Durham

As mentioned in the previous post, we went to pick up our keys and sign our rental agreement as soon as we got into town.  The office wasn't suitable for (restless) kids, so we sent them outside (we could see them through the big front window).  There was a bench out there that they were sitting on.  At one point, I looked out there and saw Savannah trying to climb on Weston's back.  Weston was sitting on the bench, but wasn't happy about her climbing on him.  I could see the accident unfolding, but couldn't get out there in time.  He ended up dumping her off over his back, face first onto the concrete.  Savannah's chin hit first and busted open with a pretty good gash, which likely needed stitches.  

We hadn't even been in town for more than an hour when we needed to make a trip to the ER...  We managed to get our keys quickly, then Alex dropped off Savannah and me at the hospital.  Then he took the kids to our new place, dropped them and our things off, collected our stuff in storage and dropped that off, and then came back to get us.  They didn't end up doing stitches, just steri strips.  The nurses felt so bad for her that they gave her TWO bears, which turned out to be good since the kids had very few toys.  She was happy to have "friends" for her bear-bear (that she loves and carries around everywhere).  

When we got home, we had to head to the store to get bedding and a few essentials.  The place we found to live was completely unfurnished - no furniture, no microwave, no refrigerator.  There was an oven at least!  

We bought air mattresses, pillows, bedding, and towels that first night.  And we let each of the kids pick out a couple of toys.  I think Owen decided to order something on Amazon, but bought a small Lego set the first night.  I just had to laugh that Legos was part of our first purchase - we had our priorities...

Our place was a "semi-detached house" - where we share one wall with our neighbors (poor neighbors...).  It had 5 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms, although the 5th bedroom was about 5' x 7' (very small).  We originally found a mini bed and put Savannah in that room, but then she wanted to share a room with someone, so we made that small room the "Lego room".  Even in the UK we had a separate room for Legos...

The front room was a nice size - one long area that had a little bit of a separate area on one end.  We originally squeezed a table in there, but then moved things around and put a desk, armchair, and small bookshelf in there.  We had a little bit of a back yard, although the kids didn't end up playing out there much until the weather was warmer (the last few months).

The first picture below is where we put our dining room table (which we bought off of "Gumtree", the local equivalent to Craigslist.) This area is the other end of that long area in the photos above.  The second picture below is where we put our fridge - obviously that was a priority for our first purchases.  We were able to find a medium-sized fridge that wasn't too expensive in just a few days.  The kitchen, living room, and dining area were downstairs.  All of the bedrooms were upstairs.  Notice, there was no dishwasher in the kitchen either - we had to hand wash all the dishes. 

The first picture is where Weston and Savannah ended up.  The second photo (which is an odd one of me...) was mine and Alex's bedroom.  We took a smaller room because it had a built in dresser and 2 small closets.  We let Nathan and Jared have the biggest bedroom.  Owen had the bedroom in the 4th picture (which had a small bathroom attached).  The last picture ended up being the Lego room.

Bathrooms, entryway, and there was a small washer & dryer in the garage (so glad to have that, although they couldn't do very clothes at one time). 

We spent the first couple of days trying to find beds, fridge, couches, and some appliances like a microwave and toaster.  We found the large items at the British Heart Foundation, a thrift store in town.  We did send back and trade one of the couches from there though, because it smelled so bad.  I thought we were going to have to chalk up the loss of money on it, but was happy to discover they had a 30 day return policy.  So we traded it for some dressers, mirror, and nightstand.  I had to get a vanity mirror and desk to put in our bedroom, because the bathroom had no outlets in it.  That was a little annoying not to be able to use a hairdryer and curling iron in the bathroom...but we adapted.  We didn't find a dining room table until 2 weeks later - we ate on the floor the first couple of weeks.

I don't think I ever actually took pictures of our home put together, because it was just simply the furniture, with very little extra things (besides a clock, candle gifted to us, and sea glass we collected).  There weren't any pictures on the wall - it was just very minimalist, because we had to sell or get rid of everything at the end of the year.  In one sense, I really liked not having extra clutter, but then again, too minimalist doesn't have a warm, cozy feel to it.  It was a simple-only-what-we-needed year.  These are some pictures I took when we were posting items to sell: 

The mini bed was Savannah's until she wanted to sleep on the bunk bed, so Owen slept on the mini bed (in his own room) for a good portion of the year.  

I had to put that bathroom cabinet together - it came in a box from Amazon.  

We ran into another annoying thing early on - our bank froze our debit card on that first weekend, and with Labor Day in the states on Monday, we had to wait until Tuesday to get that resolved.  That wasn't too big of a deal, until I needed to get some cash out to pay for some of the school stuff... (And we hadn't been able to open a UK bank account yet either...)

Speaking of school... the kids weren't registered for school yet when we arrived.  Without a permanent residence, we couldn't do anything about school, so it was pretty stressful trying to get them registered for school right before it started.  We got back to Durham on Thursday August 31 and got the keys to our place.  On Friday afternoon, we went to apply / sign the kids up for school.  We couldn't just go in to the nearest school - we had to go into the Durham County Council office and put in an application for our first and second choice of schools.  Then they would send an admission letter in the mail, stating whether you were accepted.

