janeth8711

Hi

We have just bought a home in Apopka Fl, my husband is the US citizen, he flew over a month ago to set things up and me and the kids will be following shortly

Would love to know if any Brits are near by

Janet

Wibblypig

Hi Janet,

I am below Apopka in Windermere When are you moving over?

Vicki

janeth8711

Hi,
my interview is on the 6th july so if everything goes ok I'm booking our flight as soon as our visa is returned.
Can't wait to get over there.
how are you settling in?
janet

Wibblypig

Hmm I am sure I already replied to this today

We have settled in really well thanks It feels like 'home', obviously not as good as our real 'home' back in the UK but it will do for now

I assume you know Apopka well if you have bought a house there, is your husband from there?

How old are you kids?

Vicki

janeth8711

Hi again,

Trust me the weather in England at the min is terrible but what else do we expect lol, glad you've settled in.
how long do you expect to be in florida?
Yes my husband spent most of his life in apopka plus we wanted a place near his dad and sister that lives in sanford
Just over the road is a elementary school for our son Ethan who's 4 and Emily who's 8.
oldest daughter is 13 so we've no idea which school she will be going just yet. Everyone keeps telling us how lucky we are but i don't think its sank in yet, will probably still feel like a holiday for the first few weeks
How old are your children? are you able to work on your visa?

janet

Wibblypig

Hi Janet,

How long we stay in Florida.....hmmm...not sure?! At the moment forever LOL, although sometimes I really miss the UK.
It will be great for you being near family, I have a few distant relatives dotted around, one on the west coast in Tampa and another on the east coast in Vero Beach which is nice My FIL did live on the west coast but sadly he died suddenly last month
Schools are a really big thing here as they vary so much But if you have bought a house unless you are going to send your daughter to private school she will have to go to the one who covers your street, this is not necessarily the closest one
I know what you mean about everyone telling you about being so lucky, most people assume it would be like being on holiday, but it's far from it!
My kids are 11, 9 and 5, they will be going into grades 6, 4 and K! Finally my youngest can do full days! Is there a pre-k for your youngest? Or will he be 5 by September? The pre-k at my kids school was from 8-11am so I never got any decent time to myself, by the time I had gone to the supermarket and home to unpack it was time to pick him up again....hence why I cannot wait for him to do full days lol!
I am on a H4 visa which means I am not allowed to work, but at the moment it doesn't bother me too much as I have my hands full with the kids, especially during the looooonnnnngggg summer holidays.....only 8 weeks left

July 6th isn't far off you must be really excited Are you going to wait till your kids finish school for the summer or just come over asap?? I had all the intention of letting my husband come over first and we join him at Christmas.....until we went to the Embassy and on the train on the way home we decided that we were all so excited that we should just all go together LOL We still had a few weeks to wait though as on our visas we weren't allowed to enter until 10 days before the beginning on October..... it did fly by though!

Vicki

janeth8711

I know just how you feel, my little boy would have started full time here, although he's not 5 till april so does that mean he will only do half days? We've been that busy with all the paperwork with the visa we haven't really done much looking at schools but and just bought the house, so we didn't knw which area we should be looking
Yours are also similar ages to ours how have they taken to the change? Mine just can't wait to get there.
There's a private school we know for Jessica ( my husband went to it) also his dad goes to the catholic church and knows the pastor very well but it's the fee's that are the problem.
We are hoping to buy a small business, I'm a hairdresser and my husband is an seo manager/web designer but were still undecided as what to do.
I don't want to work, I think we have enough to do looking after 3 children but you never know how things turn out.

Were Hoping to come as soon as we get the visa back, it's difficult being away from my husband so the quicker the better.
Sorry to hear about your FIL

Janet

bjandtj2007

Hi Janet, we live in Apopka as well. We appear to be older than you since you still have small children and we actually have grandchildren so I can't really speak to you about schools, etc. We do not run into as many Brits who live in the Orlando area as we did when we lived in Bradenton/Sarasota area. There is a Blimpie in the Apopka Wal-mart and the folks who own it are Brits, I think from Wales. Other than that I think the only time we meet anyone British they are tourists. Good Luck on your move over!

Wibblypig

Hi Janet,

Your 4 yr old would be at pre-k level. Not all elementary schools have a pre-k, even if yours doesn't there are usually others dotted about, maybe one at the Catholic School? Although you might have to pay there. Where my son went it was just half days (well 8-11am in his case), but it was 'free'

All of mine went to Catholic School back in England so we were a bit disappointed at first when we found out that you would have to pay here...but soon changed our mind when we found out the local Catholic school wasn't as good as the local good school! Madness as it's generally the opposite back in the UK!

The kids have settled really well Once they got over the massive difference in the amount of homework between the UK and here, here they get LOADS!!! My eldest was getting about 1-2hours per night in 5th grade, my middle one was getting about an hour a night...even my youngest in pre-k was getting homework every week! It made is virtually impossible to plan to do anything after school as most things had to be handed in the following day!

I don't know how I could fit work in my life revolves around chasing after the kids, I certainly couldn't fit work in....also the childcare issue during holidays would be a big thing with 3...my eldest is doing a science camp next week for 4 days and it is costing $250!!!! The thought of that x3 makes me shudder lol

Are you all packed up? We had our interview on a Friday and had our passports back the following Wednesday Do you know where you will be flying from? I assume you will be flying to Orlando or Sanford...

Vicki

janeth8711

Hi,
So nice to know there's more of us out there as like you say apopka/long wood isn't really a place us Brits move to more the kissimee area.
Whereabouts in Apopka do you live? We've bought a house in Bent oak ( which I haven't seen yet) but my husband and the rest of our family say I will love
Been to that walmart a few times when visiting and never knew it was Brits who owned it.

Janet

janeth8711

Hi sorry for the late reply, I kind of knew about the homework side as my hubby went to school there and he's warned the children lol
Lots of school projects and helping out to be done at the schools over there it seems.
Yes mostly packed up.We sold our house 6 weeks ago and me and the kids have been living with the MIL since. So yes as soon as we get the passports back I'm off
Were all sooooo ready I can't tell you, been a long 6 months and I miss my husband, but the end is finally around the corner

Janet

janeth8711

My visa was approved... just thought id let everyone know... I'm so excited its finally over see you soon guys x

janet

Wibblypig

Woohoo excellent!!! So when is the flight booked for?!?

We have just been on holiday, only to Clearwater Beach but had a fab time

janeth8711

Wow i love clearwater we've booked the flights for friday 20th so last minute packing and thinking if i forget anything its tough lol.
sent my doggie on friday so he's there now lapping up the sun and loving it apparently.
ill be in touch when we get settled and we can have a proper drink.

janet

Sheepdip

We were in Clearwater the week before last on hols. What a beautiful beach and that sunset!