New Friends, Back to School, & More Grandparents

Guys, I have to start out by telling you that since I last posted I have added seven West Hartford Facebook friends!  I am social media friends with 10 people that live in West Hartford.  I mean 10 honestly feels like 200 at this point.  Every time I got a new friend request I was freaking out and texting Alan to share my big news.  I know I have said it many times before, but people here have been so nice and welcoming.  They have really made an effort to reach out and check in on us.  We are very grateful for the kindness that people show.

It has been awhile since I last wrote a blog and we have been getting ready to head back to school and enjoying these last few weeks of summer.  The boys have started referring to our new house as home, so whenever anyone says something about "home" we have to clarify if we mean our Minnesota home or our Connecticut home.  I should be really happy that everyone is adjusting so well and calls Connecticut our home, but I'm not...just kidding.  But, seriously it's a little weird and I have a lot of mixed feelings about it all.  We met some people walking by the house today and they were asking about our plans once our year of renting is up and Charlie jumped in the conversation and said, "well hopefully staying in Connecticut.".  AHHH, you weren't supposed to like it so much kiddo.  Honestly, I am so happy that he is loving our new home and that all the kids seem so happy and adjusted to being here with their dad.  Speaking of dad, he deserves a big shout out, we have been in Connecticut for over 45 days and he hasn't traveled overnight for work once.  I started dating Alan when I was 19 years old and we have NEVER been in the same city/same house for 45 days in a row until now!  Who would have thought it would be in West Hartford, CT.?  Not me. So when I am happy/sad that everyone is loving Connecticut so much I know that the biggest reason is because they have their dad around so much more.

Matching Outfits

We have been trying to get involved in our new community when we can.  The moms club that I had previously talked about had a summer pool party one weekend and so Alan and I took the kids to the local pool and I was able to meet a few new moms in the club.  It was a little difficult to really get to chat with too many people because I was busy chasing down three kids around with Al.  But the kids had a blast and I was able to meet some new people.  This same club also does a book club, so I joined this month and met at one of the ladies homes and met some really great people and had some wine during the week!

Pool Party

We spent time at another local park called Elizabeth Park.  It has a gorgeous rose garden, lots of walking trails, and a playground named after and dedicated to Ana Grace one of the Sandy Hook school shooting victims.  The kids really enjoyed the park and Charlie was reading about Ana Grace and had lots of questions!  There is a park dedicated to each of the school shooting victims throughout the state of Connecticut. 

Elizabeth Park

Elizabeth Park

Elizabeth Park

Elizabeth Park

Elizabeth Park Rose Garden

Elizabeth Park Rose Garden

Last week the boys were both in camp.  Charlie's camp was a sports and activities camp and he was gone ALL day.  That was a big change that I didn't like.  But, it was good practice for next week when he leaves me to start first grade.  Charlie got to swim and skate every day and then they also played soccer, baseball, four square, dodge ball, and other activities.  Jack went to a camp at one of our community centers and it was a movie (Toy Story, Frozen, and Minions) themed camp.  He had a great time meeting some new friends and doing activities based on some of his favorite movies. 

Camp Drop Off

Two weekends ago we went to Dinosaur Place.  Jack is my dinosaur loving kid and this place was a dream come true for him.  They have a mile or two of trails where you run into dinosaurs along the way.  They have a volcano that erupts hourly, a jungle gym, maze, and an enormous splash pad that all three kids enjoyed.  We will definitely be going back to Dinosaur Place! 

Dinosaur Park

Kaylee's Scary Face

Dinosaur Park

Dinosaur Park

Splash Pad

Splash Pad

We also had some more visitors!!  Grandma and Grandpa Hanson came on the 17th and are staying until the 31st!  YAY!  This is Grandpa's first time visiting so the boys had to show them around town and take them on our favorite things tour, which includes the library, sweet frog, Bar Taco, and the toy store.  We also took them to the beach in Westerly, RI.  We love this town and the big waves and this time the boys brought their boogie boards.  Each time we go to the beach I am getting better about packing.  The first time we went when we first moved here I pretty much packed everything we owned.  Last week we also went back to Mytsic, CT.  Last time we went to the Seaport and so this time we hit up the aquarium and downtown Mystic for some shopping.  We also went to Mystic Pizza for lunch which is known for because of the movie, Mystic Pizza with Julia Roberts. 

