know, but have you ever received a quote to have boxes packed? It's no joke. To satisfy your curiosity, in DC it's about $12 to pack a normal box (clothes, books, etc.) and then the price jumps to about $40 per box for fragile items (i.e. your entire kitchen). Of course there are some in between prices as well. That's no joke. We figure it'll save us about $2000 to pack everything. You're all going to love the patio furniture so much more now!
  4. The purging. If someone else packs your stuff, how do you go through everything so that you're not packing an old basketball jersey from high school (ok, to be fair, that one actually did make the cut, but I threw a lot of other stuff...). I don't want to bring all my old junk to my beautiful new house. 
  5. Ease in unpacking. I'm fully aware that the unpacking process is no picnic either. But, if I pack my own boxes and have a general idea of where stuff is and how much I still need to find homes for, I'm confident I'll be in a better place after the movers unload the truck.

Keep in mind, we're still hiring professionals to load and unload the truck and drive everything cross country. That, we will pay the crazy expensive fee for. Neither Chris nor I have the friends willing to help us move (we're not 20 anymore) or the stamina for a 16+ hour trek in a Uhaul. Bring on the movers!

Day 784 | Powering Through

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poweringthrough.jpg

If you haven't been able to tell through all the super fun and positive "bucket list" blog posts, things have actually been a bit rough around here. After our bout with hand, food, and mouth disease, I've been struggling with my back pain creeping in and some crazy wrist pain (to the point I couldn't pick anything up). On top of that, fireworks hit our house on the 4th of July (how does that happen?!?) and we woke up to $600 worth of damage to our siding (one week before we close on the house). Sheesh.

Instead of spending the rest of this post ranting about everything else that could be bumming me out these days (did I mention I lost my keys for 1.5 hours on Tuesday and was totally housebound because of this...not cool with only eight days left here!), I'm going to focus it on what helped me shift my mood: this little weed in our back alley.

Is that the most impressive thing ever? I don't know why but every time I look at it, it's a reminder that if you stay focused, keep trying, and power through the hard stuff, you can do it. Seem a little deep? Probably, it is only a little weed after all, but I appreciate the reminder and thought you might, too.

The last few weeks have been my concrete layer. I just need to keep pushing forward and someday, some day, there will be reward + relief.

Day 783 | A Final Museum

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If you're keeping track, we are one (1!) activity away from finishing our bucket list. Today we ventured down to the Mall for a trip to a museum. It wasn't the museum previously mentioned on our lists, you might notice. Chase decided to call an audible and select the National Museum of the American Indian instead, for two reasons. One, he could feed the ducks at the Capitol reflecting pool. Two, he wanted to play with the igloo. 

The American History Museum is always a crazy mess so I completely grabbed hold of this shift in plans and we went with it. There was a moment of panic when we found out the igloo wasn't going to open until later in the day, but luckily we befriended a sweet employee who made an exception for the cute kid who wanted this to be his last museum trip before he moves. Yeah, I laid it on a *little* thick, but super-sensitive Chase wasn't going to handle this turn of events well. In the end, good fortune won out and we were allowed ten minutes to build it up. Whew.

DC Bucket List, Deadline: July 13
  • Visit Turkey Thicket playground
  • Ride the Wheaton Miniature Train
  • Watch the ball drop at the Discovery Building
  • Eat at our sushi restaurant
  • Wade in Yards Park
  • Ride the Metro
  • Pick berries at Butler's Orchard
  • Fort Steven's Park 
  • Eat at H&Pizza
  • Visit the top of the Washington Monument
  • Watch the airplanes at Gravelly Point
  • Jump at trampoline park
  • Play at the National Building Museum
  • Have a snack by the train tracks
  • Feed the ducks at the Capitol
  • Build an igloo at the National Museum of the American Indian

Day 782 | Wheaton Miniature Train

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The heat couldn't keep us down today. To Wheaton we went for one last ride on the infamous (to us, anyway) miniature train and carousel. We've been here a handful of times over the past two years and it never disappoints. It just might be one of my favorite outdoor activities in the area. I think the boys would agree.

And, to keep with the focus on nostalgia, here are some past miniature train posts:

Day 50
Day 150
Day 746


 DC Bucket List, Deadline: July 13
  • A final stop at the American History Museum
  • Visit Turkey Thicket playground
  • Ride the Wheaton Miniature Train
  • Watch the ball drop at the Discovery Building
  • Eat at our sushi restaurant
  • Wade in Yards Park
  • Ride the Metro
  • Pick berries at Butler's Orchard
  • Fort Steven's Park 
  • Eat at H&Pizza
  • Visit the top of the Washington Monument
  • Watch the airplanes at Gravelly Point
  • Jump at trampoline park
  • Play at the National Building Museum
  • Have a snack by the train tracks

Day 781 | Snack on the Track

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It was a rough morning. Lots of factors collided to challenge my ability to keep it together. By around 10:30am (yep, this all happened before then), I had pulled myself together enough to take the boys on an outing across the street to have a snack and watch the trains. It was as enjoyable (if not more) than I remember it being. Are you getting tired of me mentioning how much I'm going to miss this place, yet?

