I Like To Move It Move It...

2 Years, 21 Weeks.


No, I'm not talking about the party dance mix, made famous by those kooky characters from the animation movie Madagascar.

I'm talking, instead, about the Grodack family, formerly of Winter Park.  It's official: they have moved across the state and have made residence here in our subdivision in Ocoee, thanks to finally having better luck with a second lender and appraiser 2 weeks ago.  They closed last Friday afternoon and immediately moved in over the weekend, since they had been staying at a vacation rental after having to move out of their old house the week prior.  Your remember the debacle.

It's so very nice to have them as neighbors; they are a friendly bunch.  And it feels surreal, having to go visit them and it only taking less than a minute's commute.  We look forward to a lot fun having them so close!

Here are this week's highlights:

• On Friday Tangie and some colleagues went to do a team building event at Farris and Foster's, a chocolate shop that allows people to create and design their own chocolate pieces.  She had a lot of fun, and brought home tons of that sweet stuff.  As the Grodacks were starting their moving process that day we hosted dinner for them and Duncan's parents, and opened up a special bottle of grape juice to celebrate with them.

"I'd like to call this chocolate meeting to order..."

A toast to the new homeowners!

Braelyn wanted in on the celebration! 

I think the grape juice made her konk out!

• Sabbath we attended church, and then hosted lunch back at our place with the Grodacks and Bergherms.  We would hang out that afternoon, while the kids took their naps.  Later that evening Duncan, Bruce, and I loaded up the big U-Haul with their large furniture in storage and then unloaded it all at the Grodack's new house.  It was very fun and exciting, and it almost seemed as if all three families were moving in together into a very large apartment!  My forearms would be screaming at me by the end of the night. Thank God for Icy Hot!

Going to church, Braelyn wasn't willing to put up her hands with the other two.

The twins supposedly as farm animals.

Brae and Calleigh play dress up while waiting for the dads to arrive with the goods.

We originally planned to do the move early Sunday morning but it was much cooler Saturday night.
We awoke the next morning to rain.  Good call on the switch! 

We tried to keep the kids pre-occupied with a movie on Corey's laptop while all the parents were unloading.

• Sunday morning Lala came to help us with the kids, as we continued to help the Grodacks in their move.  Tangie took the twins to a birthday party midday, before zipping down to Boca Raton for two days for training.  I spent the majority of the afternoon helping Duncan paint the living room, with the Bergs coming to help as well.  We were all tired puppies at the end of the weekend.

Fun ride with Mommy to the birthday party.

All the kiddos eating lunch.

Abbie and her cake.  Her mother Jackie and I attended Forest Lake Academy together.

• Lala stayed with us until Tuesday morning, with Tangie arriving later that evening.  We hung out with the Grodack girls at the pool Monday morning, me taking Brae to school early both days Tangie was out.  We introduced Corey and her crew to one of our favorite parks on Wednesday, which, she pointed out via GPS on her iPhone, was located not 3 blocks away from where a break in and murder just happened a few weeks ago.  Great, just great.  

Aubree joins the twins on the seesaw.

I recruited the Grodack girls to push the twins on the swings!

Brae and Calleigh and part of their Eager Beaver class at Adventurers.

Working on their shape craft.

Lookin' cool at Costco!

Washing up before dinner.
Kohl is on tippy toes which makes him look much taller than Maddy.

Random:

Brae was student helper one day last week and had to bring a "Me Box" to share
some things about her with her class.

Quotes:

• Maddy and Kohl were arguing over a toy mermaid.  This was how the conversation went:

          Maddy:  "I want dolly."
          Kohl:  "No, is princess."
          Maddy:  "No, it's Barbie!"
          Kohl:  "No, is princess!"
          Maddy:  [getting agitated]  "No, IT"S BARBIE!"
          Kohl:  "No, is Ariel."
          Maddy:  "[pause]...No, it's princess..."

          Just make up your minds already!!

• Although a model student, she still has her moments, as noted by her teacher last Friday:

Should we be worried?

• I felt like I was the chaperone Dad, taking our teenage daughters to a concert or something, when  I took both Brae and Calleigh to Adventurers on Wednesday evening.  We were driving on Bear Lake Rd when I had to stop because a driver several cars in front of me was making a left turn and was waiting for a gap with the oncoming cars on the other side.  That's when the girls became SO dramatic:

          Calleigh:  "Ugh.  This is THE WORST!"

          Brae:  "I hate traffic!"

          Calleigh:  "This is A DISASTER!"

          Such divas.  We were practically stopped for less than ten seconds.

Best buds.  And now, neighbors too.

Have a great weekend!