Good-bye Summer, Part 1…

You were far too short this time around… but a lot of people seem to share that sentiment this year…

Our family ordinarily enjoys summer vacation from Memorial Day until Labor Day, but for a variety of reasons we chose to enroll our kids in a virtual public school this year, so we had to kiss summer good-bye on Monday. I currently have mixed feelings about that. If we can finish all of our curriculum by early May and also net several additional weeks of vacation time during the school year, I think I will be OK with the turnaround for next summer… but it doesn’t seem right to start on August 8th. In fact, this is the first time in years that I do not have a single picture of the first day of school. My mind simply couldn’t process it…

But this post is not about school. This post is about summer and specifically about the last three weeks of our summer vacation (there will be more than 1 part)…

I began blogging these weeks… well… as they happened, but I never had another chance to sit down to upload photos or to take a breath between then and now. Realistically, I should be working on school assignments or going to bed at this hour, but I am blog starved. The summer’s going up tonight!

When last I left you, we were in the midst of driving to Fort Wayne for Seth to attend a video game creation day camp. Five days later… 15 hours of driving later… more gasoline than I care to count later… We had managed to collect a great number of fun memories.

Just a rundown…

Monday I already blogged… see below…

Tuesday: Caleb, Ian Miah, and I stuck around at Science Central and enjoyed some of the exhibits that we do not always have time for during homeschool trips. Caleb also traded a rock at the swap shop for some shells which is always a favorite activity. When Seth was done with camp we all headed to the mall. We intended to eat first, but Miah had fallen asleep, so we took this opportunity to play glow golf. At half price we paid $12.00 total for 54 holes of golf (3 games) each! Ian gave up after about 20 I think and quickly proceeded to return his golf club and lose his glow in the dark golf ball… Miah woke up about halfway through and was not real happy about sitting in the stroller until we finished. Seth, Caleb, and I had a very nice time, however, and it was so nice that I actually haven’t even tallied the score yet (now 3 weeks later)… I am pretty sure I won… You really cannot do justice to glow golf with pictures... After this we went to Chick-Fil-A for free kids meals, and since you have to buy one adult meal for each free meal; I got Seth a chicken sandwich (which is what he always really wants at Chick-Fil-A but almost never gets). This was a huge hit until we discovered that they accidentally gave him a spicy chicken sandwich and his mouth caught on fire… We then proceeded to ride the carousel (which I always say no to), because it was also half price… This was Miah’s first carousel ride. She liked it until it started moving…

Wednesday: Phil came with us, and after we dropped Seth off we did some shopping and then took our three littlest people to see Winnie-the-Pooh. This was an enormous hit with Ian. We always stay for the credits (which in this case were almost as long as the movie). All the other people who left during the credits did miss some extra footage, just in case you’re wondering! We picked up Seth and the best Marcos pizza I have ever had and then headed home after another great day!

Thursday: Caleb, Ian, Miah and I attempted some fall clothes shopping. Although we did end up with several free items from Old Navy, we decided that the bulk of the shopping would have to wait until we arrived in Michigan at the outlet mall… which, of course, was a real disappointment to me… I mean, I don’t love outlet mall shopping or anything (feel the sarcasm)… We also went back to the mall, ate breadsticks at the food court, and experienced Cold Stone Creamery for the first time (and quite possibly the last, because it sort of made me sick, but I’m not sure if I can blame that on the ice cream or the heat). Chick-Fil-A won out again for dinner (3rd time this week)…

Friday: When we arrived at Science Central, Seth’s eye was all red and bubbly from an allergic reaction to something. We grabbed some ice and then took a little side trip to Wal-Mart for some fake Benadryl and eye drops. Then we took Seth back to camp and proceeded to enjoy ourselves at Science Central, because we didn’t want to leave in case he needed anything else. It was another fun day and rather relaxing as it wasn’t packed. I have always been intrigued by the announcements for a star lab show but can never find the planetarium. We bought tickets ($2.00 total) and asked for directions. It turned out to be an inflatable planetarium (which I have experienced before (although not at Science Central) and should have realized, but it was new for the kids). Ha! Now I get it! It wasn't the greatest show, but it did give us something cheap and different to do, so it was a good decision. We also enjoyed a couple of demonstrations this week, and I always think its a plus when we get something educational out of our little trips! By the end of the day, though, I was so ready to return home and to see Grace (who had arrived home from camp earlier in the day). We made one more quick stop at Marcos and scarfed some pizza that was not as great as earlier in the week but still pretty good, and then headed home (watching my lead foot that apparently developed this week... thank you for those race car driver genes, Dad)…

