We’re here! Our first little road trip since Kaylia joined our family. We didn’t know how it would go, but it was a fun day, with only a few crazy moments! I guess it helps that the girls are seasoned travelers – they spend A LOT of time in the van on our trips to the city.
Here are some pictures from our day:
Stopping for lunch:
Almost there…
New drivers:
Our view of the clinic from our hotel:
My adventure awaits me…
We had a beautiful weekend! After the group left on Sunday and Ben was done working for the day, we had a great time relaxing and playing.
My two favorite parts? I went down the tube slide a couple of times because I wanted to, and I had to convince Anika to come along (That slide takes years off your age – if you want to feel like a kid again, come visit us and go down the tube slide!). And seeing Anika zooming around on skis was my other favorite thing! Oh, and the sunshine. Three favorite things.
I have the good feeling of being family-fun-filled and ready to tackle another week! Hope you do too!
Anika asked if we could please have a very fun day today so that it could go by very quickly, so that we could go home sooner, because she is homesick.
I wanted the day to feel as long as possible!
We had a picnic in the park, and it was the most beautiful day ever.
After lunch, we played on the play structure for a little while.
Then my mom took Kaylia home for a nap while the rest of us went for a walk. It worked out well, because the stroller would never have fit on the little bridges we walked over, and if we would have let her loose, Kaylia would have run right into the water with the supposed alligators, which we did not see. Safe in a playpen, fast asleep, was the best place for her!
But the rest of us had a great time. We toured a swamp. We saw what Florida used to look like before people moved in and made it more liveable.
I’ve always loved these little bridges and paths.
After the park, we made a couple of trips to the pool, and packed up. Tomorrow we fly home. I’m sad, but I miss my house. And I’m ready for Christmas, and Christmas must have snow. So back to the snow we go!
It was the kind of afternoon that you wish could last forever.
These last two weeks have been busy with our “Counselor in Training” program. It’s our favorite time of the summer, and it’s come to an end very quickly. We spent the afternoon cliff jumping with the CITs at Nutimik Lake, and it was the perfect afternoon for it.
I love thermometers. I’m just the kind of person who likes details. I like to know what temperature it is before I go outside. I like to know what to expect, and I like to dress accordingly. We used to have a thermometer, but something happened to it. We don’t know what. It is just gone. So now when I get up in the morning, I can look out the window and see beautiful sunshine, but what does that mean? The most beautiful, sunny day can look warm, but be cold.
This morning was one of those mornings. And I just wanted to know what kind of a day we were dealing with here.
So I announced that I wanted a thermometer for my birthday. And I meant it. It is safe to make an announcement like that, because I know that Ben has not bought my birthday present yet.
Anika wanted to know why I wanted one, and I could tell that she was quite confused as to why on earth I would want a present like that. I told her it was because when I get up in the morning, I want to know what kind of a day it will be.
“It will be a sunny day,” she said.
“Really? How do you know?” I asked, thinking that maybe someone had checked a weather forecast and told her it would be sunny all week or something.
And she said, “Because it’s sunny outside!”
So there you go. Apparently I make things way too complicated.
So when I started up my own blog the other day, the name of it automatically popped up as “Kendra’s Blog.” I had intended to be slightly more creative and family-inclusive than that, but nothing came to mind at the moment, so I just left it for the time being. Since then, Ben has been so very helpful in his suggestions – I’m finding that naming babies and naming blogs with him is equally challenging and amusing. He knows that I’m not really interested in having a cheesy blog name, so he delights in coming up with stuff like “Wilderness Wanderings” or “Dueck Daily”. Anika thought it should be “Dueck Daily Bread.” We’ll keep trying… Having written this, I’ve now put all kinds of pressure to come up with a good name. Maybe I’ll just leave it as “Kendra’s Blog”!
Ordinary Days 