A moment of reflection.

It’s been a while – we’ve been a bit busy.

We are on the last night of living out of a suitcase (2 actually) for the last 8 weeks. We are currently renovating our house and have spent the past 8 weeks in 6 different houses. Dave has seen 5 different countries in that time.

The first two weeks were spent in two airbnbs and a caravan in the south of France.
The next 2 weeks was an Airbnb in Haarlem (Dave was in the US/Canada/Portugal)
The next 5 days in another Airbnb in Haarlem
The long weekend in a holiday park in Drenthe
The next 3 days in the Airbnb we had just moved out of
Then finally 5 days in a holiday park in Friesland

All with 3 kids under 5.

During that time, Miss E has learnt to escape her cot as well as started preschool, Mr A has learnt how to walk and started daycare, Miss A has cut all her hair off, we have seen a change of seasons and I have added another year to my age

We move home tomorrow, and here the challenge starts. The house is by no means ready, the backyard resembles a tip, all of our bedroom furniture is stored in either our ensuite or Miss A’s room, the lounge room stuff is in storage, the kitchen isn’t functional, our aupair (who has braved living in the construction zone) has been using the laundry and bathroom as a kitchen/wardrobe/sink for the last 2 months, our beautiful white stairs (of which shoes were banned from) are now black with scuff marks and mud but we will be sleeping in our own beds tomorrow.

South of France

Surprisingly, it hasn’t been that hard. The kids are unsettled and tired and they want to hang out on their own lounge, but Dave and I have coped remarkably well. There have been no arguments and we have settled into a routine – he unpacks the cots, I get the kids ready, the dinner cooked and then we both put the kids to bed and open a bottle of red. When we pack – there’s also a proven routine.

If Dave and I can get through this, then we can just about do anything. We are so lucky to have him – he organised all the accommodation, makes sure everyone is okay and has still managed 3 overseas work trips. I knew our marriage was good, I just didn’t know it was ace. We are so in sync (at the moment), it’s a nice feeling to be part of a team with little to no friction.

To all my friends that I haven’t spoken to or seen lately, I promise it will all change. The aim is to have the backyard finished for heaps of summer BBQ’s (of which we will have heaps as we can’t afford a summer holiday 😉 – not true, we’ve just booked a week in Dublin and a week in Greece – tough life)