2018 Spring Break Trip to St. Simons Island

The trip we'd been waiting for was finally here:  we were going to St. Simons for spring break!  Back in February as I sat stuck on the couch with a fever, I was daydreaming about feeling better and taking vacation when the destination sprang to mind.  A quick text with David gave me the green light to get planning.  He and I had been several times with friends when we were dating and the island held a lot of sweet memories for us.  In fact it was there, three months into dating, that we had our first kiss!  In addition to those sappy memories, it had some neat things to do with kids, it was bound to be warmer than our last two spring break trips (Charlotte and Chattanooga), and it wasn't too far of a drive.  Check, check, and check.  

That felt like a million long, cold years ago and we'd been counting down the days with excitement since.  Finally departure day arrived.  I woke up early that morning and snuck out to the gym for a quick workout before we hit the road. I was well aware of the amount of food that would be consumed over the next four days.  I was also aware of how much it would help my patience and mood for the car ride down to have gotten in a little exercise. 

Back at the house, we got the kids up, talked Audrey through a few moments of her fear of being homesick (“home is about people, and we will be with you!”), and got on the road at 8:38…not too far past our goal of 8:30.  On the way down, we listened to music and a children’s audiobook for most of the way.  We’d made plans to stop at a park for a picnic, but the weather didn’t cooperate, so we just did a quick restroom break at Cracker Barrel and then ate our sandwiches in the car.  After lunch, I helped the kids work on a felt animal craft and then they played travel bingo.  Not once during the 5.5 hour drive did we have to turn on the DVD player or devices, which makes me so happy.

Because the thunderstorms we were expecting upon arrival didn’t happen, we opted to stop by Fort Frederica on the way in.  It was buggy amid the Spanish moss-laden oaks, but we came prepared with spray.  We walked around attempting to articulate what life was like when the town stood in the mid 1700s.  It was a hard concept for us as adults to grasp, let alone for a six and an eight year old who have never known a world without computers or cell phones.  Pictures and displayed artifacts helped and, if we squinted hard enough, our imaginations could just make out townspeople in their layers and layers of clothes walking between the bakery and the blacksmith shop.  We strolled out to the fort area and taught them things we had just learned ourselves when researching the stop:  How James Oglethorpe built the fort and military-support town in the 1730s to be a defense against what was then a Spanish Florida.  It proved successful when the British defeated the Spanish at the Battle of Bloody Marsh in 1742, which secured Georgia’s fate and future as a British colony. 

After a quick stop in the onsite museum, we loaded up and headed to the rental house that would be ours for the next few days.  The excitement on the way was almost palpable.  For weeks and weeks we had been pulling up pictures on the rental site and examining every room and detail we could pick out.  I had visualized us playing checkers on the wide front porch, doing a puzzle on the dining room table, and cuddling up for a movie night in the cozy family room.  If you’re thinking I set my expectations a little high, you’re probably right, but remember I was sick for most of the month of February…daydreaming about vacation brought me through!

We pulled into the driveway and agreed to all stay together on our initial tour.  As we climbed the front steps and entered through the gorgeous original wooden door, we “ooed” and “aahed” over every detail.  We sounded like we were straight out of an episode of Fixer Upper.  Every room held a new discovery to gush over.  After the kids has sufficiently inspected the downstairs, they were ready to head up to their loft upstairs.  They stopped at the top of the steep stairs and took in the adorable sight of their twin beds on one side of the sloped room and the “entertainment area” with tv and anorondack chairs on the other.  They were giddy about all of it.  I know Audrey was thinking about her Little House on the Prairie books and pretending to be Laura as she unpacked. 

David went out to pick up a few groceries and dinner while I unpacked and the kids played upstairs.  Before long I called them down and we settled in on the porch for a game of checkers.  They played as I sat in one of the rocking chairs and offered hints.  David got back and we helped him unload the grocery bags.  I heated up hot dogs and peas for the kids and sorted out the BBQ plates he had picked up for us from Southern Soul BBQ, a local spot that several friends had raved about.  We sat down in the dining room and ate our feast while chatting about the house and talking through our plans for the next day. 

After dinner we decided we just had to go stick our feet in the sand for a few minutes, so we took the short two block stroll over to the beach.  We let the kids take off their shoes, roll up their shorts, and splash in the freezing cold water.  They laughed and screamed at every fresh, frigid wave while we laughed from the warmth of the sand a few feet away.  After we’d decided their skin had had enough exposure, we walked back and dried their feet as best we could.  We continued our walk along the village area and pointed out shops that we wanted to try the next day.  As we got close to the house, we saw Moo Cow ice cream.  David and I exchanged a look before I told them that if we were going to fit in 2-3 desserts during our stay, we had better start that night.  They bounced up and down and we went inside to pick out our flavors.  Vacation Mommy is So. Much. Fun. 

Sufficiently sugared-up, we walked back to the house and got everyone ready for bed.  I set the timer for them to read and whisper for a little while and only had to climb the stairs once after the lights were out when they called me up because they couldn’t sleep.  I imagine the excitement of the days ahead and the sugar so close to bedtime were the culprits.  It eventually quieted down and we all fell asleep until around 4am when Luke called and needed to go to the bathroom.  David took one for the team and climbed the steep stairs to retrieve him and then again to take him back.  And then again to take him tissue to blow his nose a few minutes later.  Bless him.  

