The dawn of a new day

We are moved!

 (and now I have internet so I can blog about it :)

Thursday was a loooooong day. 

The trips and Colin... and us too, were kind of in the way of everything so,

Amelie and I took the boys to breakfast 'one last time' at Toast to get out of the movers way. Then Amelie and I drove the boys to our new home in Holland, MI while Chris stayed back to  wait for the movers to finish and then close up the house.

Before we left though, Colin and I walked through each of the rooms to say "Goodbye". It was my idea, but he was fully on board. I think he might be sentimental like me...

I was so moved. 

He literally said "goodbye" to each room, and even to items within each room (i.e. the bathtub) adding things like, "We'll always love you" and "We'll miss you". I felt like I was reading a version of 'Goodnight Moon'. I think it really helped him.... and me too.

I've lived in Chicago since I got out of the Peace Corps in 2002. Ten years! Chris has lived in Chicago even longer. We love the pulse of the city, the culture, the diversity, and of course, the food! Not to mention our amazing group of friends there! Right up until the end, it was hard to leave all that.

And yet, when we got here I knew.

  I knew.

This is where we're meant to be.

Around dusk, Colin and I were able to sneak away to the beach, which is literally right down the street. Just the two of us.

He'd been there before but I'd not yet seen it. 

I loved watching the excitement on Colin's face as he showed me around.

"This way Mommy!" he said as he ran through the tunnel.

(at Tunnel Park you can either climb over a huge sand dune or go through a tunnel to reach the beach... as seen in the first picture)

When we reached the other side of the tunnel, it was so beautiful and peaceful!

As we played and climbed the sand dunes and ran around in the sand, I felt it again. 

We are where we are supposed to be.

Climbing up to the top of the sand dune

Running down the other side