Happy Birthday Carolyn

(I'm sorry that this is kind of late. I tried posting it a couple times but it kept freezing)

On October 4th it was my birthday. We didn't really have any plans for that day but we ended up doing some last minute birthday shopping and buying some other things like a cake. For dinner, we had spaghetti, meatballs, and garlic bread. After dinner we ate cake which was just a plain vanilla one from Costco. We didn't have any candles though ;)

After we had cake we opened presents. Here is list of the things I got:
- candy
- nail polish
- wallet
- purse
- nail polish
- Starbucks cup
- colored pencils
- wretch this journal
- monsters inc
- earrings
- scarf
- skirt
- leggings
- target gift card

The next night we went to dinner at this restaurant called Asado where they serve steak and things like that.

Thanks everyone for the gifts! I had a great birthday!

Carolyn

Carolyn's First Week of School

Well since I'm not on top of everything like Emma apparently, I'm going to do a first week of school instead of the first day.

Everyday I wake up at 6:30 and then get up and get ready. I'm already having trouble getting up on time and if I don't turn on my light there is no way I would wake up. I pack my lunch the night before so I have more time in the morning. We've been trying to leave the house around 7:10 so I've been getting to school around 7:15 (school starts at 7:35 for me).

My bell schedule is:

1- Biology 

2- Spanish

3- Digitools

4- Geometry

5- History

6- English

So far my classes seem pretty good and I've made some new friends. My favorite classes are Geometry, Spanish and History. 

Emma seems to be doing some different things in her Spanish class, but we've been practicing with each other (or more like making fun of Emma's fake Spanish accent).

Molly and Nick had good first days too. Molly is apparently making friends with some of the second and third graders and Nick has made some friends too.

Love, 

Carolyn 💕

Emma's 1st Day of 7th grade

My first day of school started off by me getting up at 6:30. After waking up I got dressed in my uniform, packed my lunch (to go in my snazzy lunch box), and did my normal morning routine. By 7:20 I was at my bus stop with all my stuff. My bus stop is THE bus stop because there are a lot of kids both in the morning and afternoon. I got at school around 8ish, and went to the gym to get my schedule.
My first bell is Language Arts with Mrs. Gerbyshak. My second bell is Social Studies with Mrs. Doughton. My third period is Pre-Algebra 1 with Mr.Bream. Fourth period is Spanish (Hola) with Mrs. Tumbusch. Fifth period is P.E. with Mrs.Coates and Mr.Benner. And my last bell, sixth period, is science with Mrs.Dolack.  I think my favorite classes are Spanish and P.E. (surprisingly). I have second lunch, which means that in the middle of Spanish, you get a 'lunch break'. I already have met a few people who I sit with in my classes and in lunch.
So far, so good... I'll keep you guys posted. HAHAHAHA!!! See what I did there!!
               Love,
                 Emma

P.S.
All those times watching Dora are actually coming in handy! Adios Amigos! 

Point Defiance

Ever since we got settled, we've gone to Point Defiance Park a couple of times each week. It's right on the water so we've been going to walk on the beach. There are also several trails. We haven't gone on any yet but plan to in the future. Yesterday, we explored the rose garden and the small pond. We saw a family of ducks with a mommy duck and 8 ducklings. We also saw two baby deer and their mom. We spent most of our time taking pictures of the pretty flowers. Here are some of the photos: 

If you want to learn a little bit more about the park, this is the link to the park website. 

http://www.metroparkstacoma.org/point-defiance-park

Things We've Done... So Far

Since the last blog post we've gotten the carpets replaced, moved everything a million times (literally!), cleaned from the floor to the ceilings, and unloaded a lot of boxes. All of the bedrooms are mostly assembled except for the few boxes in Mom and Dad's room. The kitchen is unpacked, however there are still some boxes in the living room and dining room. We just got the T.V. set up!!! WHOOP WHOOP!
We have also done multiple non-house things. We have gone out to eat, finding some of our new staple restaurants. We have gone to Titlow beach and Pt. Defiance a few times. We also went to the renaissance festival, but it was nothing in comparison to Ohio's.
And to top it all off was The Great Wall Mall (A.K.A. an asian mall). It was really cool to see the different shops, not to mention the foods in the "grocery store". Word to the wise DO NOT try the samples of mooncakes. Just trust me on that one. We got some almond cookies from a bakery and some from the grocery store. A little much? Not at all. To finish our experience, we went to some noodle restaurant and got some chow mein.
Anyway, it's been fun just trying different things and learning the things that we took for granted in Cincy, shouldn't be...
Until next time,
Emma xoxo😘

We Made It!

We finally made it to our new home! We woke up at 6 this morning and left at 6:45. We drove through Washington and stopped a couple times for gas. We made it to the house around 12 and got the keys to get in. We started unloading the truck then took a break and got fish and chips for lunch. After lunch we walked along the beach a little bit, looking for crabs. We went back home and started unpacking again. We got 3/4 of the truck unpacked before we decided to stop for the night. We went to get a light dinner and then went to Point Defiance and walked on the beach again.

We didn't get te beds unpacked so we had to sleep on sleeping bags but we were all so tired that nobody really cared. We hope to get the truck all unpacked, things cleaned up, and a little more organized tomorrow.

