We've been taking car trips with our kids since birth. Mostly, that makes people question our sanity. Trust me, when we were in hour 36 of last summer's vacation from Texas to California and back, I thought the same thing. Sometimes we have banner days and sometimes we swear off ever doing another road trip again. All those hours on the highway have taught us a few life lessons, though. Our pain. Your gain. Here's your road warrior 10 commandments, y'all. 1. Lower your expectations. I'm serious. When you travel with kids, it's a trip. When you travel as a couple, it's a vacation. You have to know that traveling as a family is a teeny bit more like National Lampoons than some postcard picture. As we drove through Flagstaff last summer, we joked we should pick up grandma and strap her to the top of the minivan. The kids did not appreciate our humor. In the early years, we had such romantic thoughts of how a family road trip should be. After all, social media kept showing us these filtered images of smiling families happy to be traveling around the country. When our first … [Read More...]
The 10-Year-Old Trip to Disney: Part Five
When our children turn ten, we treat them to a 10-year-old trip. To catch up on the full story with Clare, check out part one, part two, part three, part four and part five. And, if you want to follow our escapade on Instagram, just search the hashtag #clarecelebrates10atdisney The final day. You made it! WE made it! Originally, we were scheduled to fly back on Friday morning, but after … [Read More...]
The 10-Year-Old Trip to Disney: Part Four
When our children turn ten, we treat them to a 10-year-old trip. To catch up on the full story with Clare, check out part one, part two, part three, part four and part five. And, if you want to follow our escapade on Instagram, just search the hashtag #clarecelebrates10atdisney You knew we'd eventually land at Harry Potter. I fully recognize not every family loves the boy who lived as much as … [Read More...]
Blessed is She: Humble Pie, Coming Right Up
Sometimes, I write from a place of jubilation, sometimes sorrow. But, sometimes, I write from a place of deep pain and suffering. That's where it gets really real, am I right? Since I wrote this post, in God's infinite wisdom, He gave me an even deeper place to write from. As painful as it was/is, I know that He sometimes asks that the impossible become possible. Here's today's post over at … [Read More...]
The 10-Year-Old Trip to Disney: Part Three
When our children turn ten, we treat them to a 10-year-old trip. To catch up on the full story with Clare, check out part one, part two, part three, part four and part five. And, if you want to follow our escapade on Instagram, just search the hashtag #clarecelebrates10atdisney The last time we came, this was one of the surprise parks of the trip. We absolutely fell in love with it. This was … [Read More...]
The 10-Year-Old Trip to Disney: Part Two
When our children turn ten, we treat them to a 10-year-old trip. To catch up on the full story with Clare, check out part one, part two, part three, part four and part five. And, if you want to follow our escapade on Instagram, just search the hashtag #clarecelebrates10atdisney Today was all about the castle. We knew the earlier we arrived at Magic Kingdom, the shorter the lines and the … [Read More...]
The 10-Year-Old Trip to Disney: Part One
When our children turn ten, we treat them to a 10-year-old trip. To catch up on the full story with Clare, check out part one, part two, part three, part four and part five. And, if you want to follow our escapade on Instagram, just search the hashtag #clarecelebrates10atdisney The 10-year-old trip is legendary at our house. It’s more than a milestone, or counting your age on two full hands. … [Read More...]
Aloha, Let’s Luau: A Hawaiian Birthday
The beauty of having a summer-ish birthday are all the fun, outdoor theme ideas. Because we postponed celebrating Anna-Laura's May birthday and hosted it in June, after school let out, we were really able to fully embrace summer. Read: pool time. Anna-Laura preferred a small crew of girls, so we ruled out the neighborhood pool. We couldn't reserve it and I wasn't interested in hosting a … [Read More...]
