We Have A House!

We finally closed on the house last week so we have been very busy settling into the home. Our house hold goods were delivered from storage on Friday. All 14,000 pounds of goods took six guys almost eight hours to unload. It will take me nearly 10 times that to unpack! Only a few things were damaged so far. Monique & the kids only got to sleep in their beds one night before heading to Nauvoo for an Elzinga Reunion. I spent all day Saturday & yes Sunday after church unpacking the boxes. I have currently unpacked 78 boxes and am nearly a third of the way. I also spent most if this week installing 17 set of blinds for the windows and five ceiling fans to help keep the house comfortable. I also painted the floor in my garage. I am enjoying the new house but there seems to be a lot of little things to do. Buying a Spec home was great but we did not get to pick things or upgrade anything. Now we will take a few weeks to make this house our perfect home.




New home on Whimsical Court! :)


After ten hours I finally got the kitchen put back together to look like this. I love the look but life without a pantry is going to be very difficult.


One of the "Five-Minute Fans" that took me nearly an hour to install. After installing five I was able to get the time down to 25 minutes but not five as the box promised.



My newly painted garage floor. The man of the house has to have some perks! My next big adventure is getting a shed installed into my back yard. The garage is very narrow and really only has room for two cars.

Washington DC (Trip 2)

Today we passed the time away waiting for our new house by visiting Washington DC again and getting the kids their stamps for their National Parks Passport Book. This was our second trip to the Mall with the kids but the first with the passports. Who knows how many we will make while we are living here. We were able to get Nineteen stamps for most of the Nation Capital locations. This was Aedan's favorite part of the day. He has really enjoyed collecting the stamps. After the stamps, we spent the rest of of the afternoon visiting the National History Museum.







The four kids with their passports. The kids "hit the jack pot" by going on this trip. They got 19 stamps added to their collection. They now have a total of 25. We got 6 on our trip to Utah last summer.





The kids on the steps of the National History Museum with their new pets.





Jaw Part V: The kids Attack!






The four kids and Dad on the Mall. The start of a really long & LOUD day for the family.





Our first stop on the trip was to the National Air & Space Museum. (So Harrison could use the bathroom again) :)






Keean loved the Dinosaur exhibit the most. He really loves studying about Dinosaurs and one day wants to be a Paleontologist.






Ireland's favorite part was definitely the Gems & Jewelry section. Diamonds will certainly be her best friend!






Harrison's favorite part of the day was taking pictures of everything with his new camera he got from his Birthday money. He took well over 200 pictures in the Gem section. His love for taking pictures must be a family thing. :)

Greenwell State Park

After the Plantation, we found a really exciting state park which had a pier & a beach. It was located on the east side of the peninsula along the Chesapeake Bay. The kids fell in love with the beach and wanted to swim in the water. The water was very warm. We had a great time!


The kids gather for a group shot!


The kids wadding in the water!
Our own little Blue Lagoon.


Ireland walking on the Pier.


Harrison & Ireland waiting for a boat ride that never came.





Ireland discovers a dead crab!




View from the beach.

Saturday at Sotterley

Today we did our laundry at the Hotel, but we did get out and tried a few things. We went to the Scotterley Plantation in Hollywood MD.
Per the website: "Older than Mount Vernon, older than Monticello, older than the nation itself, Sotterley Plantation stands majestically on the banks of the Patuxent River.
It is the only remaining Tidewater Plantation in Maryland that is open to the public with a full range of visitor activities and educational programs."
We went an looked around but left early because it cost a lot of money to explore all the grounds.

Something New!

After nearly a week on the road, Monique & I are sick of McDonalds & Burger King. So tonight we decided to take the kids to Mom & Dad's choice of restaurant. We took the kids to the newly opened Olive Garden in Lexington Park. It turned out to be pretty expensive but well worth not having to eat another cheese burger.











We also took the kids to see Kung Fu Panda 2 in 3D! I would give it 2 Stars, 1 if you factor the price into the mix.

Great Sisters!

We spent last weekend at Yo & Rob's house in Phoenixville, PA. The kids loved it. They played video games, hide and go seek, and learned where Strawberries really come from.


Monique & Yo looking great together after Church.



Keean picking his first Strawberry!


Group shot with Ricky & Ellie at the Strawberry patch.


Eating on the job?


After twenty minutes, five pounds picked!


Playing Hide & Go Seek in the yard.


Playing Charades! The kids were naturals!

Life @ The Hotel

Well the kids got what they always dreamed of: We are officially living in a hotel. Harrison' has always said he wanted to live in a hotel for a while. Well, due to problems with our new home closing in a timely manner, we will have to spend 9 LONG days living in a single hotel room. Monique & I are going crazy but the kids love it. Swimming pool, cable TV, and "free" breakfast is just great for them. Hopefully we will look back at this and just laugh. I at least get to go to work for 9 hours but Monique is there all day. :)



The four kids get the king size bed while Monique & I get the hideabed.


Tanning at the pool- Harrison


Strike the pose!: Keean


Tanning in the shade- Ireland


Playing get Mom in the pool!

Fort McHenry!

Today we visited Fort McHenry while traveling to Maryland. The kids really enjoyed the fort and all the cool cannons. The video in the visitor center was really informative and interacting. It was a nice break from the long day of traveling to our new location.



The four kids in front of the fort.


"The British are coming"!


"Make my day"!



:)

Goodbye Ohio

Well the time has finally come to leave Ohio and say goodbye. What a great place to live! The four years went by so fast and we will truly miss all of our friends & loved ones there. Springboro will always have a place in our hearts. It did not feel like a stop on our journey, it felt like the destination. We will see you again in the future!

Love
The Marshs!





Our last minutes at our Springboro house!