Although it was busy and exhausting, I wouldn’t trade the week for anything. It was a fantastic break from the every day routine and I love the memories we made!

A few picture highlights:

Miah's 1st Carousel Ride:
I can't believe that Caleb didn't want to ride the elephant!

Caleb on the Moon Walk:

Squishy Ian:
Best Shirt Ever:

The Boys Absolutely Loved this Game in the Bible Times Exhibit:

Lisa

It’s Been A Really Good Day…

I expect that this week is going to be hectic. I dropped Grace off, this morning, to go to Pre-Teen girls camp. Considering she has been counting down the days since… oh… November or so, she was a little on the excited side! I always miss Grace when she is gone, because she is such a great helper to me, but I am so happy that she is going to be with her friends, soaking up Jesus all week long! Still can’t wait to see her on Friday, though…

Seth also has a camp this week, but it is a day camp… In Fort Wayne… about an hour and a half from home. We signed Seth up for this camp because of his love for video games. He legitimately wants to create video games when he grows up. There is a part of me that hopes he changes his mind, but in the meantime, since we believe in giving our kids every possible opportunity, we’re on the lookout for anything that might actually help him to move in that direction. So I’m going to be driving to Fort Wayne all week long…

This, of course, left me with my “babies” (although Caleb is finally starting to balk at the word at age 7… tear)… After we dropped Seth off, it occurred to me that I really didn’t have a plan for the day. Science Central is closed on Mondays (surprise!), so our membership there didn’t do us any good. Our zoo membership has long since expired, and I really have a hard time paying for one day at the zoo when a membership can easily “pay for itself”, but I couldn’t seem to find an extra hundred bucks in my back pocket to renew the membership, either, so that was out, as well. We finally decided to take a walk. This lasted for approximately 4 minutes, until we came to an area of the sidewalk that was closed and also realized that the temperature must be well into the 90s. We hauled our sweaty selves back to the van…

At this point, I did what any reasonable mother with three small children and no money would do. I decided that we would go browse at Toys R Us… Go ahead, I dare you to tell me that’s not reasonable. The truth is, Miah had a gift card from her birthday, and her favorite baby doll is in desperate need of some clothes, because she is always naked and that is embarrassing when we have company. We went in search of doll clothes. Yeah… the boys totally loved that. I knew that Caleb and Ian each had some money saved from their allowance and birthday gifts, etc, so I indulged them by letting them throw potential purchases into the cart. I think this was especially fun for Caleb, since Ian was in the cart… I mean, how often does he have permission to throw stuff at his little brother? They started out relatively cheap, but as we progressed through the store it occurred to me that I should probably count their money to give them some sort of realistic expectation for what they might be able to afford. I am not kidding you, I was shocked. Those kids were loaded (for a 4 and 7 year old)! We darn near could have gone to the zoo! We exited Toys R Us with a few school supplies (Crayola was buy 1, get 2 free… don’t even get me started), a birthday gift for October (for Grace… and I can’t give any more details at this point, because she actually has friends who are old enough to read this… but I got a fantastic deal), a huge stuffed dinosaur (Ian’s purchase… which, ironically really was exactly what he was looking for), a Pac-man DS game and Thomas the Tank Engine bag (Caleb, or course), and baby doll bottles and clothes for the poor, naked baby doll… Not bad for window shopping, right?

