I have sent a few updates to some friends and family, so some of this may be repetitive for you.
My dearest friend, Emily, asked me to describe my new life in Blenheim in three words yesterday. Wow. Um. I had no idea what to say. I felt like I was back in school and doing an on demand writing assessment trying to impress Lucy Calkins (teachers know who Lucy is). AHHHHH! ;)
I've thought about it more and my three words are: Community. Slow. Excitement.
Community- I love the small town feeling of when I walk into the bank and the tellers say, "Jenn! How's everything going?" I love that the girls have all made friends at school and feel a part of the culture. Corinne said this is the fastest she's ever made friends at any school. I love that we have dear friends half a mile away who feel like family. I like being able to walk from the coffee shop, to the Life By Design Centre, to the post office, the library and the bank all within two minutes.
Slow- The internet. The mail. What internet, actually, since we STILL don't have it at home and may never have it at home. Stay posted on that. The mail- takes about two weeks for anything. I'm telling myself the relaxed pace is good for me. No need for the crazy fast paced American life. :)
Excitement. Received my first email today from the Life By Design Centre welcoming me to my new email account as their Community Outreach Coordinator. Trevor and I are both beyond excited about seeing the Centre come together. The final touches are being finished for Extraordinary Life Chiropractic and the Underground Fit Club will be next. It's exciting to be part of this amazing opportunity from the very beginning.
So, Emily, there you are. That was what I was trying to say yesterday. I just needed some time to process it. :)
Our house is great. I'm actually enjoying living in the smaller space. We're loving the amazing lake view each day and can't wait for it to warm up enough to swim! We don't have water access from our house, but our neighbors have steps to the beach, so we need to friend them! We can also walk or ride bikes to the beach that is only half a mile away. We have met all of our other neighbors though and everyone is very friendly. Corinne's enjoying her mini-apartment in the basement. Trevor set up the futon, coffee table, tv, wii, entertainment center last weekend. It's a nice space for the girls to hang out.
School. As I mentioned, all three girls are loving it. Ayla's class has gone ice skating a couple of times and she is getting pretty good. Sophie likes that her class is Senior Kindergarten and Junior Kindergarten, which is 4 year olds. She likes being the older one. Ayla has met a friend that is from Florida- the two Americans clicked right away and her mom told me she can't stop talking about Ayla. Corinne told me her whole class is one big group of friends and she likes pretty much everyone.
We went swimming at the rec pool and had a blast! There were tons of kids there since it was spring vacation and they had lots of cool floats to play on for older kids and toys for the younger ones. Lincoln was an animal on the slide- often throwing himself down before I was even ready to catch him. He kept pushing my hands away thinking he could swim on his own. I'm going to sign him and Sophie up for swim lessons to prepare us for the summer. Sophie is resistant, but I'm hoping she will overcome her fear of swimming with out a device by the time it's over.
Lincoln's daycare is awesome! It's super flexible, which is perfect! He only has to go a minimum of two morning a week to hold my "full time" slot. I only pay for when he's there and I have four weeks of vacation where I don't have to send him or pay. The women who work there are great and they have a website they update daily with his activities, nap times, meals, pictures, etc. He's loving playing with friends and I'm enjoying a few moments to myself to catch up on email, grocery shopping and unpacking/organizing the house.
It seems like forever ago, but we enjoyed Niagra Falls on Corinne's birthday. Even though it was pretty cold and there was a lot of ice, it was a pretty amazing sight! Corinne took a hundred pictures with her new iPod she got for her birthday.
Lincoln turned two! Where has the time gone? We celebrated with Jamie, Dana and baby Andie. Lincoln could not be any more in love with her. He is so cute with her. We had them in the backseat together on the way to the mall and he held her hand the whole time. So precious.
Our amazing family threw us an awesome going away party at my brother's house before we left. It was so nice to see everyone and spend some time relaxing and visiting before the long trip. We were reminded of all the great people we would be missing and it was definitely very bittersweet.
All in all, we're getting settled and adjusting to our everyday schedules well. We're looking forward to visits from family and friends this summer. Remember, we live ON THE LAKE and are open to visitors any time. We would LOVE to have you!!! :)
