Last night we observed a weekend event that takes place during the summer months call WaterFire.  We set off to walk downtown from our apartment, which ended up not being a bad walk at all. The boys were thrilled to push the pedestrian button at all the intersections. Several times they each pushed the button 3 times and still wanted to do it more. We arrived at the canal area to find a swarm of people and vendors. We had heard that there was always a good crowd, but this was larger than we expected. We walked until we found a prime spot at the top of one of the bridges and decided to wait there for the fire to begin. We were able to watch gondolas going up and down while we waited. 

When the sun had set a small boat came down the canal with a woman sitting on the front with fire on the tips of her fingers. She was dancing around and soon began to light each of the 100 braziers. 

We walked around a bit after the lighting until Russell announced he had to go to the bathroom. We frantically walked to the nearest building that might possibly have a restroom and were in luck. After a quick stop we decided to call it a night and head home. We still had a long walk ahead of us which is mainly uphill. The final hill is a very hard one to walk up and by the time we got in our door we were all ready to collapse, but opted to have a bowl of chocolate ice cream instead. 

It is so exciting to walk to the farmers market and a have a huge selection of fresh items. Fruits, vegetables, breads, cheeses, herbs, baked goods. The most exciting for me was the seafood. Lobster, clams, oysters, and fish. They looked and smelled great. Not sketchy like you might be envisioning. I know when I think of a man selling seafood from his truck I don't get a nice picture. But now I will think differently after seeing this.  We came home with bags full of cucumbers, onions, a rainbow of different tomatoes, radishes, apples and basil. The one thing we wanted so very badly, but could not stomach the price....sweet corn. When we were in Wisconsin we bought a dozen for $2.00 from kids along side the road. Today grown men wanted $7.00 for a dozen!! We will stick to our frozen bag of corn. 

Slowly boxes are disappearing from our rooms. Things are being put away and it is feeling like home. We are comfortable walking almost anywhere now, have found a great park which even has a story time in the afternoon, have made friends with the neighbor kids and have meet some of the adults on the street. The people on our street are very nice but NOISY!! That is what I have to get used to the most. The noise. I want to pull my hair out most evenings when the older kids get to talking outside our living room windows. Last night we listened to them as they were trying to master a trick on a bike. One kid was doing the riding and the others were cheering him on and screaming with joy when he finally did it right (over and over and over again!). It was entertaining to listen to and RC and I did find ourselves glancing at each other and laughing from time to time, but I look forward to quiet, bitterly cold winter nights when no one is interested in leaving the comfort of their own home. 

Our trip East was quite uneventful. This is a good thing when you are traveling with 2 small kids. We started our trip in Wisconsin and with the help of some gifts from grandparents the boys were excited to get in the car and start driving. They were each given several "presents" to keep them occupied in the car and it worked!

We made it to Toledo, Ohio with no problems and no huge emotional meltdowns. We made it to our hotel and crashed on a king size bed for all 4 of us. The boys slept great it seemed. As far as R.C. and I go, well, we could have done without little feet kicking us in the stomach and throat all night long. Yes...I did say feet kicking the throat. Not a good feeling to wake up to in the middle of the night. 

We were up and on the road by 7:30 am the next day. We were all quite excited since we were staying in Niagara Falls and would get to spend a good part of the day outside of the car. We arrived at our hotel around 2:30 pm and found that a trolly could pick us up outside our hotel and take us right to the falls. GREAT! Russell and Maxwell were both impressed at the amount of water and how noisy the rushing water is. Max especially enjoyed mimicking the water sound and chasing seagulls. Russell was certain that a brontosaurus could drink all that water in one day. 

After several hours of walking we stopped for a quick ice cream treat. The boys enjoyed their ice cream cone, but I think R.C. enjoyed his the most. 

When we woke up in the morning we were on the road to Albany, NY to visit family and spend the night. We had a very nice cookout and were able to meet several family members we had not met before. This was by far the best sleep we had on the entire trip. The next morning we would be on our last leg to our new home. 

We only had to drive 3 1/2 hours that day and arrived in Providence, Rhode Island around lunch time. The boys were thrilled to see their toys and books again. They had a delicious peanut butter and jelly sandwich on their bedroom floor while we tried to unpack the car. 

An assortment of pictures that recap a good summer before heading East. 

It was a stressful summer with planning a move, packing, saying goodbye, weeding as many of our possessions out of our collection as possible to make the move "lighter",  and trying to organize for the year ahead. We tried to keep things "normal" for the boys so they wouldn't get too scared, so they had a stress free summer. Lucky boys!  For weeks we had no real "home". RC and Melissa were on the East coast trying to find an apartment, Russell and Max were in Wisconsin and our belongings were in New York. We then found an apartment and moved our things in. Then our situation changed to the four of us in Wisconsin and our belongings in Rhode Island.  It is a relief to finally be united with our things and our boys. Although everyone is missed very much! 

The adventures begin!! This might not be the most exciting blog you have ever read, but I assure you there will be cute little boy pictures. 

Join us on our adventure!!