The air conditioner service people said they didn't have an opening until Friday. But then there was a cancellation this morning, and by noon, all was cool again in the upstairs. A part of the blower had dislodged and had blocked the fan from distributing the air upstairs, and one new bolt did the trick.

Right now Caroline is sleeping in a hot, humid room. Our upstairs air conditioning has gone kaput a mere 22 days after we purchased this house. Luckily, we have a home warranty, so hopefully, we'll get it fixed tomorrow so we don't need to sleep in our living room tomorrow night. Ugh. This is the gazillionth thing to go wrong with this move. On the upside, we do love the new house, and we're hoping this is the end of our troubles for the next few months. I guess this is what people mean when they ironically refer to the joys of home ownership.

Caroline was not too pleased when she had to leave the party for bedtime. She spent the hour before bedtime getting pulled around the yard in her wagon, and when her chauffeur would tire, she would let us know it was another one of our turns. Eventually she wore us all out, so it was clearly time for her to go to bed.

The move from the old place is done, and it took forever. Thankfully, Cheryl's parents came into town over the long weekend to help with the cleaning and transporting of the items left behind by the movers. Grandma Zukowski did a fantastic job making the old house look like it did when we moved in, and we are very, very grateful.
Now we just have to unpack, which can take forever, since we're never moving again.

We hosted playgroup at our new place this morning. I frantically set up Caroline's new sandbox and some of the others helped with preparing the patio furniture chairs. Overall, I think it went well, despite the lack of the normal assortment of food that many of the moms are so excellent at preparing. Next time -

Caroline is asleep while Jay and I are packing up our belongings. I'm hoping that when the movers come tomorrow, we will have managed to get the odd collection of under-couch materials out from under it. This whole moving thing has not gone smoothly so far, but we're hoping that the Grandparents Zukowski can bring us some much needed sanity when they arrive tomorrow. So does Caroline, I'm sure.

We're moving this week, and very busy. Caroline is offering little assistance.

The family took a whole mess of pictures with 5 or 6 different cameras after today's brunch.

Caroline with Chris's girlfriend Tori.

Caroline with Beck's friend Ruane (probably spelled her name wrong - sorry).

Caroline with her cousin Chris.

Caroline with her Uncle Seth.

Grandpa Lerman took the family members still in town out to brunch today. Caroline enjoyed the chopsticks the most.

Caroline with Uncle Charlie (holding her) and Uncle Lenny.

Caroline with Aunt Trish.

Caroline with her new uncle, the mysterious JT. Clearly, they will be best friends for life.

Caroline with cousin Meg.

Caroline with her cousin Emma.

Caroline with Grandma Libby and the Grandpa-formerly-known-as-Poppy (he, wisely, decided that he didn't like that name).

Beck's wedding reception was tonight. Caroline is pictured with (from the right) Tori, Chris, Beck, JT, Cheryl, me, Seth and Kim.

After a hard day of entertaining her adoring fans, this is how Caroline fell asleep (after protesting going to bed):


And she really is asleep in this picture.

After her run in Aunt Trish's room, Caroline hit the game room with cousins Chris, Meg, and Emma. Despite the late hour in her time zone, she was quite the racing competitor.

Caroline got really tired and cranky at dinner about 4:30pm, so I gave her nap. Fearing that she would be asleep for the night, and then wake up at 3am, I got her up about 6. Here she's hanging with cousin Chris, as she was destroying Aunt Trish's room this evening.

We hung around the very lovely Snowbird resort today and Caroline got plenty of the attention she craves. After some swimming and a massage for Cheryl, all family and friends that had arrived met up for a very late lunch in a restaurant at the resort. Not pictured here: the mysterious JT, Beck's new husband.

We flew to Salt Lake City today to attend my sister's wedding reception. Unfortunately, it looks like picture posts will be updated maybe once this weekend, as internet access is rather inconvenient at the mountain resort where the family is staying (and where said sister works). Caroline was pretty bad on most of the first leg of the flight - which was at capacity, so we were annoying many - but slept for a good part of the second. We went to dinner with Aunt Beck (the newlywed), Caroline's new uncle, JT, a pregnant Aunt Kim, and lots of Sidwas. Caroline had a fantastic time with my younger cousins Megan and Emma, and hopefully Aunt Robin (their mom) will send me some of the many pictures she took to attach to this post.

