Adventures in Moving, Part III: Moving Sucks

I was doing ok after the SIL left...until Mika got sick (later found out it was a virus). I had so much cleaning and packing to do and the poor baby wanted to be held all day and night. I had a breakdown Tuesday night and texted Paul the next morning ordering him to come home immediately because I just couldn't handle it anymore. He got home Wednesday night and we really got down to packing and cleaning with the help of our neighbors and their free babysitting. Our goal was to leave Saturday at 10 a.m., get to Denver, and check into a hotel for the night. We left at 4:30 p.m. and dragged our weary bodies into the hotel at about 2:30 a.m. (and we STILL had to wait in line to check in, go figure). 

Bob the praying mantis kept us company. He sat behind Jackson the whole time (he's the small green blob on the black thing behind Jackson).

The drive wasn't too bad. Well, for me it wasn't bad because I didn't drive ;) But the beauty of leaving so late was that the kids were taking afternoon naps/asleep for the night for most of the drive so there was minimal whining. We couldn't fit everything in the Uhaul, so we had to cram the Sequoia full of stuff, right down to the whole floor of the second row where I was sitting between the kids. Paul looked in the car and asked how I was going to sit there. I told him not to worry, I'd make it work :D I had to keep my feet up on the center console for the whole trip.

Pictures from our apartment today:

A view of half of Jackson's room and of his funny sleeping position this afternoon. There is a long, low bookshelf along the opposite wall with his toys and books. We started moving things in a little before 11 Sunday last week and I had his room done by 3 for his nap.

Dining area and our bookshelf that we use for a pantry because we don't have a real one.

A decent kitchen for an apartment (although they skimped on the fridge-see how much space is left on top?? Geez.)

A view of the living room from the front door.

A view of the living room from the hall.

Both bathrooms look like this.

Night view of downtown Denver. Beautiful!

the loft

Our apartment is 1170 square feet, two bedrooms, two bathrooms, with a loft that we use as storage/a guest room. We live on the third floor, so we get a great view of downtown Denver, and you have to live on the third floor to get the loft in this complex. We had a hard time finding a place because we needed at least two bedrooms, at least 1.5 baths, and a washer and dryer had to be in the apartment and not just the hookups. And it had to be an easy (15 minutes or less) commute for Paul to work because the traffic can be as bad as LA. So it was hard to find a place we could afford that wasn't in a bad area.

This is what the apartment looked like on my first day of school this semester.

We've only been here 12 1/2 days and we've mostly unpacked, had a visit from my dad, and we've gone to three parks, the Children's Museum twice, the library, the Butterfly Pavilion (a small zoo), and a mini vacation (Paul had a business trip to Steamboat Springs, so the kids and I tagged along). Whew!