Goodbye Key West

Three years ago we said hello to Key West and began our island adventure.  Now, it is time to say goodbye and begin a new adventure.

We will not miss hurricane season.

We will not miss the isolation of being on an island.

We will not miss all the iguanas.

but....

We will miss seeing all the Key West chickens around town.

We will miss waving hello to the Conch Train or Trolley as we drive down the road.

We will miss filling up the gas tank once a month.

We will miss the fact that everything you need is within two miles.

We will miss all the interesting local Conch flair that Key West has to offer.

We will miss the fabulous sunsets.

We will miss seeing the ocean everyday.

We will miss all the wonderful friends that we made.

Key West, thank you for the past three years.

Moving On

We are just under two weeks away from moving on and out of Key West.  And boy how the time has flown by! 

Looking at our house you would have no idea that we are moving in only 12 days.  Everything is still where it normally is.  Nothing is boxed up and nothing has been taken down from the walls.  That is the nice thing about a military move.  One day your house is as it should be, the next they box it all up, and the day after that it is on a truck and on to the next location.

While our home may not look like we are ready to go, we are emotionally ready to go.  We have already found a house in San Antonio.  It is an older established neighborhood with lots of big trees.  It is four bedrooms (so the girls get their own space), has a very open floor plan,  a fireplace, and a fabulous red door.  The only downside is that we haven't seen it in person, but it looks wonderful from the pictures and we did have a friend walk through it.  We are excited to see our new home in person and start filling it with memories. 

The girls have been signed up for Mother's Day out and Haley cannot wait to go to her new school and meet new friends.  When we drive by the water, Haley usually looks out and tells me that she can see her new house or new school.  She is excited.  I'm not sure Emily knows exactly what is going on, so I'm hoping for an easy transition.

Plans have been made on how we will spend our time before we move into our new house, since it will not be ready until early September.  Lots of nights will be spent at my Dad's house or in hotels.  We will be without Zach for a few weeks since he doesn't leave his unit here until late September.  But he will come out to help us move into the new house for a few days.

Quite a few days will be spent on the road, since it is a 1,557 mile journey.  I have been busy making busy bags (thanks pinterest!) to keep the girls occupied so they don't have to watch movies the whole trip.  The girls now have a few new books, magnetic trays with puzzles and stickers, a potato head quiet book, and a few other little surprises.  I'm just crossing my fingers it all entertains them.

The next few days will be filled with getting the house and our things ready.  There is lots to do.   

Part of me feels like we will be walking back into the life we had before we moved here, I know we won't be.  Things are so different now than they were three years ago.  But a good different.  I am excited about all the new possibilities that are ahead of us.

Emily Turns Two

Our little Emily Grace turned two a few days ago.  We decided not to do a party this year, mainly because the big move is right around the corner.  It worked out really well because we had a wonderful day with just our family.

The birthday girl woke up to balloons galore.  They were on the floor and hanging from the ceiling.  They were in her room, the hallway, and the living room.  She was so excited and spent most of the morning trying to catch the hanging balloons.

She got to blow out her breakfast birthday candle atop pancakes with sprinkles.  She loved the candle but ended up not eating any breakfast.

After her very last morning nap (she has now gone to only one nap a day), we went out to eat for some lunch with ice cream for dessert.  Emily decided she was a big girl now that she was two and could hold her own ice cream.

Once our tummy's were nice and full, it was off the the Butterfly Conservatory.  Emily was super excited to be going to the "butterfly museum".  She spent her time watching the butterflies flutter around and tried to catch a few. 

All that fun can sure wear a girl out and after her afternoon nap it was time for presents.  She was not super excited about it at first.

She finally warmed up to it and had a great time.  Haley was very excited that she got to pick out a gift (a hermit crab and sea turtle toy) for her sister and wanted to help her open her present (that she even wrapped herself).  Emily gave her a big old hug afterwards.  It was so sweet.

 

We had dinner at home and Emily enjoyed getting to blow out her dinner cupcake.  She didn't eat any cupcake, but loved blowing out her candles.

When dinner was over we all went outside for our evening walk.  Then Zach snuck back in to the house to get Emily's big birthday present.  When she saw her bike, she had the biggest smile on.  After she sat on it for the first time, she told me "I am so happy!".  It was perfect.  We spent the rest of the evening riding bikes around the block.

And just like that, another year came and went.  And now, Emily is two.