Connecticut or Minnesota? That is the question.

Hey there, October!  It's been a while since my last update and we are really settling into our life in Connecticut.  Fall in New England is wonderful and reminds me so much of home.  Except no Caribou Coffee 😥!  Also, they have very few drive thru coffee places around here.  I really miss those!  But, I have cut down on the fancy coffee stops as it's just not quite as convenient or relaxing when you have to go in with two kids that won't sit still.  But, other than this  minor inconvenience we couldn't love the fall weather and leaves changing more.  There are more apple orchard, fall festivals, pumpkin patches than you could ever have time to visit.  We have stopped at a few and have a few more visits on our list for the rest of October.   We haven't done as much exploring and trip taking as previous blog posts, which is probably why it has taken me so long to write!

Getting ready for Fall

Last time I updated the blog we had just gotten back from a quick trip to New York City with the kids.  Since then Charlie has adjusted so well to school, new friends, and joining in!  He has made some really nice friends and we are so grateful for the frequent check ins from his teacher and principal to make sure he is doing well.  I will never be able to express how much we love his new school and the teachers that have made the transition so easy and welcoming.  Charlie also officially started hockey last weekend.  So there goes our weekends for the next 6 months!  Ha, Alan and Charlie love it so much so it's worth it, even the 7 a.m. Saturday and Sunday practices.  Charlie also decided he wanted to join Cub Scouts this year.  So that started a few weeks ago and he is loving that as well.  One of his best friends in his class is doing it too, so that has made it even more fun.  Charlie also somehow talked me into signing him up for basketball one day a week at the YMCA.  Two buddies from school are doing it so he wanted to try it too.  That starts in a few weeks and should make for some interesting Saturday mornings. 

Cub Scout

Charlie had a birthday at the end of September!  SEVEN!!  We had a great weekend celebrating him and my mom even made a surprise visit to help him celebrate.  Alan and I took the boys for a train ride in Essex, CT for a birthday surprise.  They both loved it and it was fun to try something new.  The train takes you on about an hour long ride and you then get off and take an hour long boat ride along the Connecticut River.  We also found a great peanut free bakery out here that made Charlie some fun Lego cupcakes.  The kids really love having our family visit and we have been really lucky with how often both of our families have been able to make the trip.   

Getting ready for a train ride

All aboard!

After the train ride we took a boat ride with the boys along the Connecticut River

Stealing a cupcake before I could get a picture of them all!

Jack is also really adjusting well and is loving his preschool.  He has made some sweet preschool friends and has been invited to a few birthday parties too!  He had the choice to play hockey this year and decided he didn't want to yet, but he did want to try basketball.  So he is also going to be doing the YMCA Saturday morning basketball.  Jack still has a hard time when Grandma and Grandpa visit or call.  He gets upset and really wants to head back to Minnesota on those days.  So, we try to work through it with him, but mainly we just let him be sad, because we are all sad some days.  Most of the time Jack is the same sweet big brother!  Jack and Kaylee spend so much time together and have a cute little bond.  

Jack helping her with her art project

Snuggling in bed while mom gets ready

Our littlest love is growing by the minute!  She definitely keeps us on our toes and gets more fun every day.  It has been nice to get a few mornings a week with just her and we have tried to enjoy all this nice weather we have been having.  We have hit up a few apple orchards and pumpkin patches.  The biggest news for Kaylee is that she has been asked to be a flower girl in Alan's cousin's wedding next fall.  We are so excited for the wedding and for Kaylee to get to be a part of it!

Hard to read, but shirt says Flower Girl!

Foster Farm Fun

Chickens

Time with my favorite girl

Fun at the park

Grandma and Grandpa Elder surprised the kids and flew out for a long weekend last week.  Alan and I were able to sneak away to New York City for the night to see some friends that were there for the weekend.  We had so much fun and had the best food for dinner at Stanton Social.  We spent the entire night in the Lower East Side, which I had never really been, but loved!  We stayed in the tiniest hotel I had ever seen, with a great view and right in the middle of all the places were were going to visit.  We hit up quite a few bars that were all different and even waited in line for way too long to get up into a rooftop bar.  My friend told the bouncer we had 6 kids between the two of us and REALLY needed this night out.  He must have felt sorry for us, because he let us jump the line and get right in!  :)  Alan takes the train almost every week or even a couple of times a week into NYC, but this was my first time taking it.  It was so nice and relaxing to just hang out and possibly even sleep off a hangover.  It was our first night away since we moved here and it was just what we needed.  Grandma and Grandpa kept the kids super busy with fun projects and a trip to the Science Center and then the next day to a pumpkin patch.  The days after our families leave we all have a hard time realizing we won't see them for weeks/months especially when you know you won't see them until Thanksgiving!

View from our hotel room

Our entire room! Bed surrounded by windows.  

Rooftop Bar, Mr. Purple

Pumpkin Patch with Grandma and Grandpa

We are all finding our groove out here in CT and we are enjoying getting to know new people.  I have been spending time with my moms group and have had fun meeting them.  I have made it to a moms night out where we made signs (picture below) and even hosted book club at my house last week.  Whether or not I want to admit it, life is really starting to feel "normal".  Before we moved to West Hartford we had given ourselves an arbitrary date in January to come to a decision on if we would stay in Connecticut or head back to Minnesota.  That date is slowly closing in on us and I can say that we are already struggling with our decision for our families next step.  We talk about it often and pretty much just talk in circles.  We really LOVE West Hartford and the people and schools here and I think we are all surprised by how much and how quickly it happened.  One thing Connecticut will never have is our family and MN friends, but it has everything else and we have really found ourselves feeling like we belong here. We know nothing major will happen to sway the scale one way or the other in the next few months so we will continue to make lists and hope the decision becomes clearer as time goes on.  We have started going to open houses and looking at a few houses out here just so we know what we can get in our price range and preferably in the school district that we are currently in.  They do not do any type of open enrollment here, so wherever you pay taxes is where you go to school, so looking for houses can be very limiting when you focus on just one school.   Should be an exciting/stressful next few months and hoping for some clarity on what is best for all of us!  

Moms Night Out Project

That is a little bit about what we have been up to the last 5 or 6 weeks since I last wrote.  Alan still works long hours here and spends some evenings on the train back from New York City, but since we moved here in July he has only been gone one night!  No matter where we land we all know being out here right now has been a great decision.  I can see the difference in all of us from just a  year ago when Alan was only home on weekends.  We also really appreciate our family and friends that regularly reach out to us with texts, calls/FaceTime, emails, Facebook posts, etc. It makes the move and adjustment much easier!   Next week my parents are coming out to stay with the kids while Alan and I head to Vegas with some of our MN friends!  We can't wait to see them all!

Cheers!!  (The wine is mine)

As always, thanks for reading the blog and joining me on my emotional roller-coaster:)

XOXO