I didn’t document a lot of this month (or this summer) because of moving boxes and paper plates and Chic-fil-a on repeat.  It’s been a big blur of unpacking, late nights, and getting oriented in our new space.   Sometimes I’m kind of not sure how we got here at all!

Yet here we are, dahling (for my Edna Mode fans).  In our new home in Kansas City, practically smelling the pumpkin spice lattes and bouquets of newly sharpened pencils.

We are unboxed, reassembled, and getting all the big “firsts” out of the way, including a good head cold.  Everyone seems to be adjusting well, though the extroverts are ready to jump into life head long while the introverts must thoroughly nest first.

Friends and old haunts are missed, but Facetime and Marco Polo seem to get us through all right.  I get an ache for the familiar now and again; our old library, my coffee shop,  living rooms and back yards I know, the friendly old turn into our neighborhood.  I tell myself that after a year here I’ll feel the same way about our little suburb in Kansas City.  We left behind good things in California, but stressful things as well.  There is certainly a layer of relief under the ache.  That’s the best way I can explain it, I think.

We have been enjoying the bike trail that is just steps from our back door, as well as the neighborhood pool around the corner.  We have hugged aunts and cousins and been to church.  The girls found their own little frog catching spot at the creek already and I have noticed that we crunch across some leaves here and there on our bike rides in the mornings.   I don’t mind the humidity much; the temperatures don’t go much above the 90’s and a chill will be in the air soon.  No six-month summer for me this year; no siree.  (We’ll see how I like it come February.)

I unpacked the very last box today and am starting to feel like my old self since quarantine; stacking good books on my nightstand and firing up this old blog again.  No world news on my feeds; that is all done away with. (Hashtags and rants and things.)  The world spins along and I catch up with it a few days later and find myself better for it.

Many of you asked about the home that we left behind and how it fared during the fires in Vacaville.  It is in perfect standing.  It has always been safe during wildfire and blackout season, thanks to being located in the middle of town and very close to a hospital.  It is being well loved by family and my niece reports that my gardens are overflowing with chili peppers, roma tomatoes and zinnias.  (I wonder how many Duplos and popcorn kernels and hair ties they have found under the couch too.)

We just dropped David off at the airport today to fly back to California to be of support during a family emergency.  It was unexpected, but may be the best for David in terms of having quiet space away from us to get work done.  He sent me photos of the smoke clouds still hanging over Sacramento as he flew in.

We may hang pictures and settle into our new routines, or we may escape to my moms and drink coffee on the deck all day.  School could start next week or the week after; who knows! We are ready either way.

I’ll do a homeschool post and a full house tour here very soon!  We are enjoying late August days for now.