KANSAS CITY: WEEK ONE

We have officially been in our new city for one week! The few days before we left Rapid City we stuffed full with packing, cleaning, doctor's appointments, visiting friends, etc. We were exhausted and relieved when we were finally ready to go and heading down my parents' long driveway for the last time. It was both a happy and sad moment for all of us. We will so miss Rapid City and the life we had made there. But we just know that Kansas City is where we are to be so an adventure is before us!

The drive went really well...three kids, a big dog and a whole lot of stuff made it safely to our destination. We left about noon on Saturday and it took us about 12-13 hours to get here. My dear friend, Ann Francis, had packed a bag of fun things for the kids to do in the car and it honestly saved the day!! They colored and made sticker books and stories and played games the entire way. We stayed overnight in Council Bluffs, Iowa and ended up having to sneak Charlie into a hotel that was very clearly posted as a "NO PET" environment. Good thing he is quiet and black as the night. That made it easier! Much easier than, say, sleeping in a hotel room with kids. That is absolute torture in my book. They were all tired and crying and bleeding (Ben fell out of bed) before they finally fell asleep. All of them were on the floor, leaving two of the three queen-sized beds empty. We should have just slept in tent. All the while, Chris and I just laid there, stared at the ceiling and secretly apologized to anyone unfortunate enough to have been given a room on either side of us.

We made it to Liberty, our suburb, on Sunday afternoon. Since then, the days have all kind of blurred together as we have been checking things off our "TO DO" list. Here's what we accomplished this week:

300 trips to Target for groceries/supplies needed for our furnished corporate apartment
Bought a new car for Christopher
Registered the kids for school
toured the gym
purchased bedding for kids' new rooms
snarfed several orders of fried dill pickles, our new favorite southern food
obtained library cards
completed the inspection on the house
joined Costco
visited downtown KC and Chris' work
Saved the white carpet from a bottle of black nail polish that was carefully dumped in the boys' room
purchased bunk beds for the boys
lined up new utilities and mail
fell in love with the down comforters and fluffy pillows on all the beds
walked a leashed dog 2 billion times...thank goodness for houses with yards and fences
Stayed awake three nights in a row due to the CRAZY thunder and lightening storms that frequent this place
Ben potty-trained himself
shopped for new work clothes with Chris
kids watched hours of tv since their dream of having tvs in their rooms has come true (only temporary, I keep telling them....)
swam daily at the pool in our complex
ate at nearly every restaurant in a 20 mile radius...it's hard to cook with just a pot and a few spoons!
Convinced Chris he is not dying from the humidity and that he most certainly does not have "chiggers"

See, it's been a good week! Throw in a daily nap or two and a couple of family movie nights and our days have been jam-packed. Next week will be quieter with the kids in school and Chris at work. Hmmm....what will I do?! Two more weeks of chillin here and then it's into our new house!