Oh, To Travel By Car...

Our 18 hour travel day started like this:

And ended like this:

Serious traffic backups cost us about 4 hours, making this day 20 and day 21 of our trip.

Some random thoughts...

Exegeting Revelation is hard enough.  Doing this in the car is nearly impossible.  I did it anyway.

I really hate flying, but I would have taken a plane today if I could have.

87 minutes of sleep is enough if that's all you can squeeze in.  Sometimes it's hard to do what I need to do, but it's OK.  I can do hard things.

Next time we vacation, I'm intentionally planning some rest days.

When someone stops to tell you how well behaved your children are and especially how impressed they are with your boys, it feels good. 

I still love driving... especially at night... in the rain...

That might have been too much coffee.

L.

Pictures Taken Today: 3

The Past Two+ Weeks...

...have been a whirlwind of travel.

On Saturday, February 7th, Phil and I left for the M15 conference in Kansas City.  We returned home on the 13th.  On the 14th, Caleb and I went to the EMD February District Quiz.  The 15th, Phil's birthday, we spent together as a family.  The 16th I dropped Grace and Caleb off for their guitar lesson and then picked them up and dropped them off at home, where my teenagers babysat my little people while Phil and I went to a funeral.  The 17th, Phil, Seth, Grace, Caleb, and I took a trip to Indiana for piano lessons and Junior Festival practice.  We returned home on the 18th in time to pick up Ian and Miah and drop all of the kids off at home, while Phil and I went to lead our young adults small group.  On Thursday, February 19th, I stayed in my pajamas all day long and watched movies with Miah and Ian.  Then on the 20th, we dropped them off again, and Phil, Seth, Grace, Caleb, and I (along with our friend Rachel) left for the Sterling Invitational Quiz.  We picked Ian and Miah up, today, Sunday, February 22nd.

In case you don't want to do the math, this means that my youngest two children have spent at least part of 12 of the past 16 days with their grandparents.  Honestly, when I dropped them off this last time I said, "We brought your kids back.  Thanks for letting us have them for a few days."  On two of the other days, I also had to leave them for part or most of the day.  This is not how I do "Mommy".  And the truth is, I've been feeling kind of sorry for myself...

I was going to say that the word for my life for the past two + weeks has been "distracted".  But when I stopped to think about it deeply, that's not quite right.  The word for my life is still, "blessed".  I have certainly been blessed with a lot of friends and family members who have made these days possible.  

I really mean that, but I have been distracted, and I do need to find a better rhythm of life again.  Not that I've ever "arrived", but I had better rhythms than this... in what seems life another lifetime...

I'm not sure what's going to happen next.  No one ever is, really.  What I do know is that something is happening.  May it be what God wants.  May I join God in that work.  Can we ever ask for anything more?

Well... maybe just one more thing...  If you're one of those friends who is dropping your kids off at guitar at the same time as mine tomorrow, if you could just avoid looking through my window and noticing my sweatpants and baseball cap, that would be fabulous...

L. 

Vacations Are My Love Language...

Sometime this summer, I came upon a couple of photos on Facebook that made me chuckle and then caused me to contemplate the art of vacationing.

First:

I have to be honest...  I don't relate all that well to this photo.  But it does make a good point, at least to a certain extent.  This summer, we did a little bit of traveling, but we didn't really take a vacation.  I was feeling particularly crummy about this when a dear friend of mine started posting about the amazing family vacation her family was getting ready to take (read this, jealous)... a road trip out west, which is exactly what I wanted to do this summer.  (Kelly, if you're reading this, keep reading...  I got over it, and I looked forward to all of your vacation pictures and updates!  I loved them, and I can't wait to hear all about your trip, because we are going to take a similar one... someday...)

