Cincy

After we left Indiana, we made the trek down to Cincinnati...so many reasons to go here and in retrospect, we should have planned to stay longer.

We arrived to the Master Chef Pascal and his BBQ beef, chicken, slaw, beans, etc, etc, etc...it was quite the spread and all painstakingly homemade.  What a guy my old college friend Steph has found ;).  After dinner, we took a nice long walk, critiqued houses and paint jobs, and went for ice cream at Annabel's in Hyde Park.  On the way back, we saw the original fire station in the Park.  The firemen were sitting outside and when the kids and Indy showed interest, they let us all come in, sit in the truck, take pictures and hear some of the old stories.  This station has been there for over 100 years.

The next morning we got ready and made the drive over to the Creation Museum...we were so excited to go and meet up with some old "Word of Life" church friends, Dmitri and Marina.  Thanks you guys for the passes, what a neat experience, and it was so fun to catch up and meet the kids.  Everyone enjoyed the exhibits, the walk through, the planetarium show, the "Men in White" experience, the petting zoo and botanical gardens...super fun!  We pushed it as long as we could; but, with no naps and the heat, we had to leave about 4 and head on home.

That night we had some more of Pascal's amazing creations, some excellent steak and all the fixings.  We took another walk to Oakley Square and did the classic "ice cream shoot-out" and tried Aglamesis so we could compare to Annabel's from the other night...I think we would all say Aglamesis won, hands down!  We also got to stay up late again chatting and sharing so many of our experiences, job situations, cooking and "green" tips, and answering lots of questions about homeschooling.  I think you both will do a great job, Mac is in for a treat with you two as her teachers!!!  Love you both a ton and we're so thankful to have you as friends.  We'll keep in touch and if the sailing idea comes to fruition...you'll be the first two (and Shane ;) that we call!!!!

On their deck with Nautilus and a recorder!

Hyde Park eating our ice cream

Fire Station in Hyde Park

Sissi at the Creation Museum

Ahhhh, reminder from school this semester...it's Martin Luther!

Another reminder, the printing press!

The kids by some dinosaurs

A mock-up of Noah building the ark

Pascal and Mac on the swinging bridge

The boys, this bridge was a hit

Dmitri, Marina, Emily, Natalie and Julie with our family

Pascal, Steph and Mac with our family

The Dunes

After our time in Springfield (I'm still waiting for some other pictures so I can finish that blog entry), we drove up to Indiana to stay with Indy's family.  Maria's family, our sister-in-law, has a beach house on the Dunes of Lake Michigan.  It's a super quiet and restful location.  We were so thankful to have some down time and be able to just hang out on the beach after the very busy 2 weeks in Springfield.

We spent most of our days there having fun playing in the sand.  We also did a visit out to the family farm and the kids had a blast running around, we got to host a couple of my high school friends that have settled in South Bend with their 3 children for a day of fun on the beach, we went to the 49'er drive-in theater and saw Cars 2, had old fashioned ice cream at the original Port drive-in restaurant, we had some family photos done, and we had a day trip into Chicago (that's in the previous blog post.)

Jon and Maria, you were such awesome hosts...stocking the fridge for the week, fresh bedding, the planning and tickets for the day in Chicago....an awesome trip, with an awesome family.  Love you all bunches and give all the kids big hugs from us and ours!!!

Got to love the beach toys

Digging in the pit...it got deeper and deeper each day

Starting a bonfire

Wiped out kids!  L-R: Alex, Gwangi, Krypto, and Ruthie

Some of Maria's family came out to visit too....Arlen and Norm

Covered in marshmallows

Krypto and his Grandma Stamp

Kids waiting in the back of our van to watch Cars 2 at the 49'er drive-in

A Day in Chicago

While we were staying with Jon and Maria, we got to have a special "day outing" to Chicago.

We broke up into two groups.... the boys and the girls!

The girls went into Chicago first and had a special lunch at the American Girl Place.  What a neat experience, I can't wait to go back in a few years when Sissi is older and can really experience and comprehend all the history behind each of the dolls.  For now, they are pretty and fun to look at.  I, on the other hand, am fascinated by all the "back stories" with each of the girls.  Grandma Stamp gave her some money for her birthday and so we got her, and her Lee Middleton doll, a matching outfit.  Super cute!  I also splurged and got her two of the "mini dolls" that are part of the historical line.  They've retired so many of the ones that I really like in the full size dolls, so we got Samantha and Nellie in the mini size.  They're only $22 a piece (so much better than the full size dolls), and they even come with a little book inside the box too.  I'm hoping I can get her Elizabeth and Felicity (also retired in full size), in the mini size for Christmas or her next birthday!

