Stop #2: Locked up in Murfreesboro, AR

After seeing what Memphis had to offer, we made our way to Murfreesboro, Arkansas. It was quite the drive along winding, two-lane roads that serve as roadways for motor vehicles and turtles alike. We nearly ran over two turtles, miles apart, each casually crossing the road, in no hurry to reach the other side. The first turtle was a total surprise. The second was pretty funny. We waited for a third but decided that we'd count the one we'd seen early at the park as the third, making it a 3-turtle day.

Don't let this amazing sign fool you into thinking this is a major metropolis--it has a population of about 1,600 and most of those likely live in the rural sections of "town". I think we counted fewer than 20 moving vehicles during our time here.

 As was commensurate with the attitudes and behavior of our children at this stage of our trip, we stayed in the JAIL at the Diamonds Old West Hotel Cabins. Charlotte and Alex slept in a bunk bed inside the jail part of our cabin and although we weren't able to actually lock them in, the door was creaky enough that we tried to keep it closed as much as possible.

There were a lot of activities for all ages at this place and we tried many of them. The kids loved the inflated jumping pad. Alex and Andy tried the pedal cars (Andy reports that it's a lot of hard work!). There was croquet and badminton but we weren't at this location long enough to test our skills. The kids loved the corn pit. It's like a human-sized sensory bin! Each night at 6PM, several of the attractions close, but that's when the FOAM PARTY starts! The proprietor also starts a couple of campfires around this time, too.

We heard there was a nearby lake and from what we could see of the sunset over the neighboring forest, we though it would be lovely on the water. We scrambled to the van and went looking for the "sign that points to the right--if ya get to the bridge, y'all have gone too far" way to the lake and found it just in time to catch a beautiful sunset. Sarah brought a book and read on a large rock; try spotting her in the 2nd photo below. This lake definitely did not disappoint!

It was s'mores time when we returned to Old West, and we were soon to bed after that--it had been a long day. We were going to be up and at 'em in the morning for the one thing I was looking forward to doing: digging for diamonds!

The alarm followed our instructions and went off at 7am. We packed the car and headed toward Crater of Diamonds State Park. The weather was overcast and about 85 degrees but it wasn't totally unbearable. I thought it would be worse. We got our shovels and sifters and buckets and such, and headed out into a big, wide, open field with...no direction at all. The thing we learned about diamond hunting is that there's no rhyme or reason to finding diamonds. Most of it is dumb luck. BUT--we had fun and met some nice folks at the sifting basins. I've always wanted to visit this place and I'm glad we came. At the end of the day, the lady told us all that we'd found. None of them were diamonds but we have some cool rocks and even cooler memories. I'm really glad we did this.

We were dirty and sweaty, and Charlotte's shoes were fully soaked from the sifting basins so we ate lunch in the car and headed out for Oklahoma. That's where I am tonight. Everyone is asleep. The room is totally dark, save for my computer light. And I'm thankful that we can do this. I could definitely do with fewer servings of teenage angst along the way, but at the end of it all, I'm thankful to be making these memories with our children. Tomorrow will be interesting: we have no plan.

Stop #1: Walkin’ in Memphis

Our trip commenced later than planned after stopping at the post office, bank, and gas station but we managed to mosey on our of town around 11:15am with lunch in hand (mouth?) and our eyes on the horizon. The kids quickly turned their eyes to the borrowed DVD player with accompanying headphones and we weren’t sad when we realized that while they enjoyed their movie at comfortable volumes, we enjoyed comfortable silence. Best. Invention. Ever.

Our first stop was Memphis, about an 8-hour trek. As we approached Nashville, our original first stop, we decided to duck into town and drive through Honky Tonk Highway just for a quick taste of the city. It sure was hopping with lots of people and fun music. Andy wants to go back to visit Nashville as a separate trip.

We soldiered on to Memphis and traded drivers so Andy could work. He’s going to be working most days while we drive, a benefit of of his type of self-employment. The kids swam in the pool until we were all tired and ready for an early (for us) bedtime, knowing morning would come early.

For what is probably the first time in our entire lives, we went to 7:30AM (like, in the morning) Mass at Holy Rosary Church in Memphis. And...we were 5 minutes early. If I wasn’t there to witness it, I wouldn’t believe it myself. The church was Beautiful and the people were very kind, So I’m asking if we were visitors and others commenting in the parking lot about our beautiful children. It was a perfect and well-timed homily from a priest who mentioned at the end of the mass that he is being relocated to a different parish. The lector had a great voice and I wondered if she works in radio. If not, she missed her calling.

After eating breakfast at the hotel and checking out, we headed to the Lorraine Motel, the site of Martin Luther King, Jr.‘s assassination in 1968. The hotel has since been turned into a museum, and for several reasons, both political and personal, we did not go in. But just visiting this sacred space and to imagine the chaos, loss, and trauma that happened there was moving. I’m thankful to have had the opportunity to visit here and from my conversations with others in town doing the same thing, I wasn’t alone.