For the sake of nostalgia:
Snack on the track: Spring 2015
Snack on the track: Fall 2014

And for those keeping track:

 DC Bucket List, Deadline: July 13
  • A final stop at the American History Museum
  • Visit Turkey Thicket playground
  • Ride the Wheaton Miniature Train
  • Watch the ball drop at the Discovery Building
  • Eat at our sushi restaurant
  • Wade in Yards Park
  • Ride the Metro
  • Pick berries at Butler's Orchard
  • Fort Steven's Park 
  • Eat at H&Pizza
  • Visit the top of the Washington Monument
  • Watch the airplanes at Gravelly Point
  • Jump at trampoline park
  • Play at the National Building Museum
  • Have a snack by the train tracks

Day 779 | Pizza

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The sounds of exploding fireworks fills the air as I type. I'm reflecting back to Chase's first 4th and how nervous I was about him being woken up by all the loud pops. I've come so far in this journey of parenthood...but it's funny how new little anxieties still manage to creep in (but not about fireworks anymore) even though I'm experiened enough to know I shouldn't let such things get to me. It's a never ending journey, I guess.

With that said, the main subject of tonight's post: pizza. Another check on the bucket list! We ate our final &pizza meal. It's been awhile since we've enjoyed it's deliciousness (it's harder to visit since we moved off the Hill). I have to say, it didn't disappoint. We'll miss you, yummy pizza!

Day 778 | Errands

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We didn't pack a single box today. Don't worry, though, we crossed off a lot of other important things: a trip to the dump (Chris was really impressed with their efficiency), a trip to drop off donations, some much needed tidying around the house, some much needed rest for my back (yeah, it's acting up again), plus two pretty fantastic belly super hero tattoos.

So, all in all, a pretty productive day after all. Here's hoping we can get to a couple of boxes tomorrow.

Day 777 | Metro + Building Zone

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We buckled down to cross two more bucket list items off the list: a metro train ride and the National Building Museum.

It was a highly successful outing full of lots of playtime and giggles along the way.


DC Bucket List, Deadline: July 13
  • A final stop at the American History Museum
  • Visit Turkey Thicket playground
  • Ride the Wheaton Miniature Train
  • Watch the ball drop at the Discovery Building
  • Eat at our sushi restaurant
  • Wade in Yards Park
  • Ride the Metro
  • Pick berries at Butler's Orchard
  • Fort Steven's Park 
  • Eat at H&Pizza
  • Visit the top of the Washington Monument
  • Watch the airplanes at Gravelly Point
  • Jump at trampoline park
  • Play at the National Building Museum
  • Have a snack by the train tracks

Day 775 | Bad Guys

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Chase convinced me to watch the movie Fern Gully this afternoon. He's been suggesting that he's "old enough" to watch real Disney-type movies now. I decided to give Fern Gully a go.

How did it work out, you might ask? Not great. We watched about 20 minutes before he willingly agreed to turn it off because he was basically watching from behind me. He didn't cry during the movie itself (which has happened in the past during mild Thomas the Train movies), so that was a step in the right direction.

It went downhill from there, however. About an hour later, he started having a lot of questions about bad guys, both pretend and in real life (there is a black blob of a bad guy in Fern Gully that he was not a fan of). The sniffling and tears started soon after.

We tried several attempts at easing his mind and finally Chris came up with the idea to draw a picture of the bad guy from the movie (he read about it helping with fears) and Chase latched onto the idea whole-heartedly.

First he requested my drawing. I'm the one who watched the movie, after all. Once I finished mine (the top picture above: a pretty good representation of the black blob and the tree it was housed in, in my opinion), he ran it upstairs to have Chris draw the same image (the bottom picture). When Chris finished, Chase came back downstairs to inform me that "Dad's is gooder" than mine. Can you believe that?!? He didn't even know what he was drawing! Chase did clarify shortly after that mine was still "really good", so that was a small consolation.

The drawing strategy worked for a bit and our nightly routine ensued until bedtime (no surprise). He started to get worried about real life bad guys again and after a pretty lengthy Q+A, he fell asleep feeling comforted by the fact that we have a neighbor police officer (true) who is working tonight (maybe true?) and offered to drive by the house as many times as Chase wanted (definitely not-so-true). Chase requested "um, like...900 maybe," so Lieutenant OZ will be driving by 900 times tonight if he asks any of you.

Whatever works.

Day 774 | Friends

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Adorable photo of Chase, Robbe, Robert, and Caroline captured by Susan. Can you believe how good it is?!?
To make up for two weeks without any socializing (thanks, hand, foot and mouth disease), we're making the rounds this week...and we couldn't be happier.

We have the best friends ever. The boys have cried every time we've departed a friends' company this week. I think the departure is actually starting to sink in.

In case you're in the mood for a blast from the past, here are some of the past blog posts featuring Caroline (Chase's twinsie):