The Ard Clan: October 2013

I know, I know.... It's been a really long time since I lasted posted. So, I am going to give you a super fast update of the last 6 months of our life here in the Ard Clan. The kids are huge ( as you will see below)! The are great, silly, busy little people. Gracyn entered 2nd grade this year and Michael is in a program called TK, Transitional Kindergarten, offered through public schools for kids with late fall birthdays. Although Lucy really wishes she was in school too, she is still hanging with mommy everyday. The poor little thing carries her backpack and lunch box every day to drop Michael off at school. Next year miss Lucy!!!!

Dave and I have been looking at Real Estate in the Tahoe area for about 5 years. We have always wanted a cabin in the mountains to call our own. Over time we narrowed our search to a very particular area in the Sierras. Homes don't come up very often. We had put numerous offers on some cabins over the years but finally this summer it happened!!!! We closed on our cabin at Donner Lake in Truckee, CA at the end of July. It is what we have always wanted! Close to skiing, walking distance to the beach, and only about a 20 minute drive to the big Lake Tahoe. We do have some updating we need to do but we are so in love with our little escape. The kids love spending time up there as well and we plan to spend most of next summer at Donner Lake.

Therefore between wrapping up school, dealing with the paperwork and jumping through hoops to get a mortgage on a second home (which was awful), packing up Tahoe stuff, moving, visiting my Illinois family, planning and purchasing everything for a bathroom remodel, taking care of our rental property books, handling Dave's expense reports, setting up LLCs for our rental property, training for a half marathon, potty training, piano lessons, karate, hip hop, ballet, girl scouts, and being a mom to 3 little people while your husbands work travel schedule is out of control....... I've been a little busy.

Enjoy the pictures!