Tag Archives: vacation

Oct13

Home, James

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Home, James

Vacation is serious business.

We’ve had non-stop family time, which has been super awesome.  Joey and I both feel refreshed and relaxed.

We’re not sure if Ana feels refreshed or relaxed because we didn’t ask her.  And even if we had, we wouldn’t understand her response.  But she seems pretty happy with her first vacation.

This vacation has been the biggest blessing.  We are ridiculous thankful for the generosity we received that made this trip possible.

Sometimes you don’t know how badly you need to get away until you drive out of town and are responsibility-free for a week.  That was the case with us.  We’ve been like vacation sponges, absorbing every single bit of relaxation and crazy togetherness that we can.  Can I just say that I HAVE LOVED IT?

Every minute.

And you know what?

I’m even ready to go home.  Not because I’ve had too much vacation, but because it has been just perfect.

Hopefully the drive this evening doesn’t go completely awful and negate our entire week of relaxation.

 

Oct13

Beautiful Fall Color

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Beautiful Fall Color

According to the Today Show, it’s not peak season for Fall leaf color here in Illinois yet.

Looks pretty good to me, though.

We really have enjoyed hiking around and seeing different birds, chipmunks with their cheeks jammed full of whatever it is they stuff in there, gray squirrels (EEK!  SO CUTE!), and leaves swirling down from the trees in the breeze.

This is a view of Starved Rock from Lovers’ Leap.  We had our picnic right below the flag.  In fact, there are probably still bees swarming there looking for us and our sandwiches.

It’s unfortunate that we didn’t have our camera on the day we hiked the interior canyon trails.  We preferred those to the river trail because a.) there were fewer people, b.) the trail was natural sand/dirt and not boardwalk, c.) the canyons were fantastic!! and d.) there weren’t quite as many stairs up.

LOOK AT ALL THOSE STUPID STAIRS.  My calves are still throbbing.

And how about that teeny foot poking out from behind Joey’s elbow?

Some things are better with three.

Love.

Even if the third party is too busy looking at the squirrels on the ground to actually look at the camera.

Oct12

Hiking day!

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Hiking day!

Yesterday we went hiking again.  It was awesome and fun and my calves are KEEEEEELING ME because of all the stairs.  I don’t like heights, but I was considering rapelling a few times just to avoid going up another flight of 200 stairs to get to the top of a canyon.

Analie was a champ once again!  She had her first picnic at the top of Starved Rock, and the bees were swarming around her because she’s so cute.  Or because they wanted the tasty baby food she was eating.

Joey literally killed 6 bees that were swarming her.  So we decided to take our picnic on the road after that, and we ate while we hiked to Lovers’ Leap.

Analie was SO CUTE on the hike.  She’d lean back, put her arms in the air and wave them while yelling at the tree leaves, or birds, or squirrels we saw.  And she greeted everyone who hiked past us, too, with something that sounded an awful lot like “hi”.    Needless to say, she had a total fan club by the time we made it to Lovers’ Leap.

But she got sleepy about halfway out.  So we called it before turning off to go to French Canyon and hiked back to the car, which was the right decision.

Poor Analie was drooping, hanging around outside the sling looking pitiful and bored.

But what a good girl!  We hiked about 2.5 miles, and she didn’t fuss or whine much at all except when she got sleepy at the end.  But Mama was tired by that point too, so I didn’t blame her.

Joey found some purple flowers near the trailhead and leaned down with Ana to show them to her, and she broke into the biggest grin.  It was so cute.

She laughed and giggled at the flowers, especially when Joey brushed them on her cheeks.

After the sleeping baby disaster that was our trip to Iowa in the springtime, we were totally paranoid about her ability to nap/sleep on vacation.  Our expectations were low, low, low.  But Analie has been fabulous!  Taking long naps, sleeping all night, happy during the day.

Such a sweet kid.  I think we’ll keep her around, what do you think?

Oct9

It is Sunday and we are skipping church.

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It is Sunday and we are skipping church.

This morning is Sunday.

We are not going to church.

It is very restful.

This is what we did this morning:

Now Analie and Joey are back at the condo napping, and this is the best way to spend a Sunday on vacation that I can possibly think of.  We enjoyed Creation, had a lovely walk and got to talk to each other, played with our daughter, and are now resting.

Since Joey is a pastor, one of the things we are trying hard to show Analie as she grows up that church attendance will not save her. (It won’t save you, either.)  Because Joey always has responsibilities on Sunday mornings, missing church every now and then is not something we will do.

Worship shouldn’t only happen on Sunday mornings at 10:45 am.

Neither should it only happen once a week.

So when we’re on vacation, we will intentionally stay in.

We’ll make slow breakfasts, drink coffee (well, Ana won’t), sit on the couch, and be still.

We’ll go for walks, play in the leaves, explore, breathe the fresh air and watch the birds.

We’ll talk to each other, play games, and tell stories.

We’ll take naps.

We’ll be alone.

Together.

Oct9

Book Club

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Book Club

Yesterday afternoon we took a walk and mini-golfed. I’m not even going to tell you my score. When we got back to the condo, it was time for some shade, so we got our books, spread out a blanket on the lawn and got the extra pillows from the bed and made ourselves a nest.

