Hello friends and family! This blog is long overdue, sorry about that! The intent of this blog from the start was to keep everyone back home updated on Bryce growing up here in lovely Michigan, so now that we are all settled in and finally have internet up and going, I'll work harder to ensure that I update this at least semi regularly. If I don't, please don't hesitate to remind me to get at it :)
So where to start...Oh yes, the lovely car ride to our new home from Geneseo. Bryce loves car rides normally, but this trip is just too long for one 8 month old to stand. He was unusually fussy, and because of this we had to make numerous stops along the way, which increased our drive time by a couple of hours, ouch. The drive up here from home, no matter how many times I tell myself that it isn't that bad, well, it honestly is. It's a long boring drive. Very long and boring, especially when you're a baby staring at the back seat for 7, no make that 9 hours for this particular trip. We did reach our destination, the Drury Inn hotel in Troy Michigan safely and with no major problems though, and that is the most important thing.
We got the keys to our new place the following day. We now live in Shelby Township Michigan at Oak Hill Park Apartments. The community is very nice. It has three pools, one of which is directly across from our apartment, along with the finesses center, so we have absolutely no reason to not be physically fit now :) It also has a puppy pen for dogs to play and do their business, as well as a putting green and two tennis courts. It’s gated as well, starting at 8pm. We honestly cannot complain about where we are living. You may have seen the pictures that I posted on facebook of our place. Bryce has his own bedroom and bathroom, which Shane mostly uses lol. It’s extremely quiet. We met the people that live above us, a lady and her husband, and their 15 year old son. Her husband was transferred up here from Ohio last year, so at least we are not the only out of state-ers around here :) She is very nice. She talked about how much she misses her grandkids back home, and offered to watch Bryce for us anytime :) We haven’t taken her up on it yet through. We are still a little freaked out about having non family members watch him. Something we just have to face and get over we know, but it’s difficult for us. We'll get there though :)
We decided to do some painting in our new place since we did not yet have our furniture and were still living in the hotel. Shane worked very hard on this, and it turned out amazingly well. We finally received our household goods shipment the Wednesday after we arrived. Good thing, as living in a hotel was getting old quickly! We worked hard to get everything unpacked and put away, so by Friday, we were in pretty good shape and that left us free to enjoy what the area has to offer before I started work on Monday. :)
We had a very busy Saturday. We went to Romeo Fest in the morning, and then a Tigers game in the afternoon. Romeo is a small town about 15 minutes north of where we live now. It could not be more like Geneseo if it tried. It is a very pleasant, small victorian town.
Main Street where the Festival was going on
Super cute houses like the one below are the norm in this cute, sleepy little town
Below is the bookstore I couldn’t get Shane out of
When and/or if we do stay here permanently, we will most likely end up buy in this area. It has a homey and safe feeling, and great schools. Good place to raise kids
After Romeo, we headed to downtown Detroit to catch a Tigers game. Comerica Park is amazing. Clean, lots of food and drink options, a ferris wheel and carousel of the kiddos. The Tigers were in first place for their division when we checked out the game, so we were hoping the town would be out supporting their team, and we were not disappointed! The place was packed! :) We had a great time, and plan on going to as many Tiger games as we can fit in! It’s so fun to live in a city with pro sports :)
Shane was upset that he hadn't thought to do this for the Cards games. Cute that they do this for kids though
We spent Sunday at our pool. We are trying hard to get Bryce comfortable with water. He was a little scared to start with, but he has taken to it really well.
We had a great busy weekend, and I was all set to start at the Detroit Arsenal on Monday :)
Detroit Arsenal is in Warren Michigan, on 11 Mile and Mound St. It takes me about 30 minutes to get to work, and some days, a lot longer. The traffic up here is HORRIBLE, just like in any big city. I've had to play with my hours at work to see if leaving early will help me avoid the heavy traffic, and have tried several different routes to and from work trying to find the best way for me, and I think I finally have it figured out, at least for now, so that is a huge relief. It is so nice to be around all of my co-workers from Rock Island that had already transferred up here. I'm so blessed to work with a group of smart, fun, hardworking people that I care about and love to be around, especially since we are all so far from home and our own friends and family. It is making the difficult transition to life here much easier to deal with. :)
Today we went with a couple of my co-workers and their spouses and kids to a water park in Madison Heights Michigan, Red Oak Water Park. It was amazing! We honestly do not have anything like this is the Quad Cities. We all had a BLAST! They have a kid only water park, a giant wave pool, three water slides, and a lazy river. And, you can even bring your own food and drinks and grill out! Awesome! :) We spent quite a long time there, and Bryce was not fussy at all. He was too busy splashing and soaking it all up. So this is definitely going to be a place that we frequent as often as possible.
Kid only water park area
Lazy river
A rare after bottle nap in Mommy's arms :)
Whew! As you can tell, we have been super busy! Bryce has been working hard at crawling and almost has it down. He pulls himself up in his crib too. He also chatters away nonstop. It’s ADORABLE! He has the cutest little voice. He’s growing up. Won’t be long before he’s walking and talking :)
And all in all, Shane and I both really do like it here. It was hard to leave home, but we had to do what is best for our own family now, and this was the best decision for us, we hope everyone understand that and is not upset that we left. It’s a good thing, although difficult. Shane enrolled in college for the fall last week, and has been staying home with Bryce until we figure out daycare. It’s all been working out really well for us. Detroit is nothing like its reputation. It’s gorgeous up here, but just like with any big city, you have to know where not to go. We have felt safe everywhere we have been, even downtown for the Tigers game. We invite anyone who would like to check it out and see us and Bryce to come visit anytime! Our door is always open and we would love visitors!
Sorry that this blog was so long, but I wanted to get everyone caught up. Going forward, I will try my hardest to update much more frequently, so they won’t be nearly as lengthy. We pray that all is well with everyone back home and we hope to see you all soon. :)
Love,
Shane, Karyn and Bryce
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