Play Hard

This past weekend we decided to try out the bus and go north to Balbriggan. We heard there was a new indoor play world there and we thought the kids could use some time to burn some energy. It had been pretty cold and rainy the past week so we were feeling pent up. After eating breakfast and getting everyone and everything ready we set off to catch the bus. We waited and waited and waited and then we decided, after 40 minutes, that we must have missed it. So we turned around and took two very unhappy children home. At least they were unhappy until I said we should stop at the coffee shop and they got a snack and met another little boy to run around with while we drank our tea and coffee and chatted with the mum of the little boy.
Anyways, we decided to try the bus again after nap. We didn't miss the bus in the afternoon and we made it to PJ's Play World with no other problems. There was so much for them to do there. There was a toddler area with a ball bit (Nolan's favorite place), a slide and a climbing area. There was an area for bigger kids that was this huge 4 level climbing maze with swings, tunnels, big balls, secret entries, a tube slide and a giant bumpy slide, a basketball court and even mini go-karts. We stayed for almost 2 hours and by the end the kids were exhausted...mission accomplished! Isabella was very comfortable and had a lot of fun exploring every part of the play world. She even got to drive the go-kart, I sat behind her and only helped her avoid hitting other kids, otherwise she drove it all by herself! Nolan and Isabella both loved the ball pit, especially standing on the edge, counting to 3 and then jumping in together. It was fun for all of us. We have some video of the kids playing and driving but we need to finish up the dvd before I can put it on the computer. I will be adding that within the next week so check back again for that. I am also posting some pictures of our crazy kids from the play world. Enjoy.
The rest of the weekend we stayed home and did some major picking up and organizing of the house. We don't have a ton of stuff, but we also don't have places to store the stuff we do have so it ends up all over the place. We need to get some shelves and stuff. We are also getting pretty close to being able to buy a car. I found an insurance company that will cover us with our American licenses. Most of the companies will not cover Americans because we are used to driving on the right side of the road, which already seems so weird to me. Anyways, we'll just file our taxes and then buy a car. Woo Hoo!
So that's all for now. We hope everyone is doing well and enjoying the warmer weather that has hit Michigan.

Today's Buzz

Finally! A nice day! After four days of totally bizarre weather, it is sunny and clear. I always thought Michigan had crazy weather, but it is way more unpredictable here. The weather will change every 10-20 minutes. For example, the past four days have started out with some drizzle and then a cold breeze will go across the country and it will turn the rain to big snow flakes, about 15 minutes later the air will begin to warm and the snow turns to hail, ten more minutes and warmer still, we get sleet until it's back to rain and then just to give us some hope the sun will pop out for about 10 minutes. And don't let me forget to mention the gales (super strong winds) that make it impossible to walk without leaning forward as if pushing open a heavy door. And then it repeated this cycle all day for four days!
So with the terrible weather, we have barely left the house. Poor Eric has no other choice than to ride his bike 2 miles to the train station in the nasty rain, sleet, hail, snow and gales. But the kids and I certainly haven't left the house. We were getting pretty low on groceries too. I was glad to see the sun today. We went to the grocery store right away just in case it was teasing us again.
Isabella got sick Friday night and woke us up at midnight because she threw up in her bed. Nasty! After we cleaned up everything I got her a bucket and she proceeded to wake up every half hour until 5 in the morning. She seemed okay the next 2 days, just low key with not much of an appetite. Then on Sunday night she threw up again! Just once this time and she felt fine on Monday. I'm happy to say that she seems to have gotten her appetite back today and has been eating non-stop and is back to full energy.
Nolan is doing fine, he's been working so hard to copy what we say and do. Especially what Isabella does. He knows what he wants, but of course he isn't quite able to express this yet. He can throw a pretty good tantrum to tell us how frustrated he is at our stupidity. I mean really...who wouldn't know that "yeah yeah" accompanied with an open hand and jumping up and down means "I really want the raisins that are in the cupboard in the other room please." It's most fun when he successfully communicates what he's thinking or what he wants. We all give a little cheer, but his is the biggest cheer and dance of all. He's very expressive, so one never has to guess how he's feeling.
I am slowly meeting people in the community. I found a great playgroup that meets at the community center for two hours on Monday and Friday every week. There are a lot of mums and kids that are the same ages as Isabella and Nolan, so I'm sure I'll be making some good friends soon. I also found a competitive volleyball team to play with. Hopefully, I can start practicing with them next week and hopefully they are good. Ha ha.
Well, that's all the news for now. I think I could really get into the blogging business. I hope everyone has a great week!

More Pics

Here are the rest of the pictures from the house and town. There is one main street in Rush and that is where all of the stores and pubs are located. We live just off of the lower part of the main street, so we don't have too far to walk to the grocery or any pub. It's nice since we don't have a car yet. I just had to post a picture of our Christmas tree. Pretty good for moving into the house just 5 days before Christmas.
Isabella is making chocolate chip cookie bars(with Eric's help of course)
This is Main Street. See the only petrol (aka gas) station at the end of the road?
Aaah, The Harbour Bar. This is my favorite bar with great food! It's right by the beach so only a couple blocks from the house. When you visit, we'll definitely go there at least once.
Isabella's room. Grandma just brought some pink curtains, but we haven't got them up yet.

Pictures of Rush

So here are just a few pictures of our house and of the beach that is about 3 blocks from our house. I don't have a picture of the kitchen, or our room because they aren't clean enough to show right now. I'll get them posted soon. The kitchen is the main hub of activity in the house, so it usually looks very lived in. It is not a huge house, but it is just right for us and we are really enjoying it here. There is room for visitors, we have a finished attic that I forgot to take a picture of too. This is Nolan's room
This is the north beach, the beach closest to our house. The south beach is maybe 6-8 blocks away.
This is the living room. The kitchen is in the back so you kind of get an idea of where it is etc.
Watching the fire.
This is our house! It is a duplex, or as they call them here, a semi-detached house.