I woke up a little while later and crept out of the bedroom to fix a cup of coffee and spend some quiet time in the family room.  The kids began to stir around 6:45am and I let them read in bed for a little while before bringing them downstairs for breakfast just after 7am.  Since nothing opens until 10am and it was much too chilly a day for the beach, we got ready for the day and hung out around the house for a while.  We worked on a puzzle and played checkers until it was time to walk over to the lighthouse for our tour. 

As we’d discovered the night before, the lighthouse was less than two blocks away.   We walked over, bought tickets, and started with a short movie about the lighthouse history.  After it was finished we were ushered into the keeper’s home, which has been converted into a museum.  The downstairs was full of history of the lighthouse and island and the upstairs had roped-off period-specific rooms and artifacts.  The kids were pretty amazed at the sight of the chamber pot and ice box!  When we finished the keeper’s house, it was time for the main event of climbing the lighthouse itself.

One hundred and twenty nine steps later, we emerged at the top and I glued myself against the wall as we circled around the platform.  I don’t know what it is (motherhood? age?!) but I get more and more nervous around heights each year, especially when they involve the kids.  It was incredibly windy and we didn’t stay at the top long.  We began the descent down, stopping at the platforms that are about every thirty steps to look out the windows.  Safely at the bottom, we walked back through the keeper’s house to explore the surrounding grounds.  We chatted with a guy that we’d stopped to ask to take our picture and he lamented about his almost-grown kids as he urged us to soak it up.  I get it, Sir.  I have the exact same heart-breaking thoughts these days when I see a chubby baby in her mama’s tired arms.  It flies by even faster than anyone can ever imagine and there is not one single solitary thing I can do to slow it down.  All the more reason to take these special trips.  

It wasn’t long before our stomachs began alerting us that it was nearly lunchtime, so we walked back to the house and drove to a gluten-free friendly hamburger joint about ten minutes away.  It was a delicious and well-earned lunch after our climb. 

We drove back to the house and then walked over to the playground at Neptune Park.  We spent the afternoon letting the kids play there and then heading into the local the library for a peak, perusing the shops around the village (which of course included an afternoon snack of frozen yogurt), and walking out onto the pier.  Seeing the pelicans nose (beak?) dive into the water to search for lunch was great entertainment while we ate our yogurt.  As we were about to turn back at the end of the pier, I thought I saw something out in the water.  Sure enough, two dolphins kept surfacing about 300 yards away.  We were in awe and stood waiting patiently for more glimpses.  After we lost sight of them, we turned and went back into the village area. 

Due to the wind and our children’s history of poor attitudes during the game, we decided to save the $30 and frustration and skip putt-putt.  We went back to the house to work on our puzzle and let the kids play in the loft before getting ready for dinner.  Even though they opened at 5pm, by the time we arrived at 5:20 it was already a 45 minute wait.  As we were waiting outside, I overheard that the restaurant would take next-day reservations only, so I went inside and got us a 5:15 slot for the following evening.  We called over to the Italian restaurant where we’d planned on eating the next night and confirmed that there wasn’t a long wait there.  We put our name on the call ahead list just in case and headed that way. 

As we walked in, I began second guessing whether our choice was a budget-friendly one because it looked like a nice restaurant complete with linen tablecloths (it doesn’t take much!)  Sometimes I get so consumed checking for gluten-free options that I forget to consider much else.  A quick glance at the menu proved that looks could be deceiving and we wouldn’t be breaking the bank, so we settled in.  Audrey was so funny as she put on her best manners and spoke very prim and properly, even to the server, who she rarely glances at when we’re eating out.  She even asked if we could do something more sophisticated than our “Live Without, Learn, Love” game that we invented last year in Chattanooga.  Well.  Excuse me, Madam!  We had a great time reliving the day’s events and the tales we’d heard about the lighthouse.  Most of our food was tasty, but Audrey’s gluten free pasta was especially delicious.  It is such a win to me when she gets to eat out and actually enjoys it.  We finished our fine dining experience and went home to unwind with a few minutes of Aladdin before tucking them in with great anticipation for the busy next day. 

I woke up early again the next morning and snuck out to the living room with my coffee (made by what I believe to be the noisiest coffee maker in the world…but maybe that’s just how it sounds in a silent, small house at o’dark thirty!)  The kids woke up about the same time as they did before – 6:45 – and we fixed breakfast and prepared for the day.  After packing a picnic lunch and applying sunscreen, we finished up the puzzle we’d been working on (hooray!) and piled into the van. 

We made a beeline for the bicycle rental place and sat in the parking lot waiting for them to open.  Because we wanted very specific and limited bikes (the kind with a bar that attaches an adult bike to a seat and set of pedals for the kids in the back), we wanted to be first in line.  David had called the night before and was assured that a few were supposed to be back in stock the next day.  Thankfully they were, and we hurriedly put on our helmets before doing a test run down a side street and back.  I’m not sure if it was just my imagination or the fact that I hadn’t just literally completed a triathlon as I had the last time we rented bikes like these, but they felt much easier and safer to maneuver than the ones at Callaway Gardens.

Satisfied that we mostly had the hang of it, we crossed the street onto the wide sidewalks and began our ride.  David had mapped out where all we would travel and included stops at a few of the “tree spirits” along the way.  These tree spirits are a famous collection of about twenty carvings on trees around St. Simons that a man and his son have done over the years.  Many of them are now on private property, but there are seven that the public can access.  Maps at the convention center and online give you a rough idea of where they are and then you have to find their exact location.  It’s a really fun scavenger hunt and the kids loved pulling into an area and excitedly searching for the carvings.  We also stopped at a nature trail area and walked down to the marsh observation deck for a little while.  None of us could get over the beautiful live oaks and Audrey loved trying to scramble up their low branches. 