But here's the funny thing that happened to me.  As the pictures started showing up, I found myself saying things like, "St. Louis!  Oh my goodness, that was one of my favorite trips ever!"  And, "Hey kids, come look at this!  Do you remember when we had a view of Pike's Peak from our apartment in Colorado Springs?" And, "Check out the Grand Canyon!  Hey Seth, did you know dad and I visited the Grand Canyon when I was like 2 days pregnant with you?"  Our friends had an incredible trip.  And I just about fell apart when I realized that, in many ways, we had already lived it!  We have lived that kind of life from which you don't need to escape.  My goodness, the past 17 years have taken us an awful lot of places!  And I wouldn't trade it for anything.

Then, there's the second picture: 

And this is exactly it.  This is why I enjoy vacations so much.  This is why vacations are my love language.  You see, I have rarely seen a vacation as an escape from life.  Instead, I have viewed vacations as an integral part, days and weeks in which we clear our calendar of the mundane, ordinary tasks so we can just be together.  And even though it's not an escape, I do think it makes us all the better when we return to our ordinary lives.  Vacations are something special.  They are celebrations in the midst of struggles.  They are ceremonial.  And, dare I say it, they may even be sacramental.  

Live a life you love.  And let it include memory making in whatever form you can.

L.

When We Decided To Make This Move...

... I pretty much promised my kids that we would stay connected to their friends and that we would not interrupt their music education.  These were two of the three biggest concerns, and I just couldn't promise that we could keep the house, so it was the best I could do.  A few months in, so far, so good. 

I'll admit that making the trek to Indiana isn't so bad, and I legitimately enjoy seeing friends there as well as going to music classes and lessons.  It's hard for me to be at the house, because there are so many memories, and I know it is only a matter of time before the house will no longer be ours.

But the pros outweigh the cons, and our most recent trip was an awful lot of fun.

Seeing Friends:

Lexi, Nate, & Matt:

Keegan:

 Owen:

We hope to catch some more of you next time around!  Ian did also get to play with John during Grace and Caleb's piano lessons, and Caleb, Ian, and Miah all got to see their music class friends, as well!

And... ahem... Miah and I made some of our own fun in the van, where we spent an awful lot of time on Tuesday:

L.

Just In Case You Wondered...

... August did happen around here.  I felt the need to take a little break from blogging in the midst of a lot of stuff, including gearing up for the school year, but I did snap a few pictures.  Here's what our month looked like:

Took Miah to a pediatric dentist and learned that she has multiple calcium deposits but no real front baby tooth...  However, the adult tooth is up there, so she's just going to continue to be the toothless wonder for a few more years.  This is how everyone dresses when going to the dentist.  Right?

I honestly have no idea what happened here.  This can't end well:

Trip to Michigan... Caleb packed his own things... everything he needed, apparently: his Bible, a notebook, a reading light, a lantern, his DS and games, a book of travel/magnetic puzzles, his camera, "Ellie", and a handful of hot wheels cars.  I made sure his clothes and toothbrush were packed elsewhere...

We also got to have our first quiz practice of the season in Howell, since we were out of town.  How fun is that?  Pretty sure there hasn't been a practice in Howell in a long, long time...  

Celebrated 16 years of marriage by replacing broken stuff (blender, deep fryer, TV)... But, ya know, when you're married to the most awesome person ever, it doesn't really matter how you celebrate...

Oh yeah... and he also picked these up:

September... Comin' up...

L.

This Week...

In some ways it was harder than I thought, and in some ways it was easier than I’d imagined.

It’s a little crazy how things kept coming together for me, but I guess I shouldn’t be surprised.  So many pieces of my life have come together on the EMD campgrounds (I’ll share more of that in a minute), so why not this chapter of life?  It is where I go to listen to God.  I needed to be there this week.

But I have to be honest, there were some challenges.  Among them, was a detour.  Ironic:

For the first few days, I spent a pretty good amount of time being lost.  Later in the week, I had re-gained a grasp of the winding, jarring, dirt roads that used to be so familiar.  As I shared before, Ian and Miah thought we were on a roller coaster, at times… hands up, screaming, and all…  Maybe they have a more accurate understanding than I do…

But even on the roller coaster, God spoke:

God spoke through friends this week.  Maybe they know it, and maybe they don’t, but God spoke.  It is always a little unnerving when someone can anticipate the next words out of your mouth, and friends were finishing sentences for me that I didn’t even realized I’d started…  

God spoke through evangelists and worship leaders this week.  I have already shared some of those things in earlier posts, but the final one, from Friday night, was this:  “God doesn’t always answer prayer in the way we think He should”.  It’s not as if this is a new concept or anything, but Dr. Diehl brought a new perspective, for sure.

