We are under police lock down!

It's been nothing but changes here between the ongoing renovations and 2 daughters moving out, 1 to college and 1 to university.  It is a huge change to the family dynamics whenever a child moves out and with 2 leaving at the same time it has been a tremendous change.

We started their move to their new homes with the hospital visit for the younger children and then the girls, another sister and their Dad left driving "convo style" to their new homes for the school year.  Both girls have a very poor sense of direction so the plan was for them to follow their Dad who is towing a trailer with all their possessions.  Following one another in separate vehicles in a very busy city is challenging but they made it and having walkie talkies in each vehicle was a tremendous help.

The trip has been plagued with mishap and adventure from the start and it seemed to follow them all the way to their new homes.  While the girls were watching some of their siblings at the hotel, while the rest of the family was at the hospital, one teenage brother managed to lock himself on the 14th floor balcony and it was seeming like they weren't going to be able to get the door open.  After a couple hours they were finally able to rescue him, not being there but I am guessing the first hour involved laughing at the brother.

Later that evening after many hugs and goodbyes the 4 left to our daughter's new homes.  6 hours into their drive in the middle of nowhere Dads vehicle began to overheat and after pulling over to investigate they found the vehicle would not restart.  A tow truck was called and the vehicle was taken to a local garage for repair.  Everyone was able to get into a hotel at 4am and get some sleep while waiting for the garage to open and then repair the vehicle.  After sleeping and before retrieving the vehicle they went to a local diner for lunch.  At the diner they met a very outgoing waitress that seemed drawn to my outgoing family and she asked if she could join them on their trip.  At first they thought she was just joking around and when finding out she was serious they had to politely decline her request.

After more driving they were looking for another hotel and it seemed that almost all hotels were full.  Fortunately the staff, from one of the full hotels, phoned around to other hotels and were able to secure the only available room at another hotel.  The next morning while preparing to leave they received a phone call from the front desk stating the "hotel was under police lock down and please do not leave your room".  After what seemed like a life time they received another call from the front desk stating "it is safe to leave your room".  When they left their room they saw multiple police officers and the local news people with cameras but were not able to determine what happened.

Everyone arrived at the college dorms and they were able to unpack the trailer and get the first one settled in.  Everyone stayed a while ensuring she was comfortable, her computer and printer was set up and she had a sense of her community.  While getting around the community, even though everything is about 5 minutes away, it was determined a GPS was a necessity or this young lady may never make it back to her dorm.  More goodbyes and time to get the university bound one settled 3 1/2 hours away from her younger sister.

They arrived at the next "new home" and got everything unpacked.  Met the roommates, did some shopping, had some lessons on getting to the university and hooked up the computer and printer.  More hugs and goodbyes and it's homeward bound for Dad and younger daughter.