Jacobs Family Adventure

It's beginning to look a lot like Alaska

2009-12-20T18:25:00.000-08:00

WOWIE WOW WOW WOW! - Hey. now this is snow! Record breaking snow the same week that our prez and al are trying to pitch global warming in coppenhagen... Yes, God does have a sense of the humor!

Here's the pics to prove it.

Day One: The Wonder of Snow

starting out mellow

gonna be fun

nice little blanket to play in tomorrow

Day Two: Fun with White stuff

ok this is getting serious

Day Three: Shovel Time

this is ridiculous - starting today, kids are no longer allowed to pray for snow

now we're talkin

what's the number to 911?

just about to go into cardiac arrest

After the mass clean-up Marie and I slipped out the back door, jumped in my truck and took a drive the nearby countryside to see the effects of this beautiful white stuff..

lees' drive behind our house

this is behind our neighborhood in the civil war battlefield

this is our street

To be continued...

Christmas Trees and Coldstuff

2009-12-20T15:38:00.000-08:00

Virginia for the most part had been very mild with temperatures sometimes dipping in the 30's. No worries... Big Bear in so-cal get much colder than that! - By talking to the locals we knew it would get colder most likely in February, so we thought we had plenty of time to shop gloves, coats and snow shovels and what-nots.. Turns-out everybody was wrong.. Global warming is a sham and Al Gore is a freakin' liar!.. The night we planned on getting a Christmas tree turned out to be one of the coldest nights so-far 19 degrees!.. it felt like -19

To keep the belly warm, the troops motivated and to be in step with any Jacobs family outing, it always customary to begin with FOOD. Here's some shots of us at a local family restaurant called 'Friendlys'.. Food was great but much pricier than our usual Micky D or Taco Bell outing. We figured it was a special occasion and deceided to give it a try.

sari drinking strawberry AND chocolate shake at the same time

After our awesome meal we treckked out to Stafford to score ourselves a tree at a Christmas Tree Farm. The place was pretty cool and lots of photo op type of props.. but it was so stinkin cold we did the rush-rush to keep the blood pumping and to stay warm.

After nabbing the tree it was time to haul it home and decorate!

Several days after we got the tree a surprise guest came to visit us from California.. Aunt Velma!.. Not sure if these pictures show it.. but they were very excited.

To be continued....

Let it Snow and Sick as a Dog!

2009-12-05T20:22:00.000-08:00

We've been here for 3 months or so and the kids have been waiting for the snow... daily. We told them that January was most likely the season for snow, but the kids have been praying for it ever since we got here. Evidently the kids prayers are stronger than mine because today it snowed!.

I'm sure to the locals this was nothing.. but to us newbies it was a winter wonderland. I personally would have enjoyed it more if I hadn't caught this stupid cold... but I found out that once you're in 30 degree weather, you can't feel anything.

It started out just a cold rain with an occasional flake here and there.. but eventually it really started to snow and actually cover the ground!

catching snowflakes and a cold all at the same time!

early in the flurry he was so anxious to make a snow angle.. can you tell?

our back deck covered

Sari-girl fearless of the the snow

The princess on the neighbors sled

Steven freezing

Marie took this opportunity to start the Christmas decorations!

Sari helping out with the decorations

waiting for the hot apple cider

Tomorrow it should probably all melt away but it was an awesome way to kick off the Christmas season by bringing in the spirit with this wonderful white stuff!

Thanksgiving and stuff

2009-12-05T19:48:00.000-08:00

God is good and we are so blessed!

Thanksgiving was pretty neat this year. The weather really felt like late November and leaves had fallen.. something we're not used to coming from Southern California. It would have been perfect if Troy could have been here, but knew he was taken care of in so-cal with Mieke and the Girls. Here's some photos to document the festivities!

family photo on the back deck

Valorie basting the Bird!

the kids waiting to eat!

Don and Joseph carving the bounty

Table for two

to be continued...

Jesus Loves Me.. and DC

2009-11-22T16:14:00.000-08:00

Yowza! We had loads of fun in DC with the family. It was our first trip and a last minute short and sweet. We got there at about dusk because we spent too much time at the Indonesian Resaurant but we plan on going back when we have some time. It's a quick drive to DC!

Because of the low light situation we have limited photos.. Thankfully we brought a Video Camera. Be sure to check out the NEW Von Jacobs Family Music Video - Jesus Loves Me and DC!

Beautiful Fall!

