vacation

If Sommer counted as carry-on luggage, and I can legitimately argue that she did, then our airline travel consisted of 6 carry-on bags, 2 car seats, 1 checked piece of luggage, and only 2 adults to carry it all.  And we packed light.

After a laden walk into the airport, we were on our way to Kauai!  Both girls did really well on the plane, but I certainly don't want to fly to New Zealand with them any time soon.

The best part about Kauai vacation is having Papa around all the time!!  It is not just the girls who enjoy having him around - this is what makes it "vacation" for me too.  The adult to child ratio dramatically improves the odds of me getting to relax.

Thanks to the time change, we enjoyed many a beautiful sunrise.  In fact, I am not sure I have witnessed so many sunrises in a row ever before in my life.  Sleeping-in is definitely overrated.

Especially fun to witness was the way our daughters began to bond.  Not surprisingly, Sommer adores Annike.  It is only recently, however, that Annike has begun to enjoy Sommer too... finding ways to make her laugh, handing her toys, and playing silly games with her.  It gives me warm visions of the future memories they will have as their little friendship builds.

Everyone loved the water.  We changed into bathing suits four or more times a day.  Annike was quite the little fish in her water wings - and there was no shortage of imaginary games to play involving mermaids and turtles.

In the final hour of our trip, a nice gentleman offered to photograph the family.  Amazing to have a picture of all four of us together!

Thank you, Lord, for my wonderful family!  They are FUN, HEALTHY, and I can't think of anyone I would rather go on vacation with!

A video just for fun...

be mine

The first time I ever had a date on Valentine's Day was when I was dating my husband.  Boys weren't exactly knocking down my door to date me.  Needless to say, Valentine's Day is not a single-girl's favorite holiday... if you can even call it a holiday.  More like a Hallmark excuse.

My high school years were the hardest to accept a date-less Valentine's.  You remember the bouquets of balloons, and flowers, and chintzy white teddy bears with hearts on their paws that girls carried around school all day, flaunting their dating status to all.  I can distinctly picture myself eating lunch with two of my best girlfriends, and their boyfriends, and a lot of p.d.a. one particularly grim Valentine's day.  I was a definite 5th wheel with school-girl hopes that the boy I had a crush on might glance my way.  Nope.

It was a Valentine's day like this one that I came home from school and went straight to my room, closing the door to hide from the world of teenage boys that had rejected me.
A few hours later came a knock on the door.  In came my dad, recently home from work.  He had a gift for me.  A Valentine's gift to say he loved me.  It was a cheesy stuffed animal - a bee with a "bee mine" heart.  It isn't the gift that was important, but the fact that he gave it.  In that moment, amidst all the feelings of insecurity about myself and what boys in high school thought of me, I felt loved.

My dad gave me a much greater gift than a simple stuffed animal.  He gave me the gift of knowing what kind of love was important on Valentine's Day, and of knowing that I was loved by someone special.  I did not need to settle for some dweeby guy in high school who didn't know how to treat women.  Here I am, years later, actually thankful for the date-less Valentine's Days in my past.  Despite the years of feeling somewhat lonely and forlorn, I never gave a Valentine to someone who didn't deserve it.

Having two daughters scares me because in our world women are expected to sell their virtue for love.  In God's world, love protects our virtue.  Dads have the unique responsibility of loving their daughters in a way that will protect their virtue... a healthy, kind way that teaches them to be discerning about the different kinds of "love" that come along in life.

The man I married is now dad to our two precious daughters.  In our house, Valentine's Day is no longer simply a reason to bring out the romance.  It is one more opportunity to teach our children about the way God intended them to be loved.