To lighten the mood, we realized we were thiiiiiiis close to Mississippi, a state not originally on our vacation plan so we decided to detour about 20 minutes south to pop over the border to cross this place off the list. I am on a mission to find a bumper sticker from each of our locations so we stopped at an exit to look for one. The exit we took was the exit for Graceland so we haaaaad to take a peek at Elvis’s house. It was pretty far back off the road but the grounds were stunning and there were signatures from all over the world on the front stone wall.

We did make our way to a small town just over the Mississippi border and had lunch in a little park. The breeze was nice and the geese were certainly plentiful in both number and attitudes so that was nice. After lunch we packed up and headed toward Murfreesboro, AR. We’re here now at a really cool place and that post is for tomorrow. I’ll only say that I’ve seen more turtles crossing the road than I’ve seen hotels, so....

Such a time as this

When we've talked about this trip with others, they've asked us why we want to cram into our van for a month; this does not sound like a vacation to most. We actually think is this the perfect vacation a the perfect time for our family for several reasons. Maybe with a little explanation, we won't seem so crazy/ridiculous/bizarre odd.

We have a fourth grader. Typically this wouldn't be of much consequence but we learned last fall about the Every Kid in a Park program offered by the US Dept. of the Interior. This program offers a free National Parks pass to all US fourth graders. Our trip is scheduled to take us to Bryce Canyon, Zion National Park, the Grand Canyon, Redwood Nat'l Park, Muir Woods, Yellowstone, and Badlands. The Every Kid in a Park pass means we'll save at least $225 on entry fees to see these parks. That's pretty great--and a hard deal to pass up.

We have an incoming high school junior.  Also not usually not that big of a deal, as we started looking ahead at the next few years, we realized how short time was getting. Next summer we'll be doing college visits with her. The following summer she'll have just graduated and will be planning for departure to the school of her choice (prayerfully). She won't want to be cooped up with her siblings and parents, eating granola bars and looking at rock formations for 4 weeks. We're also planning some stops on our way that might be of interest to her as she considers her future. One such stop is the National Weather Service in Norman, OK on the campus of Oklahoma University. She's always been interested in weather and has mentioned maybe pursuing a career in meteorological science. NWS offers free tours and we're signed up for that. She also likes astronomy and we're planning to check out the stargazing opportunities at Bryce Canyon when we're there. We've heard it's the best place in the country to see stars because of the thin atmosphere and distance from city lights. Being terrified of heights, she's not thrilled about many of our planned stops, but she's looking forward to these couple.

Self employment (mostly) rocks. Being employed for one's self has a lot of (mostly financial) drawbacks but one of the biggest benefits is flexibility. Andy really does like to have a presence in the offices of his clients so he can tend to their data needs immediately and appropriately. But he does have the flexibility to work from home (aka Panera, Nucleus, the library, etc.) when necessary. In this case, he'll be working from the back seat of the van and from various cities around the country while we travel. He is committed to his clients and will maintain communication with them throughout our journey, but he'll get lots of vacation time in, too.

We have an extra driver. When better to take a long driving trip than when we have three drivers in the family? Sarah got her driver's license a couple of weeks ago so she's street legal now! An 8-hour drive between three drivers is much more palatable than between two drivers. We're looking forward to sharing the load with her and the amount of experience she'll get under our watch will be invaluable (though she won't realize that for years to come).

We're crazy. We know it's crazy but sometimes the best memories result from the nuttiest ideas. We've been floating around this idea for years but never with any real gumption behind it. After my concussion last year, all bets have been off and Crazy is my new middle name. In all seriousness, the thought of spending thiiiiiis much time in our minivan that already has allllllmost 200,000 miles really does sound bonkers. But missing out on the chance to see our beautiful country through the eyes of my children sounds like the craziest thing I could ever do and I'm not THAT crazy!

I'm Back! Annnnd We're Leaving!

With the birth of Facebook, this poor little blog has sat on the virtual shelf for so long that I actually forgot it even existed. It was only when I mentioned wanting to blog about our upcoming summer vacation and went looking for the right platform that I stumbled upon my old friend. I have had a fun day re-reading my old posts and reliving those fun times. Alex was a BABY when I made my last post. He's 10 years old now and the girls are teenagers! Funny, though--I haven't aged at all in this time. Weird. Over the years we've learned lots about each other, our friends, our favorite things, and favorite places. Topsail Island, NC is one of our favorite vacation spots and we always return to the same rental house each year.

On the way home from the beach last year, we started chatting about doing a different kind of vacation. I mentioned that maybe we could just work from the beach for a month (because I love it there so much!) and Andy said that if we were going to be gone for a month, he'd like to travel the western portion of the country--something he's talked about since we met in college. When we arrived home from the beach that night, we spread our big US map out on the floor and started putting little Post-It notes on all the sites we dreamed about seeing across the country.

Fast forward to today and we have a complete itinerary. Instead of our giant, Post-It covered floor map, we've graduated to an app called Roadtrippers. We're embarking on a nearly-month-long trip this summer and will be exploring in 20 cities across the western portion of the country.