2009-11-21T21:32:00.000-08:00

With many trees comes many leaves.. Being from Southern California we never had actually experienced a real fall. We saw in a short timespan the trees going from green to brown to orange and red. It's really awesome! Here's a few shots of our front and backyard.

The squirrels are gathering their nuts - right in our front yard.

I get it.. That's why they call it FALL

time to rake boys!

boy oh boy do they love piles of leaves

even Grandpa Don can't resist jumping in.

Costume Party in the Neighborhood!

2009-11-21T21:08:00.000-08:00

We were invited by neighbors to their annual Halloween Social Potluck. We had an opportunity to meet the neighbors and share some food. The kids had a blast and made even more friends. All of the kids kinda had a costume except for Sari.. Marie invented a new superhero just for Sari.. Super Bat Girl.. yeah for mom!

Bat Boy and Super Bat Girl!

Kids make friends fast!

Party Games!

Our kids ended up with alot of candy just going up the street once. In the picture above they received apples and granola bars! They were happy to get them. Steven and Sari love apples ;)

Elijah Quote:

'She is good mom, she gave us healthy stuff.'

Silly faces!

2009-11-21T20:28:00.000-08:00

After finding our way home and cheating death from the scary roadside Mexican joint, it was time to gut and carve the pumpkins!

The kids designed their own but daddio did the carving of the 6 pumkins! Yeah karpaltunnel!

Wild Goose Chase, Pumpkin Patch and Scary Mexican Food!

2009-11-21T19:58:00.000-08:00

When you move to a new state where you have no idea where anything is, I'd advise getting familiar with the 'Seasonal Attractions' within that area BEFORE you promise your kids a trip to the local pumpkin patch.. We found out that the words 'pumpkin patch' do not prove any results within a GPS search... the adventure begins...

Getting the troups ready

It's no Secret I'm Daddy's little Girl

we've adopted a neighbor kid and took him with us

After some driving aimlessly around Northern Viginia we stopped at a place that looked like a pumpkin patch but turned out to be only an over decorated nursery.. NO PUMPKINS! just flowers, trees and various colors of bark as well as 3 different types of compost.. It was our 1st attempt but we made the best of it with photo-ops and rock star poses.

After asking anybody who looked local where the flip the pumpkin patch was, we hit the road for another 40 minutes of.. 'are we there yet'..

Lo and behold we found the mother of all pumpkin patches called the Belvedere Plantation! This place is beautiful, kid friendly, fall festive, and they had pumpkins for sale. They actually had hay rides, musical groups and what-not but the price tag was too much for 'ol daddy cheapskat'e.. so we (I) opted for just getting some pumpkins in the FREE area.

The cutest catipillar made from round hay stacks.

The pumpkins were the perfect size

After our Pumkin Patch fun we saw an old 80's van with a roach coach trailer hooked up to it strategically parked on the side of the road. The hand-made cardboard sign simply read - 'Mexican Food'. Uh huh!.. you better believe we stopped!.. Kids looked a little nervous but I assured them it had to be good!.. well... the kids were right.

Fancy road side cuisine.

Happy Birthday Dad!

2009-11-21T19:18:00.000-08:00

Well, It was against my will that we continue to celebrate my birthday (it's so depressing when there seems to be more hair in the ears than on my head) but the kids will find any excuse to eat cake and ice cream!

Steven's birthday card he made

Joe's Last Minute Birthday Bash in VA.

2009-11-21T17:47:00.001-08:00

Driving and moving cross country was hard enough but organizing a birthday on the fly can only be done by my awesome wife Marie. She whipped together a fun intimate birthday for joey complete with family & new neighborhood friends. Everybody had fun for a last minute birthday bash!

Happy 7th Birthday Joe!

Steven took this picture of us

Grandma & Grandpa Potter just drove in a few minutes before we started

George Washingtons Childhood Home and Our New Crib

2009-10-03T16:30:00.000-07:00

HIP HIP HOORAY - GOD IS GOOD! - We've been in Virginia for exactly 7 days and he found us a home!. The second day we got to Virginia we started to look at houses.. we had been looking online whenever we had a chance, but the 2nd day in VA we actually got to see them in person.

not exactly sure what Virginia's slogan means

After several days of driving around lookin at other homes, we ended up filing out an application for the first house we visited.. Out of all of the homes we saw, the first house we checked out Marie and I knew it was the one.. carzy huh?

