I thought I would take this time to cover the first two weeks of our move. I think we have settled in a bit and trying to get a normal routine going. There is still things to do - but we are close to being "moved in" For the next post - I will upload some pictures for all to see.
Dec 27 - We jumped into relocation mode after a very nice Christmas. It's time to move out of the house and into a hotel. We focused on cleaning the house and have it ready to sit for a while. We had a little panic when we found water in the basement - had a plumber come right away. Don't need any flooding while we are gone. Got alot of work done this day and we all (including dog) stayed in a nice suite at the Residence Inn. A little cozy.
Dec 28 - More cleaning and organizing. The movers showed up and shipped our air shipment. It felt good to have everything shipped. We had a very nice dinner with Chuck and Nancy and we said Good Bye to them. (and cake too - thanks Nancy) Dawn stopped over to say Good Bye as well.
Dec 29 - Head out day! - With the house shut down - all we had was 6 people, 1 dog and crate, 10 suitcases, 4 backpacks - and 2 laptops and we had to get it all to Chicago. Maureen's parents joined us at the hotel and we headed out. They were a big help to us to get everything there. I felt bad for Maureen's mom as she was pretty sick - but she hung in there. It was a beautiful day for a drive and our fears of driving to Chicago in a snow storm vanished. Stayed at the Double Tree near O'Hare. Nice that the rooms had some space so we could stretch out. Kids got to swim in the pool. I dropped off the rental van.
Dec 30 - So now all we had to do was get all the "stuff" above to the airport for the flight to Germany. Maureen, Kathy, the kids, and all the suitcases rode over in the hotel shuttle bus. And Don and I drove over in their truck with the dog and crate. (remember this route is all about the dog - Grand Rapids had a lovely airport). Of course, we got there extremely early and it could not have worked out better. The shuttle bus dropped them off right outside Lufthansa right at the same time Don and I showed up. We got all checked in - walked the dog for a bit and sent her off in the crate. She wasn't happy. We said Good Bye to Maureen's parents and headed off to the plane. It felt like such a huge relief that after all the planning - we were finally leaving. We met up with the Karel's at the gate and it was a good time. Cheers went out as we saw the luggage and dog crates being loaded onto the plane. The flight was great. Kids slept well.
Dec 31 - Arrival Day - We touched down in Dusseldorf and saw the tons of snow they had received. I was snowed on pretty good in my previous trips - but this was more. All 10 suitcases made it. But no dog. We had to search where they delivered dogs and we found them at the other end of baggage claim. They didn't even ask for her paperwork. All that work and trips to the vet and USDA. I rented a large van and actually got everything in. We stayed at the Gut Hohne hotel which is an old castle that has been converted into a hotel and spa. It had a pool. The rooms were nice and spacious - but we knew we didn't want to stay long. It is New Year's Eve - so we hustled to a store to buy groceries as things would shut down for the next few days. The hotel hosted a nice dinner for us - 5 families who all arrived on the same day. After a quick dip in the pool - everyone was exhausted.
Jan 1 - Spent the day in the new house seeing what was set up. Learning all the switches and kids playing with the laundry chute. Found an Italian place open for dinner. I watched some of the UM game. Big mistake.
Jan 2 - Decided to move some of the furniture around which means disassembling and reassembling as nothing fits up and down the steps. Maureen's friend Karen invited us over for a traditional English meal. It was wonderful. Took the train to church in the evening for an English service. The train stop is literally a stone's throw from our house.
Jan 3 - Holidays are officially over. Today I have one main objective. And that is to go pickup Maureen's car. I had put a deposit on one in my last trip. The dealer agreed to let me finalize it when I returned. So off to the bank (had to pay cash) - then to the dealer. The dealer gave me all the paperwork for the car and then off to the German equivalent of the Department of Motor Vehicles for registration and have plates made. The office should really be called Department of anything beaurocratic. Long story short, I was successful. Then back to the dealer to pick up the car. And drove Rosalee home. (kids name our cars) Maureen and the kids spent the day shopping for things taking the train. We only had beds in our house - so we needed a few things as we had checked out of our hotel and would spend the first night in the house. It was fine - through very empty.
Jan 4 - Woo Hoo - shipment arrives. The truck seems small to me - so I was a little concerned. Turns out they split in two and the rest would come the next day. Our clean empty house now was filled with boxes and paper. But it was like Christmas unwrapping everything. And I do mean everything. The ice on our road made furniture moving treacherous. Left the lights on in the new car - oops - now we got to experience calling their version of AAA to jump start the car.
Jan 5 - Our first trip to Ikea - followed by hours of assembling furniture. The house is starting to take shape.
Jan 6 - Our next trip to Ikea.
Jan 7 - And one more trip - I think I am done with Ikea.
Over the weekend - it felt like home. Emmy had a nice event with some of the girls in the area. We did some "skyping" which was good. Maggie skyped with her friend Megan. They were so cute just playing with each other in front of the computer.
Jan 10 - First day of work and uniform shopping.
Jan 11 - First day of school. More to come on that.
Sorry for being so lengthy - but we want to make sure we capture the highlights of our stay here.
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