Yup, one more trip to Ikea

It seems we missed a few items last time, so Sunday it was off to Ikea.  Somebody had fun in the flooring department.

We have furniture!

And internet!  Wow!

a most glorious sight

Yesterday, the movers arrived.  About two weeks later than we originally thought, but they arrived!  Apparently our container is half the size of the previous renters.  And their container hit a parked car getting out of the neighborhood (tight corners, lots of parked cars, and the owners of said cars not around) so everyone in the neighborhood was super jumpy.  Happy to say, no incidents ;)

after traveling across an ocean, not even half-way full

the boxes and wrapping papers we were able to unpack before the movers left

 There were two guys moving everything off the truck and into the house.  Compared with the two long days to pack everything up, with three guys one day and two the next, it all went relatively quickly.  We did have a slight issue with one of our couches - doors here are apparently fairly narrow, and the couch wouldn't fit through the front door!  The guys had to lift it over their heads, down the side of the yard over the fence, in through the rear sunroom double doors, and then into the back living room.  And there it will stay until we move again! Slight change of plans, but I'm sure all will work out fine in the end.
And then, today - internet!  The Virgin media guys came through to install cable.  First things first I asked them if they wanted any water.

No thanks, love.  Tea, black, no sugar.  

Well, alrighty then!  Welcome to England ;)

We're very happy to have all of our stuff and a means of interacting with the world outside of expensive phone calls. And something to do besides sit on a few cushions reading the same stories over and over! And dishes! And toys! And chairs!  And books!

not the offending couch

Did we forget anything?

not much wiggle room in there

Today, we went to Ikea.  We're going to be leaving our temporary bachelor pad soon and moving into the house, but that's going to all happen before our boat shipment arrives.  It would seem there are a few delays, either with the boat or customs, we're not sure which at this point.  But, the lease is running out on this furnished apartment.  So, earlier this week we purchased a mattress for Kyle and I, and today it was to Ikea to buy a few other necessaries to tide us over for a week or two.

there's room for three people to sit in there somewhere

See, just a few necessities.  A bed and mattress for Zoe, ironing board, small table, dishes, pans, pillows, sheets, towels, utensils.  And who knows what else.  It sure is packed in there, no?  Kyle's a master at Tetris.

The Bachelor Pad

notice the dip at the doorway step

Our temporary apartment, home for the next month or so, is located in the old Phoenix Brewery.  It's a bachelor pad, complete with a mega-TV, mega-cable service, a bean bag, a small kitchen with few cooking utensils, two double-bed rooms, and one large modern bathroom. Take a look for yourself:

 

the kitchen:

there's a fridge/freezer on the left, 

a water heater in the upper cab straight ahead,

a dishwasher in the lower cab straight ahead,

and a washer and dryer to your right

 

 yes, even with that large TV, she's watching an iPad;

notice the pillows in the background are being used

as leapfrog lily pads for entertainment purposes

 

 fancy-schmancy bathroom, with fancy-schmancy tub -

the shower?  your usual European corner claustrophobic pre-fab unit

swallowed by the bean bag,

or the bus as Zoe calls it

 nap/rest period?  yeah, not going so well.

here, she was changing her baby's diaper and wiping her bottom.

apparently, her baby must have had diarrhea.

Our first week

Welp, Friday, the day after we arrived, Kyle got right into the swing of things and went to work, so Zoe and I did some more exploring and grocery shopping and enjoying the absolutely perfect weather.

Check out that three story slide structure in the background!

DISCLAIMER

only watch the following video

if you feel like getting a bit queasy 

That weekend we took our first country road adventure to a pub located about a 1/2 hour away (called the Swan Inn like a million other pubs in England - did you know that all swans are property of the Queen?  Yup, someone even goes around and counts them every year.  No stealing from the Crown!).  Country roads here are scary!  I really don't think that I'll be driving much over here. I was pretty much sitting in the center console.

We went on a nice walk on a footpath (footpaths over here go through all sorts of private property - open the gate, walk through, close the gate so horses and cows don't get out, and continue on your walk!), even exploring an old 13th century church yard. 

 We then returned back to the temporary-temporary apartment to pack everything up in our rental car and move a few blocks over to our temporary apartment (a.k.a. The Bachelor Pad).

this is our only shot of the temporary-temporary apartment

On our way to the UK

The day we left we packed up the car (full)

plus Kyle, Mo, Christian, and Zoe

made a stop at the storage unit to drop off a few things (towels, sheets, brooms, stuff that wouldn't fit afterall in our suitcases)

 don't worry, the backpack came with us

 got to the airport

what we're living off of for the next month or so

and boarded our first plane of the day to Dallas.

start of our journey!

After that, there are no pictures of the trip - blame jet lag if you want.  As previously stated, the flight went fairly well.  Expectations were set low, so they were exceeded!  Zoe changed into pjs in Dallas, and ran around the airport to get some energy out.  Kyle boarded early with his special metal jewel status (or whatever it is), while Zoe and I waited until later to get in as much running as possible. Our pediatrician, who has traveled abroad with her own children, suggested Skittles for the flight at this age, as they're unlikely to listen to you to drink water to resolve ear pressure, but will likely be more than happy to gobble down Skittles, which take some time to chew, plus do actually contain some vitamin C; it worked brilliantly.  I had packed a carry-on bag full of lunch sacks full of goodies; small crafts, new drink cup, new socks, jewelry, coloring books, crayons, candy (even candy!), small stuffed animals, nuts, goldfish.  There was a lunch sack for every hour of the flight, and we went through about 5 of them. The rest have proved useful keeping Zoe busy as we've been settling into our various apartments.  I sat next to Zoe, and Kyle was in front of her so that we would be kicking family, and not strangers while they were trying to sleep.
We did finally arrive at Heathrow, and after some luggage conveyor snaffus eventually found our driver to take us back.  During the trip Zoe and I both looked like this

the diaper leaked, so miss-matched pjs

We moved into our temporary-temporary apartment, where we would be for 3 days, as our temporary apartment was not yet ready.  Then, off we went to a local park, to get out into the sunshine!  A pretty great first day in our new town.