3 Days later of not knowing if we would even qualify.. we got the thumbs up on the house and picked up the keys!! Yeah!

In those 3 days of waiting... sweating it.. and praying, we took the opportunity to check out more of the neighborhood and Fredericksburg Virgina.. One of the many stops in-between eating and napping was right outside the housing track. Here's a little historic gem!

We also ended up stopping at Ferry Farm. What's the Ferry Farm you ask? well it's the childhood home of the father of our Country.. George Washington!

What a cool place this is! No wonder George hung out here til he was 20. It's awesome! The actual 'home site' wasn't actually discovered until last year.. so this place is very alive in history and discovery. Once we paid the small admission price, the gal at the front entrance gave us a quick history lesson and some maps and let us loose on the 80+ acres!

Boy oh boy did the kids think that was cool. They were on a discovery adventure to see what it looked, felt and smelled like at George Washingtons childhood home. We walked trails, played old tymey games and hung out at places that young GW would have.. other than the trails.. the kids loved the feather in the corncob, thrown through the wicker hoop game!. well.. not as much as super nintendo... but what do you expect for the 1700's

Again, the trails leading to the river and ferry were awesome. Sari did so good walking and keeping along with the boys just about the whole time. I suppose being strapped in a mini van for 8 days probably helped build their energy for the trails.

To distract us from the 'waiting for our house approval' we also ran into a nearby park.. It was so cool! This puplic park had a kiddy area, soccer field, basketball courts and a free skatepark!.. Troy, where were you!

After the park and Ferry Farm we GPS'd some thai place for some home cookin'. We're not thai, but it's the closest to indo food I can think of... It was a little pricey, but what are you gonna do..

photo by Steven

It was an action packed waiting period and had a blast..God is so good to us.. it's ridiculous. these last three days have been so neat and I have learned so much from my kids. They don't care if we have a home or not and they don't worry about anything. They are just obedient with what they know is true. They know that they'll be takin care of and all will be okay.

I believe it was a perfect illustration of how God wants my walk to be with him..

Hey In and Out.. There's a new game in town!

2009-09-30T09:45:00.000-07:00

YUMMM! - Well. we're finally in Virginia (fredericksburg to be exact) and all is well. We've hit the ground running and are activly looking for houses to accomodate our large family. We've seen so many beautiful houses and countrysides it's almost unreal.

The rolling hills, old barns, historic buildings, battlefields and more! It's really a beautiful state! or commonwealth as they like to call it.

We have our sights on one house in particular that's in historic fredericksburg. It's in a wooded area and very cute and perfect for our family. It's in a 'mature' neighboorhood! - guess that's just another word for old and falling apart - hey, just like me!. but we love it's charm. The owner is a master carpenter and electrician... he really did it right.

We're not sure if we'll get the place, but it's a start in the right direction. If we do get it we'll post photos and such.. pray for us! In the meantime here's the images i've ripped from the web for your viewing enjoyment:

In our house hunting we also get to see the in's and outs of Virginia and find cool places to eat.. speaking of In and Out.. there is NONE TO BE FOUND!

In and Out Burgers whilst in California was one of our favorite burger joints and shall be missed.. (head bowed in respect). But we discovered a new game in town called '5 Guys'. It's a burger, fries, hotdog joint... and it's D'licious! so-far we've been there twice and probably will go back today!

The burgers are scrumptous the fries are awesome and the hotdogs are amazing!.. they even have grilled cheese sandwiches that are Steven's and Saris' favorite dish...

So while in the east I highly reccomend 5 Guys... Sure, there will always be special place in my heart (or arteries) for In and Out Burgers, but 5 Guys will work out just fine.. or until my cardiologist tells me to lay-off.

Beautiful Virginia

2009-09-28T21:57:00.000-07:00

YEAH BABY!! - We actually made it all the way cross country from Cali to Virginia!. The drive from Knoxville to Frederickburg was non-stop rain.. no kidding.. the second we got into the car to the moment we got out of the car it poured!! We got pounded by the rain.. I'm not sure i'd even call it driving.. it was more like boating...

We stopped several times to stretch and run around in the rain.. but that was about all the sightseeing we did.

The final photo of the drive that Marie snapped tells the story..

We finally got to our hotel room, dried out and hit the sack.. We were too tired to celebrate, but we all thanked God for getting us there alive and without incident.. God is so good!

The next morning we were treated with sunshine and some amazing scenes of our new hometown. (note to those in so cal: Those green things on the side of the road are called trees)

the Simpsons clouds

This mini adventure to just get to Viginia was really such a blessing it's ridiculous. The only thing that would have made it perfect was if Troy could have joined us.. ;) But i know this Jacobs' Adventure isn't finished.. I think it's just getting started. I got to hang out with my wife and kids and see the country in a whole new way. Once we find a home and settled I'm sure Troy will come and visit. Perhaps we'll plan the next road trip Jacobs Adventure!

to be continued...

