The Windy City

We arrived safely at our new home last Saturday, and have been keeping very busy unpacking between all of the feedings and kids’ naps. Luckily, the hardest part now is deciding where everything should go. We easily tripled (maybe quadrupled) our square footage with this place, so we are a little intimidated with all of the storage and open space. 

The worst part of all of this was the first couple of days, but not just because of the chaos. The temperature was fairly mild outside, but the humidity is new to us, so we felt like we were suffocating. We turned on the air conditioner for some relief only to be disappointed at its performance. We suffered through the night in the 80s, and the next day got it fixed, realizing that it was running low on refrigerant. Now all is well. We even had a few comfortable days with highs in the low 70s! This is quite the change from El Paso!

Kira had her birthday this last week also, which was overshadowed by all of our unpacking and a bit of a sore throat with which she came down. We were anxious to get out of all of the boxes and see some stuff, so we ventured out to the Taste of Chicago festival on Friday, and got to see a lot of the sights in the city. There was even a huge public park nearby that had opened only last year – it was easily the highlight of the trip for the kids. They would have gone down the slides until they passed out, if we’d have let them.

We are very excited about the new place! Everything is blindingly green compared to our old neighborhood, and we are overrun with wildlife. For the first couple of days we would call to each other to come quickly when there was a rabbit in the yard, but now they come by so often we hardly give a second glance. We get a visit from a red cardinal about once a day, sometimes accompanied by a female, which is a real treat. Its song is particularly enjoyable. Among our favorites is what comes out at dusk – fireflies! I have fond memories of our time in Nebraska when I was a boy, chasing fireflies out in the yard. Avey is having lots of fun checking them out in her own front yard these days.

With as much fun as we’re having, we do feel a bit lonely, especially today. Normally on Sundays, we have dinner with family, but alas, today we are left to our own devices. We’ll need to convince some of our loved ones to come visit us very soon before we go mad. 

Come visit us!

#Happenings