After getting back on our bikes, we rode over to a Chick-fil-A for a quick bathroom break and then on to a park for a picnic lunch and visit to the playground.  The super tall tunnel slides looked too fun to miss so David and I each took a turn, much to the kids’ delight.  We saw two more tree spirits in that area, bringing our tally to four.  A local man saw what we were up to and stopped to chat about the spirits and tell us how he saw the man’s son working on that particular one, which was a rendition of Zeus.  We waved goodbye and pedaled down to the village area for the grand finale mermaid tree spirit.  After finding it near the visitor’s center, we stopped by the lighthouse gift shop to buy an ornament for our Christmas “travel tree” that I’d spotted the day before.  I’d planned on getting the pretty lighthouse one, but once we were there Audrey and I agreed that the one with the pair of dolphins was the best choice.  It perfectly commemorated our special sighting off the pier.

Carefully tucking our ornament package into the picnic bag, we climbed on the bikes for the last stretch of road to the bike shop.  We’d ridden about ten miles around the island and had had a blast.  More importantly, no one got run over, which is always a plus.  The kids kept great attitudes and worked really hard to “help” us pedal (not sure how much it really helped, but we certainly made it sound like it did.)  We drove back to our rental house, threw on bathing suits and sunscreen, and packed up for a few hours at the beach.

Once we found a good public access spot where there was sand (at high tide, some of St. Simons’ beaches disappear completely), we parked and hauled our chairs and towels down.  The kids immediately ran into the fa-REEZING cold water and proceeded to combat hypothermia while they jumped waves for the next hour or so.  David and I waded in and out with them, but we mostly stood on the dry, warm sand and supervised.  As we watched, squinting against the glare off the waves, we spotted the dolphins swimming again and excitedly pointed them out to the kids.  What a cool extra moment God had given us!

When the kids had sufficiently exhausted themselves, they dried off and bundled up in towels in the warm sun.  We didn’t stay long after that because they were pretty cold and miserable, so as soon as Luke got a chance to bury my feet and dig in the sand for a few, we trekked back to the van and went to the house for warm showers.  After we’d cleaned up and warmed up, we had some time to chill before we left for our dinner reservations.  Audrey and I read while the boys played checkers and then we headed out to fill our empty bellies.  

The restaurant, Crabdaddy's, was already crowded when we pulled in at 5:05, which is impressive considering it supposedly opens at 5pm.  There is no possible way they could've seated that many people in five minutes, so I'm assuming they actually open a little earlier.  Thankfully we had our reservation and were ushered right to a table.  The food was okay, but Luke's chicken was a little undercooked and my crab cakes were a little overcooked.  Between that and the way they cram people in there to maximize space, I wasn't overly impressed and don't think we'll make it back should we find ourselves on the island again.  The service was good, though, and the conversation and laughter was even better.  We left with full stomachs and drove back to the house to park the van and walk into the village. 

The kids each had $10 to spend on a souvenir, but hadn't found anything by that point, so we went back to a couple of stores for them to choose something.  I'd also been regretting not buying a purse I saw the day before so I went back and grabbed it, counting it as my souvenir.  Once the kids selected their purchases, we made our way through the dinner crowds that were spilling out onto the sidewalks and walked down to Dairy Queen for our final dessert.  After much deliberation over what to order, we ate on the attached deck and all shared bites of our chosen treat with each other.  There was a sadness looming over us knowing that it would soon be time to pack up and head home, but we told the kids we weren't going to spend our last hours focused on that.  We wiped off our sticky mouths and hands and began the short walk to the rental house.

After everyone got on their pajamas, we piled on the couch and looked through a photo album that the owner's had made showcasing the renovation of the house.  It was pretty cool to see the "before" and made us appreciate the "after" even more.  Though they protested, we knew the kids were absolutely exhausted from their day of bike riding and wave jumping, so we declared it bedtime, said prayers, and tucked them in.  David and I weren't too far behind.

Around 5:30am, I heard someone fall out of the bed overhead and rushed upstairs just as Audrey called for me.  She had tumbled out and climbed back in, but she wasn't hurt.  I tucked her back in and went downstairs to start my coffee and the day while the rest of the house got another couple of hours of sleep.  Those early morning hours when I'm the only one awake are just the best.  All the sleepyheads eventually started to stir, and we began the arduous process of getting ready, packing, and tidying.  The mood was for sure one of disappointment, but we kept reminding them to try and stay positive.  

When we'd sufficiently checked every nook, cranny, and drawer to make sure we'd gathered everything, we left a note in the guestbook and locked the door behind us.  We waved goodbye and drove over to the village for one last stroll down the pier.  We didn't spot any dolphins this time, but there were plenty of birds and fisherman to watch.  David took the kids back to the nearby playground as I walked through an antique market that had just set up.  I didn't find anything worth taking home, but there sure were some interesting things to look at.  We met back at the van a few minutes later and began making our way off the island towards home.  My brother was meeting us for lunch about an hour away, which lessoned the immediate sadness of leaving a bit.

