Moving Back to the Biggest Little City & Virginia Beach love

We have a big announcement: at the end of April, our family is moving back to Reno!  Kenny accepted a job with a law firm in Nevada.  We decided to move because, for the four years we've lived in Virginia, we have greatly missed our two hometowns of Lincoln, Nebraska, and Reno, Nevada.  (This is probably not a surprise to anyone reading this blog, as we spend 4 months per year visiting the two families.)  Kenny and I are blessed to each have extended family who love us and support us, and we would love to see more of them, and they would love to see more of us - but unfortunately, both families live more than 1,000 miles away from Virginia Beach.  When we visit either one of these places, it feels like going home, and this year we reached the tipping point where we wanted to prioritize being close to family.  Kenny applied to jobs in both of our hometowns, and ultimately, a law firm in Reno was the best fit.  We put a lot of prayer and consideration into this decision, and we are both looking forward to this move.

This article ("dream job or dream community?") summarizes some of the tension we were feeling.
We moved out to Virginia mainly because it seemed like a great job opportunity for Kenny that would benefit not just him, but our whole family.  It was a great job and it did benefit our family in exactly the ways we expected - but it did not replace the community component.  We've met some wonderful people in Hampton Roads, but especially at this stage of life (full time work and young kids), it's so hard to establish the kind of deep relationships that you build over decades in your hometown, and we really missed that.  By moving back to Reno, we are looking forward to celebrating birthdays and holidays and other occasions with family members.  We looking forward to the kids spending tons of time with their grandparents, cousins, aunt, and uncle.  We are looking forward to regular date nights.  We are looking forward to getting back to the built-in network of love and support and friendship.  As the kids get older, I'm also looking forward to camping and hiking and other nature / Tahoe / northern California type adventures.  (Reno is pretty awesome.)

Prayer requests:  There are always lots of details to figure out when you move -- here are four things I would love prayer for:
1)  The actual move - getting everything packed up, driving across the country with the kids, etc.
2)  The transition - Joshua and I both have trouble with change, so we're both going to need prayers for emotional support until we get into our new routine.  (Kenny is good about embracing new opportunities immediately, and Zoey is happy anywhere as long as she is with her immediate family, although I'm sure they would also appreciate prayers.)
3)  Finding a place to live.
4)  Joshua's care - the good news is that we're mostly establishing with doctors he already saw when he was an infant.  But his diagnosis is different, our insurance is different, and now he's school (and IEP) age - so there are a lot of details to work out.

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There is definitely sadness in saying goodbye to Virginia Beach.  Kenny's job, in many ways, was everything we hoped it would be - it was a great fit for his talents and interests, and it allowed him better flexibility and time to spend with the family than any other law job would have done.

We met some great people here, particularly through the churches we attended.  We had people (sometimes who barely knew us) invite us into their homes for meals and holidays, visit us when J was in the hospital, and bring us meals when Zoey was born.  We got involved with a really fun, really faithful small group.  We learned about Anglicanism.  It's sad to say goodbye to all of you.

We were extremely pleased with the medical care, therapy, and education that Joshua received while we lived in Virginia.  When we look back on this chapter in our lives, I'm sure we will see many reasons why God had us in this seemingly random coastal city, but surely Joshua's situation was part of it.  By moving from a mountain town to a sea level city, we were able to take him off oxygen around his first birthday.  He received great care from our local children's hospital (CHKD love!), his Early Intervention therapists, and his preschool teachers.  The early years are such a critical window of time to get interventions for a person with developmental delays / disabilities, and I am so grateful for the amount and quality of services we received, and for the care we felt from all of the teachers and therapists we worked with.  If any of you are reading this, thank you for everything you did for Joshua.  It's a gift that will benefit him, and us, for the rest of our lives.

Virginia Beach is also a great place to live when you have really young kids.  The public services (libraries, parks, rec centers) are outstanding, which is especially helpful in the young kid stage.  Using my favorite format, I will conclude the blog with some lists of things that are great for families in Virginia Beach:

Best Everybody-talks-about-it-for-good-reason Attractions for Kids:

• Virginia Beach Aquarium -  i will miss you, komodo dragons and crocodile and especially shark tank with submarine room that made Joshua so very happy.
• The Beach - we frequented the Oceanfront because it was the most stroller friendly, but there are all kinds of non-touristy local beaches if miles of pizza joints are not your style.  I always wanted to get the chance to live so close to the ocean, and I'm happy that I got to live the dream for a few years.
• Virginia Zoo - lions and tigers and bears, oh my!
• Norfolk Botanical Gardens - lovely for kids and adults, great kids area with a splash park and a giant sand hill with pirate ship.
• Williamsburg - a beautiful little town that besides the famous historical area also has lots of fun shops and restaurants, a great university, and good outlet malls.
• Parks - my 3 favorites are Chesapeake City Park, Grommet Island Beach Park, and Mt. Trashmore.  If you live here with kids, you should definitely check these three out.  
• Lynnhaven Mall and MacArthur Mall - these are the two nicest malls in the region, with nice kids play areas, big food courts, and attached Barnes and Noble stores.  

Best hidden attractions for kids:

• Train Junction - at the corner of Kempsville and Providence roads.  Model trains and a train table for toddlers.  If your kid is a train lover, they will not be able to get enough of this place.
• Regent University - in warm weather, it's fun to pack a picnic and take kids walking on the green and near the fountain.
• Library storytime / Joint Use Library - We've attended library story times all over the country (thanks to our above described situation) and Virginia Beach gets the gold star for best story time.  The Joint Use Library has a coffee shop and a big kids area with lots of educational toys.
• Pembroke Mall and the Gallery at Military Circle in Norfolk - in cold weather, if your kids just need to get out some energy, these malls have big, open, climate controlled spaces and not many people walking around, so they are perfect for letting little kids run around.
• Virginia Beach Farmer's Market - another great space for kids to run around, and they frequently have festivals with farm animals, music, and bounce houses.

Seasonal things that I will miss:

• Christmas lights on the Oceanfront
• Sand-sculpting competition in the fall
• Kite festival in the spring
• Strawberry picking
• Those occasional 70 degree days in January when you can hit the beach on a whim.
• [Seasonal thing I will not miss:  when it snows 2 inches and the town shuts down for a week.]

Now that we're on a 2 month countdown, I'm trying to check a few more things off my Virginia Beach bucket list before we head west.  At the top of the list are Cape Henry Lighthouse, Shamrock Half, and eat at Captain D's.  Any other suggestions?