Casey Jones, Knoxville and a Swimming Breakthrough

2009-09-28T20:36:00.000-07:00

YIPEE! - We've made it to Knoxville! The drive from Memphis to Knoxville according to the map was a little over 6 hours.. but as our trip continues it seems to take us longer and longer to reach our milestones. I think this trip took us about 8.5 hours with all of the bathroom stops and sightseeing adventures included. I think rigamortus is starting to set-in in my tailbone and spine - ouch!

On one of our pee pee stops along the way we noticed a sign off the highway screaming 'Casey Jones Village' - One Mile Ahead... Yep.. we had to stop.

After a quick peek at the 6 dollar per person price tag for the Casey Jones attraction entry, we veered into the giftshop instead.. little did I know that would be a costly mistake. All my kids walked away with souvenirs... this had turned out to be one expensive pee pee.

The boys all wanted bandannas..

Sari was a little grumpy.. but soon gave into a smile.

After an hour at the Casey Jones Village it started to rain.. I believe it was Gods way of telling us to hit the road! - Thank you Jesus!

The last stop before we hit the hotel we opted to grab a bite to eat at a place we thought was Carls' Jr.... well, it's not..

Once we got to the hotel and noticed it had an indoor and outdoor pool (Baymount Inn). we deceided to stay two days instead of one to give the kids a break, have fun in the pool.. and to give my tailbone some RnR..

The next morning the kids wanted to swim.. and swim they did! By the time we left Knoxville.. Elijah and Joseph were offically swimmers! Drum roll please... For the first time, Elijah and Joseph swam without the aid of any floatation devices!!! YEAH Elijah and Joseph!.. I guess the endless hours in Grampa Bills mini pool finally paid off!.. Thanks GrPa Bill!

This magical place was a city of firsts for my kids.. Knoxville was the city that they learned to swim.. and it's also the city that they all ate at the Outback Steakhouse for the very first time!

After a long day of swimming and ginormous meals..it was time to chillaxe and kick-it at the crib.. word up homey!

Next stop is Fredericksburg Virginia.. talk to y'all soon!

Fort Worth to Memphis and Memphis to Knoxville

2009-09-26T07:39:00.000-07:00

HIP HIP HOORAY! - We are almost at our new home state of Virginia! We had a lot of fun in Fort Worth. Spent a few days there and was hard to leave.. Once out of Texas we looked forward to Memphis and Graceland.

We found several gems along the way and took some shots to document. We were pretty fortunate to not hit any nasty weather. We were right behind a storm and only got puddles! yeah puddles!

The trip to Memphis was tough for the little ones.. (Thank God for headphones and loud IPODS) they are getting sick and tired of the mini van and are not afraid to tell us how they feel. Sari typically screams and whines NON-STOP when she wants to pull over. ;) Steven Quote of the Year.. 'I can't take this car ride anymore!'.

To calm and rebuild morale and to detract from some sort of mutiny, we found a chuck-e-cheese' to make up for the pain and suffering we caused. Here's some irony.. The favorite attraction at CEC after the eternal screaming and whining road trek from Fort Worth to Memphis, seemed to be some sort of automobile ride.

Perhaps they're training for taking over the ship somewhere in Knoxville... Go figure. ;)

Joey hits the jackpot

After a good nights sleep in Memphis we headed for adventure and were off to Graceland!

We wanted to visit our cousin Elvis! ;) - Not sure if anybody knows this but awhile back Marie did her family tree through one of those ansestry sites and discovered that she's actually related to ELVIS!.. third cousin.. or somethin' like that.. which means that my second batch kids are cousins of Elvis... hmm 'Cousins of Elvis' That sounds like a great band name or song title..

Sari trying to pick the lock - cousin Elvis wouldn't mind

After Graceland we visited the Cafe next door to enjoy some Elvis favorites.. Deep fried foods! - fried peanut butter and bananna sandwich..umm good!

After a quick game of Rock, Paper, Scissors to see who'd pay the tab, we were off to Knoxville!

quick hello

2009-09-25T16:42:00.001-07:00

Going to Memphis

2009-09-23T08:05:00.000-07:00

YEP! we're going to Memphis to see cousin Elvis!.. tis Wednesday morning-ish and we're packing up and headin out to rainy Graceland!

