Departure

The day has finally arrived. The girls woke up surprisingly easily given their exhaustion from the last week of soccer camp, sleepovers, and birthday parties. Of course there were a few last-minute additions to the packing list, but we were out of the driveway by 10 AM. Here's a photo that the McAlpines took for us that morning. Whoa. Everyone looks happy! OK, label this in your mind as the "Before" picture.

"Before"

As we drove down our street, I called out for our first "Happiness Check" by asking everyone to rate their happiness level on a scale of 1–10, with "10" being the most happy.

Happiness Check: July 1, 10:00 AM

Keiko: 10

Amaya: 4

Rachelle: 7

Tom: 7

And with that, we were off. God Save us all!