Summer!

Well, it's been awhile and that's because I've been busy. That and...ummmm...I keep forgetting to update on here. :) I don't know if anyone reads this anymore anyway, so I'm not thinking it really matters, but...I suppose I'll update my summer for whoever may happen to still check here for updates. (sorry 'bout that!)

Once the boys got out of school we started running...no, not literally, but figuratively...but we are working on the literally. Actually, the boys attended an awesome VBS at a friend's church here in Vancouver. The theme was "Power Lab" and it was all science-y stuff so the boys had a BLAST! It was nice for me because it was held at night so every night I dropped them off and then headed out to have some time off. Scott ended up being gone most of the week, so it was extra nice to have a bit of a break as I got used to having the boys around all day again. (boy, does school spoil me or what? I'm already counting down the days to September 3rd....) The other thing I really enjoyed about it was the opportunity to see how a Kid's "worship team" looks at another church. I wasn't involved in our kid's programs at any other church I've attended (except Youth Choir in Norfolk, but that was Middle and High School aged, not elementary), and when we moved here the only church we visited was where we ended up ~ New Heights. We knew this was where God wanted us, and we love our church family and the challenges they lay out before us. However, because we never visited any other churches I don't know anyone from other churches involved in Children's Ministry. Sometimes that can be nice...sometimes it's a detriment. I believe, in my case in leading Rock Solid worship at our church, it's a detriment. I need ideas. I need to see what's possible...and then I can take it, run with it, and make it our own. But I need to see it live and in person, so to speak, to see what we could do to make RS worship more exciting, more real, more PASSIONATE for the kids involved. Watching the team from our friend's church was very idea-invoking, and very much an encouraging/discouragine event. Maybe I'll write about that sometime, but back to summer....

After VBS we went camping with our friends, Darin and Michelle, and their kids over the 4th of July weekend. I look forward to our annual camping trip. Each year we usually have 4 to 6 couples who camp together, but this year it was just the two families since one family was moving to Nashville (boo!!!!), another family had a baby (yea!!!) and I don't know why the others didn't make it...........but it was fun. There is a drawback about camping over the 4th, though. We usually go to Oregon, and Oregon is BOREgon when it comes to celebrating the 4th!! So, in the campground we were in, there were no fireworks allowed...and the tree-cover (blasted trees! kidding!) was so thick we couldn't see any fireworks from the local show. Given the fact that I LOVE the 4th of July (it's one of few times I have an excuse to let out my innner pyro) camping in BOREgon is just that...B-O-R-I-N-G!!!! (sidenote trivia: there really is a town called Boring, OR)

We returned from our camping trip long enough for me to do laundry, unpack the camper, unpack our suitcases, re-pack our suitcases, pack up my car and head back out on Wednesday morning. FUN!! The boys and I took off (yes, alone) for South Dakota via an old fashioned road trip. Well, as old-fashioned as you can get with a backseat full of gadgets and gizmos to help the trip go easier. Actually, there wasn't that much electronic gadgetry in the car save for the portable DVD player, the CD players, and the leapster. This being said, the DVD player was unavailable until we had been on the road for 3 hours...the CD players were there to play "Adventure in Odyssey" and other specifically chosen CD's and the leapster had to be shared between the two with no fighting or it disappeared. SO, cars were played with, songs were sung, sights were pointed out, and fun was had with very few occurances of, "Mom, how much longer?"

We ended up staying in one of the last 3 rooms available in Missoula, MT the first night. Rapid City, SD was "home" the second night, and we arrived at the Mom & Dad's Bed & Breakfast in Sioux Falls early Friday evening. Funny little stories will follow...

Funny story #1: On Tuesday as I was getting stuff together Scott comes to my office door and says, "Can you let me in on your plan?" I responded with, "What plan?" To which he responded, "Um, your plan for this trip."
"I have a plan? Am I supposed to have a plan? I guess my plan is this: leave Vancouver Wednesday morning, arrive in Sioux Falls Friday night. Is that good enough?"
"Ummmmmmm...no."
"oh. What more do you need?"
"Well, how about where you plan on stopping each night? Where do you plan on staying?"
"oh! Well, I suppose I'll stop someplace in Montana the first night, and probably Rapid City the second night. Is that good?"
"Ummmmmmm...no."
"oh. more?"
"yeah."
"like what?"
"where do you plan on staying?"
"in a hotel...I'm not worried about it."
"Okay. Well, that's not really a plan, Trac."
"Sure it is...I know when I'm leaving, I know when I'm supposed to arrive, and I know there are towns with hotels between the two. That's a pretty good plan."
"Trac. You're leaving with my two sons...and my wife...and that's not a plan."
"Scott, We'll be safe...and that's how I like to travel. This trip is my way of showing the boys there are other ways to travel other than 'drive and arrive.' We'll be fine...."
"*sigh* All right."

Funny Story #1, part 2:
setting: Lolo, MT (20 minutes outside of Missoula) and into Missoula
time: 11:10 PM
(the phone rings and Scott answers) "hello?"
"hey, there! We just came through the National Forest in Idaho, and it was A-May-Zing! How was your night?"
"good...where are you?"
"Lolo, MT"
"uh, O-kaaaaaaaay."
"It's outside of Missoula."
"Oh."
"So I was going to the Holiday Inn in Missoula...okay?"
"Sure."
(fast forward through conversation you don't really care to hear....Trayc and the boys are arriving at the Holiday Inn Express in Missoula, MT. The time is 11:30 PM)
Trayc says to Scott on the phone, "Hold on a sec, I'm going to check in..."
(man who raced ahead of a woman with her children so HE could be first says to clerk behind the counter) "Do you have any rooms?"
Clerk answers, "No, sir, we don't, and the only room I know that is available is a single queen bed at the **** hotel."
Trayc says to Scott: "um, hon? there are no rooms available. Now what do I do?"
Scott says, "I'll hop online and see what I can find...check the GPS and start calling from there."
"Okey-dokey"
(a short while later Scott calls with news)
"Hey, Trac, I found you a single queen non-smoking at the Quality Inn. He's holding it for you now, and you need to get there in the next 15 minutes or it's gone."
"Alrighty...give me the address......"
(Trayc and the boys start driving to the hotel. Scott is still on the phone...)
"Um, Trayc?"
"Yeah?"
"Where are you planning on being tomorrow night?"
"I told you ~ somewhere around Rapid City."
"do you have a reservation somewhere?"
"Scott. Do you THINK I have a reservation somewhere?" (smiling and chuckling)
"That's what I thought...okay. Sleep well. Call me when you get there."
"Okay."
(the great adventurers check into the Quality Inn hotel and get settled. Trayc calls Scott to let him know they made it.)
"We're in."
"okay. I've got a reservation for you tomorrow night in Rapid."
"You're the best! What if I don't want to stop?"
*biggggggg sigh* "You have until 6:00 to cancel the res."
"Okay. Thanks for doing that. I'm tired. Love you...good night."
"Love you, too. Good night."

Ah, what I wouldn't do without my super-planner husband! Actually, I probably would have driven to Butte, MT where there MIGHT have been a room...2 hours down the road and I would have been absolutely exhausted because according to my body it was only 2 hours later, but according to the clock it was 3 hours later. UGH!

We did arrive in Rapid City for Thursday, and, yes, we did also arrive in Sioux Falls Friday evening....exactly as planned! :)

I'll continue summer updates later, but now I have to go get some stuff done... ta-ta!