Sissi with her dolly "Lizzie Julia", at lunch (if you know Sissi's full name, her dolly's name is hilarious)

Lara and her doll

Grandma Stamp and Ruth

Sissi ordered the American Girl Picnic Lunch - a mini hotdog, mini hamburger, mini bowl of mac and cheese, and a fruit stick...with chocolate milk and an American flag!

Dessert.....cakes and chocolate mousse in a flower pot, with a flower in it!!!

Looking at all the amazing historical dolls, is it possible they have been around for 25 years, really...that would mean I was 11 or 12 when they got started...I guess I was too old for a doll then????

Ruthie at lunch with her doll, Kit

Grandma Stamp and Sissi with the dress that she got from the store for her birthday.  Her doll has the same dress too....oh, and notice the flower from the dessert in her hair.

After the American Girl Place we all met up for the Architectural History Boat Tour on the river.  It was super neat, and as usual, Sissi became fast friends with the tour guide, Diane!  Diane told Sissi at the end of the tour that in all of her years of doing this, Sissi was someone that she would never forget!

Some of these buildings had amazing stories.  I also liked the tales of the bridges.  We saw 25 on our tour and there are over 50 in the city; but, there are only 2 "tender teams" - they leap frog each other to open the bridges when that is necessary.  They usually only open/close 2 days a week and only in May/June and September/October...when the sailboats want to come in and out from their moorings.

Liked that there are 5 different types of architecture on the river...this building had neat Art Deco balconies

What a view!

The Jetson's building ;)

Krypto getting silly toward the end of the tour

Penny and the rest of the family on the tour

The Navy Pier...heard a neat story about how they did touch and go's here on Lake Michigan while training for WWII

The building/HQ's for the 1893 World's Fair - The Grand Columbian Exposition!  It was the 400th Anniversary of Columbus' discovery of America.  We heard all kinds of stories about the fire of  1871 and how the city rose up from the ashes to put on one of the most amazing World's Fairs ever.

Later that night, we split up again...the girls went home and had dinner at an excellent Mexican restaurant in Chesterton, El Salto.  The boys had a blast heading over to Wrigley Field and taking in a Cubs vs. Giants game.  They had the whole experience, the Chicago style hotdogs, Heileman's Old Style beer (just Jon and Indy of course), buying the old ball caps....and BIGGEST surprise of all, the Cubs WIN!!!! 

What a great time, thanks again Jon and Maria, we had so much fun!!!!

Happy 4th of July!

We had a very quiet and peaceful 4th of July...thanks Steve and Inna ;)!!!!

We got to sit and visit with our friends all day and then that night, we went to the Potomac Nationals AA Baseball game.  It started off a bit "sprinkly"; but, on the drive, Inna had a "talk" with God and very sternly told him that she had put in her order for no rain and she was expecting Him to deliver....honestly, it was hard not to laugh at her whole discourse.

We arrived at the game and ran into our old friend Kim Haes, right at the front gate!  It was amazing that in that kind of crowd, we could run into probably the only people we knew in that stadium.  Thank you Lord for an early hug from Kim, Kevin, and Kristin!!!  We'll see them and get some pictures this weekend.

Steve and Inna were so sweet and treated us all to field box seats, you can't get much better than the 2nd row!  Before the game had even begun, Sissi was friends with the lady that "served" our section by getting snacks, one of the players that was warming up (oh, and he tossed her his practice ball, too), the family that was sitting behind us, and the mascot "Uncle Slam."  Love my little girl, she is such a social butterfly and door opener with all people.  I always hear "She is so cute", "What a sweetheart", "Your daughter is so smart, how old is she again?", "Can I take her home with me?"........

The game ended with us losing; but, it was still fun!  Gwangi and Krypto were upset though, they wanted their last game in the US to be a win.  I reminded them of the AMAZING win they saw last week at the Cubs game in Chicago...that seemed to help... a bit, maybe!???

The fireworks were wonderful, we let the kids run the bases together, and then when we left the stadium we found the team manager signing balls!  The manager, Al Silber, is still #42 and he got to share a bit of the history behind that number with some kids that were in front of us.  Made me interested enough to look it up today as I was writing this blog entry.