Caleb was just itching to go to the mall after this, because he wanted to buy taffy. Since we still had a couple of hours to kill, that’s where we went. Of course, it was here that we stumbled upon signs for “Tuesday Family Night” discounts, so I guess we at least have a plan for tomorrow… A broken elevator, a few new t-shirts, a JCPenny employee who wanted to sell me a portrait package (I love saying, “Actually, I’m a photographer”), and a couple of bags of taffy later, we made our trek back to the van, in the rain, sloshing through some major puddles, and were on our way to grab a bite to eat for dinner before picking Seth up. Of course, we ate Chick-Fil-A, because there is just something wrong about being in the vicinity of a Chick-Fil-A and not eating there…

We proceeded to pick Seth up (who had a wonderful day, himself, I might add), and then it was home for ½ a game of church league softball (where Miah turned into a hot potato and the boys managed to cover themselves in dirt from head to toe), and then really back home for baths and showers.

By 8:30, my house was completely quiet, and I snuggled down with my laptop and a raspberry lemonade and actually had the time to post to my blog… which you just read…

What a nice day…

Lisa

PS I love driving. I guess I always have, but the time in the car is just a wonderful time for reflection and also for communing with God. I am too tired to get philosophical or theological, tonight, but there was a lot of good stuff going on during our travel time today, and I hope to expound on that more… soon…

My Unpopular Thoughts…

On the Casey Anthony verdict…

I actually don’t have a whole lot to say. However, my facebook page erupted with posts this afternoon (and they continue). The three major categories of posts seem to be:

1. Our legal system failed.
2. Casey Anthony should be killed and then rot in hell.
3. Caylee Anthony is distraught over the injustice of this verdict.

I would just like to speak to these thoughts, briefly. To be completely honest, I’m not sure anyone will ever know what really happened, and I think this is the precise reason that the jury ruled the way they did. I believe that the media attention was severely harmful to this case, and I believe that the prosecution was far too self centered. Our legal system may have failed. Our legal system may have failed severely.

In regard to Casey Anthony, herself. The words are harsh. If she killed her child (and she may have), I agree that there should have been appropriate punishment. But let’s face it… appropriate punishment for a crime such as this does not exist. Considering the jury did rule her “not guilty”, however, I do not see how anyone has a right to hope for her death. Further, to declare that you want anyone to, “rot in hell”, is severely judgmental, and I would not, in a million years, take that responsibility on myself. We must be very careful with our words.

And in regard to Caylee… There is no sufficient word to describe her suffering here on Earth. But rest assured that this precious little girl has long since been far above any of our earthly reasoning regarding justice. She didn’t look down on the trial, today, and cry because her death was not avenged. For three years now, she has been with Jesus, in paradise, completely whole, well, and unharmed, and loving every minute of it. She’s OK. Justice is really not for the dead, but for the living.

And so on the off chance that anyone clicks through and reads this, I am certain there will be a wide range of emotions. It’s OK if you hate my opinion. That happens to me on a fairly regular basis, anyway.

But tonight… if the case has affected you… try to put those feelings into some sort of positive action. Turn your porch light on to remember Caylee’s life, and take some time to pray for the children who endure suffering at the hands of those who should protect them, even on a daily basis. Take this tragedy and turn it around.

Genesis 50:20

Lisa

Judy Moody and the Not Bummer Summer…

A Movie Review…

Phil and I found ourselves with some unexpected “date time” this afternoon. This is always a blessing, because we do not often have the ability to go out, primarily because it is difficult to find a babysitter for five children… not to mention, expensive. However, we do have friends with whom we make an occasional date trade, and they had some free time this afternoon, so we did as well!

In recent years, it has become increasingly difficult to find interesting things to do for dates. We have pretty much become resigned to “dinner and a movie”. As this day approached, we were finding it harder and harder to find a movie. But in the end, we choose Judy Moody, because it was the only option that was not a sequel to some other movie we hadn’t seen and that appeared to check out “clean” (by our standards) at plugged in movie reviews.

Much of what I read ahead of time regarding Judy Moody seemed to compare the film to Ramona and Beezus. I love the latter. But other than the obvious similarity (both films are based on books written for a late elementary, pre-teen audience), I didn’t really think they were going to be all that alike. I was right.