Caroline trying to get arrested at the airport:


Caroline meeting with Beck's dog Jersey:

The family attended Cheryl's graduation this morning. The commencement speaker, Mark Warner, was better than last night's speaker at the hooding, and the event seemed to move more quickly. Additionally, it wasn't absurdly hot like the two previous Wake graduations I attended - actually, it was overcast and a bit on the chilly side. Caroline was a trooper, and even got some playtime with Emma during the opening speeches.




After a late lunch and a quality nap, the family was treated to dinner from the Grandparents Zukowski. Caroline had a sampling of most of the dishes (except mine) but was particularly excited about the desserts.

The hooding ceremony for Cheryl's graduating class was tonight, and Caroline sat through the fun like a champ. Her buddy Aaron, pictured next to her, was a bit more energetic and didn't get to watch a few of the speakers.
Cheryl won an award for best group practicum - we were very proud of her. And Caroline and I wish her a happy Mothers' Day (and also to Grandma Zukowski and Grandma Libby).

The birthday tradition continues. The Zukowski clan arrived this afternoon for graduation and birthday celebrations. Caroline was thrilled with all the attention and gifts. She also received a bunch of cards in the mail today, and had me read each one to her multiple times. Thanks to all well-wishers for making her birthday special.

For her birthday, we bought Caroline a new house. Cheryl, Caroline and Bob, our realtor, are pictured here at the closing this morning. Cheryl's family is flying in this afternoon for further birthday celebrations.

Caroline woke up at 9:20 today - well after I'd woken up. Hopefully this will be her new, 2 year old wake up time.


Someone has a very big day tomorrow.


Also, someone hates to have her hair brushed.

Caroline had her 2 year old appointment today. She was officially 33 inches (we think she's taller based on comparisons to some of her buddies) and 24 lbs (which had her back on the weight charts, but still pretty low). They didn't offer an IQ test, which is really Cheryl's only concern. Here, between the nurse and doctor visits, she's perilously close to falling and bumping that precious noggin.

Worst possible day for me: energetic wee one, Cheryl away, rain. I went to bed about 3am last night, after spending hours replacing and testing the broken hard drive on Cheryl's tivo (my weekend project, as she did not want to miss her shows - also, sadly, I was very excited about upgrading the drive). Despite a later bedtime for Caroline, she woke up at 7:30, a good 45 minutes before her new normal. And it was raining all day. She took an early nap, which was nice; but right when my morning coffee was wearing off, she woke up. We spent about an hour at the Children's Museum this afternoon, and she got to blow off some of her energy. Tomorrow morning will be sweet for me as Cheryl is taking over breakfast duties.

Emma is turning 2 tomorrow; Caroline on Friday; and Ben (from playgroup) shortly after Caroline. The group of us got together this evening for some pizza and a mini birthday party to exchange some gifts. Emma's mom made some awesome cakes for each of the birthday kids, and the younguns (mostly prima donna Caroline) squabbled over Emma's toys.

Cheryl left for 3 days this morning to celebrate with some classmates their successful completion of graduate school. Caroline and I went to mexican food for dinner with Emma and her parents for Cinco de Mayo; the girls were very good, and we adults ate piles of tasty food in peace. The worst part of one-parenting for me is the bedtime routine, but Caroline was sufficiently tired not to protest when I inevitably skipped a step or two that Cheryl goes through with her.

As a congratulations for finishing up her degree, Cheryl received a package of cookies from her buddy Emily and her husband Ben in the mail today. We all loved the cookies, but Caroline looked cutest eating them. Thanks, Emily and Ben.
There were some awesome photo opportunities of Caroline at the park with Emma and Aaron today, but sadly, my camera's memory card was at home. The kids had a great time running through the trails, climbing on the playground equipment, and fighting over a limited supply of cheerios and crackers. Caroline seems much more focused on eating when there's competition for the food.

Caroline and Emma and Aaron at a get together at Emma's house.