Settling in and start of Summer

Hello! As I write this, we've been in our house for seven weeks and it's been such a busy time that I've been remiss at keeping my posts up to date. The weeks are flying by in a blur of marketplace purchases, shopping trips, organising the house, exploring Fort Myers and William finishing school for the summer holidays. Iain's been on work trips to the Dominican Republic and Boston as well as working massive hours, and William and I have been keeping ourselves busy and I've been trying to keep myself fit and healthy. 

Here's the rundown (with supporting photos!)

We finally agreed on a bed. We decided that a cheap(ish) frame would be sufficient after spending an arm and a leg on our mattress. Iain was away when it arrived so it lay in a box for three days and I continued to sleep on the floor. I did my first trip to US Aldi. Way cheaper than anything I'd previously found, and a good selection of GF stuff too. I got different wraps and the French IKEA quesadilla has been replicated, much to William's delight and our relief - he's actually eating something at lunchtime now! Autumn, yes, Autumn came to visit and it was bloody amazing seeing her! She even brought us a gift for our home - a sideboard/unit which we're now using in the dining area. William has continued to cement friendships with the kids in the street and is now into shaving foam on the trampoline just for extra danger. William and I did a roadie to Cape Coral to collect some chairs for the new dining table and visited Cafe You while we were there. It was a GF paradise. We spent the rest of that day buying even more second hand furniture and I felt like the house was actually starting to take shape. We celebrated with home delivered pizza from Fine Folk (if was amazing and just being able to order GF takeaway feels so exciting after years of nothing in France!) and Corby came round for some pizza and beer. Sometimes there's a small Sunday market at the clubhouse in our scheme. A couple of weeks ago we went and got coffee, fruit, veg and fresh fish. It was great. 

The next week brought some excitement for William as it was school prizegiving. It was great to get into his classroom for a small insight into his new world. He was very proud of his certificate for having the best handwriting in his class. We all went out for dinner that evening to celebrate him finishing another school year and headed for BJs, a kid-friendly restaurant/brewhouse place with lots of GF items listed on their menu. I couldn't resist going all in for their burger (total novelty option!) and then really went crazy with a Pizookie - their famous freshly baked cookie with ice-cream on top. Pure indulgence! The rest of the week went past with some more marketplace pick ups as well as some firsts: a proper food shop rather than a quick grab of dinner items; pickleball with Amanda and Caileigh followed by wine tasting and dinner at a local wine bar; a meeting with William's class teacher (where we were joined by the Principal - very impressive!) to discuss how he'd settled in and his next steps; more marketplace shopping followed by stumbling upon some kids events at the Fort Myers Fringe Festival; and a road trip out to Sanibel Island! What a week! Oh aye, in the midst of all the this, the hot water boiler packed in and we had a to get an emergency plumber out to fix it. 

William finished school on Tuesday 6th June and there was an ice cream truck in the clubhouse car park for last day celebrations. I was waiting on kids singing "We go together..". Iain was in Boston so the rest of the week was spent keeping me and William busy and trying to get some more things sorted around the house. I think I might be slightly autistic as I realised that the mess and lack of storage (disorganisation) was actually triggering anxiety in me. ;-) 

We picked Iain up at the airport on Saturday morning which was very exciting for William as Fort Myers airport is a decent size and has lots of big planes for him to watch. On Sunday we all got out for a good walk in nature. It wasn't as well signposted as our last venture and tbh, I was pretty relieved to get back to the car! 

And this brings me to this past week. The first proper week of the holidays. William and I started by creating a weekly timetable to help plan our days. He's actually got a lot reading and English work that he should be doing over the holidays so planning it out will really help both of us manage our weeks properly. As well as William doing really excellent work in his English, I've made a commitment to keep working hard on my core exercises over the summer and keeping my back in good health. This week I went to the gym twice as well as a Joe Wicks work out to focus on my strength but I also got the heid back in the running game again with two 4km trots around the scheme. The heat is absolutely brutal but at least it's flat. The coat stand/shoe bench also arrived this week and Iain and I built it in 36*C heat. Wasn't. Much. Fun. But at least the garage is finally sorted. Last night we went out with a load of Iain's colleagues to Crazy Dingo, a craft brewery on a working farm. It couldn't have been any more family friendly. A tractor to play on as well as animals to see, and a full playground/fortress. It meant William was completely entertained while Iain and I actually hung out and had a few ciders in the evening sun. Brilliant. 

Today is Father's Day. William and I were very organised this year and got Iain a whole load of little things to say well done for being a great Dad. And we had pancakes, bacon and maple syrup for lunch too! The ease of making pancakes in the US though - straight outta box! ;-) 

Phew! What a round up post that's been. Four more weeks already. Mental. 

Lorna. :-)