All lodging has been booked and city dossiers are nearing completion. The kids are getting excited and their excitement helps me look past all the planning to the fun of the trip. We'll be using this platform to share all the cool things we see and do throughout our trip so check back here frequently for updates!

New Year, New Goal

My goal for 2010 is to be more organized. This means my house, of course, but it extends beyond that, too. I definitely want my home organized to cut down on time lost spent looking for things, money lost by wasting food/resources, and energy lost thinking about all of the above.

At the end of 2009, we were audited for our FSA and I had to come up with documentation for about 20 transactions (that were all payments made to doctors' offices so it wouldn't it seem that it's for medical reasons anyway? That's a whole 'nother post...). When I was searching through random piles of papers, I grew increasingly frustrated that I hadn't thought ahead to organize that stuff before. So I lost many hours calling various doctors' offices and insurance companies as well as hunting through bills, EOBs, and receipts. This whole process made me frustrated and short-tempered which is never good. So I vowed that this year would be different.

Too many times, I stand in the kitchen at 4:15pm and wonder, "What am I going to make for dinner?" One would imagine that part of being a stay-at-home mom is having a dinner plan for every night of the week (although it's my dream to do a whole month at a time--I'm working on that). Sometimes, I have a week planned ahead of time but I'm normally planning a night's dinner about an hour before serving time. And sometimes that lack of planning means that Domino's Pizza gets our money. That's always fun and tastes good but it's not always in the budget. So I vowed this year would be different.

Sometimes I find it hard to fall asleep. During the times I lie awake at night, I think about all sorts of things. Among these is how I need to be more organized and what has kept me from reaching that goal. That will lead to thoughts of how I could get more organized and before I know it, the clock shows 2:30am and I haven't even finished a single plan. So I vowed this year would be different.

I say that organization is my "goal" for 2010 because I always associate the word "resolution" with failure and by year's end, my home and life WILL be more organized. I've started with the office. So far, I've gone through tons of papers and receipts, organized medical papers and shredded tons of stuff. My coupons are now organized in a portable hanging file folder box and I've created an area in this box for 2010 medical papers to avoid the audit disaster we had this past year. I reorganized the pantry in the kitchen, too, because when Sarah was sick, we had a lot of wonderful people her helping and they graciously stocked our pantry--but it was a disheveled mess. So that makes the day-to-day kitchen activities slightly more fun and definitely easier.

I need to clean the basement. It's a total wreck and there's a chance my sister will be coming to live with us soon and we intend to make her living space down there. So that certainly needs to be done. The laundry room looks like a clothing store exploded in there--I need to purge a lot of things.

I've budgeted to stock the freezer with meals so that I won't be tempted to dial-a-pizza on busy nights.

Obviously, I won't reach my goal in the next couple of weeks but I think if I can keep making small amounts of progress, I'll be satisfied by the end of the year that I reached my goal.

Thankful

This year, Thanksgiving has arrived with a renewed joy and gratefulness. In 2006 and 2007, Thanksgiving brought losses, sadness, and grief. In 2008, we were nervously expecting Alex but Thanksgiving brought new fear about his chances for survival and threats to my health. But this year is totally different.

Alex is a growing (and I mean really GROWING) boy with bright blue eyes and a smile that melts my heart. Charlotte is nearing 5 years old and has recently learned to read. I love her dark brown eyes and skinny, little legs. She's so silly and keeps our family laughing. And after a very close call and an extended stay at Dayton Children's, Sarah is returning to her normal self. While she is still down in weight and fatigues very easily, she is getting more energetic every day and her appetite is returning. Her giant brown eyes are bright once again and her infectious laugh is back to its full gusto. She has been drawing lots of turkey pictures and fretting about tornadoes again so we know she's back. Andy has been keeping busy with work and house projects. Today he is running the Turkey Trot and I'm so proud of his commitment to running. He turned to running last fall when it was too dark in the mornings to play basketball and somehow, the running has stuck. I admire his dedication.

This year, I'm thankful for so many things:

• A wonderfully supportive husband who leads our family with careful thought and sets an amazing example for our children
• A nervous 6-year-old who worries about the seemingly strangest of things but is creative, energetic, and full of curiosity
• A silly 4-year-old who talks incessantly and enjoys playing alone, even if she does still suck her thumb
• A bright-eyed, bouncing baby boy who loves to pound on his bee toy and giggles when I tickle his roly-poly thighs
• Long-time friends with whom I don't need to be in constant contact but when we do see each other, it's like we've been talking all along
• New friends who make me feel like a fun person again and who remind me of the things I cherish most in friendships
• Supportive family who showers us with love and generous encouragement
• An encouraging church family who provided so much more than just meals during our time of need
• A warm home that shelters our family
• A pantry full of food to nourish our bodies
• Knowledgeable doctors who help us keep ourselves and our children healthy and strong
• A strong, proud, BRAVE military devoted to keeping our nation safe.
• And most importantly, I'm thankful for a loving God who guides my life and to whom I turn in good times and times of struggle for guidance and wisdom. Without Him in my life, I cannot imagine living.

Happy Thanksgiving.