Florida or bust

Well, we did it. We packed up and moved across the country, and we all survived.

I'll start at the beginning though.

The weekend before the move, John flew back home to help us. I didn't advertise it on the blog, but John "moved" (moved is a loose term. He took a backpack of clothes and personal items and moved into a small condo and started his new job) to Florida about  6 weeks before the boys did. For various reasons (school reasons, house hunting reasons, house selling reasons, speech therapy reasons...and a few others), it was best for John to head on to FL while the boys and I hung back in NM for a bit. I would never wish time apart on a family, but the saying, "absence makes the heart grow fonder" is oh so true. Reunions after time apart are nothing short of magical.

I attempted to make this my "most organized move to date," and the jury is still out until we actually unpack. The whole reason I wanted to start organized, was so that the whole process would end organized. I'll let you know exactly a week from today.

Initially, I didn't have a lot for the overly quiet little town, but it grew on me over the years and the day we pulled away I was bummed. We absolutely LOVE our house there. If I could pack up that house and move it with me every move, I'd do it in a heartbeat. I LOVE LOVE LOVE that house. The weather, simple lifestyle, close knit squadron, living no more than 3-4 minutes from all of our friends....there are so many things we will miss about Alamogordo. However, we look forward to the adventures Florida holds for us.

The drive down was loooong, and on some days...painful. All said and done we drove about 25 hours, spread out over three days. We planned for the first day to be the longest, and the third day to be our shortest. The first day, there was excitement and novelty of the road trip, But by the third day, everyone had gone bananas and at one point , thorough tears, Ambrose told us he " was the most unlucky boy ever because we were making him stay in the car so long." His bowels were also out to kill us because the kid had to poop on the side of the road (in a small potty training potty) more than once.

We arrived and our small beach town does not disappoint. I'm sure you remember us spending a few months here in the past, while we're not planning to actually live out here, we are staying for a week while our rental opens up. Life here is blissful. At the risk of sounding kooky,there is something so centering about being at the beach. Some of the best time we've  experienced as a family, are here on these beaches. Life is simpler but better out. We are a 45 minute drive from town, and this quiet little beach town offers a couple quaint restaurants, and that's about it. We spend time in the sun and water with friends and family...that's it. Those are the plans, nothing more. Bliss I tell ya!

We took our first trip to the beach this morning, and while I brought enough snacks to feed an army, I didn't bring a single solitary beach toy (or towel for that matter), so I wasn't sure how long the boys would last out at the beach. I doubted them, and they sure showed me. They were entertained for over an hour by the waves, the sand and the seashells. They didn't stop to fight, complain or cry even once.