Finally on vacation

I had been anxiously awaiting and planning our Florida vacation for months. I clung to it as I saw other's beach pictures on Facebook and watched everyone return throughout the summer with beautiful tans. I was dreading the drive but really excited about taking C to the beach, visiting my brother, taking C to meet "Cat in the Hat" and spend some time relaxing in a beautiful resort pool. We hit a few bumps along the way with C being off schedule and in so many new places, but he really did great! The drive was, as expected, the worst part. God so cleverly decided to give us a child who will not sleep in the car. Or maybe he's a product of his Mommy's crazy routine and determination to have him sleep well in his crib. Either way, we got about 40 minutes max out of him on both trips. We stopped 6 times on the way down and drove through rain most of the way, which lengthened our should-have-been-9-hour-trip to 11!! Hector and I were exhausted due to coming off a no-sleep weekend retreat with the youth group. I never thought we would see my brother's house that night. But we did, and C was so exhausted he fell asleep rather well.

Our first day there, and my brother's only day off, we were hoping to make it to the beach. Unfortunately, it was cloudy and rainy most of the day. So, we sucked it up and relaxed that morning. After C's nap he and Hector and my brother went for a swim. They have a little backyard pool that was perfect for C. It took him a little while to warm up to the water, but before long he was jumping in to Daddy. Here are a few pictures:

The next day my brother and my sister-in-law both had to work but the sun was shining so we packed up and headed about 30 min. east to the beach in Sarasota. We just wanted to let C experience it since he was about 1 when he last saw the beach and didn't remember it at all. God blessed us with beautiful weather for the 2 hours we were there. However, we forgot our camera at the house. We did take a few pictures on Hector's phone but since he is in CA as I write this, I won't be able to include those. C was a little unsure of the waves, but loved it. It's kind of funny how the beach was such a regular part of life as Hector and I grew up and he will not have much opportunity to enjoy it.

The next day we had to drive to Orlando, where we finished off our vacation, to meet up with the band. We stopped by my brother's workplace, Sports Authority, to take advantage of his discount on some shoes and say our good-byes. It was a short visit but we are thankful for the time we had with them. We arrived in Orlando with enough time to get checked in and settled before Hector had to leave for a day of media responsibilities. We decided to splurge a little and get a "kids suite" so C would have his own space. He absolutely loved it!

It was well-worth the money considering the sensitive sleeper we are blessed with. That night we went to dinner with the other band spouses and their kids. It was fun to see them all together. C was a little stand-offish for a while but eventually loosened up. I enjoyed a good meal and good fellowship with friends and C left with a balloon made into a dog and a glittery baseball painted on his arm.

The next day was our day at Universal and Islands of Adventure. Dr. Suess land was our main attraction since Cat in the Hat has recently become his favorite book. We rode every ride and some twice and got our picture with Cat in the Hat. He had so much fun! Hector and I might have had more fun just watching him take it all in...or try to.

Universal didn't have as much to offer for Cohen but it did have a huge "ball factory." I don't even know how to explain it other than it was full of soft balls that you could shoot across the room with vacuumed air. Other than that he played for a few minutes in Fival's Playland where he found a big ball pit. We would have stayed longer but a major storm was about to unload buckets of rain so we made a mad dash to Bubba Gump's Shrimp for shelter and dinner.

It was a very full day! The next day we played in the hotel pool while Hector was soundchecking for their show that night at Universal. It was a great pool with plenty of space for him to play without a float! We had lunch by the pool and soaked up lots of sun. The hotel was beautiful and Italian inspired. Here are a couple pictures:

Hector came back after C's nap and we swam a little more before dinner. That night Hector played for Rock the Universe and I would have been alone in the hotel while C slept but I was pleasantly surprised to have a sweet girl I hadn't seen in a long time come visit. She was in a group of girls I discipled while I was in college...and now she's married and working her first job out of college. Crazy! It was so good to catch up and have company. The next morning we packed up and headed back home. This time the drive was only 9 hours...which made it so much better. We got home that evening and I think we all took a deep breath! It was a great vacation and busy two months, and we were SO thankful to be home.

There will be lots more pictures on Facebook, but I did have to end with this rather hilarious video! (This is the "harbor plaza" in the hotel where they had an opera singer each night.)

September Mayhem

September has flown by mostly due to the fact that we have been all over the place! The end of August marked the first and last chunk of time off for Hector for a while. Therefore, we filled every day to the brim to do things and see people we don't routinely get to do and see. We kicked this time off with a visit to Hector's side of the family in Buford, Ga. We don't get the luxury of weekends off to visit very often so this is always a treat. We spent Thursday night through Sunday morning with them. Hector and I even escaped for Friday night to see the movie premier of "Courageous" at The Fox in Atlanta. It was a fun night to dress up and a great excuse for a date. The movie was incredible and you should definitely make plans to see it...THIS WEEKEND!! It opens in select theaters this weekend. Go here to find out the closest theater to you! It will challenge and renew your passion to lead your families as God intended, especially if you are a man. Ok, moving on from the movie. Saturday morning we got up and ate breakfast with some of our best friends in the world who we rarely get to see. They happened to be in town for a wedding and it worked out for us to meet for breakfast. It was a great time of catching up and encouragement. I wish they lived closer, but they are pursuing God's incredible call of their lives to plant a church in TX. I'm so thankful for that time. After that we headed back to Hector's parents to enjoy the rest of our time there until we had to leave Sunday for Hector to be home in time to lead worship that night. Here are a couple pictures from that weekend:

The following Tuesday, Hector and I redeemed his very early Father's Day gift of tickets to a Braves game. It was a great night for baseball and we had great seats. Unfortunately, the Braves did not care that it was the only game of the season we would be able to make, and they lost terribly! It was fun regardless. Here we are enjoying our great seats and each others company despite the crappy performance.

