That's what we've been doing this summer - just taking it all in. We've been enjoying exploring our new town, finding new places to play, new parks, new restaurants, meeting new friends and reconnecting with old ones, playing on the beach and enjoying the slower pace of summer. Because we are living with my parents, running the "household" is so different and so much simpler than we were used to. There are no bills to pay (yay for that!), no yard to maintain, and our 2-bedroom apartment is a snap to clean up. Going from having 5 bathrooms to stock and clean down to one is certainly easier! So, with some extra free time we have enjoyed just exploring what Wilmington has to offer.
My favorite things about Wilmington so far include:
1. Nothing is far away! The standard drive time to anywhere is 5-10 minutes, less than half my Cary drive time of 15-20 to get just about anywhere! Major quality of life improvement already!
2. You can't go anywhere without running into someone you know. Wilmington is a small town and I kind of love this about it. You just have to make sure you don't go out looking too rag-tag, because you WILL see someone you know. There never seems to be more than one degree of separation from you and someone you know in this town!
3. Wilmington is the South, the real South, where people drink sweet tea, have accents, and are generally really nice. Cary was more like New Jersey than North Carolina and I used to get really funny looks from people when I told them I was from North Carolina. Here, pretty much everyone is from North Carolina. It feels more like home.
4. The beach. No explanation needed.
We did buy a new house! After making offers on three other homes, we finally got the right place at the right price at the right time. Timing was everything with this one! We are set to close on September 9, and will post pictures once we have them. We will be doing a good bit of remodeling, so hopefully I will blog about the progress. We are so excited about this house and the vision we have for it. It is a Cape Cod style house, built in 1989. It has great charm and character and it fits the bill perfectly of what we were looking for. We got all the bedrooms we wanted, a separate home office, a play room, a formal living for the piano we intend to buy, a large yard, in the best schools, a few blocks from my brother and a few minutes drive from my parents. Once we do some updating and personalizing, it is going to be the perfect house for our family. We can't wait to share pictures and to eventually be able to invite people over! Here's a sneak peak...
And here is what the kids have been up to this summer:
Grant: learning to brush teeth, walk, do forward rolls, climb furniture, and dance.
Pierce : being cool, learning to swim, playing with Papa John, building some serious Lego creations, learning to fly a kite and enjoying the beach.
Sydney: lots of great camps (art camp, vacation bible school and marine biology camp), reading every book she can get her hands on, complaining about and then thoroughly enjoying our trips to Wrightsville Beach, spa time with Nana, learning to boogie board.
Brett and I: just taking it all in and trying to enjoy this time with our kids and my parents (oh, and doing some serious house hunting and now planning and managing the remodel of a home we don't even own yet!).
Back soon!
