Spring Break 2010

Better late than never, right?

Me and the boys had a great spring break.  We headed up to Indiana for the first half of the week to see my Mamaw and enjoy some time with my parents.  There were lots of fun things on the agenda, thanks to my mom!  She took time off work and had quite the agenda put together for us.  We took Gabe to The Children's Museum-- it was incredible!  I used to go with my grandparents when I was little, so there were lots of things that I remember from 15-20 years ago-- but they also really stepped it up and have tons of even more fun things to do.  The BIG hit was the Dinosaur exhibit.  Gabe wants to be a paleontologist when he grows up, so he was in Heaven!

[caption id="attachment_172" align="aligncenter" width="225" caption="Practicing for his future..."][/caption]

We also went to a real live dairy farm- Fair Oaks Farm.  This place was incredible.  I would've loved more time to read and watch and learn about all the things going on there, but a certain 7 year old and a certain 7 month old wanted to keep things moving.  This may sound gross, but we got to watch two calves being born.  It was one of the most amazing things I have ever seen.  Maybe because I have birthed my own baby, but I just sat there in awe watching as the mommy cow worked and worked, and then jumped into action to take care of her baby and clean it up, as soon as it was born.  We also had fresh ice cream and wonderfully yummy cheese made right there on the farm.  Honestly, this isn't really something I would be into-- even in the car on the way there, in my mind, we were going purely for Gabe, because it was something we thought he's enjoy.  But we all thoroughly enjoyed it- Max loved being outside, Gabe did every single fun thing at the farm, and me and my mom soaked it up too!

[caption id="attachment_173" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="My Mom and Max at our dairy picnic"][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_174" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="It's a girl!"][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_175" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Gabe and Bessie"][/caption]

We also got to celebrate my mom's 29th birthday.  It really was a jam packed 4 days.  The boys had few naps and really spent very little time in bed altogether.  But there was so much going on, they never even had time to realize they were tired.  When we got in the car to leave, before we were even on the interstate, Gabe started having "leavers regret".  His voice got all squeaky and crackly and he said "I'm not ready to leave yet, that was too much fun."  I replied by telling him that I agreed but that he got to go on a great deep sea fishing trip with Daddy as soon as he got home.  I thought that was a great fix to the situation-- I mean he was going from one fun thing to the next, right?

Well that didn't cut it.  He sat there for a minute, and then said, "I wish  I was a robot, too-- then my robot could stay in Indiana and have all the fun here, and I could go fishing with Daddy."  My chest got tight.  He's seven and he already needs to duplicate himself?  He was already feeling the pressure of wanting/ needing to be in two places at once.  In this case, he didn't have a choice.  We were leaving, and he was going onto his next trip-- but I couldn't help but think about this feeling he was having (and expressing).  It was really sad to me that he already had that "I'm not ready for it to be over yet"departure, and that he was forward thinking enough to wish for a robot so he could have his cake and eat it too.  How can we teach this little man to be right where God has him?  How can we teach him to look back only for wisdom from experience, and to look forward with anticipation?  How can we teach him to be grateful for fun, wonderful, love-filled experiences, without being greedy and holding on too tightly?  I'm not good at this myself, so I don't know the answer yet- but I do know the One with the answers.  My prayer is that as I see glimpses of these grown up feelings and emotions in our little men, that we take the time to have the conversations and the teaching moments, and that I'm humble enough to learn right along with them.

[caption id="attachment_176" align="alignleft" width="276" caption="My mom and Max, at her birthday dinner- her first as a Grandma- she does it well, huh?"][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_177" align="alignright" width="300" caption="My Dad and Max at the birthday dinner"][/caption]