Blue Back Square - West Hartford

Purple Ape in Westerly, RI

Boogie Boards

Brothers

Kaylee Girl

Misquamicut Beach

Dad trying out the boogie board

Relaxing

Mystic Aquarium

Mystic Aquarium

Mystic Pizza

Mystic River

Mystic River

Drawbridge Up

Shopping in Mystic

Jack started preschool last week!  He will be going to school three mornings a week and seems to really like his teachers and is already talking about friends.  He was so ready to go back and this year gets to eat lunch every day at school which Jack thinks is great because he is like a big kid now!  While Jack was at school I was able to go and even get a pedicure and manicure thanks to a great recommendation from a friend here in West Hartford.  It has been nice having my parents here to help watch the other kids while I do camp and preschool drop offs.  I will miss all help when they head back to Eagan in a few days. 

First Day

Ready for school

And thanks to all this help, Alan and I got to have a date day this weekend.  We headed to Stratford, CT. to visit Two Roads brewery, which makes one of Alan's favorite beers.  The brewery is fairly big and has a large tap room and then has food trucks outside where you can sit and eat, play bags (corn hole) and giant Jenga.  We then headed to another brewery in New Haven that ended up being unexpectedly closed.  Since we were in New Haven we decided to visit Yale.  It is a gorgeous campus right in the middle of downtown.  All the students were just heading back to school this weekend so it was fun to be part of the hustle and bustle.  We then headed back to West Hartford and visited the local brewery.  Today Charlie had his kickoff hockey event and so we spent most of the day at the ice rink watching him play and hanging out.  It reminds me that fall/winter is just around the corner! 

Two Roads Brewery

New Haven - Yale Campus

Had to make a quick stop

New Park Brewery

This post is rather long because I waited too long between posts, sorry about that if you made it this far!  But as always, thanks so much for reading the blog!  Charlie starts school this week and while I do not think this year will be quite as emotionally draining as starting Kindergarten was it will definitely be hard to see him go.  Once school starts time seems to go so much faster and we miss the carefree days of summer.  I am so excited for both my big guys this year and know that they are going to excel in our new surroundings and make new friends.  I am really proud of the people they are becoming and love getting to be a part of it!  Hope everyone enjoys the last week of summer and the first few days of school get off to a great start!  We are missing everyone back home! 

Grandparents, Hockey, & Exploring

Another week + has flown by and we continue to explore and work on fitting into our new life and city.  It's starting to feel like we are no longer visitors in a strange city and more familiar.  Last week when I was signing Charlie up for camp I was loading the kids up in the car and I heard someone say my name, I didn't react because who in West Hartford would know who I am?  But, it was someone that actually did recognize me and was stopping to say hi!  It was my new friend from moms club and it was so wonderful to run into someone that I knew!  Those are the things you realize how much you miss when you move away that I wasn't prepared for.  So it was a nice surprise to make that connection while out running errands.

One of the first days we were here our neighbor told us about Monday night hockey for West Hartford mite players.  Last Monday night Charlie went to his first meet up after we got him some new equipment.  He had outgrown almost everything!  He had a great time and scored a goal!  It was fun for him to get back on the ice and to hang out with some of the neighbor boys.  He went again this week and is already looking forward to next Monday's game.  Of all of us I think that Charlie has adjusted the best to our new life in Connecticut.  Which really surprises me given our struggles last year with starting Kindergarten and the anxiety from all the changes that came with starting school.  I worried about him because of this and how he would handle the move and the changes that come with moving.  Especially since he had such a great group of friends and family that he was leaving behind.  But, I am so proud of him and his ability to adapt to a new home, new city, new friends, new life.  He has even been a big Connecticut cheerleader for me on days when I am missing home.  He is a mature little guy that realizes being with dad and all together is better than any other scenario.  I am so thankful for him and his insight into what is really important.  💓

Hockey 

When we first moved to Eagan two years ago Alan and I started doing Blue Apron, which is a meal delivery service.  They send you all the ingredients to make three different meals each week.  We really enjoyed doing it and it was a way to get in a "date" night with the kids in bed.  We had to stop last year when he took the new job, because he wasn't home regularly enough to even be able to make the three meals before the produce went bad.  So when we got out here we started it up again.  It has been fun to cook together and spend some quality time after all our little loves head to bed.  Especially since our social calendar has really taken a hit with the move 😉.   So we have a lot more time to cook meals in the evenings.  It also a nice way to try foods that you would never buy at the grocery store or probably even try at a restaurant. 