Joey was reading his book on Starbucks (I KNOW, two years ago the man would have not been interested in such a book) and Analie didn’t really care about her book.  She just kept waving it up and down and beating it on the pillow.

THEN she discovered that Daddy’s book has smaller, crinkly pages and Book Club was pretty much over after that.  SO! MUCH! FUN! TO! DESTROY!

We stayed outside playing with toys, pulling grass and eating leaves (the eating leaves was mainly done by Ana) for a good half hour before our party was crashed.

Crashed, you say?  BUT YOU’RE ON VACATION, how can your party get crashed?

Who is that mysterious pullmeister dragging Analie off the blanket?? Why it’s my nephew, Jeshuah, of course.

TRUE STORY: out of all the weeks in September and October, and all the resorts in Illinois, and all the condos in the particular one we’re staying at…my sister’s family is right next door to us.

Freakish, isn’t it???  We thought so too when we were chatting on the phone last week and realized we’d be at the same place at the same time (weird enough) and then even more so on Friday when we randomly opened our door at the precise moment they were pulling in and unloading their stuff in unit 81.  (We’re 80, naturally.)

So as we were laying outside in our nest of pillows having Book Club yesterday, Sister and Jeshuah came plowing outside (because he was nap-skipping) and she stopped dead in her tracks and said “WHAT is going on here?”

Jeshuah was all, WOAH!  STUFF! and he dove right in to the action, immediately stealing Ana’s sippy cup and plucking her Wubbanub off the blanket, petting its head and poking its eyes a few times before popping the binky part into his mouth.

Ana was totally fascinated by him.  She scooted herself down off the blanket right about the time he discovered her leg and started shaking it around, so she’d wiggle her foot out of his grasp and he’d grab it back and start shaking it around again.  They were pretty cute, if I do say so myself.

Right about the time Ana got a little bit tired of the leg/foot game, he discovered my flip flops and tried to wear them around.  Considering they’re about as long as his entire leg, they were more like skis.

I cannot tell you how nice it has been to get away.  (Not that we don’t love all you Indiana people.  Because we do.  And we will love you even more after we haven’t seen you for a week.  HAH.)  Our original intent was to hermit for a week and not speak to anyone at all whatsoever (this is how Introverts vacation), but since my sister is next door we are required to use at least half of our manners.

I’m actually quite pleased they’re next door because we can see them a few times a day and catch up on things and hermit the rest of the time.

For instance, last night Sister found a tree frog on the sidewalk between our houses.  We were outside a good 10 minutes catching it and enjoying the disgusting feel of its suctioney feet against our hands and being impressed by its jumping skillz when it would try to escape from us.  Joey just does not appreciate a good tree frog, so it was loads more fun with Sister.  (It’s my cross to bear.)

So far the only lame part of vacation is that we forgot the SD card for the camera.  At least we brought the iPad so we can take photos with it.

And that is the end of this post.

 

 

 

Mar7

Monday!

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Monday!

It’s the last morning of the conference, and I am relieved to say that we survived.

Poor Analie woke up at 5:45 this morning, but I rolled with it since in Indy it was 6:45.  This does not mean that I am not exhausted, however.  Joey is even more so, he went down to a Simply Youth Ministry Podcast taping session last night at like 10:00 (HE ASKED A QUESTION!!) and was fortunate enough to get to eat pizza.

Can I just tell you how awful it has been to be IN Chicago, NEAR a Giordanos, SMELLING the cheesy goodness in delivery boxes on the elevators and NOT BE ABLE TO CONSUME IT?!  Oh.  Oh the humanity.  Don’t even get me started on the fact there is a Sprinkles here (but fortunately not nearby) or you might find me convulsing on the floor and foaming at the mouth.

Analie, you are lucky I love you so very much.

The little munchkin is asleep in the shower and we have just about finished packing up our things.  Once she gets up after her nap and Joey gets back from his session on how to recruit and retain amazing volunteers, we’ll start back to home.

All in all, I think our trip to Chicago has been a success.  Granted, the first day I was neurotic and paranoid about Analie crying and bothering other hotel guests and getting us kicked out, but she calmed down and so did I.  That made all the difference.

Random Factoids:

  • Right now I’m watching a Folgers commercial.  Worst coffee ever.
  • Having Analie in the shower makes it very difficult if we have to go to the bathroom while she’s asleep.  Like right now.
  • Incidentally, Analie just woke up.  Which is good because we both need to use the aforementioned bathroom
Mar6

In The Shower

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In The Shower

On Friday, we arrived in Chicago at our hotel for Joey’s conference.

This hotel is totally legit, so much so that I feel kind of bad for them that they have 3,000 youth ministry beatniks running around and lowering their property value.

Anyway, we checked in to our room at 8:30 am on Friday morning.  If you care to do the math to figure out what time we had to leave to get here that early, we gained an hour coming from Indy and it’s a 3.5 hour drive during which we had to stop an hour to feed Analie.

Or I could just tell you we left at 5:00 am to make it on time for Joey’s first session.  It was crazy go nuts.

