Four suitcases, three carry-ons, two carseats, and one stroller later -- we arrived in Florida on Tuesday September 21st, one day shy of the girls' turning nine months old. Immediately, we took a liking to the much milder weather. Yes, the humidity is high (especially when compared to Phoenix), but the warm breeze that often blows in your hair is just lovely.
The first week was indeed the toughest. We spent our first four nights in a rather cramped and musty 'extended stay' hotel, which was really a lot more like a Motel 6 than like the Embassy Suite-like property we were convinced we were moving into, based on their website. We focused on stocking up on our basic necessities (really, just diapers, formula, and wipies) and on finding a more permanent living arrangement for our little family right away.
After visiting several rental properties with a realtor, we learned that the properties listed with realty agencies were not going to be available soon enough for us, given we needed to find a place to move into immediately since our furniture was scheduled to arrive in less than one week. We were devastated, since we had spent so much time looking at properties and were really anxious to leave the area and the hotel. Also, the girls were not sleeping well, and Zoe even ran a high fever one night, probably due to all the stress of running around with us on errands and the increased exposure to public places. We started our own search and were fortunate enough to find a nice, gated apartment complex less than a mile from my office, and moved into our lakefront apartment on Saturday September 25th -- also Victor's Birthday.
We happily slept on the floor until our furniture arrived on September 29th. We went to IKEA and bought a comforter to sleep on and a few kitchen necessities to use right away. The girls quickly settled back into their normal routine and we all slept much better once we were in our new home. All ten thousand pounds of our furniture were delivered successfully, but we had to take a lot of it to storage since our apartment is much smaller than our home was in Phoenix. In just about 10 days we had fully unpacked and put everything in its place. We ordered internet and cable service right away, but we are still without TV due to many servicing problems we've had to deal with. We now watch our favorite TV shows on the computer, until we get our service installed.
After really settling in, we finally found time to leave the house and explore our new area. We met up with Phoenix friends, in town for a cruise, for Brunch in Miami last Saturday, and visisted Las Olas Boulevard and the beach last Sunday. Miami was bustling, as usual, but Las Olas and the beach were just relaxing! We are only twenty minutes away from the ocean, and it is nice to know we can take the girls there frequently without having to make a day out of it. Eva and Zoe really enjoyed digging their toes in the sand, and feeling the water splash onto their legs as we held them by the shoreline.
Overall, we have adjusted very well to our new surroundings. It is just a matter of time before we make new friends and get to know the area better. Most evenings, we sit outside to feed the girls their last bottle as we watch the sunset over the lake behind us. Weekends we just enjoy the warm weather and get to take the girls to a park for some fresh air. We are looking forward to many more days at the beach and to countless nights watching the sunset before putting the girls to bed, and just simply enjoying a show on the actual TV in the near future. We miss everyone we've left behind and are looking forward to connecting with those we've come closer to, here on the East Coast. Stay in touch and feel free to leave your comments on our blog.