But maybe most interestingly, God spoke on the detour.  Go figure.  As I was driving, by myself, on Wednesday morning, these words resonated in my heart and mind, “I’m not taking away what you want, Lisa.  You can have stuff, or you can be happy…”

I’ll choose happy…

In recent days, I have had some trouble letting go of our current situation, because there are so many good memories.  Being on the campgrounds reminded me that the memories last far beyond the moments and places in which we create them.  And so… 

Yesterday afternoon after I recounted the story of how Phil and I met and first talked at one of the windows at the Gibson Center… and after I reminisced about the evening that Phil proposed to me out by the lake, while I sat on a tree stump… and after I thought about our first house out there on the grounds, and walking through the door after our honeymoon… and walking through the door with a newborn Seth… and then a newborn Grace…  I almost couldn’t start the van to leave.  There were some tears then, and if I’m honest, there are some tears, tonight.

But then God spoke again, through a song.  No kidding, this is what was playing when I pulled out of the campgrounds…

"Home"

By: Caedmon’s Call

So you asked, so I'm going
Here I am, never knowing
Where this horizon ends, and the next road begins
Or where I'll find you

It's getting dark and I'm a long way from home
But I can't stand spending this night alone
And I will sleep, my eyes to the east
And wait for the sun to come, home

I've gone to walkabout to find your face
The land I love, don't look the same
Look the same

So cover me like a blanket in the cold
You have given me this hand to hold
To help me up
'Cause I fall down

It's getting dark, and I'm a long way from home
But I will not spend this night alone.
I will sleep with my eyes to the east
And wait for the sun to come, home.

It feels something like I'm chasing the wind
I feel like this road has no end
But the end is you I know
So I chase on   

L. 

Meanwhile... Back At The Ranch...

Wisconsin Dells, Day 6...

We wrapped up our trip today...

After cleaning out the room (which was no small task), we used our fun passes to play lazer tag.  I think I had the best score I have ever had, but if I'm going to be honest that is partially due to the fact that this was Ian's first lazer tag game ever, and in an attempt to not lose him in the arena I followed him around most of the time... and... uh...  I shot him in the back every time his vest started glowing...

We did some souvenir shopping next and then headed to the Amtrak station to drop off Grandma and Grandpa for their long ride home...  

And then we were off to The Pizza Ranch...  one of our favorites when we are within driving distance... which isn't often.  You just can't beat the cactus bread.  And on very full tummies, we started to make our trek home.  

We had uneventful travel and pulled into the driveway a little after 11:00pm... tucked the kids in... and unloaded and unpacked much of our stuff.

What a fun trip!  At some point during our time in the Dells, Caleb exclaimed, "Grandma was right!  We needed this vacation!"  And we did...

Trip Pic of the Day:

Getting Ready to Go Home

Lisa

And We're Back...

Undoubtedly, this was the worst travel day of my life...

I woke up feeling sick to my stomach and proceeded to vomit all the way home... I had really hoped at this point that this sickness would elude me... no such luck...

I pretty much attempted to sleep for most of the drive, which I'm sure made it a miserable trip home for Phil, as well.

By the time we reached our driveway, I was feeling well enough to help unload the van, unpack the stuff, and attempt to bring some sort of order to the house...

Some final, random thoughts on the trip...

The kids raked in the souvenirs...

I am looking forward to one of my favorite parts of the "post trip"... processing and organizing 3,248 pictures and some 20 hours of video into a DVD that we can watch over and over again to relive the memories...