As we dodged traffic and rain showers, we listened to music and retold all of the trip's funniest moments and memories.  Before long it was time to pull off to the Cracker Barrel and meet Uncle Brian, who was kind enough to have already secured us a table.  We gave him the highlights of the trip and caught up on his life and news of Annelise in between bites of country cookin'.  An hour later and bellies full, we thanked him for driving all the way to meet us and hugged him goodbye.  I raced Luke to the van, trying to let him burn off every bit of energy he could manage before the long trek home.  

The GPS quoted us four hours to our house from there, but of course with all of metro Atlanta returning from spring break trips, it was closer to five (six total).  Thankfully our Waze app rerouted us to back roads, which were not only quicker, but much less stressful and more scenic than the interstate would have been.  What on earth did we do before Waze?!  We spent a lot of time in traffic, that's what.  

The kids did pretty well and we listened to another children's audiobook and let them watch a DVD.  When they got whiney towards the end and began picking on each other, I decided device time was in order and passed back the iPad and Kindle.  While they were entertained, David and I listened to some podcasts and lamented the week ahead and the return to normal life.  About an hour out, I logged on and ordered us some pizza to be delivered for dinner.  We pulled up right as the delivery man was at our door, so we threw it in the oven to keep it warm and unloaded the car.  Thirty minutes later with the kids' essentials unpacked and laundry started, we sat down to finish Aladdin with a yummy pizza picnic dinner.  We were home.  Sad about it, but as I always tell the kids, that just means it was a really great time.  

The relaxing night and the lazy morning we had today helped take some of the sting out of our vacation being over.  I am most definitely not ready for life to resume normal pace though, and I imagine there will be some tearing up on my part after the kids get out at carpool in the morning.  With every passing year, these little babies God gave us become more independent, funnier, and interesting.  These are most definitely the "golden years" between the physically exhausting baby and toddler stages and the emotionally and mentally exhausting teen years.  (Although do not get me wrong...being in the middle means you occasionally get a good dose of both sides.)  They are coming into their own and we genuinely and thoroughly enjoy spending time with them.  It was a fantastic trip and we thank God for it!

Some pictures from the last few days:

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Fort Frederica National Park

What remains of the fort that once protected Georgia against the Spaniards in the 1700s.

Our adorable little rental house

The kids' loft

The kids' loft

The cozy family room

Checkers on the front porch

Wading in the very, VERY cold water

Beautiful sunset looking towards the Jekyll Island Bridge

The first of several rounds of ice cream on our trip

St. Simons Island Lighthouse

We made it to the top!

They held hands a lot on this trip and it made me so very happy.

Cuties in the tree in front of our rental house

Just a swingin'

The finished puzzle

Ready for bike riding!

Off the bikes long enough to take in a nature trail

One of the five tree spirits we found

Zeus, another tree spirit

Splashing in the freezing cold ocean

Luke digging in the sand

Audrey trying to warm up after her swim!

My beauties in blue

A picture on the pier before heading home

What an awesome trip!  Thirty three more days of school left, but who's counting?!

Doctors Don't Always Know Best

Last Wednesday night after battling a cold for ten days, I came down with a fever.  By Thursday morning, I knew there was no way I was going to be able to run the 15k Hot Chocolate Run I was scheduled to do on Sunday.  It was a double bummer, because my friend Kara and I were going to stay downtown the night before and run it together the next morning.  Now the whole weekend had to be cancelled.  Months of training in the freezing cold to get ready and now I wouldn't get to see it to fruition.  Disappointed doesn't begin to cover it.  

Since David was out of town (of course...why is he always out of town when I get this sick?!), I set my gear to survival mode and spent the next couple of days resting and doing everything I could to get better.  In addition to over-the-counter medicine, I employed every homeopathic method I could get my hands on.  I gargled with salt water, avoided milk products, used saline nasal spray, inhaled warm steam, took Emergen-C and vitamins, cranked up humidifiers, diffused essential oils and rubbed them on my feet and spine, washed my hands endlessly, hydrated furiously, and tried hard to stay very still in the midst of all of that.  I even took "detox baths" with epsom salt.  I tried to get my hands on some elderberry pills everyone was raving about, but couldn't find any.  By Friday, I was 100% convinced that, though I wasn't sure whether I had the flu, I knew without a doubt I had a serious sinus infection and I needed a good ol' fashion round of antibiotics.  

After getting the kids off to school, I signed on the LiveHealthOnline, a service offered through David's insurance company.  Within minutes I was connected on a video chat with a doctor that I was hoping would phone me in a prescription.  Instead, I got a five minute lecture about the overuse of antibiotics and how "so-called sinus infections are usually caused by a virus and will clear up on their own in 1-2 weeks."  He reminded me to do everything I was already doing.  (Does anybody in the world not know that humidifiers, hydration, and rest are good when you're sick?  Why do they feel the need to tell you that?!)  It took all I could to disconnect the chat before calling him all of the ugly names swirling around in my painfully congested head.

I desperately did not want to go to a doctor's office or clinic to see someone in person.  I didn't feel like waiting in the waiting room for hours and was afraid I'd pick up something worse.  So, I let him convince me that he was right and I worked even harder at doing all I could to heal myself without antibiotics.  After two more nights of basically cat-nap bouts of sleep, I woke up Sunday morning with day five of a fever.  I fed the kids breakfast, left them with David, and drove to the urgent care clinic in the pouring, freezing rain in time to arrive when they opened at 8am.  (And yes, I was secretly very relieved not to be running 9 miles in that weather.)  I was second in line at the office.  They were out of flu tests, but it didn't matter because I wouldn't have wanted Tamiflu anyway (it made me vomit last year.)  The doctor diagnosed me with bronchitis (well, duh.  What would a year without it be?!) and a severe sinus infection.  Solution?  Antibiotics and cough syrup.  Huh.  Well how about that?!  They gave me a steroid "cocktail" in the office and a list of four prescriptions to get filled as soon as the pharmacy opened at 11am.  