Ramona and Beezus is what I would call a true “family friendly” film. When I say this, I mean that everyone in the family can enjoy it. Although much of the content is written for children, there are adult themes, throughout, that appeal to any real life family that has ever gone through difficult days. All of this, and there are still great daydream scenes that capture the interest of even a wiggly four year old. Ramona and Beezus is a film that I can easily see myself sitting down to watch by myself or with the kids.

Judy Moody and the Not Bummer Summer is a kids’ movie. It is written for pre-teens, and it is my opinion that it appeals to the target group very well. Now, if you have pre-teens who have seen every action flick and have been inundated with nudity and foul language, Judy Moody is probably not going to hold their attention. It is a prudent idea to introduce children to age appropriate material, and I firmly believe that one of the reasons we have so many problems with kids is because they have been forced to “grow up” too quickly. Further, are nudity, excessive violence, and profanity really appropriate for adults? Perhaps forcing them to “grow up” is not quite the right perspective. But we’re doing an excellent job of dumbing them down when they can’t read, have little to no attention span, and can use every four letter word in its correct context by the age of 3…

At any rate, my pre-teens (and my littler guys) will see Judy Moody, and I would imagine there will be a great deal of laughter, even when it isn’t all that funny…

I will watch Judy Moody with them, and I will enjoy it. I cannot, however, imagine going to my DVD shelf and picking it up to watch on a lonely night when everyone else is asleep…

Except for maybe on the day that Grace goes to college…

Because the actress that plays Judy Moody looks a little bit like Grace and acts just like her in several scenes, but the thing that stood out to me the most were that their expressions were almost identical. I almost felt as if I was watching my own child on the big screen for an hour and a half… and the little brother didn’t make a bad Caleb character, either…

So I give Judy Moody two thumbs up for the kids, and I find her to be tolerable for adults, as well. SPOILER ALERT: If nothing else, I laughed relatively hard when the elephant landed on the car…

Lisa

PS It has been a really long time since I saw any move on opening day. That it was Judy Moody must only add to my dorkiness…

A Short Review of Star Wars...

Return of the Jedi is the first movie I ever saw in a theater. I was three years old. Although I fell asleep part way through the movie, I saw enough to determine several things:

*I loved Princess Leia. I wanted my hair to be done like hers. I was going to be Leia. I think I developed her attitude pretty well.

*Han Solo was irritating, and it would be OK if he was written out of the script.

*I was going to marry Luke Skywalker.

*Darth Vader was purely evil and terrifying.

It was actually a serious blow to my three year old mind that Leia and Luke were brother and sister. To this day, that makes “the kiss” turn my stomach… just a little… I finally did come to grips with the new reality, and as a toddler sized, only child decided that it would still be pretty neat to have a Jedi Knight for a brother. OK… let’s face it. Even at 31, if my long lost Jedi Knight brother showed up at the front door, that would be cool (“illusions of grandeur”)…

I am certain, that like most kids who grew up in the 80s, I saw the entire trilogy at least once, but probably on multiple occasions. I can’t really claim to have “grown up on Star Wars” like many others (including my husband) did. I did, however, always have an affinity for the franchise. (And on the off chance that anyone from my high school graduating class is reading this; it was OK with me when the Imperial March was going to be our class song… why we had to re-vote will always be a mystery)…

So why bring up a 30+ year old franchise at this point?

Well… I asked for the Star Wars trilogies (both of them) for Christmas, and to my delight (and a little bit of surprise), they actually emerged from a nicely wrapped package under the tree. Five months later, I still hadn’t watched them. It was time to watch them.

Now, I should mention that I did see Episode I shortly after it made its way to video… and I think I re-watched it when I also borrowed Episodes II and III from Phil’s mom, probably 5-6 years ago. The originals I had not seen in at least 20 years… When I first watched Episodes I-III, I was highly impressed at the depth of background information they offered. When you put all VI together in a short period of time, however, there is much more to it than just background…

I can’t say that I really had over 12 hours to commit to re-watching the entire Star Wars saga, but I did it. And might I add that this is a lot to process in a couple of weeks… At the expense of sounding somewhat freakish, Star Wars is not exactly just a collection of entertaining movies. There is something there that is far deeper than pure entertainment. I actually had to think about what I was watching.