So we checked in, set up Analie’s toys and Pack and Play, and Joey went down to his session.  I put Analie down for her nap and realized….it was going to be a long weekend.  All the lights were out, the windows were closed, and she was down for the count for hopefully the next hour. I grabbed some pillows and set myself up in the bathroom to read.

But then my backside fell asleep.  So I decided to just take a nap.

After a couple of these naps, I was bored and bleary-eyed.  And maybe a little bit cranky, too, if I’m being honest.  After a super rough night (because Analie is the world’s loudest sleeper in the history of every sleeping person) and waking up at 4:30 with a hungry, growing baby, Joey decided to set the Pack and Play up in the shower.

At first I thought he was crazy go nuts.  You can’t put your baby IN THE SHOWER, can you?

Then, five minutes later after he moved it into the bathroom and shut the door, I reconsidered.  He was obviously the smartest man ever.

Analie fell back to sleep and slept 2 more hours.  Which meant WE got to sleep two more hours.

And then yesterday?  She took her naps in the shower and I got to have the windows open in the room, which meant my hind wasn’t falling asleep from sitting on the floor in the bathroom.

It was a much better day.

Much.

In fact, this morning she’s already down for her first nap.  I am hoping today is a good day as well.  So far we’ve eaten our breakfast, taken vitamins, and are relaxing a bit before Joey goes down to continue filling his brain with youth ministry informations.

In reality, Joey is kind of stuck here for awhile because he can’t take a shower until Analie wakes up.  Since, well, her bed is in the shower.

Mar4

SHHHHH! The baby’s (still!!) sleeping!

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SHHHHH! The baby’s (still!!) sleeping!

Greetings from the Windy City.

Indeed, I am in Chicago.

Joey’s here for the Simply Youth Ministry conference, and Analie and I tagged along because, frankly, three weekends in one month without Daddy sounded H-O-R-R-I-B-L-E.  She and I don’t have an agenda except for sleeping, eating, and walking around the hotel when she’s not either sleeping or eating.  Sounds exciting, no?

Joey had signed up for the pre-conference track which began at 9:00 am this morning.  That is why we found ourselves in our car heading north by 5:00 am, and surprisingly we made it in time for us to check in and settle our things (and the baby), before the first session started.

It was a feat of magnificence.

I kind of wish I could attend a session or two, but we decided not to pay the registration for me because:

  1. Someone has to feed Analie
  2. Someone has to stay with her while she naps
  3. Someone has to feed Analie

Joey can debrief me at dinner in the evenings, and in the car on the way back.  I have pretty much realized that my role for the next, oh, bazillion years is pretty much all mommy and less youth ministry volunteer.  I’m looking forward to hearing all of Joey’s new ideas and what he learns, though.  (I’m pretty sure there will be at least one entire session on why it is not a good idea to play Red Rover.)

Anyway, I put a very, very cranky Analie down for a nap at 12:00.  It was with much fear and trembling since this is probably the loudest hotel I’ve ever stayed in.  Either that or I am just hypersensitive now that I have an infant and I want her to sleep, darn it.  There is a maid doing cleaning rounds on our little round wing we are staying in, and every twenty minutes or so she knocks on someone else’s door (not ours, thankfully) and yells “HOUSEKEEPING!!!”

I have at least twice frantically torn around the room trying to find the Do Not Disturb hanger for the door.  Thus far I have had no luck.  We have also not been disturbed, which I do appreciate.

Analie fussed and whined pathetically for about fifteen minutes after I lay her down, despite HOUSEKEEPING!!!, and finally konked out around 12:15.  It is now 2:30 and she has been asleep ever since.

I sincerely hope for a happier baby when she opens her eyes up next.  I think she’s going through a growth spurt.  We’re talking screaming bloody murder when it’s time to eat, and general crankiness/resistance to naps.  Although once I do get her down she sleeps like a professional.

I hope I didn’t just jinx myself by saying that.

Also, the maid seems to be coughing up her lung out in the hallway.  I can’t imagine what could possibly be taking her so long to clean these rooms.

I’m kind of hoping Analie wakes up soon so we can go for a walk around the hotel.  Sitting around in this dark room is making me very sleepy…

 

Jun16

Two weeks, babeh

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Two weeks, babeh

Two weeks from NOW, I will be in Mexico.  With Joey.  Rocking it out.  Actually we may still be stuffed on a third class bus, potentially standing up in the aisles trying not to throw up while the bus whizzes around corners, but it’ll be worth it to save $50, I tell you.

We’re staying in the same accommodations as last year, so I am gearing up and planning for all the iguanas I plan to make pets out of for the week.  Joey was previously unaware of my intent to tame an iguana, and I guess he knows now.  OH WELL.

I know they prefer kiwi skins and don’t really care for grapes, so I’m probably going to buy about 5 kiwis from the market in town.  No sense wasting on grapes this year.  I have to get my iguana bait station established early so they know to make friends with me.

Poor Joey.

This guy better be there again this year.  He was huge, y’all.  HUGE.

TWO WEEKS.  It’s going to be fantastical.