It's funny, but it doesn't seem to matter how long we're gone; time always seems to fly on vacation. Grace said it best when we arrived home and she exclaimed, "It almost doesn't even seem like we went!" I am almost always sad when a trip comes to an end, but this time I was ready to come home. I'm not exactly sure what made the difference, but it just felt right. Give me a couple of months, and I'm sure I'll miss Florida...

Although I have always felt that the "magical" age for Disney World is 4 or 5, I think Ian sort of broke the mold on that. Undoubtedly, he had a great time, but as we found out, he really doesn't love to ride, and the characters were just sort of OK for him. I am wondering if part of this lack of immersive magic has to do with older siblings who are no longer quite as enamored. They are all going to be getting some instruction on this before Miah turns 4!

Vacationing when you're sick is tough... simply put.

I would not trade this trip for the world. Having always wanted to experience Disney at Christmastime, we can now say that we have. We needed this time away, and we needed this time together. It was very, very good in ways that I am struggling to put into words. Maybe I don't need to...

Lisa

Finish Strong…

… And Go Home!

After getting ready for the day, packing and reloading our things, and having some breakfast (Phil and I weren’t too impressed with breakfast, but Caleb ate 5 waffles, and I think Seth ate more than that); we drove to Hollywood Studios and reached the parking lot right at opening.

Bag checks… tickets at the turnstiles… handed them off to Phil… and he took off running! I really wish I’d thought to pull the video camera out at this point, because the kids were just in awe. Among our soundtrack was, “Wow!” and, “Dad took off like lightning!” and, “I didn’t know Dad could run that fast!” Please insert the Rocky theme music here…

Just minutes after park opening, we held 6 Toy Story Mania fastpasses for 12:15-1:15pm in our hands.

We took in the Little Mermaid show as well as Disney Junior. Miah is pretty excited at this point every time she sees, “The Mouse” (as she has dubbed both Mickey and Minnie). “Ducky” (both Donald and Daisy) are a close second.

What to do… what to do…

Back to Epcot in an attempt to ride Soarin’!

The park sign said that Soarin’ had a 55 minute wait, so I dragged my four biggest kids through The Land while Phil took off with Miah in an attempt to finish my penny quest. When we arrived at the Soarin’ entrance, the sign said 75 minutes instead of 55, and there were still fastpasses available for 2:55pm-3:55pm. Unfortunately, I did not have my phone on me, and Phil and Miah were already long gone with the tickets, so with no way to communicate with them, we got in line.

It was definitely 75 minutes, and it was definitely worth it. I didn’t expect Ian to love it, but he was in awe. Just moments into the flight, he turned and looked at me with huge eyes and said, “Is this real?” He wanted to ride it again, but we really didn’t have another 75 minutes…

Phil and Miah had a nice stroll around the showcase and presented me with pressed pennies from Japan and China. The machine in France is still broken… quest over.

With precious little time, we ran back to the parking lot… got in the van… drove across the street (in a sort of roundabout way) to Hollywood Studios (who would have imagined we would enter that park 4 separate times on this trip)… ignored the parking attendants and grabbed a better parking spot… ran to the entrance… went through bag checks and ticketing again… booked it to the ride… and presented our fastpasses for Toy Story Mania! This was especially exciting for Phil and Ian who did not get to ride in ’08, because Ian was sleeping! Toy Story Mania is a great ride, and for the first time in my life, I had the high score (amongst my family) on an interactive game ride, so it’s all good…

We stopped at Pizza Planet for lunch and sat in our “regular” spot with our favorite aliens…

And then it was time to say good-bye to the parks…

I had Phil drop me off at Downtown Disney to spend the remaining Disney Dream Reward Dollars we had accumulated, and he went to the Hess station with the kids to fuel the van and get ready for our return trip…

And I have been blogging ever since to make up for the crazy schedule we’ve kept on this trip!

Final thoughts to come…

Lisa

Day 15 Photo Count: 24

Photo Highlights:

Seth has the right idea... We're beat...