Fast forward a little bit:  My fever broke yesterday afternoon.  I slept five and a half straight hours last night for the first time in days.  I am not out of the woods yet, but I am most definitely better.  My bronchitis cough is still going strong and I know I'm going to have to be very careful if I want to avoid the Great Laryngitis Episode of 2017 when I lost my voice for three weeks.  

Here's what I've learned from this experience:  Yes, antibiotics are widely overprescribed and abused and that is a dangerous thing.  Yes, my infection might have cleared up on its own in another week's time.  Or it might have turned into pneumonia.  I think homeopathic remedies have their place and can be a great alternative or pairing in a lot of situations.  But sometimes there is no beating western medicine and a big fat dose of amoxicillin.  At 35, I've learned the difference.  Now I just need to remember it moving forward and be a better advocate for myself next time.  

I hope all of you stay healthy and well and ask you to please join me in praying that Audrey and Luke do too!  David is on the mend, but hasn't run a fever, so he's been able to rally and help.  Hopefully he'll be back to 100% very soon too.  

Notes from the kids (Luke's says "Cuddle Mommy...I wish I could") and a chart from him to describe my illness level "ick, better, even better, ready to play, all ready, wild Mommy (ready to play something wild), 100 percent."  Not sure exactly where I am on the chart today, but I know that I'm definitely dying to hug and cuddle my babies again soon!

Trip to Los Angeles 2018

David and I got back last night from a long weekend in L.A.  He had to go out there for work and asked if I wanted to join him.  We have been trying to make a California trip come together for years.  Before kids, we'd turned California work trips into vacations in San Francisco, San Diego, and L.A.  But even though he's had to go well over a dozen times in the last decade, it never coincided well with either my schedule, his schedule, or the kids' schedules.  This time, however, the stars finally aligned and we got to have a few magical days in La La Land.  

We'd originally toyed with the idea of me flying into San Diego and him driving down there to meet me.  As we looked at the two cities independently, though, we realized that at least for this time of year, L.A. actually had more points of interest for us.  

So, with a little over a week to pull it all together, I got in touch with grandparents and lined them up to keep the kids.  I updated the grandparent manual with schedules and instructions, began researching restaurants and things to do, stocked the pantry, and muddled through the million other things that have to happen for a mom to get a few days off.

Confession:  I get a "little" OCD and morbid when I take trips.  As I texted a girlfriend, here is what normal moms are like as they prepare to go out of town without the kids:  "I need to plan/make meals, go to the store, clean house, and pack."  

And then there is me preparing to go out of town without the kids...All of the above, PLUS: "In case I die, we better pick out valentines for their class and I need to make sure they have green shirts for St. Patrick's Day.  What's their underwear situation...Do they need more?  Bigger sizes?!  Luke is due for a haircut in another week so I should just go ahead and do that.  Do I have enough paper products for the apocalypse?  Better make sure their sock drawer is tidy.  I should also schedule their eye appointments because no one will think of that for months.  Speaking of eyes, where are Audrey's spare glasses?"  

I know, I know.  It's ridiculous.  But it's not as bad as it used to be since I know the kids can speak up for themselves and help now.  Besides, it helps me to relax and enjoy the trip if I know I've planned and prepped well.

So anyway, David booked a flight to head out on Wednesday and I was going to join him Thursday after getting the kids through another night, Audrey's gymnastics class, and off to another day of school.

Then came the stupid bad weather. 

David and I were up at 4am on Wednesday trying to figure out how, or even if, to get him to the airport in the snowy and icy conditions.  We debated about moving his flight and speculated about traffic and roads for three hours before his dad picked him up with his four-wheel-drive SUV and carefully got him down there in one piece.  A 2.5 hour flight delay later, his plane finally took off.  I moved my flight to later the next day to give the roads a chance to clear and began helping the kids with their "Digital Learning Day" (they do schoolwork assignments online to avoid having to make up missed snow days.)  Since Audrey was battling a cold and the windchill was about 12 degrees, we didn't go outside and play in what little snow there was.  We did bake brownies and play Sleeping Queens, though, so they were satisfied.  

The next morning was frantic to say the least.  School was cancelled again due to the amount of snow and ice that hadn’t melted the day before, so that meant another Digital Learning Day.  I didn’t want to saddle the grandparents with trying to navigate the websites and assignments, so I was trying to rush the kids through their work while also getting the house ready and finish last minute packing.

I finally sat down with the kids about fifteen minutes before David’s parents were due to arrive.  I made them some hot chocolate and we played “Name that Tune” (a game we do where I play a clip of a song on my phone and then pause it while they fill in the next few words.)  David's parents got there and I walked them through last minute instructions before heading out.  After a gate change and a 45 minute flight delay, I settled back into my seat as the plane took off and thought "Ahhh...finally!"  It had taken a LOT of work to get to that point!

