A Sensual Tour of Seattle

It has taken years (15 I guess) to come to a place that Mr. Incredible and I can travel well. Meaning the whole experience is good. From airports and booking good hotels on a budget to balancing fun and rest and dinner reservations -we have lived and learned through trial and error over the years. Our trip to the Seattle area was as good as it looks....

I thought I'd take you on a little tour of the area....

through your senses

Behold....

Inhale....

the briny ocean

 the fish market

old & musty on the underground tour

downtown urine smell, 

earthy woods, 

Taste...

Bacon wrapped halibut with Butter & wine sauce over yukon potatoes and green beens- even better than it looks

Washington is a large producer of berries, these were the biggest and sweetest I'd ever had

Seattle is cloudy, cool and rainy, (an exact opposite of Oklahoma) the perfect place for expresso- 

it was everywhere

I'll tell you what a curd is....it's delicious! freshly made there at Beechers in Pike Place Market- you must try a curd sometime

Raspberry lemonade, fried everything and vinegar based cole slaw (wonderful)

 Feel...

a free chair massage on the ferry ride over to Kingston

the cool mountain water and smooth stones for our kids

to have and to hold :)

touching the past

Listen.... 

walking faster on the trail when you hear the roar of rushing water

the hall of guitars at the EMP

silence

until we picked up the kids monday night- 

then it was back to bickering, yelling and complaining

one of these days maybe we'll figure out how to fix that

Seattle & convention totebags!

Cody returned from the SBC annual convention. He did well and brought me a new bag....

 I love it because it's different AND because it has the Seattle Space Needle on there....

In a few weeks the pastor and I will have an affair to remember in beautiful Seattle! Seattle gets me through the day sometimes. When I seem really overwhelmed because I have 3 children at home for the summer (imagine me going cross eyed there) and am working yet having to coupon  & garden & counsel & teach & train & run for a 5K & make signs & cook & clean ( wait I am postponing that for awhile) & do the laundry &  b/c the baseball season just won't end .....

1.  pray asking God to change my heart
2. go back to the most important thing- people hearing the gospel & repenting & following Jesus
3. sing....I don't know what I'd do without song....
4. Think about Seattle....

at camp, again

Camp. day 1

I find myself at camp once again this summer. 

This time Cody is camp pastor. I am just along for the ride. The kids and I were asked to come. So here we are. I have meals prepared three times a day. Rejoice! However, there is no internet. Ahhhhhh! 

We will survive. People have been known to live without it for centuries so I am not worried. 

We are 2 miles north of Vici, OK. Cody and I came here years ago the summer we got married. It’s in the Northwestern part of OK. The slow pace and lack of responsibility gives me time to think. 

So far I have learned 

       1. People up here are really nice, they have no idea who I am, not that I’m anybody
       2. The dirt is sand not red. And it's everywhere. EVERYWHERE.

1. It’s not as open as you’d imagine, there are trees here. 
2. Charis is 2 and has clearly not ready for camp anytime soon.
3. My older kids are growing up way to fast. 

Speaking of growing up. Silas’ summer milestones include buying shades to make him look cool, choosing deodorant and cologne over toys. 

sincerely, 

A somewhat Happy Camper

day 2

Well Camper Charis peed in her bed last night. Always fun when your child seeks to ruin other people’s property with no washer/dryer available.

We’ve pulled out no less than 30 stickers out of shoes and I am still perplexed at the amount of sand in NW OK.

Cady has found BBF’s -twins. Her summer fascination with twins has come full circle. These girls are cute. 

The camper is a novelty. Little bathtub, little sink. Close family time. Unplugged and unconnected as we are, we have reverted to looking at flowers, physical activity and squashing bugs. 

Sincerely, 

stinky camper

later day 2...

well I found a washer, took a nap outside (in a reclining chair under a shady tree) , watched my daughter shoot a bow and arrow, watch God at work using Mr. Irresistible (without moving an inch myself- alas it can happen), have officially begun a diet (They give small portions: funny- when they yelled for seconds Cady when up but returned empty handed, when we asked why she said, “It was the same stuff” :)) and have been reading a book on recycling

In regards to recycling I am doing pretty well, I am a saver by nature- reduce and reuse and recycle. I am used to weird looks from Cody and other mother’s my age. The older people at church get it. It comes from my parents. 1. they are older than my friends parents and were born just post ww2 and used to mandatory rationing 2. we never had a whole lot of excess- plenty of wonderful memories and what we needed 3. necessity is the mother of invention- we have multi uses for everything or can use our left brains to be creative

BUT I am going to make a few changes- 

*being more intentional with those cloth bags I insisted on collecting- no more forgetting them in the car!

*a compost pile - I need better soil anyway

*turning stuff off when not in use

*making a difference where I can, like at church when I lead- I have come to loathe styrofoam- easy yes but who says kids can’t wash dishes? we have plates and cups- I could save quite a bit in saying no to peer pressure and implementing this- who knows maybe someone else will follow suit. 

I am a former tree hugger, I admit. But I conserve out of a different perspective now. The earth is the Lord’s we are to take care of it, not for ourselves but in graditute for what God has done. I have a feeling it’s all gonna get worse before it gets better and the Lord himself will restore the earth- I’m not too worried but I’ll do what I can. Because I am cheap! And I love when people look at me strange cause now I can just say, “Go green” and I’m cool again.

day 3 

We will sleep in our own beds tonight. Hurray!

We took off after lunch to explore the region. There were 3 state parks within an hour and we choose Alabaster Caverns. I love exploring our state. I don’t think our state gets enough credit for it’s parks and recreation areas. Caverns in Ok. Here’s some pictures.