Zoe can now recognize Queen Victoria!

We made it!

We did indeed arrive in England!
A long plane ride, but Zoe slept for 3 hours, which we were very thankful for. There was a melt down when she awoke, but we eventually resorted to Olivia on the iPad. Headphones were apparently completely unacceptable at this point ('How dare you suggest such an awful thing?!'), so all of our seat mates were treated to several episodes. Zoe thought all of the food was equally unacceptable (who can really blame her?), though she did eat the chocolate chips off of the top of the gluten-free cookie bar on Kyle's veggie meal. She basically subsisted on Skittles, milk, juice, and water. And then crashed on the car ride out to Newbury. As did I.  The driver almost gave up on us as it took an hour and a half(!) to go through customs (long lines) and collect our bags (broken conveyor belt). We moved into our temporary temporary-apartment, got some basics, and fought jet lag as best as possible, which Zoe proved to be the best at combatting.
Friday Kyle headed off to work, Zoe and I putzed around town, took naps, and enjoyed the perfectly amazing weather.

Saturday we took the car out along country roads (aaccckkk! I nearly had a heart attack! There is no way in h£ll I'm driving over here!), to a cute pub, walked along some country paths (they go right through private property here - you just open a gate, pass through, and shut it behind you), ran into a friendly horse, ran into a 13c. church, then back driving through the country roads (aaccckkk! I nearly had another heart attack! There is no way in h£ll I'm driving over here, definitely!). We piled everything into the car (sans me - I walked), and moved into our temporary apartment.
For the past few days we've been into London on day trips to visit with Omi, Pops, Auntie Em, and Ross, who are wrapping up their European adventure.
We've had a wonderful time so far, and once I get a computer set up I hope to post more, including photos.

Brilliant then!

Cheers!

Our last few weeks in Austin

empty kitchen (trust me)

 Even though we've moved out of the house, we're still hanging around Austin (and Kyle's still working at the Austin office).  Christian and Elke have been kind enough to put up with us at their place.  We leave tomorrow, and have packed (most) everything up in the five suitcases we will be living in until our shipment arrives, around the end of June. We've been scrambling to get all of the paperwork in order for accounts that are still open here.  We've also successfully listed the house, and already have renters signed up!  It was sort of like being on the Dating Game, where are property manager told us about the different couples that wanted the house (Couple Number 1 have been married for x years, have two dogs, and no children; they drive x car and are willing to pay two full pet deposits!). It's very odd thinking this move is really happening!

empty living room

About a week ago we had a bit of a 'see us off' party at Black Star Co-op, which is, yes, our brewery.  Quite a few folks came out, and it was so nice to see everyone.  The usual rodeo gang was there, which was very much appreciated to get all of the kiddos together for the last time in probably 6 months or so!

Elke and Zoe nursing their babies. 
We did not tell her to do this - she did it all on her own!

The Rodeo Gang, waiting for their ride

We also entertained ourselves a bit, with kite flying, the hose on a hot summer day, and bouncy castles.  Jam packed last few weeks.

p.s. If you just listen to the audio of the first video, I think it sounds sort of like Zoe's about to jump off a cliff or something.  But no, she's just flying a kite ;)

last day of school

 Today was the last day of 'school' for Zoe (and also the last day before summer break, hence the pizza;).  She's been at this nursery/day care since she was about 7 months old, and has grown up with a fair amount of these kids, most of whom live in our neighborhood.  We were so lucky to have found this second family for Zoe, and will certainly miss them. 

It has begun...

Meanwhile, today, the moving began in earnest.  We've spent the past two weeks+ organizing all of our belongings into four piles: take on plane, ship on boat, store for however-long-we're-gone, store in an accessible storage unit.  It really does make you think about all of the junk you keep around you, and why you do so.  The house has been a mess, and I've been judicious about what gets worn, or put on beds, or dries hands, vs. what stays cleaned and in piles.  What an adventure we're about to go on!

we won't be seeing these things until summer 2014 at the earliest

Visiting our Future Home!

 a few days in the fresh English air

 sort-of view of the future home,

mostly hidden by house in foreground

At the beginning of the month, Kyle and I went for a quick week trip to Newbury, to check out the (potential) new house and the (definite) new hometown.  Kyle worked quite a bit, but I was able to go into London for a few days (I could spend a whole week at the V&A, but limited myself to just one day:). 

We also visited the house, and decided that it did indeed have a perfect location, backing right up to Goldwell Park.  I attempted to set up a bank account by myself (fail - as a married woman not working in the UK, they wouldn't even store whatever money I brought them), and explored the town (sucess). The weather was perfect, and we were thankful to have Omi watching Zoe while we were gone, and Grandpa fixing up a few things at the house before we hand it over to renters!

living room - can you tell the current renters have kids?!

dining room

sun room

undercounter fridge, freezer, & washer/dryer

kid's room -> Zoe's room

study -> guest bedroom

master bedroom

view out over the backyard and into Goldwell Park!

Good-bye Prius

In preparation for the move, we decided to sell the Prius. Since it was sold at a time when parts for new Prius(i) were hard to come by due to the earthquake, we didn't fare to poorly on our investment. It served us quite well, and we're looking forward to getting another hybrid or electric vehicle when the time comes.

After saying goodbye, Kyle reminded me

on the way home that this was the car Zoe

was brought home from the hospital in.

I nearly cried.