I originally thought that Star Wars was the story of Luke Skywalker. Come on now, we all originally thought this, right? In actuality, though, Star Wars is the story of Anakin Skywalker… start to finish. For this reason, I do not think a third trilogy would serve the franchise well. It’s not that we wouldn’t like to learn more, but the story really is complete.

And now, my adult perspective…

The prequel trilogy changes some things.

*Yoda and Obi-Wan actually take on much greater significance after having watched the first III Episodes. Although they are central characters, to an extent, in Episodes IV-VI (well, actually that is only partly true… Yoda doesn’t even appear in Episode IV), it is really in the first three films where their characters are developed. After watching Episodes I-III, you will undoubtedly be more endeared to them. The light saber battle between Obi-Wan and Vader takes on much greater significance, as well.

*Darth Vader no longer strikes me as purely evil or terrifying. When I watched him enter in the opening scenes of Episode IV, I thought to myself, “Oh… there’s Anakin”. Close observation reveals that in every instance his desire is for Luke to join him and that he has no inclination, whatsoever, to kill Luke. This is a far cry from how I viewed Vader as a child. Somehow, I think the Emperor knows all of this. Perhaps the most revealing quote is when Vader says, “Luke, you can destroy the Emperor. He has foreseen this. It is your destiny. Join me, and together we can rule the galaxy as father and son.” It must be remembered that most of the destruction Anakin (and later, Vader) caused happened in a series of misdirected decisions as a result of his desire to save or avenge the people he loved. The dark side is deceptive. And as Obi-Wan might say, “Only a Sith deals in absolutes” (Probably the most controversial line of the entire franchise… More commentary to come on this in future posts).

*I still love Leia. However, I’ve given up on becoming a Jedi, myself, at this point, and I will refrain from styling my hair like hers… and going out in public… at least most of the time. The attitude stays. I forgot that she kills Jabba the Hut. If anyone ever forced me to wear a metal bikini, I think I’d get kinda violent, too. I would like to draw some parallels between Padme and Leia. Inasmuch as Luke is clearly Anakin’s son, Leia is also clearly Padme’s daughter. I liked Padme, but there were also things about her character that got under my skin. She seduced Anakin. She knew that a Jedi was forbidden to make attachments. Her decisions aided greatly in his eventual undoing. Of course, I guess their love brought balance to the force, as well, because without it there would be no Luke or Leia. The other thing that bothers me is that Padme gives birth to two babies sand then gives up her will to live. What kind of mother does that? But then again, I guess we would have no story without this… Except… In Episode VI Leia tells Luke that she remembers her mother, who died when she was very young. The best explanation I have been able to come up with is a combination of The Force already being strong within Leia at birth and therefore allowing her to memorize every detail and also providing visions of Padme that could have been construed as memories. Personally, I think they just didn’t transition this part of the storyline very well. Leia seems to possess all of the grit Padme had, plus some…

Other things, the prequel trilogy does not change.

*I still don’t like Han Solo. He grew on me a little bit, and I admit is was cool when he sliced open the Tauntaun and spilled its guts all over the place in order to shove Luke inside to keep him warm… Wait… Did I just write that? Nevermind. That was gross. I tried. I guess, though, that we can keep Han in the script, after all, because he does have some pretty entertaining banter with Leia. “I love you.” “I know.”

It’s funny, but as I sat down to write this review I actually had to google about 700 different things, just to make sure I got them right. I will actually be watching all of the movies again, in short order, and in extended edition form, because I want to create a series of Star Wars “teachable moments”, and I really just watched them for entertainment and to get some technical details out of the way, this time around.