We got to the car before 9:30...traffic was at a standstill and it was after 11:30 before we got home and put the kids in bed...late, but, a great night for all involved!  Hope you all had a great 4th of July!!!

The kids with Anna, our section server, and the mascot, Uncle Slam!

Sissi and Krypto with Uncle Slam

Watching the game!

Inna and Lizzie

Finally discovered that my camera will take pictures in sepia and b&w....had to have a few "old time photos" to share

Pretending to be grumpy about the game being lost

Running the bases!

Daddy and Sissi getting some peanuts...can't get more "old fashioned" than that!

Fireworks after the game

Getting Sissi's ball signed by #42, Al Silber, manager of the Potomac Nationals

A little blurry; but, it was late and dark...should have changed the setting on the camera

Meetings with some of my TOG Sisters

Today is the 4th of July!  Happy Birthday America!!!  As I sit here, on a quiet Monday morning, in the house of some very good friends, just two weeks before we'll be leaving for Tanzania, I am reflective on some of the Tapestry of Grace (TOG) sisters I've met over the past few weeks.

First, I got to meet Marsha and her son, one of the amazing, God fearing, miracle laden, mentor moms of our on-line Yahoo! group.  I was also blessed to speak to Renita several times, though we never actually met in person.  We were in the same city a couple of times though and she was so kind to call us when we were surrounded by tornadoes in Kansas ;)!!!  When we got to North Carolina, I was so thrilled to see Jennifer McQ. again, Sharon R., and Siobhan at the homeschool convention in Winston Salem.  Then, in Springfield, the super sweet Lori C. had us over for dinner and some pool time...what an amazing family!  As we left Springfield to go north to Indiana, we met up with Elyse and her family in St. Louis.  We got to have lunch at a wonderful park, the kids played (and we lost them a few times in the crowd), and the adults had a wonderful conversation - sharing about our history, where each of us have come from in our ministry - it was so neat.  On our way south from Indiana, we stopped at another park in Indianapolis and had lunch with Wendy C., her daughter and son, and Anita (who drove over 2 hours to see us!!!) - what a cool (nope, it was humid) time of sharing and getting to hug each other.  I'm so grateful that so many ladies have gone out of their way to meet up with us, to take time out of their day and drive to share their families with me and mine.  You are all a huge blessing to us.  It's great to put faces with names, to make connections that I'm sure will last a lifetime.  I love you all and am thankful for you and your families, for my family, for our country, and for our shared FAITH!

God Bless America!

Sissi and Kaitlyn C. - fast friends in the pool!

Our boys and the Cardoza boys....where is the picture of Lori and I?  Well, I guess it wasn't on my camera, it's just on Facebook...

Sissi and Katie Wade

Katie and Daniel Wade

Bill and Elyse....Sissi commented "But, you're not smiling!"...in his defense, he was caught in the middle of eating his lunch

Running along to see the ducks

All the bigger girls - Hannah, Elyse, and me

Sissi took this picture of Hannah

Hugging and saying goodbye to our new friends

Yeah, I'm so glad we got to see the Arch!

Eagle Creek Park in Indianapolis with Wendy C, Anita S., and ME (again)

Sarah (Wendy's daughter) and Princess Sissi

Jayden (Wendy's son), he was so great with the boys...in fact, EVERYONE'S kids have been so great with mine....even though most of them are older, they can play with kids of all ages, I just love the homeschool family!!!!

Arrived in DC...what a day of loving kindness!

I've gotten behind on my blog!  Imagine that...


I really felt like I was on top of things until the last few days in Springfield.  We had graduation and the commissioning ceremony (of which I'll write more later.)  Then we went up to Indiana and got to stay at the amazing beach house of my Sister-in-Law's family (...oh yes, I'll write more about that later too) and didn't have much access to the internet...forced relaxation, right?  We went on to Cincinnati to see my dear old friends Pascal and Stephanie and also Dmitri and Marina (did I happen to mention that I'll write more about that...are you getting the pattern, I have several blog entries that I'll be putting up in the next couple of days.) and today, drove to DC.


Our trip today is what I want to quick tell you about.  It really was a series of amazing experiences and miracles. The Lord very obviously covered us today.  We woke up late this morning...our children NEVER sleep in!  I'm serious, they are bright and early risers and today, they slept in until after 8.  I was woken up by Sissi and it was 8:15.  So, needless to say, by the time we got up and showered, ate a lovely breakfast with Pascal and Steph, we didn't get on the road until 10.  Our drive today was 9 hours.  


