Settling In

We moved into the apartment we'll be in for the summer on Saturday. We were planning on using the bus to get all our stuff over there, which would have taken a few trips and five hours, but the people we're renting from offered to come pick us up. Yay for nice people! They weren't quite done moving out yet, so we just hung out for a bit. Gareth got to explore their yard, which is made up of patio and gardens. There are also rabbits and chickens. I guess we could get involved in feeding the chickens and get their eggs sometimes, which I'm sure Gareth would enjoy, but I'm not sure I want to deal with it. Gareth enjoys visiting the rabbits, but the owners will be taking them for the summer so they'll be gone in the next week or so.

We're now in the area code that is the most diverse in the nation. Lots of Vietnamese eateries around and I've been told many Somali refugees live in the area. That's mostly what we've come across in our small meanderings thus far. It's a nice neighborhood (definitely better than by the hotel), but there are some run-down looking homes mixed in with the well-kept ones. There are a lot of parks around, which Gareth lost no time in discovering. We will likely be spending a large amount of time at those throughout the summer.

I've discovered this cool thing called Amazon Fresh, which delivers groceries to your door (only in the Seattle area). It can be pricey since you don't have the option of store-brand items, but it was helpful for us to get large or bulky items such as laundry soap or boxed things. (We don't have a car here, so we have to walk to the store, and there's only so much we can carry back in one trip.) So, I made up a list and ordered the items from it that I thought I would be getting for a comparable price at the store. It saved us several trips to the store this past weekend. I'm not sure if we'll use it much more, but it was definitely helpful for that first big trip.

Our neighbors on the upper floors of the house have been incredibly nice and helpful. They've got kids, so Gareth already has some friends (who've been quite forgiving of his initial grumpiness from lack of sleep and changing routine). His new friends have also been great about sharing their toys since he's seriously lacking in that department due to my unwillingness to ship any out here. (We did bring a few small things, but they aren't keeping his interest through the whole day.)

We're still settling in a bit, figuring out where everything will go and such, but hopefully by the end of this week we'll be ready to start exploring!