COACHING OUT OF BOUNDS: Settling in at the new homestead

The last few days have consisted of unpacking, shopping for some furniture, installing blinds, house walkthroughs with the builder, and other less exciting tasks associated with moving more than halfway across the country. We enjoy this process so much, that we have decided to move halfway across the world within the next month or so. There is some truth to this statement as we will be traveling to Finland in less than a month to spend the summer there.
We are experiencing some mild weather here in Maryland and it has been a pleasant change. It was 65 and sunny today. The kids were able to play outside and ride their bikes. They even had an outdoor picnic lunch. Kodie and I had a quick haircut and then took a short stroll along the boardwalk in Havre de Grace. Havre de Grace is the name of the town that we now call home. It is located about 35 miles north of Baltimore and it is a place that is defined by the water that permeates its landscape. The town is known as the place where the Susquehanna River and Chesapeake Bay merge together. There is a quaint little marina, a lighthouse that is nearly 200 years old, a host of eclectic shops, and some wonderful local restaurants that feature everything from authentic Italian fare to Maryland's ubiquitous crabcakes. All in all, it is a very charming little town with a great deal of history and diversity.
I don't know if I have mentioned it before in this blog, but the biggest reason for our move back to the east coast is to be closer to our families. Estalita and I have lived away for close to 15 years now. We have experienced alot of great times and exciting things out west. There were times when we never saw ourselves leaving the western U.S. We fell in love with the wide open spaces, gorgeous scenery, slower pace of life, and pioneering spirit of the people. However, we began to fill a pull to come back east about 3 or 4 years ago. It was tough only seeing our families a couple of times a year. We wanted the kids to have the opportunity of growing up around their grandparents, aunts/uncles, and cousins. The timing seemed right for us to come back when I
decided not to return to Trinity next year and then decided to turn down a college coaching job in Texas. We really hope to spend some significant time in Europe over the next 3-5 years, but Maryland will be our home base.
Before I close out today's posting, I thought I would mention one of our activities over the past few days. We have been going out to my brother-in-laws to take care of their dogs and my sister-in-laws dog too. We have been taking our dog out to their house as well to sort of get to know his new buddies. The interesting thing about this scenario is that all 3 of our families own rather large black dogs. Nick, Jenna, Wyatt, and Sophie own Teddy and Waggs. Teddy is the largest dog of the group and he is built like a sherman tank. Waggs is the old matriarch of the group and she has been around a long time. Angie, Jim, and Natalie own Maximus. Max is a big athletic dog who has been plagued by ACL injuries all through his career. He is also Teddy's brother. Eric, Essy, Kamryn, Kodie, and Kaylin own Jake. Jake is the 90 pound runt of the pack and he is quite literally a former junkyard dog from the mean streets of Jamestown, North Dakota. We got Jake about 5 years ago from a shelter in Jamestown. All four of these dogs are full of love and drool. The four dogs that we collectively own could probably start at defensive line for the Cleveland Browns. (ever heard of the dawg pound in Cleveland--hahaha)
Anyway, all of these dogs are gentle giants and really good with kids. Who needs Marley and me when you've got Teddy and Waggs Molyneux, Maximus Bishop, and Jake the Snake Slivoskey. Here are some pics of our four legged friends, and one picture of some cute two-legged friends.