We spent a few days here in Fort Worth and had a blast visiting our friends Roger, Julia, Marry and Abby. They are the coolest family and have been such a blessing and encouragement to me and my family! They have a beautiful home in a beautiful neighborhood.. they even have a replica mini version of their home Julia's dad built complete with furniture, electricity and AC!.. How cool is that!

I'm thinking.. if we can't find a home in Virginia maybe we can ask Julia's dad to build us a mini house and fed-ex it to us!

We so-much wish we could stay (for ever) but we still need to find a home in Virginia.

Roger and I had the chance to record a rockin' hymn in his studio! - He was gracious to let me do the vocals.. watch the quicky video i slapped together on my netbook below!

who's the fat guy on the left?

On our drive to Rogers and Julia's one fine day we GPS'd a nearby park to let the kids run wild for a few:

We also had a chance to visit Marie's Grampa Calvin and hook up with Mom and Don and Chris. G Calvin is looking so good. Last time we visited he was in the hospital.. God is good! G Calvin gave an early birthday card to Joey and Joeseph was sooo excited!

We got to eat at our favorite joint.. the Texas Grill in Fort Worth with G Calvin. He out ate us all! - He slammed down this giant burger in record time.. quite amazing!

The Texas Grill is a hidden gem inside a strip mall somewhere in Fort Worth.. it's D'licious! They have 2 free rocking horses that the kids LOVE!!! ahh the simple pleasures of a kids life.

that's some fancy ridin' pardner

Thanks Grampa Calvin, Roger, Julia, Mary, Abby and Texas for your hospitality! - we love y'all!

Short Drive to Dallas/Ft Worth

2009-09-20T21:55:00.000-07:00

YEAH! Halfway point ahead! - After our wonderful stay at the Tornado Inn we got up at the crack of 10 and hit the road.. I should mention that we ordered some questionable take-out Chinese food the night before so i was expecting alot of unexpected bathroom breaks.. I was pleaseantly surprised that we all survived the local cuisine.

Today was a big day because it marks our journey to our halfway point. It's also a day we'll see some friends in Fort Worth. Our plan is to stay 2 or 3 days to rest up for the last leg of this adventure.

Thanks to our tour guide (Garmin Nuvi GPS) we found a cool little food joint called the Whistle Stop along the way.. I think it's after vernon tx..

The food at the whistle stop was awesome! Home Cookin' at it's best..plus it was Really Cheap! 'It's a winning combination!' (ed2go inside pun :) - The folks inside this 'very local' place seemed to be checkin us out the entire time.. a little strange, but I guess we kinda looked like the circus coming to town.. Another thing that threw us for aloop was the massive over-powering tobacco aroma the second we walked in.. man o man! - it's smelled like a 70's vegas hotel room.. none-the-less, the food and atmosphere was awesome!

Sari liked it so much she did not want to leave and refused to get in the mini-van.

After convincing 'the princess' back into the car we were off to Dallas/Ft Worth. We hit a little rain but all in all it was a very easy and quick drive. btw - There are so many beautiful green rolling meadows off of the interstate here in Texas it's ridiculous! If i had deep pockets i'd be buying land like a champ!

Arrival

As soon as we arrived in Ft Worth we hooked up with our buddies at our hotel room followed by a nice dinner at a local mexican joint.. It was really cool hangin' out with our friends. Our first day in Fort Worth was great and look forward to hangin out more, seeing the sites and resting up for the trip to Virginia.

Chillin in Childress Texas

2009-09-20T21:04:00.000-07:00

ALRIGHT!! - Made it from Albuquerque NM to Childress Texas.. not too shabby with three boys and a screaming baby! We stayed at a Days Inn in Childress Texas that had recently been visited by a tornado.. how cool is that! - no wonder the rates were cheap ;)

We drove through a whole lot of nothing but still found the beauty in God's vast creation. The kids saw their first real live rainbow and Sari never seems to get tired of pointing out cows and choo choo trains!.. priceless. As for the mini detours and offramp fun.. for some reason we find great pleasure in 'Truckstops, Roadhouse Diners and Wooden Indians'. hmm sounds like a good title for a country song.. but I digress.
Next stop Dallas! - Here's some pix from the road.

Heading to Texas

2009-09-19T09:26:00.000-07:00

It's Saturday morning and we're getting ready to make a 7 hour drive to Childress, Texas. Childress is an hour or 2 past Amarillo.