Day 4

We made it (kind of). We woke up in the car this morning, had a quick granola bar breakfast and then hit the road again. We drove through Montana and stopped for lunch in Missoula. We drove through Idaho and finally reached Washington. It was kind of a struggle driving the truck and down hills but we made it work. We stopped in Spokane, checked into the hotel at around 5:30, and then went to dinner. We went to bed early so we could get up early Thursday and make it to Tacoma as soon as possible.

Day 3

On day three, we went through South Dakota and went to the Bad Lands.
We saw lots of prairie dogs, chipmunk like things, and a mountain goat. It was really pretty and jaw-droppingly big. After that we went through Wyoming. After driving for  a few hours we stopped and got Jimmy Johns and got some frozen custard. Delicious! Then, we kept on driving into Montana, where we drove through the Rocky Mountains. They were huge! You didn't realize you were driving uphill until you had to go down one. When we went to go find a hotel to sleep at, they were all booked. Therefore, we unfortunately had to sleep in the car. Needless to say it was torture. Other than that though, we had a good day.
Until next time,
                      Emma xoxo

Day 2 of Travel

We woke up this morning and left the room, leaving Dad so he could sleep, and got our hotel breakfast. We were on the road by 9:45. The hope was to get 600 miles in. We traveled 626 miles. We drove until about 12:45 when we stopped at Flying J truck stop in Iowa. We got lunch at Taco John's and Maid-Rite which was a mistake. The food was really gross. There was an ice cream sandwich without ice cream and "burgers" that were just ground beef on a bun with burger toppings. At least the fries were decent. Needless to say we will not be eating at any fast food restaurants we have never heard of again. We kept on driving and entered into South Dakota. We continued driving until we crossed the Missouri River and pulled over to Al's Oasis where we ate dinner. We drove on to Murdo and stopped at Range Country hotel for the night.

First day

On the first day of driving, we left our old house in Cincinnati around 11:30 A.M. ( Cincy time). And off on our journey we went! In Indiana we sat in traffic for over 45 minutes because a car caught on fire. In Illinois we passed Le Roy, Illinois (the only reason we remembered this was because it rhymed). We also learned in Illinois that Nick and Dad can't use a walkie talkie (even though they eventually "got it down"). As well as, that Molly gets slap-happy when she has to pee in the middle of nowhere and has been in car for 8 hours without sleep. Go figure. Next on our list was Iowa... After we drove for a little bit, we went to Cracker Barrel for dinner. Nothing a little fried chicken and mashed potatoes can't fix. After that we drove a little longer, to try to find a hotel, to spend the night at. On our way there we passed the worlds largest truck stop (in all honesty it didn't look that big, but we really didn't see it that well). We ended the first night at Country Inn & Suites in what we think was Iowa City (Mom's phone was calling in something wierd, so we aren't entirely sure). We ended our night around 12:00 P.M. Cincy time and drove around 470 miles in total. Overall, it wasn't that bad of a day or at least better than we expected.

Until next time,

Emma

Packing the Truck

Packing took longer than expected. We started packing the truck on Friday and didn't finish until Sunday morning. We packed about a third of the truck on Friday, which was less than we expected. Grandma, Grandpa, and our aunts, uncles, and cousins came over to help. Mom wanted to leave on Saturday morning but since the truck wasn't ready we worked on packing all Saturday. Amy, Jim, Josie and Ellie came over to help on Saturday. On Saturday evening Mom wanted to leave by 7 Sunday morning but we were still frantically running around packing last minute things and making sure we had everything we needed. We finally fit everything on the truck by 11. We ended getting rid of a lot of stuff. Our two garages were full of things for goodwill or the family and trash. Hopefully the unpacking process isn't as bad as the packing one!

Our new house

Here are some pics of our new house.  We hope to be all moved in by August 1.

Summer Bucketlist

At the beginning of the summer, each of us kids wrote some things we want to do this summer before we leave. We're trying to get as many things crossed off as possible.

The first thing we crossed off our list (except Nick sitting in the front seat for the first time. lifelong dream of his) was going to the museum. Emma didn't come with us but we had fun exploring the cave and playing in the children's museum.

The next thing we crossed off was Coney Island. Swimming in the pool, going down the water slide, and riding some of the rides made it a very fun trip. (Coney Island wasn’t really on anyone’s list but swimming was so we crossed off something).

The next thing we crossed off was renting a boat at Miami Whitewater. Needless to say we will never be renting paddle boats again. Still think it was a better idea than row boats though.

The last thing we’ve crossed off so far was going to a Reds game. The highlight of the night were the ring pops. And I guess the Reds winning too.

Afterwards we made an impromptu trip to Smale Park and sat in the swings for a bit.

Some things we are hoping to cross off our list are Kings Island, the zoo, and the drive in theater.

Bon Voyage!

On July 5th at the Burke residence, we had an early goodbye party for those of us in the family who are moving. The day started off with arriving at Grandma and Grandpa's house. We then received t-shirts that corresponded with those on our teams. We had a family "meeting" introducing the Burke Family Scavenger hunt. After going over the rules we were off! One of the many places we visited was the Gold Top Dairy Bar. We were treated to slushies!!! Delicious! Later that day we came back and added all the totals from the places we visited in Cincinnati. Whoop Whoop!!! The gray team won! After that, we welcomed more guests, ate some Cincy classics, and all around had an awesome time. One thing is for sure, that this party will never be forgotten as the one to beat.