Our new place

Amidst a lighting storm, David unpacked our 16 foot Penske truck into our new home here on Key Biscayne--the first key off of the Miami shoreline. After a "not so bad" 12 hour drive from Columbia, the kids were wild. Ella Joy slipped outside and split open her chin while chasing Noah around the garden. David rushed to the CVS to buy some supplies. We taped her chin and then continued to unpack. The first few days were insane but now order has been restored and we are completely in love with our new little home.

Thanks to my dad for driving my mom down and my mom for staying the first week. She helped tons by watching the kids so David and I could go do car registration, licensing, and other stuff that would have been miserable with the kids. We took a trip to IKEA which was great. Noah loved the childcare center so much he asked if we could "come back tomorrow." We went to the beach which is perfect for kids because it has very calm, clear water, the pool that is just about 50 yards from our house, and the park that is amazing with climbing toys I've never seen before and a water play area so when we get hot we can get wet. My mom made her awesome coconut key lime pie that I just can't stop thinking about and many super delicious meals. David wishes she would just move in. So do I. Thanks mom for everything!

So far we have met some wonderful people. In the first 30 minutes of arrival we met Terry, Mauricio and their children. They are a wonderful family from Italy. They lived here 2 years ago then moved to Madrid and then moved back to the island because they loved it so much. I am so grateful for them. They live 2 doors from us. Noah and Ricardo get along great. Their favorite thing to do--rummaging through the junkyard to find treasures. (Its not really a junkyard just where everyone in our complex puts there trash however people throw away all kinds of nice things. They had a blast breaking open an old computer and finding the mother board that is now beautifully displayed in our family room.) Ella Joy and Virginia play well together too. Its really great having a friend so close. We have swapped babysitting so we can run errands alone and we are planning on swapping date nights as well. Mauricio travels during the week so at night when David is studying and the kids are in bed Terry and I hang out on our back patios and chat.

Nona and Peter, who are also from Italy, live right next door. They are wonderful! Our first day here they made homemade pizza for us. So good! And then on Ella Joy's birtday, Nona brought over a homemade lemon cake for her. I was a little worried about who we would share a wall with having 3 wild children running, screaming, crying throughout the day but they have told me that they can't hear us. Thank goodness for concrete walls.

So far we are loving it! We feel so grateful we found such a small safe family friendly community to live in. Everyone walks or bikes to the stores, beach, and park. People are friendly, polite, and from all over the world. Singing from my all time favorite movie (picture red curly hair):

I think I'm gonna like it heeeeeeeeeeeeeeere!