Moving Day

This last week we were finally able to move into our home for the next year.  Marc’s brother and his family have graciously been hosting us the last 3 weeks and although it is definitely fun to vacation at their house and enjoy the beautiful amenities it was hard to get into a routine with the girls.  Living out of suitcases and not really being able to settle in has made the transition more challenging for the girls.  They have been sharing their cousin’s room and sort of taking over the space, which I’m sure has also been hard on my nieces.

So on Wednesday we finally got to pack up this mess of suitcases (plus 2 more not pictured here) and drive everything a whole 200 meters down the road to our new house!

I thought I'd do a mostly photo blog to give you a sense of what our space will look like this next year.  That way you can better picture us here.  :)

The view from the front door -- living room and dining table

The kitchen 

The other side of the living room and a little office cubby.

Our bedroom 

The girls room is upstairs -- one side has the beds

The other side has some play space and an extra bed for sleep-overs 

(the girls are hoping their friends from home will come and visit - hint, hint)

  

The view from the girls window

The view from the 2nd floor

The back deck

The back yard

First thing the girls did was jump on the play structure.  

Behind them is a Petanque (French Bocce Ball) court.

There's a sweet little trail right next to the house that leads to a forest.  

The girls and Marc are collecting nuts from a tree at the edge of the forest.

We are very lucky to get to live in such a beautiful place. Thursday (the day after we moved in) we had our first rainy day.  Although we welcomed the cooler temperature and the first rains of the year, Marc has already warned me that this part of France can be very wet and dark and cold.  Being a California girl I'm a bit anxious to see what winter will bring.  But for now I can enjoy the changing seasons.

Of course we can't have a post without some sort of crazy story to go along with it.  Thursday morning we woke up to the rain; as mentioned above.  No big deal except we still don't have a car and have been borrowing my sister-in-law's car to get the girls to school, do errands, etc.  We also don't have any food in the house.  So we get the girls dressed, bags packed, and head over to Marc's brother's house for some breakfast.  We don't have any umbrellas (couldn't fit those in the suitcases from the US) so we get our jackets on and quickly walk over (it's only a 2-3 minute walk).  BUT when we get to their gate and ring the bell nobody answers.  All the windows are dark in the house. Oh no! They've already left to take the girls to school (later we learn that my sister-in-law forgot we needed to come over to eat breakfast).  So we jump the fence (literally) and run under the eaves of the front door to escape the rain and wait for her return. 

She gets back and we have about 20 minutes until school starts.  OK.  Pas de problem.  We have a quick breakfast and rush the girls to school getting them to the gate right as they are closing it to start the day......except, Lola rushes in without her sister (because she hates being late) and Teah decides there's no way she's going in without her.  So.....I'm standing in the rain with Teah, pleading for her to cross the gate and go with her teacher to class and she's basically freaking out and saying no way. The teacher has now called to an older student who knows English to find Lola.  Ugh!!  Eventually we get her in there.  Happy rainy day.

The next day the girls are happier in the rain with their new umbrellas and Lola promises to never abandon her sister at the gate again!!