Swimmingly!

Our girls are making us quite proud!  They are adjusting to our new surroundings beautifully...better than their mom I would dare to say.  About the only thing I think they miss right now about home, is having friends to play with all the time.  Having Max and Jack live next door in Avon has been a real treat for them.  Other than the occasional boredom, they have done really well.  Alexis is beginning to help a lot around the house.  She helped me with laundry yesterday.  She even went solo taking a load out of the drier, carrying it upstairs, folding, hanging and putting it all away!  I'm sure it won't continue once school starts, but I'll take it when I can!
I'm enjoying the challenge of cooking here.  It's interesting trying to make the same things that I'm used to making.  But, I've found some new things to make as well.  For example, a creation from yesterday (not my own recipe); Nutella grilled cheese:

The cheese is mascarpone cheese (the cheese used to make tiramisu).  We had some on hand because we were seeking out sour cream at the store and thought mascarpone might be a substitute...it wasn't but it has it's uses. 

About the biggest adjustment I feel I am going through right now is being without my puppies.  I have NEVER been without a dog in my life.  To say it has been rough would be an understatement.  We saw a Viszla on TV the other night and that made me sad.  I washed Kaylee's blankie yesterday and when I emptied out the lent trap it was full of Murphy and Abby hairs...that almost made me cry.  I told Kaylee we needed to save the hair so we could make a little doggy out of it...I was joking of course.  But, the moment I realized I needed some sort of pet was when we came home last Friday night. 

It was a dark and stormy night...it was pouring down rain when we finally pulled into the garage.  I entered the house and turned on the lights.  Instantly, I saw a tiny baby lizard crawling on our foyer wall, making his way up to the rest of the house.  My first thought, "I need something to catch it and keep it in so I can have a pet!" 

A baby lizard...not very cuddly.  And no, we didn't keep it.  So the next day I told Ryan I wasn't going to make it without some sort of pet.  So, even though he has been allergic to them in the past, we are going to get a kitty.  It really took no convincing...Ryan just wants us to be happy while we're here.  We will have some kitty free zones just in case Ryan is in fact still allergic.  But the girls are excited.  Kaylee has always wanted a kitty.  We have a name picked out and everything.  So, hopefully the next time I post, I will have pictures of the newest member of our family!

With that, I'll leave you with a few more pictures:

Girls in the pool...I was on the top floor