David picked me up at the airport without any problem and we drove over to Santa Monica.  We ate dinner at Blue Plate Taco, which was delicious.  Afterward we walked down to the famous Santa Monica Pier.  We passed a magician putting on a street show and David was just about to move on when I pulled him back and talked him in to sticking around.  He likes magic tricks and shows and there was no way I was going to let him miss this!  It turned out to be well worth it, as he became an assistance in the guy's best trick.  I won't go into details, but it involved revealing a marked $20 bill hidden inside a real orange.  It was incredibly impressive!

We moved on and walked along there for awhile before heading to the Third Street Promenade shopping area for a stroll and some dessert.  After we were sure we'd seen it all, we made our way back to the car and drove to the hotel.    

The next morning we packed up and checked out of that hotel before heading to breakfast at a place called Jacks and Joe (as in flapjacks and coffee...so creative!)  It was tasty and we stuffed ourselves full.  

There was time to spare before the California Science Center opened, so we walked over to the University Southern California campus to see what we could see.  We stumbled into the huge historic library and poked around there, ultimately ending up in the periodicals room because why not.  I settled into a comfy couch and read about California history while David picked up a magazine about rocket science.  After about twenty minutes of feeling like very scholarly young college students, we snuck back out and walked towards the Science Center.

Our main reason for going was to see the Space Shuttle Endeavour, so we started there.  We toured the exhibit and learned how astronauts do all sorts of things aboard...use the restroom, eat, sleep, etc.  It is really fascinating how the simplest of tasks here on earth take months, even years, of planning and perfecting to be able to do aboard a space shuttle. 

After watching a short video about them moving the shuttle into the museum (they didn't disassemble it first...it landed at the airport and then they carted it right down the streets, removing power lines and trees in its path!) we trekked downstairs and into the enormous hanger where it's housed.  I have to admit, I didn't really have a ton of interest in any of this at first and was more along for the ride for David's sake.  But once I walked into the pavilion and came face to nose with the sheer size and glory of such an amazing piece of science that has been into outer space?  Well, it just warmed my little ol' American heart in a way I didn't expect. 

We wandered around the Science Center a bit more and saw exhibits on air and space.  Just about the time my eyes started glazing over, we swung by the gift shop to pick up some dry astronaut ice cream for the kids and then walked back to the car to head to our Warner Brothers Studio tour.

We were scheduled to begin at 1pm, but got there early and stopped for a snack and some hopeful celebrity sightings at the onsite cafe.  Sadly, there were none.  At least no obvious ones.  We checked in and were ushered into a little theater to watch an intro film before heading outside to load up.  It was foggy and chilly, but thankfully the rain held off.  

We hopped on and off the tour cart, seeing outdoor backdrops (fake New York street that was all the B-roll footage for Friends and hundreds of movies), prop departments, and costume houses.  By far my most favorite stop was their Midwest street, which was the setting of Stars Hollow in Gilmore Girls.  We didn't get a chance to get out and walk around there because they were filming something at the time, but it was still really cool to see from the trolly.  

We also got to go inside the Big Bang Theory sound stage.  We weren't allowed to take pictures since it's still a "working set" (I guess they fear a photograph revealing a secret plot line?)  Afterward we went to the Batmobile museum and DC Universe Exhibit.  Our guide pointed out dozens of other backdrops we recognized and explained some of the behind-the-scenes tricks of the trade before taking us to the Stage 48: Script to Screen Exhibit for our self-guided portion of the tour.  We learned about pre-production (casting and wardrobe), production (acting and directing, complete with a moment on the famous Friends Central Perk set!), and post-production (green screening and motion capture.)  It was definitely eye-opening to realize just how much work and how many people it takes to create a twenty-two minute show or a two hour movie.  

We waited in the windy, chilly line outside for the trolly to take us back to our parking lot.  We were definitely beginning to wonder where our sunny southern California weather was!  Because of the clouds and fog, we decided that it would not be a great night for the observatory as we'd originally planned.  Instead we drove back to Venice Beach, checked into our new hotel there, and walked to downtown Venice.  We hurried to the pier just in time to catch a gorgeous sunset sinking into the water...something you don't get to see on the East Coast.  We bundled up against the wind and walked to C&O Trattoria for dinner.  Even with the heat lamp right next to the table, it was still cold.  We warmed ourselves by eating countless garlic rolls and talking through all of the adventures of the day.  Huddled together, we power-walked back to the hotel and turned in for the night. 

The next morning I woke up at 5am (which was 8am eastern, so that's crazy impressive sleeping in for me) and after checking in with the kids, we went out for a walk/jog along the beach and the Venice canals.  It was very windy and chilly (detecting a theme?!) and David hasn't been running in awhile so we didn't push it too hard.  We stopped in at Noah's Bagels on the way back to our hotel and had the best cinnamon sugar bagel I've ever tasted in my life.  It was somehow light instead of dense, but not really pastry-like either.  However they made it, it was magic, I tell ya.  Delicious magic.

Sadly, it ended all too soon as we walked back to our hotel and got ready for the day.  We began our sightseeing at the La Brea Tar Pits.  It was cool to see some of the fossils they'd found and learn about the animals that had been there thousands of years before.  We walked through the museum, around some of the fenced-in pits and outdoor areas, then back inside to prepare for a walk through Project 23, their current excavation exhibit.  We watched through windows of the fossil lab as paleontologists sifted through the tiniest piles of microscopic sediment to find things like lizard scales and mouse toenails.  I can say with great confidence that I would last approximately five minutes at that job before tossing my tray in the air and walking out.  There is not a single ounce of me that has the patience, or frankly, the care, to do a job like that.  