Whenever I review a movie, I try to clearly identify violence, sexual innuendo, profanity, and unsettling themes for any of my readers. This isn’t actually going to be a very thorough review in that respect. If you’re going to watch Star Wars, just be aware that there is going to be violence (the word “wars” in the title ought to clue you in on that one). In my opinion, Episode III is, by far, the most graphically violent, but even much off what is included there is off screen. Would I sit my 4 year old in front of it? Nope. But I know most of his little friends have seen much worse. The whole premise of the Star Wars movies deals with religion… The Force… good vs. evil… When I go back over the films for usable content, I’m sure I’ll have a lot more to say on this, but it really depends on how you interpret it. If you’re looking to sit your elementary school aged kids in front of the TV for hours on end of mindless activity, perhaps you should invest in some Disney Channel originals. But if you want a good story that has the potential to develop into some deep life conversations, Star Wars might be right up your alley. I can definitely see my daughter getting stressed out about the many references to Sith “Lords”, Jedi “Masters”, and even Han’s recurring name for Leia, “Your Worship”. These are things that simply have to be talked about and worked through if you have children who care deeply about the appropriate use of words. Sexual references exist but are mild. Costuming is mostly modest, although there are a few questionable scenes. Profanity of any kind is non-existent in Episodes I, II, III, and VI. Episode V contains one H*** that I have construed to be contextual. Episode IV contains two D***s and two H***s. I found that frustrating, because they really are completely unnecessary.

If you’ve made it this far, you must be as big a dork (ahem… I mean… Star Wars fan) as I. May the Force be with you!

Lisa

So How Smart Is It…

…to take a trip to a waterpark on a cloudy, less than 70 degree, good chance of thunderstorms day?

Because this family loves waterparks… and because it was the Saturday of Memorial Day weekend (leaving us without a whole lot of otherwise “productive” options)… and because we found a way to get into the park for 1/3 the normal price… It was worth finding out…

So we left the house just a little after 7:00 and made the trek to Merrillville, where Deep River Waterpark is located. Our first mistake was that we forgot Merrillville is on central time. So we arrived about 2 hours before the park opened…

That’s OK… we took a little detour to Wal-Mart, where we picked up swim diapers for Miah, among other things, and then we sat in the Deep River parking lot for an hour where the kids played their DSs, Phil played with his Kindle, and I watched the Deep River employees arrive at work for the day…

When the ticket booth finally opened, we discovered that we were the first customers of the season. It was at this point that we were glad we didn’t go yesterday. There were no other customers in sight, and this gave credibility to my earlier declaration that we would have the whole park to ourselves. I was kidding when I said it, but I guess it was prophetic… or something…

We proceeded to play in Mayor Byrdovich's Courthouse, where Seth enjoyed dumping buckets of water on us, Grace and Caleb zipped down the slides over and over again, Ian climbed a couple of rope nets, and Miah looked at us like we were crazy…

Grabbed some life jackets after that and took a spin… or 2… or 3… or even 4 in some cases on Mid-America's Great River Ride. It took me a long time to convince Ian that he should get into the tube. As a thrill seeker, myself, it was rather disconcerting to have this much trouble getting a 4 year old on a lazy river. I need to get that kid to an amusement park, soon, where I can strap him in to every ride he’s big enough for until he loves riding. It simply will not do to have non-riders in this family! Miah also hated the lazy river, but considering she is only a year old and it was freezing, I can work with that.

Seth, who has a tendency to turn blue when cold, was pretty much done with our adventure after this point. I think the lifeguard was afraid she was going to have hypothermia on her hands, but I am just so used to this color change thing that I threw a couple of towels on him and we moved along to the next ride, Double Dueling CannonBowl. I actually find funnel rides to be a little overrated, but Ian wanted to ride, so I climbed the stairs with him and Grace (who was going solo). Upon reaching the top, Ian decided that he actually didn’t want to ride. Now… I sort of have this ride policy. It goes like this: If you force Mommy to climb several sets of stairs or to stand in line for any amount of time, you ride. Period. This is a completely unfair standard, because as a kid (and even as a teenager) I did my share of double takes at the ride platform that resulted in exiting without riding. However, I do not want my children to be scared of things like I was, and in the vast majority of cases they have come off the rides screaming, “I loved it! Can we do it again?” I thought for a moment about what to do, when I remembered the time that Ian tried to climb over the side of a family raft slide when he was just under 2 years old. Realizing that he would have to hang onto the tube in order to remain safe on Double Dueling CannonBowl, I relented and walked him halfway down the stairs, where I called for Caleb to hurry up to me so that we could ride, instead. Grace took another trip down the slide, and Phil took Caleb for a second ride, as well. I actually got a couple of video clips of some of the action, from the stairs, while Seth sat with Ian and Miah.