     Psalm 25:6 "Remember, O Lord your compassion and loving kindness.  For they have been from of old."


We made excellent time to Zanesville, OH and stopped there for lunch.  We joked that it must be named after the author Zane Grey, and then we get back on the road and see, a few exits up, that there is a Zane Grey museum...too funny.  We then made our first trek into the wilds of West Virginia, for all of 15 minutes, and then out and into Pennsylvania.  We decided to change up our itinerary and instead of going all the way to I-70 and using the beltway, we would cut back down into WV and MD and come into DC via I-66.


     Psalm 36:5 "Your loving kindness, O Lord, extends to the heavens, your faithfulness reaches to the sky."


Initially, this was good; but, within about 10 minutes of us turning onto I-79, a torrential downpour began...I'm not kidding, it was a white out and the thunder and lightening were so close, it was a bit scary.  We turned on a CD for the kids, we listened to some music, and Sissi slept for a while.  We seemed to make it out of the storm and we stopped just outside of MD on the WV side of the border (this was our 2nd time in WV for the day).  While at the stop, the dark clouds returned and it began to rain, hard.  We got back on the road and the storm got even stronger, I was shocked that it had caught up with us so quickly.  We finally outran it about the time we got to Cumberland, MD....but, then we started going on country roads, South and East, back into WV for the 3rd time....I didn't get sick; but, it was close.  Beautiful scenery and twisty roads sure do seem to go together....arghhhh.


     Isaiah 63:7 "I will tell of the kindnesses of the LORD, the deeds for which he is to be praised, according to all the LORD has done for us."


We came out at Winchester, VA and we were going to make our 3rd stop for the day...and then the rain started again, this time, even harder.  We talked and the kids said they could make it another hour and just push through and get there.  We got on I-66 from I-81 and it was a hard, pounding rain.  All of the sudden, a windshield wiper blade started peeling it's blade away, it got caught by the other one and twisted itself.  They came to a screeching (quite literally) halt and we were left in the rain, with no wipers.  It was terrifying!  We immediately began praying and slowing down and we made it about a mile to the next exit...all the while saying "Lord, it's a Sunday night, on a holiday weekend, PLEASE let there be an auto shop, a gas station with a service center..."  I was so concerned....but, the Lord provided!  Not only were we only a mile away from an exit (Warrenton, VA), it had an Exxon gas station right off the exit, it was a Service Station, they had just closed (it was 7:02); but, were still there!  They opened up the shop and they had ONE wiper blade that would fit our car.  We took off the blade that was peeling and miraculously (all due to the Lord, I'm sure of it), I was able to very carefully bend and untwist the other blade to refit on the arm.  We were still about 30-40 miles out from our friends' house in Burke....so we took it slowly, only using our wipers off and on as necessary.  We were praying the whole way, "Lord, thank you so much for providing just the right store, the wipers we needed...what are the chances....please keep the rain at bay, please keep us safe, please keep these wipers working.....thank you, thank you, thank you!"


     Psalm 36:7 "How excellent is thy lovingkindness, O God! Therefore the children of men put their trust under the shadow of thy wings."


I was running through all the what ifs... what if we were further from an exit, what if there was no service station, what if they weren't open, what if they didn't have the one blade we needed, what if I couldn't bend it back, what if it broke again while we were driving, what if we had to stay at a hotel tonight just miles from the Boyds' house - there was no hotel to stay in, what if the kids hadn't been so patient....  Indy and I kept thanking the Lord and the kids for being so patient with us through the whole scenario.  They were such great sports with 3, 3+ hour stints of driving today.  They were amazing!!!!!!  The Lord is amazing!!!!!


     Jeremiah 31:3 "The LORD hath appeared of old unto me, saying, Yea, I have loved thee with an everlasting love: therefore with lovingkindness have I drawn thee."


We are here, in Burke, at Steve and Inna's house.  Everyone is settled for the night, I am still just in awe of all the things that fell into place for us to still arrive here SAFELY by 8pm.  We made a 9 hour drive in just 10 hours with 3 children and only making 2 stops, with a windshield wiper blade breaking, and us fixing it and being back on the road in under 15 minutes.....WOW!


     Matthew 6:26 "Look at the birds of the air, that they do not sow, nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not worth much more than they?"