It was cold and I was starting to not feel the greatest (Audrey's cold plus airplane germs were finally catching up to me), but we pressed on from there by foot to a local farmer's market for lunch.  We ate our way through the place, stopping for pizza, then an empanada, then a doughnut for me and ice cream for David.  There was an outdoor shopping mall nearby that we scoured for a minute, but we were just too cold to enjoy it for long.  We walked the mile back to our car and enjoyed heat while figuring out what to do next.  

The observatory was on the agenda, but we wanted to see it at sunset and then dark, which was still a ways off.  David decided to lead us through a tour of the Hollywood hills for a little while, so I looked up star maps and shouted out when we'd pass the supposed house of someone famous.  Because of all the gates and walls, you can't actually see much of the houses themselves, but we saw the driveway and mailboxes of Eddie Murphy, Warren Beatty, Tom Arnold, Jack Nicholson, and Gene Simmons.  Allegedly.

After pulling over at a couple of overlooks, we winded down the steep hills to Griffith Park and discovered that the parking lot near the observatory was already full.  We had to park near the Greek Theater, about a mile away, and waited for the shuttle to take us up to the top.  It was incredibly windy and cold, so we'd view the scenery for a little while, then head inside to see the exhibits and warm up.  We timed it to go back out for the sunset of course and it really was spectacular.  We ducked back in and squeezed through the crowds to try and view more of the models and exhibits.  Once it had gotten sufficiently dark, we went back out to ooh and ahh over the amazing city lights.  It was absolutely gorgeous seeing it all lit up.  The telescopes weren't scheduled to open until 7pm, and with the crowd the size that it was, we knew we'd be lucky if we could even get in to view them at all, so we opted to take the shuttle back down.  We stood outside in the freezing wind for twenty minutes before the bus picked us up.  I told David that the half marathon I'd done in eight degree windchill was more comfortable than that wait in line.  We could have attempted to hike the mile down, but the trails were not well marked and it was a mountain.  At night.  No thanks.  

Finally making it back to the lot, David asked if I wanted to jog to our parking space.  I took about five running steps and stopped abruptly, declaring a simple "no" that sent him into a hysterical laughing fit that we could hardly recover from.  The cold plus the ten miles we'd already walked that day (literally) had proved quite enough.  We made it to our spot, climbed in, and started the hour drive back to Venice Beach.  We elected to eat at a well-rated restaurant directly across the street from our hotel.  The waitress asked the person in front of us if they wanted a patio table and I guess my scoff was loud enough that by the time we approached to give her our name, she didn't even bother asking about the patio.  We waited thirty minutes for an indoor table, had a delicious seafood dinner at 8pm local time, promptly walked back across the street, and went to sleep under a huge pile of covers. 

I woke up right before my alarm at 5am and we got ready and packed up.  We drove by Noah's bagels for another delicious cinnamon sugar delight before heading to the airport.  By the way, if you are curious whether L.A. traffic is as bad as everyone says it is, the answer is a big fat yes.  I've often wondered if it's truly worse than Atlanta's notorious gridlocks and the fact is, it absolutely is.  Everywhere we went took at least an hour regardless of what time of day or direction.  We'd often look at Waze's quote of something like twenty minutes to go five miles and think "no way, that can't be right!"  Indeed it wasn't...it often took longer.  However, 6:15am on a Sunday morning proved to be the one exception and we finally got somewhere in less than sixty minutes.

We returned the rental car, checked our bags, and waited for a shuttle to take us to our terminal.  After finding a keychain to serve as our souvenir Christmas ornament (sometimes we can't find an actual ornament or don't like the options, so we've made do with all kinds of other things), we called the kids and told them we were on the way.  The plane was the biggest one I'd ever been on and full of coughing, sneezing people...ourselves included at this point.  The flight was a little bumpy, but relatively uneventful and I passed the time watching "Big Bang Theory" and "Friends" episodes on the in-seat screen in front of me.  I tried to spot Warner Brothers studio backlots in some of the footage and did catch a few scenes.  

The plane landed on time and we gathered our stuff, picked up our bags, and hurried to our off-site parking shuttle bus.  I called my mom to tell her to go ahead and feed the kids dinner, since it looked like we'd be getting in a little past their eating time.  When we pulled into the driveway and walked in, we yelled hello and immediately went upstairs and changed clothes and washed up before we'd even let the kids hug us.  I know it seems a little heartless, but we were both sick and carrying who knows what kind of other things on us.  Sufficiently clean, we squeezed and kissed them hello, said goodbye to my mom, and threw ourselves into bath time, packing lunches, laundry, and bedtime routine.  No easing back into normal life around here, that's for sure!

So there you have it.  An incredibly detailed account of our few days on the west coast.  In summary, it was cold and windy, but we got to see new sights together, try new things, get out of our comfort zones, and have an adventure as a couple.  Well worth the weather, the traffic, and the work it takes to get there and endure the weather and the traffic.  Every time.  

