Florida trip in pictures.

A visit to UCF. 

Beach Time.

Cooper wrote his name in the sand.

Family love.

 Learning to ride his skateboard.

L

 New shades.

 More family love.

 Huge menus.

 Sunshine and splash park play.

One of my favorites. His face is classic.

 Movie time with friends. 

Bush Gardens.

Play time with friends.

Eating out.

Sweaty early morning walks.

 More family time.

And for some added fun, two videos. 

Cooper on a roller coaster.

And Cooper at the beach.

the quickest 15 hours & the longest 3

There's a part of my core being that doesn't like to let things stay the same too long. It's one of the reasons teaching was great - every year a different group of students, each day different than the day before, and the change from the beginning to the end of the school year rewarding.  Move across country to Ohio? Yes. I'm often changing around furniture in our home, thinking of new ways to decorate, new pictures to put in frames. That part of me extends to needing to get the heck out of dodge every now and again. I absolutely love to travel. Pretty much give the opportunity and I will quickly say yes. I'm pretty sure this passion was instilled when I went abroad for a couple of weeks in college. Being able to see and experience new places is simply put: amazing. You get to bond with the people who go with you, and who knows if you'll ever get these opportunities again.

Having a child has not changed this one bit for me. I have taken Cooper with me on many a visit to spend time with family and friends. His first airplane ride was at 5 months. We have been no strangers to traveling with a child. The experience is definitely harder, but still worth it.

A couple months ago, my friend asked if I wanted to drive with her to Florida. Her parents live in Orlando and they were going for spring break. At first I said "yes" then I said "no" once I realized I'd be seeing family the week before (for a wedding) and the week after (for another wedding). After I had told my friend no, I got a message from one of my closest friends from college saying she'd be in Florida from Alaska for a couple weeks, with the dates of my trip and her trip coinciding for a while. And, that, my friends, is not something I could say no to. A ride to Florida is easier than a flight to Alaska, and I hadn't been able to hug her neck in 2 1/2 years. Knowing I wouldn't get this opportunity again for a while, I called my friend up and changed my mind to "yes" for good.

My friend and I (2) loaded her kids (3) my child (1) plus a friend's daughter (1) into her van and left on a Friday afternoon, pulling into her parents driveway shortly before 6 am on Saturday. If you were keeping track, that's a total of 7 people. Adults were outnumbered, 5-2. I was expecting cries, lots of potty breaks, and my brain to be completely tired by the time we got to our destination. I was completely surprised that the trip seemed to be a quick drive. We stopped quite a bit for breaks and still managed to get there in 15 1/2 hours. I was also surprised how my friend and I were both able to stay up the entire night. Neither of us slept, thanks to conversation, a good book we read aloud, jimmy fallon episodes, brian reagan, and good music.

This was the view from our kitchen window the morning we left. I texted my friend and said "Get me out of here!"

When the kids are asleep, you go as far as you can. 

When we pulled into her parents house, all the kids were asleep. Not wanting to wake them too early and disturb the peace, we slept there in the van for about 30 minutes until I couldn't take it anymore and had to use the bathroom. We both used the restroom and the kids started waking one by one. We moved to the house for a while, freshened up, and hung out until my brother and friend picked up Cooper and myself around 8:00.

As tired as I was, I was also ready for breakfast. So, we ate breakfast, showed Cooper the UCF campus, and visited an outlet store to look for some UCF gear.

Once we were on the road I was excited. Orlando is a 2 hour trip...tops...to my parents house. Then, hello Spring Break traffic in Orlando. Hello everyone and their mom vacationing at the beach that week. It took 3+ hours to get to my mom and dad's. It was awful. The only great things about this drive were the company of my brother and friend, and getting to ride in my brother's new car. It was stop and go traffic on most of I-4, then stop and go again when we got into the county where my mom and dad lived. (Turns out there was a tragic plane accident...probably causing a lot of the traffic problems).

It was probably the longest three hours because I hadn't slept. But also probably the longest three hours because I was excited to surprise my parents. I had only told my brother and friend who was with him that I was coming to town. My parents had no idea that we were coming. And the anticipation and nervous feeling hung around in my stomach that whole drive. So much was leading up to that moment we pulled in the drive.

Mom as at the grocery store when we got there. When she came in, we couldn't get the cameras on in time to record her reaction. It was pretty much the same excitement, though.

So, the shortest 15 hour drive, and the longest 3 hour drive - - - completely worth it. Surprise, we were in Florida!

Also, score!  - when you visit your parents and they take over child duties so you can sleep.

