The Mergenthaler Family

At last Thursday night’s swim meet, I stood at the side of the pool in front of the trash can, looking at the chart I have on my phone call of the kids’ events in order. I felt worn out and overwhelmed. We had spent each evening that week at Picadilly moving furniture and boxes in preparation for the big move on the weekend. We were going to bed too late and getting up too early, and both Rick and I had a million ideas about how to prioritize our work in order to make the transition as smooth and chaos-free as possible. But moving is chaotic. And our house is only about 2/3 ready for us adding another dimension to the upheaval. We can’t simply unpack because we don’t have countertops or appliances or painting done. The bathrooms aren’t finished. The closets don’t have shelves. The garage needs to be available for the worker’s saws and tools and construction materials. As I flipped through the swim meet program,  an announcement came over the loud speaker. They needed another parent...

We left Tucson over three months ago, and when people ask "Are you getting settled?" I don't know how to answer. Yes and no. Because what does settled mean? If it weren't the upheaval of a big move across the country, there would be a different challenge. And moving isn't our only challenge. In fact, most of what keeps me up at night has very little to do with the work of remodeling and moving and more to do with the work of nurturing, loving, and teaching our children. It's less about where our stuff is and more about where our hearts are. And no matter what, it's hard. Physically, things are still very much in disarray. We are still living in a rental and will be until the third week of July. The work on our new house is going well. But it's work. We have completely gutted the place, the yard is overgrown, and even if it were beautifully manicured, the upkeep on five acres takes a lot of time. When we move into our house, we won't have countertop...

Here’s the other half of the adventure. Rick took Gavin, Brooklyn, and Sean to Hershey Park.  Here’s what I know: it’s a big park, some rides are very scary, and they want to go back with Ricky and Andrew.  Pictures: Good times were had by all. 

We’re living in a vacation rental while we remodel Picadilly. We started in a rental 30 minutes from town. After only a few days of driving, driving, driving, we shopped around for other options. Rick found a rental only 15 minutes away from things. One caveat, though, was that they had already rented the place for Pennies State graduation weekend—May 5-10. Would we be willing to move out for those days? Sure, I guess we’d just go somewhere fun, right? Ricky and Andrew wanted to go to New York for their birthdays, but New York with a big crowd that includes little children can be tricky. So, since we have to get two hotel rooms everywhere we go anyway, we split up—I went to New York with the older children (minus Emily) and Rick took the little ones to Hershey Park.  Both Rick and I had adventures, hangry moments, frustrations, and fun with our groups. Here’s a brief summary of my side of the trip. Lots of subway rides. A few vintage stores and a flea market. Walking, walking, walk...