A few pictures from our trip:

David assisting in a magic show on the Santa Monica Pier

Space Shuttle Endeavour at the California Science Museum

Hennesy Street exterior set at the Warner Brothers Studio

Miss Patty's dance studio from Gilmore Girls at Warner Brothers Studio

President's desk at the prop house at Warner Brothers...used in West Wing

Central Perk set from Friends

Sunset on Venice Beach

Venice Canals

Vertebra fossil recently found at the La Brea Tar Pits

Sunset view from Griffith Park Observatory

Griffith Park Observatory

Nighttime view of L.A. skyline from the Griffith Park Observatory

Word of the Year for 2018

In addition to my Nos of 2018 and my New Year's Resolutions for 2018, I decided to participate in the "WOTY" craze again and choose a word of the year.  

My word last year was "Faithful" and it really did help me to call it to mind when I felt like I'd dropped the ball or was lacking in motivation.  It also reminded me of how faithful God is even when I don't see His hand in a situation.

So my word of the year for 2018 is....(are you making the drumroll sound?)

Enough.  

Yup.  Enough.  

There are so many reasons behind this choice.  For one, it reminds me not to face my days with a sense of scarcity.  I often roll out of bed already worried about how I'm going to get it all done.  This word reminds me that I have enough time, energy, and talent to accomplish the most important things I have been called to do.  Not the superfluous, but certainly those that are the highest priority.  Another reason for this choice is to remind me to be careful in my choices of adding more to my life.  Do I need more stuff in my house or commitments on my calendar?  In most every situation, the answer is "you have enough."

But the biggest meaning behind it is that I am enough in God's eyes.    

Back when I was doing the Timber Trek, a well-meaning person that I barely knew turned to me and asked incredulously, "This is amazing.  Why aren't you doing more?!"  She meant it as a high compliment...that I was so organized and managed things so well that I could and should be setting my sights higher than a neighborhood charity race.  But her words hurt my heart so badly.  Here I was working my fingers to the bone to pull together a race while also serving nonstop at the kids' school and parenting solo since David was in the midst of a busy travel season.  And yet, in her eyes (which, again, she had no clue of any other detail of my life), I could do more...bigger, better things.

What she didn't know is that I have an innate disease to achieve.  I am constantly making and ticking off to-do lists, setting goals and working towards them.  This is not necessarily a bad thing, but it can go too far.  I have never, ever understood people who say they are "bored" and my default is always to do, rarely to rest.  When that equates to taking on too much and constant striving, it's unhealthy.  It's unfair to me and to my family.  So this year, I'm going to remember that I do enough.  That I am enough.  Of course I'm going to continue to set goals and work hard and hopefully accomplish some very worthy things.  But I will remember that even if I never lifted another finger, I would be enough.  To my God, to my family, and to my close friends who love me well.  

I came across this sign online and an immediate lump formed in my throat.  I bought it and it is hanging in my laundry room for me to see at the end of each night:

I want so desperately to one day hear God speak the words, "This is my beloved (daughter), in whom I am well pleased" just as He did to His son Jesus.  

But do you know the most interesting part to me about that verse?  God spoke those words to Jesus before his ministry even began.  Before Jesus had performed His first miracle or healed anyone, He said He was pleased with Him.  He was enough because He was His son. 

We say the same to Audrey and Luke a lot.  We explain that there are many things that we like about them, but that we love them for the sole reason that they are our children.  Period.  They don't have to earn it at all.  They can never do anything to make us love them more and they can never do anything to make us love them less.  Simply by existing, they are enough.  

So this year I hope to rest in that Truth for myself a little more. 

I have enough (time, energy, talent, stuff, commitments), I do enough (when I do the right things well), and I am enough (to God and those who love me.)  

What's your WOTY for 2018?  

New Year's Resolutions for 2018

Welp, the kids are back in school today and I am super sad about it.  Don't get me wrong, there were moments that they drove me crazy over the break.  I completely forgot how Luke's constant "whys" and "what does that mean" can wear on a person.  They'd get along fine for an hour and then fight like a cat and dog for the rest of the afternoon.  BUT, on the whole, I would much rather them be home with me than not.  So in an effort to distract myself from the quiet, I'm focusing on my resolutions and goal setting today.  If you missed it, I already wrote my list of Nos for 2018, so now it's time to focus more on the positive side of things.  

I used Lara Casey's PowerSheets again this year and have been doing the prep work off and on for the past few weeks.  Admittedly not as thoroughly as I did last year, which may be why there was some trepidation and white-out involved this go-round.  I muddled through it and eventually came up with my list of "Big Picture" Goals for the year.  Most are the same, a couple are new, and there are two less total than last year:

1.  Spiritual Growth
2.  Marriage Growth
3.  Deepen connection with Audrey and Luke individually 
4.  Continue to care for myself physically 
5.  Love and serve others well individually and as a family 
6.  Cultivate a well-managed, welcoming, and cozy home

As I explained in last year's post about my 2017 resolutions, if I left that list just as it is, I'd be destined for failure.  Those are way too lofty, broad, and scary. But I didn't leave them like that.  I took the time to dive into the personal details of why and how, which I'll spare you from for both of our sakes'.  I broke them down into monthly, weekly, and daily goals for January and will do that each month throughout the year (not necessarily each time segment for each goal, but all six are represented in at least one place per month.)  I'm hoping that by the end of 2018, I'll have some clear and concrete progress in each of those six areas.  

So there you have it!  Remember that even if you don't have a set of the PowerSheets, you can visit Lara Casey's blog and download a free goal-setting guide for yourself.  Whether you use that tool or another (or none at all!), I encourage you to define at least one goal with tangible starting steps for yourself this year.  

Now let's get to work!