We enjoyed the rest of the week together at home with our little man, who is growing up so fast these days. We did lots of laundry, cleaning and packing for the craziness that was ahead. The following Saturday, Hector left with our youth group to head to Tennessee for a Fall Retreat. He spent the day rafting with them. I joined them that night after my mom got off work and was able to keep Cohen for about 36 hours. Fall Retreat was a good time of being with the students and being challenged in the Word about encounters people had with Jesus. It was a quick trip for me as we headed home late Sunday night. But not before I had my first s'more of the year, of which I shared with my sweet friend Rebecca. We share a love for s'mores but have not actually had one together. Here are a couple pictures from that weekend:

We had to be home that night because we were leaving for our family vacation Monday morning. Crazy, I know!! And that we did...we finished the packing we had begun the week before, loaded up the car, picked up Cohen from my parents and hit the road for Florida. I'm running out of time for now and exhausted already just recapping our month. So, I will continue in another post on our vacation!

On 'da big bus with Daddy

This post is over a month late, but I am catching up on the wild ride we have been on the past couple months. It started when Hector asked me only about 3 days ahead of time if we would like to go out on the road with the band for the weekend. He had been gone about a week at this point, and we were missing Daddy. I also knew he would be gone a lot this Fall with the start of a new tour, so I agreed and began making lists and washing clothes. This would be the first time Cohen had been on the bus for over a year. Therefore, we weren't sure what we were in for. On prior trips, he was able to sleep in a pack-n-play in the back. This time he would need to sleep in a bunk. I was optimistic that he would adjust pretty well. So, we packed as light as possible and headed to Atl on a Wednesday afternoon. The bus was scheduled to leave early because it was a long drive that night to Iowa. This was actually good because it gave Cohen a chance to get acclimated to the bus and the excitement sort of die down before we attempted sleep. The bus began to roll about 3 p.m...and C had already run the length of the bus several times, played in Daddy's bunk and acquired a playmate for the weekend, Megan's sweet little girl Lillie. We decided to attempt a nap and much to both of our surprise he fell asleep and took a pretty good nap! Good start!! That evening we stopped for dinner, watched some t.v., played with Lillie and then settled in for the night. Again, he did great and the noisy vibration of the bus put him right to sleep. I was a happy Mama and thankful the Lord had granted us favor thus far!

Well, I will try not to bore you with too many details, but C really did pretty well the rest of the weekend. He did not understand that the "bunk area" of the bus was quiet area. Therefore, if he was hurt, upset or mad he wasn't afraid to let everyone know even if they were sleeping. I was mortified a couple times and frustrated with the feeling of being "stuck" without our own space to discipline and let him play. He was excited to be in a new place and was not accustomed to the "rules" of the bus as are the other kids who travel all the time. This was a challenge but the other band members were gracious!!

Our first day we were at the Iowa State Fair. C rode the Ferris Wheel and a pony for the first time! He also got to experience a kids exhibit called "Little Hands on the Farm," where he got to "plant" seeds and walk through the process of harvesting, reaping and selling. It was really cute!! Here are a few pictures:

The next day we played catch up on sleep after a very full day at the fair...not to mention the fireworks that went off only a few feet from the bus right as C was going to sleep. And our last day on the road C got his first taste of a water park. We were at Crystal Falls in Hot Springs, AR. It was a cloudy, rainy morning but we braved the kiddie pool anyway. He sure didn't care about the light rain. We took a break for lunch and a nap, and then we headed back into the water for a little longer that afternoon with some welcomed sunshine. It was fun although lots of stuff that was too big for him. We finished off our night with dinner and watching Daddy play a few songs on stage before heading to bed. I settled in and was thankful for a weekend full of memories but also to be headed home that night. I fell asleep about 11:30 and only about an hour later I was awakened by a whimpering cry from C. I quickly scurried to his bunk to find a faint fowl smell. Upon asking what was wrong, he very pitifully cried, "I spilled out." (Translation: I threw up in my bunk). I took him to the front lounge where Daddy was playing video games with the guys. C informed him again in a very sad voice, "I'm sick." I frantically asked for help as I tried to aim him towards the sink before he continued. Well, I will spare you the morbid details here, but let me just say that he threw up two more times. We spent the next 30 minutes figuring out how to get myself and the floor cleaned up, clean PJs for C, stripping his bed and scrounging to find something to act as a sheet since there were no extras. Thankfully, he fell back to sleep quickly and slept through the rest of the night. As I laid back down I thought for sure I wouldn't be sleeping that night. But, God is gracious and granted us a restful night. Whew...I think I can say with confidence that was the worst-case scenerio on a moving bus 10-hrs. away from home. We dealt with a sick little guys for the next couple days but at least we were at home. I'm pretty sure the water park was the culprit, but we are thankful it didn't turn out to be any major bacterial infection.

It was a sweet weekend with Daddy! Although there were rough spots, it was worth it and we were thankful for the opportunity!