We didn't get to really enjoy anything about albuquerque other than the Cracker Barrel.. ;) but we're anxious to see some friends and family in Dallas in a few days so the rush will be worth it.

We did get to enjoy the beautiful drive TO albuquerque and saw a lot of great wide open spaces..here's some pix!

Family, Flagstaff and Albuquerque

2009-09-19T09:17:00.000-07:00

YEAH!.. We made it to Albuquerque!

After blowing through my old stomping grounds in 29 Palms, we headed past amboy, got on the I40 and stopped to visit Marie's cousin Frank and family in Bullhead City! It was neat seeing frank and his awesome kids. He's so blessed!

denny's in 29 palms

The kids had a blast hanging out and getting to know each other. We hope that once we get settled in Virginia they'll come and visit!

After a long visit we headed out to Flagstaff.. thank goodness for the GPS.. we would have never have found Franks or Flagstaff without this cool gizmo! aint technology grand?

The weather in Flagstaff was nice and chilli. At an elevation of 6700 feet i guess that's the norm. We got to our hotel room pretty beat but got a good nights sleep, woke up pretty refreshed and was ready to hit the open road and head out to Albuquerque.

Tanking up the Mini Van and heading out.. again.. really!

2009-09-17T09:33:00.000-07:00

We're planning on leaving in a few minutes from Menifee!! woo hoo!

Due to the medical detours thanks to Ben, we've decided to take a shorter route to Virginia. Originally we wanted to see Yosemite first.. but that ain't gonna happen on this road trip.. Our goal now is to just get there alive!

sooo, our first stop on the road, GOD willing, will be flagstaff Arizona. It's only about 6-7 hours and should be attainable. The weather here in menifee will be 90 something, but in Flagstaff should be in the 60's.. got to bust out the sweatshirts!

We might stop in Bullhead City to say hey to Marie's cousin Frank, but not a for sure sure thing.

Our very first stop

2009-09-14T20:38:00.000-07:00

YIKES! - Can't seem to get out of Cali! - Jacobs family adventures are always filled with fun, adventure, comedy and drama and would not be complete without at least one trip to the ER. Monday was no exception... Late Sunday night after a long day of running around and getting ready, ol' papa Jacobs (me) started having some issues with my heart rythm. I ended up in the hospital at Inland Valley ER with a heart rate of 260 bpm. evidently that's pretty high!..

Personally it's a pretty good beat for a 'Sex Pistols' punk song, but at my age the Doctors wanted to see it somewhere in the 'Barry Manalow' rage of 62-72 bpm. - oh Mandy!

That said, I found myself in the hospital till Wednesday! (c'mon people! - i've got a job to do in Virginia!)

Marie and the kids hung out at my nieces house and her dad's house faking it and living in the Van down by the river. (so sorry Marie).

The Doctor's wanted to perform an ablasion procedure on me at Anaheim Memorial to see if they could permantly correct it by burning some of the electrodes on my heart.. but after some consiltation (and bribing) it was determined it could be managed by medication and to get a good doctor for follow up once in Virginia. keep you posted

Packing

2009-09-13T09:58:00.000-07:00

WOW! - Today is Sunday and is the first day that it really feels like we're really moving and really on vacation! (sorry bout my over use of the word 'really'.. i'm really sorry)

Thursday and Friday of last week, the moving company was doing their business, Friday was my last day at my job of eight years and everything was ridiculously hectic. Went to Bob's big boy.. woo hoo! - To add to all the fun, Marie and I caught a nasty cold.. (swine flu?).

Saturday was clean the house day (before my niece moves in).. The kids were having a blast running around in a big empty house, hanging out with their cousin's and sleeping on the floor.

Saturday night we all went to Marie's dad's house to spend the night in 'the shed'. 'The shed' is very cozy little room situated on the back part of his 2 acres. It has all the comforts of home crammed into one room.. no kidding,.. cable tv, video games, couch, bed, piano, microwave, ac, toys!

We had a great nights sleep, but Marie is still a little sick. Today is Sunday and we still have to go back to the house and load the car and run some errands. Once finished we'll spend some time with Troy my eldest and have dinner before we leave Monday.. Not sure where we will sleep tonight or have our iternerary completely mapped out, but hopefully we'll get that all sorted out.

So far the notion and reality of moving from my birthplace of Southern California to North Virginia seems to be fine for me and my family.. but I have a hunch that a week into it the younger ones, Sari and Steven will be begging for home.. little do they know, we have yet to find a home on the East Coast ;)

to be continued...