The MOVE... Our Florida shipment arrives first.

Not the way you want to open your storage box… I guess anytime you use a company with rat in its name, you should know better!! It wasn’t like “Christmas” the way we thought it would be after not seeing our stuff for three long years. Instead, we stood at the threshold of the storage container wondering if this was in fact our stuff.

It was really touch and go wondering if the LIVE plant they packed was going to make it the three years… Really???

Jordan was very eager to have her bike and stash of balls out of the truck… She stood by each of the trucks they unloaded waiting for her stuff.

We basically spent three months “camping” at our house… Spending most days here and sleeping at our temporary condo at night. Makes you realize what makes a home… we grew to realize — it isn’t the “stuff” that goes into a house that make it a home… but a sofa would be nice!

While we waited for our toys to arrive… the kids got creative! This is the highly coveted new iPhone — with all modern conveniences such as this encrypted key pad. It can fit conveniently in Ayden’s helmet or shoe.

Slowly but surely we are exploring our new town, meeting neighbors and settling in… Looking forward to our new adventures to come here.

The Journey Home...

It officially feels like summer when we pull the Crusher out of its storage unit in Charleston. Without even a slight hiccup, it always starts without a hitch and the rev of engine signals… summer!! Only this summer when we pulled the Crusher out of its small storage unit, it was for good. It was going to make the journey home … and kick off our next adventure — taking us to our new home in Massachusetts.

While adventures are most often fun and rewarding… some do not come without complications. About 5 hours into the first leg of our trip up the coast, we lost a tire. We had never used the spare and after sitting in storage for the past three years, we were a bit unsure of its stability. It sure was handy having our private engineer along for all those repairs along the way. My own personal pit crew.

With a two day drive, we finally landed in our new town…

I am not going to lie, ahead of finding a good gym here, I was the most excited to get a COSTCO membership. It took us 24 hours before we found ourselves sporting our first official membership in our new town.

The second membership we got was to the local library. Other than the fantastic library at the kids school… it was very hard getting used to the fact that there wasn’t a town we had at our finger tips that allowed us to go in and get lost.

So today was a great day… getting our own personal library cards.

Our new home…. Yard needs a bit of work, but we are so happy to call Boxford our new home… and thrilled to as always… be together!

No doubt… One of my biggest luxuries is owning a car. But I didn’t realize this luxury came with a high cost of spending time in the department of motor vehicles. More then a dozen times while waiting in line did my driver, Mr. Zhu cross my mind… After the two hour wait and being “served” by the woman with an excessive amount of facial hair, I came out with a new license plate and for the first time in my life, it read… Massachusetts!

Time to explore our new town… and after getting a town map, we realized we lived in a town with several lakes. I grew up spending summers on a lake and loved the fact that I was going to share this experience with my children. It didn’t take us long to find Stiles Pond… with a nominal fee, we became members and found our piece of paradise.

There were so many kids there, I knew our week long “look-see” was tough being jet lagged, but somehow we seem to follow our gut and things fall into place. It didn’t take long for the kids to meet other kids their ages and the pond turned out to be our hang out after hitting the beach all day or spending the morning unpacking.

I think we are going to like this next adventure in our life….

Kicking off Summer with our Cousins in Charleston!

For the past three years we have come home to the beautiful beaches and open arms of our family in Charleston, SC. This is a huge highlight for my crew. They are very tight with the Desciak boys and love having such awesome “Big” brothers to hang with… Jared, my sisters third oldest has the best personality and really gets kids. I hope to one day see him do something special with children because he has a true gift.

When gone missing, you can always find Jordan near the hoop… Uncle Dez will often run clinics/drills with Logan and Jordan.

Garrett gets a great deal of his fashion sense from the Desciak boys.. and their amazing style inherited from their mother. I can’t thank Logan enough for all of the hand me downs!

JOOOOEY BAG OF DONUTS!!!!! A must stop for their delicious donuts!

There isn’t any time of the day that we don’t look out the back window and find someone diving off the side of the pool….

Even Pop Pop got into the fun!!!

There is one place however that we truly feel the most alive… well other then the White Mountain Range ~ and that is the beach. The beaches in Charleston are stunningly beautiful and with the tide pools, waves and flat sand there is so much you can find to do there. It takes a lot to get us off the beach…

While our families are very very tight, there is one special bond that is thick as thieves… Jordan (my oldest) and Logan (my sisters youngest) have always been very tight. They both share the passion of athletics and are truly great pals.

Ayden takes her sand castle building very seriously… Out of our entire family, she is typically the last one off the beach.

And Garrett is the last one out of the water… I have had to buy him neon colored bathing suits so I can keep an eye on him.

We typically spend five weeks in Charleston and fuel up and head back to Shanghai, but this year we are moving up the coast to MA. The kids are eager to compare the beaches and see where they will get their sand/wave fix each summer.

Each visit, Uncle Dez sets traps and we get some great crabs for dinner… I had not fully believed he caught them if I didn’t send the kids with him this time around to get them out of the net. Garrett absolutely loves going anywhere with his Uncle… One of his all time favorite high lights was the morning spent driving with him and delivering meals on wheels.

There isn’t much this kid doesn’t like… Crabs were a huge hit!!!

It wasn’t so hard saying good bye this time… we know we once again living in the same country. Until next time Desciaks! Thanks for a GREAT week!!!