Touring England Pt 2

This trip is an amazing whirlwind of activity. The first half of our tour was spent roaming English countryside. The second half of the tour will be spent mainly in and around London. The group of ladies who put this tour together are keeping the kids and the parents hopping from morning until evening. No time to be bored and only a tiny bit of time to blog. Baby J is a trooper. I can't believe how easy he has been to lug along for the ride. We are headed home tomorrow. I'll upload Pt 3 in a couple of days...

a little Redcoat...

a little Buckingham Palace...

a little pause to rest...

a little meeting up with family...

Here's a slideshow of the rest of the photos from "part 2" of our trip...

I'm touring ENGLAND!

Just dropping in to do a quick update. I'm actually in England right now, following my daughter Gracie around on her Senior trip. Me, my mom, and Baby J are hanging out with her, checking out the English countryside, and blitzing through the city of London. We are having a blast...can't you tell!...

a little Stonehenge...

a little Windsor Castle...

a little Roman Baths...

a little Shakespeare...

we are having a great time...

I really wish I could have done a daily blog about our travel but internet access was quite difficult to come by. So...I figured I'd drop in for a sec and let you guys know what I was up to. I'll post more soon.

In the mean time, here's a slideshow of some other photos from our trip...

Hanging Out in Philly - Part II

So after hanging out all over the city, we made our way to the Ronald McDonald House. We had made a trip to Whole Foods upon our arrival to Philly so Gracie was on a mission. She made broiled salmon, steamed broccoli, and baked sweet potatoes. Can you say this girl is the BOMB!





While Gracie busied herself in the kitchen, Kano played hard. He loves this place.










We got a good rest and then got up bright and early the next morning to make our way back home. We paused for traditional photo with Ronald.







Gracie & Kano @ the airport.




Kano admiring the parked airplane and the people on the ground busy doing their jobs. Do you see both arms up in the air! God is good!

Hanging Out In Philly - Part I

After a day devoted to taking Kano to the doctor, we had a day to kill. We had the day open in case additional procedures were required for Kano but none were, Praise The Lord! We slept in and caught up on some Zzzzzzs and then headed out the door to see the city. Here's a a little picture journal (one day I'll scrapbook it in real life).

You can't be in Philadelphia and not see historical stuff. Here's Gracie in front of Independence Hall where our Declaration of Independence was signed. Completely appropriate as we just finished U.S. History and are deep in the throws of American Government. This is homeschooling a highschool student at it's finest!






Here are a couple of pics from our visit to the Liberty Bell Center.




When we got close up, Gracie was like, "Is this is it? It doesn't even look real." ...Teenagers (Sigh)

Who says you can't travel with small children! Kano was a real trooper :)





Philly isn't Philly without cheesesteak(s)! This little place was on the side of the Liberty Bell Center. It was the best I've had in a long time.












Gracie was enthralled with the "mixed" look of Philly. Such a city atmosphere but with trees all over the place. Here's one of many pics that she took while making me stop in the middle of the street and shoot her.





And then...we stopped to eat...again...(ugh...that's another story for another post)

Me & Kano @ Johnny Rockets on South Street





Awww....Ain't he tweet?





We kept hearing that Philly was the place to get your hair straightened (both Gracie and I wear our hair natural). It was easy as finding a spot on Broad Street & walking in....







Gracie thought she was something with all that "moving & flowing" hair. The first thing she did when she got in the car was put herself in pixels.




Uh, more than once...



More pics soon and then maybe I'll get back to some meaningful posting :)

The Reason For My False Start...

Well I was all excited about getting back into my blogging routine and then didn't because we found that we had to plan to take Baby Kano (really toddler Kano now) back to Philadelphia for his one year post-op MRI.

I'm actually laying across the bed in the Ronald McDonald House now, waiting for Kano to fall off. We have an early start in the morning and I'm hoping he goes to sleep soon.

I'm blessed to have Gracie with me this time. I wanted her to come and see what it is we've been doing everytime we fly Kano up to Philly. It's nice to have her along for the ride. She's loving the Ronald McDonald House.

So, needless to say, with the whole in and out of town thing going on, my hands and my life have been busy and full.

Keep checking back...hopefully I won't be in this rut forever :)...

I do plan to post a report for family and friends on Kano's report from the docs tomorrow.

Stay tuned...

Perspective

The journey we are on in life can sometimes seem so ordinary, so plain, and so uneventful. The daily grind and rhythm of our days can seem to take on on a hum-drum feel and we can get so easily lost in the sameness of it all. At times, our present and our future can appear to hold no purpose, anticipation, or excitement. Our lives can appear boring and meaningless.