Above the caverns, cool ravines- 

I loved the mile long walk through crazy stuff like this

The area where the caverns were had the red clay we are used to- unlike the camp with the sand. Charis got it all over me and her both. We washed up and joined the campers for family night. The cook out was delicious. I will miss all the meals. 

This is what Charis looked like after the church service. She played in the sand then smears it all over her face when she brushes her hair back. 

Sincerely, 

Stinky and Dirty Camper

Families on Mission day 1

We are 7 adults, 5 tweens and teens, 6 "under 10's". We are Velma Comets (and one Bray donkey ) headed southeast for 7 days of beach reach, Bible Clubs and Patriotic Musicals. We are sinners and saints, saved by grace telling truth and offering hope to people on vacations. Why? Because I have begun to realize on any given summer Sunday people aren't going to church anymore. They are going to play. So if we are going to reach people we are going to have to go where the lost are.

God has put 18 people together for purpose. We have prayed through work problems, van problems and ...well I'll let you hear our first answered prayer....

Ten of the 18 left on July 2nd, taking their time traveling and sightseeing along the way. The rest of us die hard roadies are leaving at 4 am on July 3rd. Traveling 13 hours all in one day.


So speaking of road trippin....some pictures from the last one and some ideas of how we do it.

Dvd players and DS's - it's just part of being an American kid. There are also books, and I let them pick them out on their own at the library - I also offer to buy them books. Books are important! But the best way we've found to get reading in on a trip is do read together the same book. We read a Junie B Jones book on this trip. The library also has lots of books on cd.

We are waiting for someone to make a car with a divider between loud children in the backseat and "wanting to converse" adults in the front seat. Something besides a cop car. While we wait the ipod has been a lifesaver for this guy.

These little cups I found at Micheals craft store a year ago. They have lids , were only 1$ and fit perfectly in my cupholders. I got three. They are amazingly convenient for splitting everything from candy to chips to even ice cream.

Under my seats I have a plastic bin that holds wipes, toys, spoons, books, snacks, juice boxes....they are helpful

Occasionally new toys will entertain for hours. Which is more than they do at home. Click here to see our lego set up, we aren't taking those to Alabama

Charis regrettably won't be joining us on this trip to Alabama. I am going to lead and cook and she still requires naps. And while I was doing Bible school Wed. night at our church she broke loose of her group and came front and center to me, pulled up her summer dress and flashed the group. She is entertainment on long trips but granny wants to participate in the trip and this is her specialty.

Speaking of everyone doing their part. We have been really have been blessed by many who've made food for us!! And # 1 need is prayer for the challenges along the way. PRAY. All of our 10 and under kiddos have yet to be baptized. Some have made decisions for Christ and are working that out with parents.

Mission work more often than not changes us as much or more than it changes those we minister to.

Disney Hollywood Studios and Ways to Save at Disney :)

Ok are you sick of Florida pictures yet? I have already had 2 more activity/photo ops and am desperately wanting to finish the Florida posts to write about those.

Intermingled here are pictures of our day at Disney Hollywood Studios and a few wonderful tips if you find yourself braving the Florida heat at Disneyworld.

I will say this we overall liked this park much better. There were more shows and even though they were announcing on the pa system, drink water, go inside, it's scary hot out here....it wasn't near as bad as Magic Kingdom. Just my take.

During the waits for the shows to start we enjoyed sitting down a little. I brought snacks. Not coolers full of stuff, it's crowded and I have 3 kids I can barely keep up with, I don't need more stuff. It annoys other ppl there, believe me and they don't let you take that stuff in the shows. Keep it light.

Another good thing....I froze water bottles, there have been rumors about this being bad for you but listen it was very nice, I could've sold them and paid for our admission, and I don't think doing it once is going to effect my health forever. Ok we did it twice but I don't make a practice of it and my sister said it's urban legend.

What's up with urban legend btw? Is this the new hip word for old wives tale? And who were these old wives?

So after we chow down and cool off with half frozen water bottles we take pictures....

I love watching their little faces.

We had a few grumblers the first day at Disney so I set up a reward system- they each got $ 20 if they name called, acted like they didn't want to be there (oh yeah we had that) or in general brought the happiness level down they lost a dollar. If they were helpful or went out of their way to make a situation better they gained a dollar.

So we shopped a little more. My kids are normal kids and they want all there is to want. Like the balloons below. Cute, I admit. I'd love to have one. But we had a water park to go to later on and I didn't want one more thing to lug around. Us Americans and our stuff- it's a crazy love affair.

All the Europeans -nothing- just walking around. For some reason we are the only ones who are obsessed with stuff.

So we take pictures. Every time I  or Cady saw something we really wanted we took a picture. At the end of the day they could spend the money they'd earned on what ever thing they wanted the most. This worked well. We do this with the cell phone camera a lot too, esp around Christmas and Birthdays or when ever they want something, which is every time we go to the store.

Just fyi, I am big on multi use toys , things that require imagination - legos and dress up stuff/ props. And anything art or music or books.

This is the big thing at DHS, Mickey's hat. When ever we needed to meet up or know how to get somewhere you just look up. It's really big. The "rides" at DHS were based around movies or it was a show itself. We started off at Star Wars.

And I found these and  fell in love. Please someone get me one for Christmas. C3P0 was the cutest....





And just look at his lips!




If I did not loathe stuffed animals I would've spent money on these, they were so unique. Charis liked playing with them.

Well the guys went to see a car stunt show and we did the princess stuff....

Ariel was interesting. A real girl sang, they had clips from the movie and this thing...


It was massive, wiggling and gosh I identified with her. I think I gained 5 pounds.

Since this is my account, I am putting on Ms. Tea Pot too, I love that motherly character. Belle was my favorite show by far. In true Broadway style it brought back a lot of memories. I had played Belle in High School and did a mini musical with it during summer musical theater camp with students years ago. The costumes where enchanting and the sets were very creative.