At this point, we had been in the park for about 2 hours, and we took a short break and got “warm” (OK, we never really got warm all day) before moving on to the Rip Tide Wave Pool. I am not a real wave pool fan, so I was not all that disappointed that the water was freezing! I sat with Ian (who wouldn’t go near the wave pool, either) and Miah (whom I took this opportunity to nurse), and we watched Phil, Seth, Grace, and Caleb jumping over the waves… all by themselves… I should probably mention that a few other park guests had arrived at this point, but no so many that we had to share any attractions…

After being unsuccessful at getting Ian to play in the smaller children’s play area, Paddles PlayZone (in his defense, the water there was icy… I wouldn’t have gone in…) and also discovering that the second lazy river, BAYOU River Ride, was frigid; we decided to break (again) for lunch.

I went out to the van and gathered our “picnic”, we got dry and a little bit warmer, and then we headed back out into the park to hit the Body & Tube Slides. I went down the tube slide with Caleb, and Seth and Grace went down together, as well. Then Caleb and Grace went twice more, and I think Grace went alone another time or two. Although I enjoy waterslides of all kinds, body slides tend to be my least favorite, because I always suck water up my nose and end up coughing it out for quite some time. However, it occurred to me, as I was sitting there watching Grace slide over and over again, that neither Seth nor Grace had ever experienced a body slide, and for this reason, I have not allowed them to ride some of the bigger slides when we have been at larger parks. Looking at the Deep River body slide, I decided that it appeared to be rather calm and that they should probably try it if they ever want to get on anything more intense. Seth did not want to try, but Grace did, so the two of us climbed up, and I went down first, showing her how to do it. It was a little rougher and faster than I expected, and per normal I ended up with a nose full of water to choke out. The lifeguard let me stay in the pool when I told him Grace was coming down, but it actually turned out to be quite unnecessary, as the child hit the water and swam for the side on auto pilot… No worries about Grace on body slides, I guess… She loved it!

After this, we decided to go check out, The STORM Tube Ride, which actually turned out to be 3 distinctly different tube slides: Vortex, Abyss, and Cyclone. They were black, enclosed tubes, so Grace and I rode double. We chose Cyclone first, and it was definitely a good ride. Upon exiting, I dropped Grace with Phil, Seth, Ian, and Miah and picked up Caleb for Abyss. It also was a good ride, but extremely short. Grace’s turn again, for Vortex this time… and at this point I realized that there was no way my legs were going to make it up the stairs three more times so that each of them could experience each slide with me! I looked at Grace and said, “just grab a single tube,” to which she replied, “are you serious?” Caleb and I took a trip down Vortex, and well… there’s nothing like sending your nine year old fearless daughter, alone, into a pitch black hole called Abyss…

We had to call it a day after this, because it mercifully started raining. This made it possible for me to escape with my dignity, because the truth is, I couldn’t have climbed another flight of stairs if I tried…

All in all, it was a really fun day. We did lose one water shoe, but with our family; that’s to be expected…

Some shopping ensued after this. Grace is now the proud owner of two new pairs of flip flops, and it wasn’t even her water shoe we lost… hers just finally broke after years of wear…

We went to Cracker Barrel for dinner, using a gift card that we got for Christmas, and we had enough left on it after our meal that everyone was able to choose some candy from the Cracker barrel store for dessert.

A cherry Pepsi and a couple of hours on the road, and we were home…

What a day!

Here are a few pics:



Lisa

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…