Hope everyone is having a fabulous summer!
Dana
Waiting in Faith |
I'm sitting on my couch right now, recovering from our very first real family vacation ever. We just got back from California, where we spent a full week. We chose California as our destination mostly to see some of Mark's family that he hadn't seen in 13 years, and that the rest of us had never met. It was great fun, but I'm not sure my feet will ever be the same. ;-) Of course, a few days before we left, Emma came down with a cold. Terrified of her being sick on the plane, and getting an ear infection, I diligently applied oils to her. By the time we left, she was totally cured, but on the ride out there, I got a scratchy throat. I powered through, of course, but by the ride home, only Emma was healthy, and the rest of us had a nasty cold. Even still, we had an awesome vacation. We got in late Sunday night (3am Indiana time, midnight California time). Totally exhausted, we all went to sleep and woke up Monday morning, automatically on California time. We spent Monday at the Aquarium of the Pacific, and had lunch at Bubba Gump's. My husband's nickname at work is Gump (if you ever saw him run, you'd understand), so it was extra exciting to eat and shop there. On Tuesday we took the girls (and me) to Disneyland. Emma and I had never been. Bella had gone once before with her dad, and hubby had been as a child. It did not disappoint! The fireworks at the end of the night made the day. I know it's a bit blurry, but Emma's face (and hubby's) says it all. One word to describe the firework show: AMAZING! On Wednesday, we went to an actual ghost town, where it was 105°, and about 2% humidity. It was like standing inside a giant hair dryer, except there was no wind, and only an occasional quick breeze. It was brutal, but cool. The kids got to pan for "gold", and got to keep any pyrite they found. We also toured a mine, took a train ride, and the kids did a brief stay in prison for whining and bickering. ;-) Thursday, we took the kids to the beach, where Emma got to meet her pen pal. It was a really nice day. Perfect weather, and awesome waves. By the end, Bella was almost body surfing. On Friday we went to Sea World, where we saw our first killer whales, beluga whales, and narrowly missed petting a dolphin (theoretically could have, but the dolphins weren't cooperating). Saturday, we surprised the kids with a trip to Legoland. We had originally told them it was either Disneyland or Legoland, but at the end of the week, we had enough money left to do Legoland too. It was unanimous that (aside from the firework show at Disneyland) Legoland was the all around favorite of the whole week. There was so much to look at, and literally something for the entire family to enjoy. There was an entire section for the Lego Friends (the girl Lego people), where they had life size models of the Friends made out of legos, a Lego Friends concert, and a little pocket offshoot where you could do a meet and greet with Emmet and Wyldstyle from the Lego Movie, as well as see the actual set of the Lego Movie! Miniatures of famous locations from around the world made out of legos, many of which had moving parts! There was even a Van Gogh made entirely out of legos - frame too! And, of course, Daddy got his picture with a life size Darth Vader made entirely out of legos. And Chewbacca, of course, also made entirely from legos. We finished out the week on Sunday by going to Mass at St. Patrick's near our hotel, then taking the kids to see Inside Out in 3D, then spending the next few hours at the airport before taking the red eye back to Indy. We got in just before 6am, dropped the kids off at home to get some rest, and picked up Skye from the sitter's. Skye was extremely happy to see us, and wouldn't let Mark out of her sight the rest of the day. It was great, very fun, VERY long overdue family vacation, but I am so happy to be home. My feet may never be the same. Lol
Hope everyone is having a fabulous summer! Dana
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Emma actually finished all of her school books last Friday, but only had 178 of the 180 school days that Indiana requires. So, for the last two days, we did field trips, and I think the two together were fantastic and really cool. First, we went to the Levi Coffin House (an Underground Railroad hub), and Emma (and Bella, who has been done with school for a week now) saw how the good people would help runaway slaves get to freedom, and got a better feel for how bad slavery was (is). Then, today, we went to the Children's Museum to look closer at the Anne Frank exhibit, and compare the hidden staircase to the secret hiding places for the slaves. I explained to Emma that when something really bad is going on, like slavery, or the Nazis hunting the Jews, that good people always find a way to help. All in all, it was a great, fun, and very educational end to our school year, and I can't wait until next year, when we get to do even more fun field trips!
God Bless! Dana |
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September 2017
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