The Big Delivery

In early August, the day finally arrived that we had been awaiting all summer: the big delivery of our household belongings all the way from Dubai!

I've said before that it's so interesting how seeing this shipping container conjures up all kinds of unexpected emotions. In Dubai when our container arrived, I immediately burst into tears because it reminded me of the last time I had seen the truck in front of our former home in Katy. This time around, I didn't experience the same emotional response. After living in a mostly empty house all summer, I was ready for our stuff and for the project of putting our home together. Finally.

Bright and early on a hot summer day in August, the container was opened and a crew of 8 guys arrived to help unload. They prepped the house with red carpets and the long, busy day of work was underway. I should note that Jeff was in Dubai at the time, so it was definitely a stressful and chaotic day for me as I juggled the unpacking with shuffling kids to their summer activities.

I had to apologize to our new neighbors for the container and multiple trucks parked outside most of the day, on top of the insane amount of packing materials that littered our yard and driveway. It's amazing how much plastic and paper is used in the moving process.

After many hours, the container was finally empty. But the work was LONG from over. The 8-man crew worked most of the day to reassemble furniture, unpack kitchen and bathroom items, and clean up the mess.

By the time the crew left, it was late afternoon and I was pooped. I was a little surprised at the state of things, because in Dubai the crew had unpacked and worked for 2 solid days. I guess that's not how it works here in the US. There were unpacked boxes and packing materials in every room and blocking most doorways, and despite how hard I worked, that's the way things remained for quite some time. I underestimated how much work it would be for me to get the unpacking finished while Jeff was away for another 2 weeks. We started out with around 300 boxes of stuff and it took me a full week simply to open them all and figure out where things were.

I had to take so many deep breaths to get through the next few weeks as we tried to find the right spot for everything. Things just don't work or fit the same as you transition from one home to another (to another), so I had a hard time figuring out where everything should go. It was the beginning of a long process as we worked to make our new house feel like home.

Glamping

While we waited for our belongings to arrive from Dubai -- an 8-10 week transit time -- our new house was pretty bare for most of the summer. We added a few pieces of furniture here and there, but mostly we borrowed air mattresses, linens, a small TV, and some other little things. Jeff liked to say that we were "glamping" in our own house, which seemed fitting. As we were soon anticipating the arrival of our belongings in early August, I took a few photos to remember our glamping days in the summer of 2019.

Random Summer Photos

I'm still playing catch-up with many photos and updates from our summer, many of which included Kaitlynn wearing a baseball cap and (fake) glasses. It all started with a fun girls night out with Julie and Lily where the girls enjoyed buying new accessories. The hat/glasses phase continued for several weeks before it ran its course.

One of the perks of moving back to Texas was the friendly neighborhood coupons we received in the mail for various restaurants and other merchants. With our $20 coupon for Outback Steakhouse, it was no surprise who I decided to take out for a lunch steak one day. Happy boy!

We spent a lot of time at the Aasmyrs' home this summer, including play dates and pet-sitting. Connor and Kaitlynn never miss an opportunity to play at the Aasmyr zoo, ha!

Since we had a lot of free time on our hands in the summer, I spent one morning teaching the kids how to properly clean the house, including the bathrooms and toilets. What fun, ha!

My friends in Dubai posted pics on social media showing how the Emiratis recognized our Independence Day on July 4th. So cool!

In our summer boredom, Jeff and the kids started playing Scrabble to pass the time on slow evenings. One morning I woke up to a sweet Scrabble message and couldn't resist snapping a photo. Awe!

Errands and Appointments

Summer is always full of many errands and appointments, especially when we had been out of the country for the past year. I scheduled some much needed haircuts for the kids one day, which also turned into a back-to-school clothes shopping experience at the mall. For Kaitlynn, it was her first real haircut in 1-2 years. (I know, I'm terrible!) For Connor, it was quite possibly the worst day of his life. Yes, I'm being sarcastic. Why is a hair cut and shopping such a chore for him?? *eyeroll*

Also in the summer, I noticed that some of Kaitlynn's permanent teeth were coming in and her baby teeth weren't loose at all. After visiting the dentist, they determined that she needed 3 baby teeth pulled to make room for the permanent ones. The process didn't bother her at all, except for the numbness of her mouth for hours afterwards.

I sure love that smile of hers!

Playdate with Sophia

One of Kaitlynn's favorite things during the summer was reconnecting with special friends. Her sweet friend, Sophia, joined her for a fun playdate one day and they decided to head out for an exhausting afternoon of roller-skating. It was the biggest hit, and I admit that I regretted not joining them and showing off my own skating skills (or should I say sk8r skilz, haha) from the 80s. Next time!

After a long afternoon of skating, they refueled and headed out for another fun activity: open gym at Westwood Gymnastics. I honestly don't know how these girls were still standing. So much fun!