Catching up on What is Going On

I know some may be wondering what on earth is going on with our life, so here is a little catch up.

We are moving to Iwakuni Japan.  We moved out of our house in Louisiana back in June.  Dan stayed there to wrap up work, when he wasn't gallivanting around the country visiting family with the rest of us.  We had a few commitments this summer and worked the rest of our travels around those things.  It was a lengthy process, involving driving the dog to Seattle and leaving him with a doggie sitter for 6 weeks.

This week, Dan finally sprung the dog from his sitter, and got the final vet check done.  I flew to Seattle with a passel of kids and we all met up last night (Aug 27).  Today, we awoke at the unholy hour of 1am to be at the airport at 2am, so we could check in for our flight.  We got that done by 3am.  Now it is just waiting waiting waiting, with a group of really tired and cranky kids.

Hmmmm..... that summed up a whole lot of fun and angst and stress and crazy!

But right this moment, we are waiting for our flight, and eventually, we will be in Japan!

Putting in the Mailbox

 The city decreed that the street our rental house is on needed a mailbox. The mailman no longer wanted to walk up onto every porch.  So, we put in a mailbox!  it was both easier and more compolicated than I expected.  And, it cost about $50.

We bought the mailbox.  and we bought a post.  Thank heavens I have an awesome dad who knows stuff. And who has cool tools. He cut the post. and dug the hole.  We put the post in and poured Quickcrete around it.  Then a board was screwed onto the top of the post, and the mailbox itself was screwed onto the board. And viola!  A freshly installed mailbox!  Callie and Rylee had fun watching and helping!

Big Helpers!

Mom and Dad had a project house that needed some work.  Callie and Delaney were delighted at the opportunity to make some money and happily went out to do some work.  I was told that they were good helpers.  They helped wash walls and cupboards.  They put in a couple hours of manual labor before running out of steam.  they had a good time and were thrilled to receive some cold hard cash for their efforts.

And Joshua thinks he is pretty hot stuff, now that he has learned to use the riding lawn mower!

The Lake

 We made it back to the lake.  I spent nearly a week promising we'd go, and then putting it off each day.  The lake is more fun with friends, but the kids had a great time, and I had fun lounging in the floatie. Rylee was brave enough with her floaties to swim out to the barrier with me.  The other girls swam out there a couple times as well.  Delaney was a hoot as she hung out by the barrier with her boogie board.  I confess, she made me a little nervous, since I don't think she could have made the swim back without the float.  She did great though.  It was a lovely time.
  

Drowning in Adorability!

 We finally finished our travels!!!  We were driving for 6 weeks, with stops in 6 different states, covering 8300 miles. The kids and I were delighted to finally get back to my folks' house.  Even more delightful was the birth (can you say birth if they hatched?!) of some baby chicks.

4 chicks had hatched a week earlier, and the day we arrived home, one last, lonely chick managed to wiggle his way out. The mama hen was too busy with the other (older and more mobile) chicks to want to do her duty to the newby, so we set up a heat lamp for him.  While getting his quarters comfortable, the girls made him.....er.... um.... comfortable.

 The little peeper was so tired, he was falling asleep.  So cute!

The cuteness was overwhelming.

2 sweet chicks. 

Yes, everyone had to pose with the baby bird.... multiple times.

Even me!  Who could resist?!!  (Definitely not me.)

It took the hen 2 days to decide to add the new guy to her brood, and now there are 5 adorable, peeping fluffy balls of feathers running about.