Did that really happen?

Today I was thinking about the last week and I wondered, did that really happen? Did we really fully pack a 26-foot truck TO THE CEILING and still leave things behind (i.e. our grill, lawn mower, and an outside table and chairs set)? Did the car shipping company really not come to pick up the '56? Is the '56 really still in our garage? Did I really drive 10.5 hours with two one-year-olds and a dog? Did it all really happen? Yes, yes it did. And somehow, we survived it all.

On Wednesday, July 28th, Wes' mom, Linda, and brother, Philip, arrived in Indiana. Then it all began on Thursday morning. Wes and Philip picked up the truck and trailer and went to the storage unit before heading back home. The day was spent packing up the truck, cleaning the house, feeding the twins, entertaining the twins, and dealing with a few interruptions here and there. Specifically, we were interrupted for 3 hours by the Gieco insurance adjuster who was there to talk about Wes' totaled Lincoln (he hit a light pole a few days earlier), for 2 hours by a buyer for the motorcycle (he ran out of gas on his test-drive), for a few hours to complete a variety of house projects, and for an hour or so by a phone call from the car shipping company to tell us that they were NOT coming to get our car that day (and that they had no idea when they would be able to come get it). That night, our friend Brenda came over and helped us cross off a significant number of items on our to-do list. Thanks Brenda!

We continued to pack the truck until 3:30 the next morning! We finally went to sleep around 4am and Wes and I woke up at 6:30am with Gavin and Vivian. Friday was rushed. We had wanted to get on the road that morning, but that was clearly not going to happen. We had a lot to do. I packed the Mazda and headed out around 3pm with Gavin, Vivian, and Chubbs. Linda, Philip, and Wes stayed behind to finish packing and cleaning.

I was banking on a few things to get me through the drive with Vivi and Gavin- forward facing car seats, fruit cups, and rice cakes. We had never turned their car seats around (except for their birthday weekend, but then we flipped them back around for a few months) and I was hoping that the novelty of the forward-facing car seats would entertain them for a while. I was right. They LOVED it. Then, the thrill was gone (about an hour into the 10.5 hour drive). So, I snacked them to death. We made it 4.5 hours before stopping for the night. But not before we went to Walmart and bought a portable DVD player for the remainder of the trip. I found a place to sleep and Wes, Linda, and Philip caught up to me around 1am. Staying in a motel room with two one-year-olds was interesting. And by "interesting", I mean "terribly difficult." We woke up at 6am and started the 6 hour drive ahead of us. This time, Elmo was on from the get-go. Even though this ride was longer, it was much easier, thanks to the Sesame Street gang.

We made it to the house in Virginia around 2pm and my Mom and Max were already there to greet us. Vivi and Gavin LOVED running around the house, checking out all of the empty rooms, squealing down the hallway, and opening each and every kitchen drawer. The rest of the Rosiers made it to Virginia a couple of hours later and the unpacking began. My sister, Meghan, and her boyfriend, Joe, who live about an hour away from our new house, came up to help. And Wes' Dad, Ted, came down from Maryland. We worked for a few hours and then ate some pizza before going to bed early so that we could get more sleep than we had been getting in recent days. The next morning, we were back to work unpacking the U-Haul. As usual, unpacking took WAY less time than packing.

Now, we're faced with unpacking all of the boxes. Ugh.