Preparations

Well, we have a temporary place to stay in Virginia, in what is known (affectionately? please?) as the Foreign Service ghetto.  Also known as corporate housing. It actually looks rather nice, and there's a pool, so that's something I can work with when selling this move to the kids.  Unfortunately, they only have a two bedroom right now, but they think we might be able to get an additional studio for extra space, but it won't be attached or anything.  More like an annex to stick a teenager after school and whatnot.  I've always wanted a separate building for just that purpose, actually, so this could be a good arrangement.  We just need a place to park ourselves for a minute so I can get the kids settled in school.  The two little seven year-olds are totally into the idea of living in an apartment, a'la Eloise (you know, without the room service and whatnot).  Jack is totally onboard if we get the studio apartment because he thinks it would be his own pad (against Oakwood rules, but I'm not ready to make that known to Jack yet).  Henry is not that cool at all with it, especially since his room in the rental we've been living in for the past couple months is pretty much as big or bigger than your typical studio apartment, and it's pretty tricked out for a nine year-old's room.

We will be driving from Seattle to Virginia, so as to make life so miserable for our children that a two-bedroom apartment seems AWESOME, as long as it's not the car.  Another plan we have is to give each kid $5 per day spending money on the trip, but if they whine, complain, or torment one of their siblings, they have to pay us $1 back per infraction.  I predict Jack will go broke tormenting his sisters and Henry has told me he might have to let at least $1/day go in the name of complaining. We plan on stopping at all the goofy sights we can, and yes, I'm talking about the Corn Freaking Palace. And maybe Carhenge, but I'm not getting a lot of takers on that one.  I may have more luck with the World's Largest Cheeto.  And I'm only just getting started.

The mood around here is happily full of more highs than lows, but I kind of can't wait to see how the kids adjust to living in a tiny apartment in the city after a big house in the country.  We spent the day back on the island today so they could say goodbye to their friends and so I could say goodbye to our savings as Henry's orthodontist tallied up the final bill while commenting that orthodontics in the northeast generally cost 3-4 times as much as they do on Whidbey Island.