Schools were a big factor in determining where we were going to live.  We were aware of the process of getting into the public schools and that many of the schools were already oversubscribed, meaning they were "full", so you weren't likely to get in.  I didn't want to risk not getting into a school that was nearby and have to drive the kids across town to another school, so we limited our search of places where the schools weren't oversubscribed.  Applications for schools had been turned in much earlier in the year, so we had no chance of applying for any of the oversubscribed schools, not having had a place to live until a few days before school started.  Anyway, we were pretty limited as it was on places to live that were big enough for our family, that would let our family live there, and where the schools weren't oversubscribed.  Although I was disappointed at first with our home, it turned out to be perfect for us.  The schools were decent, the kids could walk to school, and we were also very close to a grocery store (which turned out to be a necessity, since we had to go so often to get groceries).  Plus, since we ended up choosing the really cheap place, we had more money for travel.

Back to the process of getting the kids in school... we put in applications on Friday, and letters showed up for Owen, Weston, and Savannah on Tuesday (the day before school started).  I went in to the school on Tuesday afternoon and got a packet of things to sign.  But then I had to try to round up uniforms for them as well.  We were able to buy the "jumper" (blue sweatshirt) at the school, but I had to find a gray skirt for Savannah, dress slacks for the boys, socks, black dress shoes, and yellow polo shirts.  We didn't have a car yet  - luckily the equivalent of a Wal-Mart (Tesco) was about a 1/2 mile away, so I walked over there to buy clothes.  Our bank card wasn't resolved until Tuesday night, so I didn't have the cash to pay for some of the school stuff (like uniforms and school lunches).  I got up on Wednesday morning and ended up running about 3 miles in search of an ATM.  I was able to get them off to school the first morning, but when I got there, the school told me that Weston needed a "swimming packet" (swimsuit, towel, and swim cap) that day.  I had to run back home to catch the maintenance guy coming to fix a leaky wall.  Then I walked back over to the store to look for spandex swim bottoms (they weren't allowed to have baggy swim trunks).  I planned to buy a towel, but they had NO towels, so I ran back home and grabbed a towel.  Then I ran back over to the school to drop off Weston's swimming packet so he could do his afternoon swimming lesson.  Took a tour of the school with the principal.  Then I went back home for lunch and to catch the furniture guys coming to pick up the smelly couch.  I walked back to school a 3rd time to pick up Savannah, who was done early the first week.  Then I made one more trek back to pick up Owen and Weston later in the afternoon.  Whew!  A lot of walking and running around. 

Both Owen and Weston had swimming lessons during school for part of the year.  Owen wasn't excited about the Speedos, but Weston liked wearing them.  On one of our vacations, Weston loudly asked, "Did you pack my speedo?"  Everyone around us laughed. 

Nathan and Jared were also supposed to start school on September 6th, but we didn't have their admissions letter yet.  They finally got that the next Tuesday and started school on Wednesday September 13th (missing the first week of school).  I had to hunt around for uniforms for them as well.  I walked 14 miles on Tuesday of that week, searching for black blazers.  Had to sew on their school badges on their suit coats as well.  Nathan and Jared had to wear a suit and tie every day - they didn't like those.  They also walked to and from school - their school was about 3/4 of a mile away.  They ended up being "celebrities" when they got to school, being from CA.  Everyone liked their accent and wanted them to talk.  They also wanted to know if they had met any real celebrities in CA. 

Of course, Alex missed the chaos of the first week of school - he was gone to London...

We found our church the first Sunday we were there - went that very first weekend before our trip to Prague.  It was about a 23 minute drive from where we lived to our ward there.  That 3rd picture below is Savannah and me all ready for church. 

We had to rent a car for the first couple of weeks until we found a used 2003 Ford Galaxy.  We weren't sure if that car would last the whole year, but it made it.  It started having some issues after we had it for a couple of months, but it never quit working.  We bought it for 2700 pounds and sold it again for about 700, so we didn't spend much on it for the year.  We just barely fit in it and had a small amount of room in the back for our bags when we traveled.   

The first picture below was one that Alex sent to me on his first bike ride in to work.  He was following the GPS to know where to go and thought it was funny that riding down these stairs was part of the route.  He had about a 2.5 mile bike ride in - lucky to still be able to be within biking distance for the year.  He found a little bit better route after that day which didn't include the stairs.  It was also a pretty ride with the Durham Cathedral in view and along the water.  It wasn't a very fun ride home though, riding back UP the long hill...

We ran along that same route - these are pictures from one of my morning runs. You can see the hill in the last picture (but also the view of the Cathedral).   

Our first church activity with our new ward was at the beach - brrrr... it was chilly!  It was fun to roast marshmallows though.  Our first stake activity was a dance - they called it a "ceilidh", which I had never heard of before.  It was basically the American version of a hoedown - folk or country dancing.  Pretty fun! 

Local parks - some of the play structures were interesting. 

We visited the Durham Cathedral - we couldn't take any pictures inside, but could take pictures of the Lego replica of the Cathedral.  The kids loved that! 

Made out of Legos!