I’m beginning to recover from the adventure of helping Emily and her family arrive back from eight months in Hungary (as a Fulbright Scholar) and Germany (visiting her dear husband’s relatives and her own), and pack up most of their furniture and belongings from her home in Bellefonte, PA. The family who are renting this house were very kind and helpful which made everything much easier than it might have been. All their furniture was also in the house and they may be feeling less crowded at the moment. But the truck Emily and Ingmar had rented was not quite large enough for all those belongings, so they will be making a trip north in a month or six weeks to get the last boxes. When they first moved to the State College area eleven years ago they had so few possessions (and no children) that they lived in a tent for the first six weeks while looking for a place to live. And now, while they are by no means hoarders of any sort, they have two darling children and a house full of “stuff”.
Alice and I helped with the moving by watching the four children – Alice’s two sons plus Emily’s two daughters. The first day we watched them in the morning while they played at the wonderful park just a few minutes walk downhill from their home. I have some pretty pictures of this on my phone because I forgot my camera, and Alice is trying to teach me to move these pictures so I can share them. But in the meantime, here are some pictures nabbed from the net to give you an idea…I think you can see Emily’s house in the top of the first one. The park has a river running through it, a bridge, gazebo, lovely weeping willows, a train depot museum and a newly renovated playground. I think they will miss it.
The next day, Friday, we took them to a place called “Fun Unleashed” which is fun for the kids but less so for nervous parents and babysitters! I do have pictures there and will show you them on my next post.
Thursday night Sofia was quite sick with a stomach flu, so I stayed with her for the morning when she mostly slept and drank liquids and ate just a little easily digested stuff when she was able. By noon she was completely recovered. But the entire time was surely hard on all of them. They just flew from Germany arriving on Wednesday night and began packing the next day and the next day and drove to Maryland on Saturday. We left for home on Sunday afternoon. It was successful but intense for everyone.
I’m still getting over you not visiting me but I’ll let it pass. wink! Anyway, I want to say first that I’m glad that Sofia is much better. And now, that park is amazing and I can’t wait to see what photos you have of the children playing. Remember, you can always drop in.
Your Friend, m.
p.s. This isn’t the first time that you forgot your camera, is it? See, I pay attention! m.
It does sound intense. Hope that you all get some down time very soon.
Just reading about it sounds exhausting! A very right schedule, especially considering the difference in time zones to which one’s body needs some adjusting. The house is very pretty and I don’t blame the new family for liking it – and your daughter’s family missing it.
It all sounds exhausting for everyone. But that location looks idyllic!