Many people I know, including myself, when faced with this apparent reality, start looking inward and backward. There is a flurry of energy to attempt to relive the past, to look over the shoulder, to see where we've come from, and how we ended up exactly where we are. Unfortunately, looking back for many folks only results in sadness because it leads us back to the conclusion of our current circumstances and position. Our pasts bring us right back to face our same realities - which appears to represent a lack of substance and no apparent trigger point. What appears to be most real is only the bare road from which we've come.





But please don't miss it!...don't be so focused on the road ahead or the road behind that you miss your chance. Tunnel vision can rob you of current opportunities available in your life that you should snatch up and to take advantage of.

Just to your right and to your left are opportunities - Oh! if you will only choose to see them!

Opportunities to climb a little big higher...above your circumstances and to have a more heavenly outlook on the road you travel...




Opportunities to take a risk and walk out on water...with your hope and trust resting on the power and love of Jesus Christ...




Opportunities to have sweet fellowship with other brothers and sisters who are on the same journey as you...




Opportunities currently with in your reach to release those things that you've been holding on to that are only weighing you down.




Opportunities to feel alive...to enjoy a thrill...for no good reason...even if it results in a slight tumble every now and then...




Opportunities surround us everyday. They are just to our right and to our left, we just have to lift up our eyes and take a look around.

Opportunities are there waiting for us to take advantage of them. We just have to pay attention.

Opportunities await you and I. It's all about our perspective.

It's all about what we choose to see.





Don't forget as you walk through your life and make decisions as to which opportunities you will take and which you will reject or ignore...

... other people are watching you to see how you handle your journey...

Learn how to have a healthy perspective and how to live your life without tunnel vision.

Learn how to be grateful for every opportunity available to you - whether to your right or to your left.

Learn how to take advantage of thrills and moments of pure joy...don't pass those moments up...not even one.

Somebody's watching you...learning from you...believing in you... copying the actions you make and attitudes you adopt in the situations that come your way.


If you, like me, struggle to maintain proper perspective as you walk through life, consider these verses...

Psalm 106:1
Praise the LORD. Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good; his love endures forever.

1 Corinthians 15:57
But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.

1 Thessalonians 5:18
...give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus.

Strive for a life that looks for looks for the silver lining in every cloud. You might be very surprised at what you find.


I just realized that I've blogged on the subject of perspective before. If you are interested in reading more on this topic you can here
, or you can check out this post from Katherine @ Raising Five

Road Trip - Day 12 (Going Home)

After driving four hour into the night, Jessie was pooped. We pulled over at a rest stop and took pause in our journey. After some rest, we carried on, through Tennessee, Arkansas, and into Texas! YEA!!!

My Dad used to take us on this same roadtrip every summer. I'm familiar with the freeways and with the views that let me know I'm getting close to home. I was so glad to see these familiar sights, signaling to me that we were almost there. I'm sure I looked like an idiot with my camera hanging out of the window.









We drove all the way home...well about 10 minutes away. After breakfast and lunch in the RV, dinner out sounded good, as did no dishes or mess at home :)




Just a few minutes later...we arrived home. Here's Jessie - signing off.



All the kids were happy to be home. We quickly got back to our familiar activities. Bessie and Sumo got busy using their imagination - building forts, houses, and a never-ending story line. This lasted until midnight. They were just so happy to be home. I didn't have the heart to cut it off. It was so nice to see them back to normal.



Uh huh...back to normal. :)



Thanks for taking this journey with us and for allowing myself to feel held accountable for doing a decent job of journaling. Now...whenever I get around to scrapbooking the trip, I won't have to think so hard about what we did, what I was thinking, and in what order things happened!

Road Trip - Day 11 (PM - Tennessee)

Following such an eventful morning, the girls spent the rest of the afternoon lounging in front of the flat screen :).



Sumo spent the rest of the afternoon playing with his new toys



and I started a load of laundry and then settled down to finish the lunch that I got from the pool cafe' (when is the last time you got a turkey wrap from the pool side cafe'!)




We hung out until Kano woke from his coma then we said our final goodbyes to Uncle Anthony's place.




Sumo is still talking about all the fun he had. I think he was more proud than anything to be at his Uncle's house. Here he is...ashy knees and all... on Uncle Nee Nee's doorsteps.




We hooked back up with Dad at the hotel, showered, repacked, and then left to go to dinner at Baja Fresh (one of my favorites), followed by some good 'ol Starbucks. I figured the damage had already been done so "why not live it up?"

We then proceeded to take the rental car back to the airport. The girls took the opportunity to do a photo shoot in front of some neat art sculptures.





Into the RV and off for the last leg of our trip (and yes...Jessie is driving all night again...he's amazing)