Slowly settling in...

Well, we've been in Toronto for just 2 weeks now. We couldn't have asked for a better house (I hope to get some pictures up soon). It's a 3 bedroom house with a basement and a back porch. We have waited 5 years to be able to eat outside on a deck...it's been so nice and Caroline has wanted to eat breakfast outside too. We have stainless steel appliances and granite countertops (a step up from our house in MN). :) Marble countertops in the bathroom, nice built ins, etc.

We have had some troubles along the way, but, things are starting to get a bit better. For example, we found a Costco and checked before we went shopping that we could use our debit card from MN. Well, after an hour and a half of shopping, we checked out only to find out we couldn't use our debit card...AGGGHHH! I then tried to use our debit card in the ATM, no luck. Tried our credit card in the ATM to get $$, still no luck. Luckily we went with a bank that was open on Sundays and set up our account. We had a certified money order from our bank in MN and were told we wouldn't have a problem, well, the Canadian bank put our $$ on hold for 5 business days. Luckily they kindly "released" some money to us in the meantime...And, did I mention all of these outings have been with 2 impatient kids in tow. :(

We're getting used to drinking milk out of bags and trying to get used to the prices. We buy the milk in 4 liters (which is about a gallon of our milk) and that costs about $4.59 at Costco and that's about the cheapest. 2 cups of Kraft shredded cheese is $7.99. I also bought a pound of turkey for $12.59. I won't do that again...I might save $$ this year since Target isn't going to open here for another year or two. :)

We've been spending a lot of time with the other fellow and his family from NC. They have 3 kids ages 7-4, so, our kids are really enjoying spending time together. Cindy, the fellow's wife and I have bonded over this experience and have really been thankful our kids have some instant friends. We have met them at the Toronto Zoo, the Royal Ontario Museum, and signed up for healthcare with them. :) We would really be having a harder time if we didn't have our new friends.

We've become confident on the subway and the other day I actually took the kids by myself on the subway, made a transfer to another train, and took a bus. I was pretty proud of myself. Well, hopefully we will become more and more comfortable here as the days and weeks go on. We miss all of you and hope to see you soon. If anyone wants to come and visit, we'd love to have you!