Add A Day Or Two…

This was supposed to be our last full day in Florida. The truth is, we have park tickets left, and hotel prices drop dramatically after the first of the year. We’re staying a couple more days. We are, however, switching hotels when our time here expires tomorrow morning. For future reference, I would not stay at Nickelodeon Suites again, and I would not recommend it. There have been quite a few issues including the lack of hot water, beds that aren’t made, additional resort fees that caught us by surprise, and “amenities” that are not free… But enough of that…

Today we spent the bulk of the day cleaning up, repacking, and reloading the van. Fun, I know…

We decided to have dinner at Cicis Pizza Buffet, because I guess I don’t have the power to veto pizza buffets, contrary to my earlier assumption…

Some shopping at Downtown Disney rounded out our evening. Another Lego store… World of Disney… and Once Upon a Toy are our favorites. Ian emerged with a “Bruce” from finding Nemo, Miah has a “Minnie Mouse” now, Seth used most of the remainder of his gift card for candy, Caleb got a super deal on Lego robber mini-figures, and Grace added to our growing Puffle collection. Phil and I picked up a few things, as well.

If you ever wondered what kind of idiots allow their children to run through the fountains when most families are wearing winter coats and hats, well… our hands are up… pick us… We did not, however, anticipate, the vigor with which Caleb would completely soak himself from head to toe (that was really not in the plan). He has been sick for most of the trip, taking asthma meds twice a day. “Go ahead and run through the fountains,” did not mean, “take a shower”… I hope we’re not paying for this one for weeks to come. I ran the kids into a store while Phil ran to get the van heated up and back to us.

It hasn’t been an exciting day, really, but it has been about as “restful” as this trip gets… On to more fun tomorrow…

Lisa

Day 12 Photo Count: 44

Photo Highlights:

Epic Fail...

Phil’s Graduation Trip, Day 6…

We’re home. I cannot believe I woke up, this morning, in Nampa, ID, and now I am sitting here typing in my house (specifically, I am in the closet in the Master Bedroom… long story)…

I could bore you with flight stories that aren’t that spectacular… airport pizza that is bigger than your head… planes that are so full you actually consider taking a voucher and waiting three more hours… babies that squirm all flight long and fall asleep right before touch down… security measures that “test” the juice in your sippy cups… TSA employees that go through your bags and break mirrors… and gigantic bottles of purple Gatorade… but I won’t. Let’s re-cap, instead…

God is a God of redemption…

“Home” might find you in a Freudian slip at “FBI Fridays”, if you’re not careful…

When you’re seven, you can experience the “best day of your life” on consecutive days, over and over again…

When you’re 31, you can, too…

We had hoped…

Jesus is hope…

Leaving Nampa was harder than I ever dreamed it would be…

I loved this trip…

Lisa

Phil’s Graduation Trip, Day 5…

This was supposed to be our “down day”…

We started the morning by going to Early Church at Nampa First Church of the Nazarene. I was so pleased with the child care staff, who managed to keep Miah for the whole service even though she was unhappy at times. This provided me with an opportunity to participate in a corporate worship gathering from start to finish for the first time in a very long time. I was not disappointed in the least. We had the privileged of seeing Pete become a member of Nampa First, and we experienced Holy Spirit moving in a way that was so amazingly powerful. It was a very, very good start to another wonderfully made day.

As it it Mother’s Day, Phil wanted to take me out for lunch, even though we have enough leftovers in the mini-fridge for a small feast. We headed for Boise Town Square, where we got a buzzer for The Cheesecake Factory and did a little shopping at Borders while we waited for a table. All I can really say is, “Wow!” I have experienced The Cheesecake Factory once before in my life, and it is not that great of a memory, to be honest. This time was much, much better, primarily because of the company I had, but the food was delicious, as well! Miah was a real stinker, but we survived!

When we arrived back in Nampa, we took some pictures on campus. We actually took a lot of pictures, but here is my favorite one:

Then we made our way back to the hotel, did some packing, swam for an hour (Marco Polo is a riot with Caleb), and took a dip in the hot tub. This is all understated. It was an incredible day. There are just no words.

Lisa

PS Some things are meant to be cherished and remembered in our hearts…