Spring Break Road Trip

Well, folks -- we've bought a house!  This Spring Break took us to our new destination down South.  We decided that we might as well make our house hunting trip a family affair, since the move will affect the whole family, and we took the kids with us to check out the area and start getting familiar with it.  My fingers were mostly crossed for Ethan's sake, since I know he's taking this change the hardest.  My prayer the whole time we were there was that he would find at least ONE thing to be excited about in our new city.  Spoiler alert -- the jury is still out.  Womp womp.  Hahaha.  In all honesty, though, I think this trip has helped to at least baby step his way to a better outlook on "the move."  By the time we're actually out there for good, I'm hoping that it will be an easier transition now that we've seen what it's like and are becoming familiar with it.

 It was SNOWING as we took off last Saturday on our trip. BOOOOO!

The DVD player in the car came in EXTRA handy on this EXTRA long trip in the car.

But enough about all that.  I'm sure the thing everyone is dying to see is pictures, right?  Haha.  Have no fear, I took plenty.  ;) Before we get to that, though, I have to give a quick description of the rental house we stayed in for the week.  {And I can't believe I didn't take any pictures of it!}  By renting a house on VRBO vs. staying in a hotel, we figured we'd bother fewer people with our raucous crew -- especially since we'd be leaving Ethan and Grace in charge on the two days we were out house hunting with our realtor.  The rental house itself was like a time machine.  It was built in the 60's and I'm pretty sure most of the details were the original.  It smelled like old people -- but not in a BAD way -- and it was full of knick knacks and odds and ends that added to the vintage charm.  Aside from worrying the whole time that the toddler was going to destroy precious heirlooms, it was quite a fun place to stay.  Not to mention it was super convenient for getting to all the places we needed to go.

 Front Porch!

 (I'm in love with this front door.)

Front Entry Way

Monday and Tuesday of last week saw Scott and I out with our realtor, sifting through the houses we had checked out online prior to coming.  By day 2 we had narrowed things down to 3 top choices, and on Wednesday we took the kids with us to check them out, too.  It was fun seeing their reactions and hearing their feedback, and even more exciting to see that -- in the end -- everyone was in total agreement on the house we should buy!

 Dining Room

 Living Room

 Office

 Family Room

My personal favorite thing about the house is the location (it's only 8 minutes from Scott's new office) and the fact that, if they want, we're close enough for the younger ones to walk to school.  And the second best part is that the kitchen has all the features I was hoping for -- a large island, DOUBLE OVENS (!), and a farmhouse style sink.  Bam! What????  Hahaha.  The only downfall to me is that I wish the backyard were a little bigger.  Nevertheless, the kids assure me that it's the same size as our current yard (which I'm not so sure is true, but maybe it is), and it's big enough to fit the promised trampoline we said we'd be getting as the reward for completing our Book of Mormon challenge last year.

 Kitchen

 Back Deck

Yard. (Which is fenced in and I'm THRILLED for Isaac's sake.)

 Nice, big upstairs Bonus Room.

 (The younger kids made themselves RIGHT at home while we were here.)

 With a little nook for my Arts and Crafts-ers.

 Sophie and Grace have claimed this room.

 Ethan will be in this one.

 And I think we're going to try and fit the Tweedles and Isaac in this one.  Wish us luck.  Hahaha.

Master Bedroom

Aside from the excitement of house hunting, the kids were thrilled to have some Spring Break fun as well by hitting up a local trampoline park not once, but twice while we were in town.  Isaac in particular was a HUGE fan and it was hilarious to hear him asking every single day if we could go back.  We finished off our week by driving up to the cousins' house in Indiana to spend Easter/Conference weekend with them (and for the kids to have their "Spring Bash") and we enjoyed being with family for such a special occasion.  We'll miss being so close when we move.  :(

 Trampoline socks!

 (Those foam pits are SUPER hard to get out of, FYI.)

All in all, I'd say we had a rather fabulous Spring Break!  (Now if only our house HERE would sell --  Hashtag fingers crossed!)