Let the madness begin.....

I left the last post with us dropping Jay off at the airport on the morning of Friday, April 5th.  Well, Sean was the one who actually took him to the airport.  I had other commitments that morning.  Aubrey had her beach carnival for school.  All the kids from Kindy to Year 2 were bused down to Balmoral Beach for a morning of playing games in the sand.  We weren't sure if it was going to happen since it had been pouring rain for the previous 2 days.  But, unbelievably, it was a gorgeous day.  Aubrey had a great time.  She said her favorite thing was the three-legged race.  

First game of the morning: the teams were battling to see who would fill their bucket up with water first.

Aubrey waiting for her turn

Second game: Aubrey had her leg strapped to her mate's leg for the three-legged race.  Her and Max were trying to move in unison.  It was hilarious!

Third game: racing in the sand to grab a stick and bring it back

That same morning, after Sean dropped Jay off, he picked up the keys to our new apartment.  Sean and I still hadn't quite wrapped our brain around everything that needed to be done in the coming days.  I kept thinking "we don't have that much to move" and "our apartment isn't that big".  I didn't think the move would be very bad.  I was in such denial that I hadn't even packed a box yet.

So, Sean and I took a leisurely lunch Friday and then strolled over to the new apartment.  When we got into the apartment and looked around, we realized the last owners had not really cleaned it adequately.  It wasn't trashed, but it was far from clean.  Did I mention that we hadn't even packed anything at our old apartment yet?  Oh yeah, also Carter had soccer practice that night and then a soccer game the next morning?  And the removalists (i.e. movers) were coming the very next morning as well?  And Sean's parents were flying in to visit us the day after that?  It suddenly hit us that we were in deep, deep trouble.

I was seriously on the verge of a nervous breakdown at school pickup that Friday.  Then, when Aubrey walked up to me that afternoon, she announced that she received the Star of the Week.  It was a really nice honor.  However,  it meant that we had to bring Henry the Hippo home for the weekend, take pictures of him everywhere we went, and put together a two page printout of all the photos.  Of course, Aubrey was very excited about it.  Mommy, on the other hand, was ready to cry.

I can look back on all that now and laugh.  But, I was FAR from laughing on that Friday.  Carter made it to his soccer activities.  We took some great photos of Henry the Hippo in the middle of our mayhem.  Sean and I had some very late nights and probably gained a few grey hairs.  But, it all got done and everything worked out in the end.  Things generally have a way of doing that.

Aubrey hamming it up with Henry at Carter's soccer practice

Aubrey posing with Henry at Balmoral Beach after Carter's practice

Carter even got into it!

Aubrey feeding Henry fish and chips

Henry in the middle of our moving madness

Henry at Carter's first soccer game of the winter season

Henry was eating very well this weekend!  Pizza at Fratelli's.  Yum!!

Papa, Aubrey, and Henry on the bus on Sunday morning

Our lives were still in a little bit of mess when Sean's parents came on Sunday.  But, it was so nice to see them.  And, they actually helped us out quite a bit with the end of our move when we were trying to drag all the small stuff from our old apartment to the new one.  It really helped that they were not trying to stay with us in our apartment in the middle in our chaos.  They had rented their own apartment for the time they were here. And, just by sheer luck, the apartment they rented was in the same building as our new apartment.  It was awesome to have them so close.  Terry even enjoyed taking over the task of walking the kids to school for me every morning.    

We are now really happy with our new apartment.  It is about the same distance to walk to school as our old place.  But, it is located in Cremorne (about a 15 minute walk closer to the city).  It has two stories and we feel a little more spread out in the new place, even though we decreased from 3 bedrooms to 2 bedrooms.  It has loads of storage, which is very nice (including a walk-in closet in the master suite!!).  AND it is less expensive than the old place.  One of the things that Sean and I also love is that it is more centrally located to a grocery store, cafes, and restaurants  (across the street).  Even though all these amenities are so close to us, the noise outside from traffic is minimal.  We mainly just hear the birds outside when we open the windows.  That is such a nice change from the old place where we couldn't have the balcony doors open when we wanted to watch television because the road noise was too loud.

Enough about the move though.  I am learning that no matter how much stuff you think you have, moves are always a hassle.  I guess it is like most hard things that you know you will probably have to do again in your lifetime; it is best to try to forget about it as soon as possible.  Maybe that is part of the reason I have underestimated each of our moves.  By forgetting what a pain in a butt it is to move, I am more open to doing it again the next time.  And, it is good to be open to that change, because we have been pleased with the completion of each move as they have generally brought us to a better situation than where we were before.   

Sean's parents did spend the first couple of days in Sydney helping us out.  But, we did also squeeze in a little sightseeing.  I got to be the tour guide again this week since Sean had to work and the kids were in school each day.  Monday morning was a fabulous start when I took them to brunch at Burnt Orange in Mosman after school drop off.  We had brunch out on a large verandah overlooking the harbour on a clear, crisp morning.  It just doesn't get much better than that.  During the course of that week, we toured the Sydney Opera House on Tuesday, met Sean for lunch at a fantastic tapas restaurant in Kirribilli on Wednesday, and spent Thursday in Manly (on Terry's birthday). 

Terry and Margi at Circular Quay (outside the Sydney Opera House)

Terry and Margi after our tour at the Sydney Opera House

Terry and Margi putting their feet in the sand at Manly Beach

I did have to take the day off of being a tour guide on Friday so that I could organize the new apartment a bit and pack for our holiday.  Friday was the last day of the school term, so the kids had 2 weeks off after that.  And, I needed a moment to catch my breath before we flew off to Cairns the next day......  

Aubrey on the last day of term.  The Kindy classes had a party to celebrate getting through all the letters of the alphabet.  The kids were supposed to dress up as something that begins with their favorite letter.