THE BUSIEST WEEK OF THE DECADE–Day one

July 12, 2021 | Stacy

The calendar says our days are growing short here in NY. With lots of packing and planning in the days to come, what is a mom to do?
Set up play dates.
Lots of them.
At 10AM I met my dear friend Nadine at Perinton Park so Katriel and her buddy Asher could have some fun play time together.

It got even more fun when Nadine told them she could take them to the museum for the day.

Drop off got a little tense when they realized it could be a LONG time til they saw one another again. We tried to keep the conversation chipper.

It’s going to be a hard week.

We love Asher to the moon and back.

our not last day at PCC

July 11, 2021 | Stacy

John flew home yesterday. The packers come Tuesday and life shifts a lot in the weeks to come.

Tonight church was scheduled for an outdoor service, but rain made us move indoors. An ice cream truck had been scheduled, and wise leaders didn’t cancel said truck.

It made for a long period of fellowship after the service, and time for photos.

D.L. is the youth pastor at PCC and has been a friend to the four oldest Butlers (and me as well). Hanny had just attended her first youth group last week.

I get teary each time I see this photo, even weeks later. My kids are who they are in part because of DL’s teaching and mentoring.

Only one of these kids was born when we first attended 20 years ago in the summer of 2001.

This part isn’t easy.

Noelle came to visit for the weekend. We love her. I hate to think how much time will pass before we see her again.

I wish to the core of my being we didn’t feel the need to flee NY as strongly as we do.

Trusting God. Easy to say… now we are doing it with our feet, too.

OUTINGS–movie theater!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

July 10, 2021 | Stacy

I went to a movie theater! A real, live, in person event.

It was remarkable.

And the movie was great, too.

LET US NEVER TAKE NORMAL FOR GRANTED!

OUTINGS–breakfast with Tiffany

July 9, 2021 | Stacy

(I couldn’t resist…)

Though I’ve known Tiffany since spring 2008 (I think that is when we officially met), it’s been the last 4-5 years that I’ve gotten to know her better. And I love her.

I must confess a huge part of me would like to pretend I wasn’t moving and straight out avoid these goodbye gatherings. But how would that be better, really? Instead, I picked her up and we went to BXCR Donuts for some amazing donuts and coffee. She’s brilliant, by the way. She spoke wisdom as we picked a few to try and cut them into quarters. Genius.

I think we both decided the Raspberry Crunch was the best.

But friends are much better.

Fourth of July at Busch Gardens

July 5, 2021 | Stacy

We enjoyed an amazing breakfast (grits) before we headed to the park.

we arrived as it was opening with no real touring plan

Sometimes we were a large group, sometimes we were smaller groups.
I found coffee. We bought all day dining (a real treat – every 90 minutes we could queue for an entree, drink and either a side or dessert).

Trying lots of food was almost as much fun as trying lots of rides.

It was very hot and a very good day.

It almost felt like 2019 again.

Photos are out of order as kids have shared some from their devices and I am going for speed here, not accuracy.

It was a wonderful weekend, though the drive home on 7/5 was again miserable.

At least we had another massive breakfast at the same place.
If it ain’t broke…

Busch Gardens or Bust

July 4, 2021 | Stacy

John left for SC June 20 for his first day of work June 21. The kids and I have been working towards the movers coming (soon?).

With the holiday weekend between John’s start date and the movers coming, we knew we’d need to be creative to make the holiday feel holiday-ish. Our pool is closed bc there was no way I was going to deal with that in John’s absence. It would be extremely hard on John to come all the way back to NY.

Our decision was to meet John in Williamsburg, VA for a very quick long weekend. Once we found the location, we decided to do a day at Busch Gardens Williamsburg. The kids have never been there and John and I were last there on our honeymoon in 1997.

The tickets were $79 per person for one day or $86 per person for two day. It only took a minute to decide it was well worth the $7 per person to add the partial day we were going to be there.

The kids and I were up long before the sun and on the road before 6AM. I’d like to say we made great time, but that would be a lie. There were way too many bathroom stops, a turn around or two (looking for bathrooms) and the DC traffic.

But we did get to our (dumpy) hotel by 4PM and dropped off our stuff and hurried to the park.

We rode the tram in and it actually felt like VACATION. A glorious feeling after being locked down so long.

We rode what we could, and grabbed a great dinner.
Staffing was a major issue (like it is everywhere these days).
But everyone was friendly and there were no mask requirements.

Stewart, Katriel and I skipped one of the roller coasters and found spots for fireworks, which while they weren’t Disney quality, sure were a lot of fun.

Nigel is Nineteen

July 2, 2021 | Stacy

My requisite former-preemie-is-now-X-years old post.

He’s come a long way.

Doing birthday without Dad is sort of weird, but at least we had chocolate cake.

I’m so proud of this guy.

The new place…

June 26, 2021 | Stacy

The normal Saturday busy-ness kept us moving all morning long.
Group phone calls with the agent, John and I were happening as I was driving to and fro.

The sellers accepted our offer. We did not need to escalate our offer and they cancelled their open house for today.

This is a miracle. There is no other way to explain it.

We got a house without a song and dance.

One house. One offer.

It isn’t what I imagined.
But it is lovely. So easy on the eyes. Well decorated and gentle looking.

We will mess it up, for sure…
From the moment I saw it in Seabreeze, it felt like it was ours.
And that, my friends, is good enough for me. ♥

Outings–a Second Seabreeze adventure AND HOUSE HUNT HIT

June 26, 2021 | Stacy

Our second Seabreeze day arrived. The four girls and I arrived at park open, and Tab met up with Lauren. We started with the rides we missed Monday. The weather was just as hot as Monday and we found time to fit swimming in today, as well.

Many homeschool friends were here today, just like Monday. What a joy it was to see so many friends.

I’m not going to lie. I was VERY distracted, as it is PAST crunch time on finding a house in SC, and I had to review my phone on an incessant basic.

I joked with my friend Laura, “The Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head, but I need a place to live and God knows I’m running out of time.”

While waiting for the girls in the water park, I noted a home that could work. It was large and flashy, and it could work. But it felt pretentious and I stood still on it.

Then an hour or so later I saw another house it the market. While it didn’t look anything like what I would have ordered up, it checked off boxes and was very attractive. It was priced on the lower end of our range and it had a lovely backyard.

I texted John and our agent. They were both IN SC. I was in line for the Bumper Cars.