Thunder & "Pretty School"

Spring has arrived. I know this not because of the sunnier days, or the warmer weather, or the budding plants. Rather, the rain has arrived. The snow has turned to rain. And the storms have brought with it thunder and lightning.

I know I've been away from Florida long enough when I see lighting and hear thunder and think about how weird it is, how long it's been since I've seen/heard/felt them. It also brings a peace, an "I'm home" feeling.

Thunderstorms in this Ohio valley are far different from the ones in Florida. For one, storms in Florida last about 20-30 minutes in the spring and summer, leaving you with warm sunshine and thick humidity the rest of the day. Here they last all day. The thunder is also different. The thunder rumbles longer. We are surrounded by mountains. The thunder will roar its sound, and the sound echoes over and over.

We had a thunderstorm as Cooper was going to bed one evening. As I was walking out of Cooper's bedroom, I heard him.

Mom, I'm scared of the thunder.

I turned around, knelt down next to him, grabbed and brushed his hand with mind. "Cooper, the Bible tells us over and over again 'Don't be afraid, for I am with you, Don't be afraid for I and with you, Don't be afraid for I am with you.' Who's always with us?"

He pointed to his belly. (Jesus lives in us, and to Cooper, that means his belly.)

And who is that?

Jesus.

"Right. We don't ever have to be afraid because Jesus and God are always with us. And God is bigger, stronger, and more powerful than anything and anyone, ever. And he will protect us. He has given us our house to protect us from the rain and thunder tonight."

...which when into a quick discussion about why our house protects us from thunderstorms...

I then told Cooper about how some people say the sound of thunder is God playing bowling in heaven, which made him smile.

Then I reiterated: "You don't have to be afraid tonight. Jesus is with you."

Another brush of the hand, a kiss on the forehead, and I headed downstairs. This time with a prayer, "Lord, may he be brave, bold, and courageous because he has You. Help us light his path to You."

. . .

The next afternoon, we had another conversation.

Mom, when I'm seven I'll go to pretty school, right?

"No, bub. You'll go to pre-school in September. That's just a few months from now and you will be four. "

No, I'm talking about pretty school. When will I go to pretty school?

(Thinking: you don't ever need to take pretty school...you are as handsome as they come...) 

"Pretty school isn't a thing. It's called pre-school. You'll go to preschool, then kindergarten, then 1st grade...and I spoke all the grades to 12th grade. Then guess what? You'll graduate and go to college and you'll move away. You'll be on your own!"

Tears came immediately. 

Fear consumed his face.

"But I don't want to be on my own."

Don't worry, that's not until you're 18. It's a long time from now. And if you decide you want to stay home, you can. But remember what we talked about last night? You're never alone. You'll never be alone. 

He leaned into me for a hug. 

And another prayer was uttered. "Lord, may he learn to give his fears to you. May he choose to walk into the unknown when he's 18. May he be confident and trusting in you."

How do you help your children overcome their fears? I'm not sure of the best answer to this question, being only 4 years into the whole parenting gig. However, I'm confident the answer lies in turning him to Jesus every time.

Cooper, I hope and pray that one day you embrace the life you can have with Jesus. A life where you can walk into unknown situations with confidence. A life where you can tackle your fears. A life where you can be bold, brave, and courageous. Jesus can give you all these things. You just have to let Him. I pray than when you're old enough to understand it all, you let Him.  -Mom.

Praying for his future.

Cooper and I have been home for about two days from a trip to Florida. While I will write more about the trip later, there is something I wanted to share.

On this trip Cooper and I had a lot of alone time. We did a lot of special things together. One of those days I took him to the beach. It was "cold" and cloudy, but we made the most of it and had a great time. Driving to the beach that day I prayed for him and his future wife. I prayed that he would take her special places. I prayed that the example I'm giving him of meeting his love language will help him learn how to love his wife.

Then once at the beach, I pondered his future. Who will be the one who captures his heart? I really hope its a girl who loves Jesus. I really hope she builds a life with him the way I built a sand castle with him that day. By listening, working together, and lots of smiling. I really hope she looks at him and smiles with her whole being. I really hope she takes walks with him. I really hope she sits by him. I really hope she can handle his quirks, his personality, his zeal. And so I prayed for her. I prayed God would set her apart, and help form her into the woman that Cooper will need, will love.

When we left the beach, my heart was so full. Cooper really is growing up. There is so little control that I have in all of that. But there's power in handing it all over to God. Letting him have control of Cooper's future. That day on the beach I gave a piece of that future over to Him. Which is maybe why this beach trip holds a special place in my heart. I made this video for Cooper to help remember the special day that it was.