Blue Apron Dinner

Date Night!

Another plus of having Alan home so much more is that I can run some errands all by MYSELF, yes without three little people complaining, fighting, crying, talking me into buying them a toy as bribery, or napping right before we get to the store.  It's amazing.  And an added bonus for the kids is dad is the fun one, so the kids love this time with him  He took them to the park for a picnic and playground time this weekend while I was gone.  It's fun for them to explore some places with dad when they can. 

Picnic with Dad

Over the weekend we went to dinner in Blue Back Square which is a little area (where our favorite library is) with shops and restaurants.  They have a band playing on Friday and Saturday nights and the kids danced and played while we waited for our table.  On Saturday night we went to a neighboring town for a movie in the parking lot.  We got to see Moana.  It was a lot of fun, the boys got their faces painted and there was a juggler with a bunny.  The bunny was Kaylee's favorite part. The kids had a great time, the only downfall is that they don't start the movie until it's almost dark. So by 9:45 Jack was sleeping, Kaylee was fussy and didn't want to sit still.  So we bailed before the end of the movie. 

Blue Back Square

Face Painting

Dad and Kaylee

Waiting for Moana to start

The most exciting part of the week was Sunday when Grandma and Grandpa Elder came!!!  The kids were so excited and couldn't wait for them to get here!  It is fun for the kids to show them around our new town.  Grandma and Grandpa were here for three days and we packed in a lot of stuff!  On Sunday after they got here we went out for seafood and then of course the boys had to take them to Sweet Frog for ice cream.  The boys would go there every single day if they could.  On Monday the kids took grandma and grandpa to their favorite places.  So that means we started at the library for some play time and checking out some books.  We then went to their favorite store, the toy store! Followed by lunch at Charlie's favorite spot, Bar Taco.  As I had mentioned above Charlie has hockey on Monday nights so it was fun for him to play for Grandma and Grandpa.  I stayed home with Kaylee and watched the Bachelorette finale.  It was a pretty perfect day. 

They made it!

Welcome To Connecticut Grandma and Grandpa

Story Time

Tuesday morning Jack had a new family breakfast at his preschool.  So he took me and Alan to meet his teachers and show us around the community center.  He was hoping we were dropping him off for school and was a little disappointed that Alan and I were staying with him.  He also was really excited to wear his backpack.  Grandma Elder put his name on his backpack so he was pretty proud of it.  While we went to breakfast Charlie and Grandpa went to see the Spider-man movie.  It was 10 a.m. on Tuesday so they were the only ones in the theater.  Apparently they got to yell and scream at the movie since they were all alone which Charlie thought was pretty cool.  That afternoon I got to go for a massage that was amazing!  It was so nice to have an hour of complete relaxation.  The kids went to the pool with grandma and grandpa for a few hours while I was relaxing.  The last night Grandma and Grandpa were here they went with Alan and the boys to the Hartford Yard Goats baseball game.  It was a fun visit and they left for the airport this morning.  It was another sad goodbye.  We loved having them here and can't wait to see them again soon.

Ready for School

Showing off his name

Yard Goats Game

Yard Goats Game

Tomorrow is our niece/cousin, Ava's 1st birthday.  Whoa, hard to believe she will be one!!  We are going to miss her first birthday party and this is the first family function we won't be home for.  It is hard to be away from everyone, especially for things like this.  I have a feeling that no matter how long we decide to stay in Connecticut this part will always be really hard for us.  Happy birthday to our sweet, Ava!

Next week the boys are each in a camp so we won't be doing quite as much exploring.  I will be home with my girl and so will hopefully be able to take her to some activities geared more towards her age. This weekend we will have been in Connecticut for four weeks!  Hard to believe, but at the same time it feels like we have been here even longer.  Thanks for reading the blog!