New House and New School

Where did spring and summer go? I haven't been here in a while and just noticed our last post was from March. Since then, the twins graduated from Kindergarten, spring and summer have come and (almost) gone, we're now living in a round house, and the twins are riding the bus to their new school. The summer went by quickly and we've been so busy we could not afford the time or expense for a family vacation. Sophie has reminded me of this a few times. I feel her pain. But most of the changes have been good ones, and hopefully we can make up for it by getting settled in our new home and planning a fun vacation for next year.

Mary and Sophie at Kindergarten graduation

 

Saying Good-bye

Sadly, we did experience some loss this summer - Peter's grandmother, "Kadi Mama," passed away in June after a steep decline in her health over the last few years. Peter spent ten days in Hungary with his mother to take care of some family business and the funeral. We last visited in November 2011 so the twins could meet her for the first time. They remembered her and were sad about her passing but happy that she is no longer sick in bed. It was not an easy trip with all of us traveling that far (the girls had just turned 4 years old), but it was important - I'm so glad we did it, especially now. We'll go back again... one day. It won't be next year's summer vacation.

Sophie, Kadi Mama and Mary - Kesckemet, Hungary, November 2011

Going back a bit, the day before the last day of kindergarten, we said good-bye to our dog Bailey. He was really the sweetest, most simple dog I've ever known. I used to say that Simon (who died last year at age 14.5) thought he was a person and Bailey thought everyone was a dog. He was shy and timid, kind to everyone, but he would risk his life for me if I was in danger. He was very loyal. His health declined rapidly the last month or so of his life and we had to let go before we were ready. He was 10.5 years old. I still miss him a lot but mostly remember the good times. And how terrified he was of hot air balloons - you see them a lot around C'ville - I've never seen someone so scared of anything! Even after he'd get inside the house, he'd be shaking and still looking up at the ceiling. Poor Bailey.

Bailey (right) with Sasha, now age 12, who we adopted in December 2012

 

Summer Fun

Though I really missed my trip to the beach (maybe there is still time?), I don't think the twins missed out on much fun this summer. They went to summer camp for the first time this year and got to do something fun and different every day. They had a lot of trips to the pool, the spray park, and a few out of town trips to places like Amazement Square in Lynchburg and the Frontier Culture Museum in Staunton. Sometimes Sophie said she was not having fun, but there were pictures posted on Facebook that said otherwise.

Mary having fun at a magic show with her summer camp

You can tell Sophie had such a boring time at the spray park, right?

 

New House

Sometime in June I was trolling the real estate ads and noticed a round house down the road from us was on the market. I was familiar with the house - there are two other round houses next door that had been on the market at one point. In fact, a few years ago, I drove down that road with the twins to show them the round houses. I'd always wanted to go inside one. So I took Peter there one day and told him, you know, we could buy this house... The next week we went inside with the listing agent, and the week after we got our own agent and made an offer on the house. After what seemed like some long negotiations, the offer was accepted, then after several more delays I won't detail, we miraculously closed on the house in time to enroll the girls in school and move in before school started. (We moved less than a mile, but from the city to the county and into a different school district.)

This is our round house. This is the first day we went inside.

 

New School

The twins started 1st grade at Murray Elementary last week, in different classes, and so far all seems to be going great. They are riding the bus, which arrives very, very early (they are the first ones on the bus!), but they've adjusted to that as well. Their school mascot is the Mustang, same as I had in elementary school, and their bus driver is called Mr. Mac (that's what we called our principal). Mr. Mac is a man of few words, but he seems very fond of Sasha. They greet each other every morning. Then when the bus takes off, Sasha excitedly motions for me to go back to the house and get started with our morning run.

Mary and Sophie waiting for the bus on the first day of 1st grade

We're ready to go to school!

Back home!

We had a great day! (And Sophie picked up a few rude gestures.)

So far life in the round house is good. We have until Saturday to get the old rental house cleaned up, then we'll be able to relax for a few minutes before starting the next project. We still have a lot of work to do, but the place is all ours, so that is not bad at all.