My inspiration for this record of my days:

“The biggest mistake I made [as a parent] is the one that most of us make. . . . I did not live in the moment enough. This is particularly clear now that the moment is gone, captured only in photographs. There is one picture of [my three children] sitting in the grass on a quilt in the shadow of the swing set on a summer day, ages six, four, and one. And I wish I could remember what we ate, and what we talked about, and how they sounded, and how they looked when they slept that night. I wish I had not been in such a hurry to get on to the next thing: dinner, bath, book, bed. I wish I had treasured the doing a little more and the getting it done a little less” -Anna Quindlen

Sunday, July 12, 2015

Travel log- summer 2015 (part 1)

I have been wanting to take the family on a church history trip for years. And since Becca just graduated, this felt like our "last chance" or a last big fling before our family starts changing.


So last month we loaded up the whole gang and flew to Buffalo, NY.  Most of the kids hadn't been on an airplane (that they could remember), so they were really excited!  Our flight was delayed in Phoenix, and then again in Chicago, but the kids were excited enough that it was OK.  We had planned our seating arrangements carefully, and everyone did great!


We ended up getting in really late, so we got a late start the next day.  We picked up our RV, did some shopping and got ourselves settled in.



The RV was really nice, and served as a great home for us on the road!  And there is something so magical about being able to walk around and even go to the bathroom (!) while you're driving!


The first place we camped was an RV park right on the shore of Lake Ontario.  We did some wading and rock collecting at the lake, and then gathered on the grass for fun and games.








After everyone was pretty worn out from running and jumping, we sat in a circle and played telephone- one of my favorite memories from the trip.  Everyone was in such a good mood, and genuinely enjoying each others' company.  Eli kept messing up the message as it went around the circle, and we were cracking up at his antics!

I have to give a shout out to this girl, too.



She was the ring leader of the games for the evening.  Really, she was a ring leader for fun the whole time!  She was often the one to help smooth out the fights and hurt feelings, and come up with an activity that would bring everyone together.  She is such a unifier in our family.  What are we going to do without her?!?!?!

And a shout out to this girl for some great pictures!


I'm finding that Savannah and Jeff don't show up as often in pictures, because they're usually the ones behind the camera.

To be continued...

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1 comment:

  1. NettieJuly 28, 2015 at 10:58 PM

    I love this so much. I love the pictures that capture such a genuine experience. There is such evidence of a family that loves each other, an oldest child who is the perfect trend-setter and unifier (I love that word!). And such evidence of a mother who really never loses sight that she is in the middle of a sacred calling. It's so wonderful to watch all of this.

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