If you follow both of my websites, you know that I did a top ten list for Gettingmyacttogether.com last week. I would never just shun my original website by not giving it a “Top 10 Most Popular” post too.

Over the past couple of years, I have tried to take storiesofourboys.com into a more focused direction.

Y’all know I started out blogging about parenting four boys, and my oldest son was absolutely not having it. He was right. You can only put so much on the internet about your real life. I tend to be an open book, so I had to be reminded of this.

Since then I have moved on to other topics.

Believe it or not, my Bible archaeology articles bring the lion’s share of people to my blog. That helped me decide to dedicate more of this website to articles relating to faith, Bible Archaeology, and travel. I cannot ignore my parenting/home school roots here though. The home school articles still do well.

The funny thing is we are not currently a home-schooling family. However, we have gone in and out of that lifestyle repeatedly, thanks to all the moves and COVID. Therefore, the home schooling niche still has a place on this website too.

The only way I know to categorize all those things in one place is to call this a faith-based website.

I write about all things related to Christian parenting and Christian beliefs.

The travel ties in because Christian families should go on vacation too. ha!! I don’t know. I just love travel, so it stays. To be fair. some of my travel does involve areas related to our faith, like Israel and Rome.

However, I always feel like I need a disclaimer. When you see me sitting on my rear end, eating Nacho Cheese Doritos, drinking Coca-Cola, and watching Designing Women in the middle of the day, you may feel disillusioned. The fact is that’s sometimes exactly where you find me. I am no picture of Baptist mom perfection, so please don’t expect that here.

I’m just another sinner saved by grace. I just happened to enjoy reading up on Bible archaeology discoveries and sharing neat Christian parenting resources that I may come across.

So without further ado, here are the Top 10 Most Popular Posts of 2023 on Stories of Our Boys.

By the way, the articles on this website still get far more page views than the ones on my new website, Getting My Act Together. This website doesn’t have any viral breakaway articles like my other blog does. However, its articles consistently do well and keep their traffic over time.

That’s why some of these articles make the top ten list here every year. Thankfully, I do have a couple of new ones on the list for 2024!

#1. 14 Tips for Your First Year of Classical Conversations

I wrote it in 2015, when our family was actively involved in a Classical Conversations community. While the curriculum has seen many changes since that time, the tips in this article are still extremely relevant.

If you are thinking about trying Classical Conversations, definitely give it a read. I know you will find it helpful.

#2. How the Sumerian King List Relates the Bible

See, there are plenty more archaeology nerds out there, besides just me, who want to know about ancient history and how it relates to the Bible! I love this stuff.

The Sumerian King List is from ancient Mesopotamia, The fascinating thing about it is that it references their kings as the ones before the “Great Flood” and after it. Oh, and by the way, just as in the Bible, the kings from before the flood lived insanely long lives. Intrigued? Check out the article.

#3. What it was Like to Wear a Linq Heart Monitor for 3 Years

As you can see, we cover many different topics on this blog! I have a rare heart arrhythmia called ventricular tachycardia. That is how I ended up wearing a Linq monitor inside my chest for three years. Thankfully, I am okay. My v-tach episodes are short and infrequent, and that is the key to my still being alive, without needing a zapper or a pacemaker.

#4. 20 Boy Mom Quotes that Will Make You Smile

I am excited to see this one do well. For one thing, I enjoyed writing it and creating all those Canvas. Secondly, it was actually written in 2023 and is one of my two articles from this year that made this list.

Plus, I wrote this article using my new “keyword research method” I learned from the blogging classes I took. That feels wonderful to see the classes I paid money for actually paying off for me.

I used to always write about whatever random ideas were in my head. Now I am using keyword research to become a better blogger and answer questions people are actually asking Google.

And yeah, boy mom quotes is a fun topic that is right up my alley.

#5. 10 Exciting Archaeology Finds that Support the Bible

Like I said, Bible Archaeology posts have turned out to be my specialty. In this one you will learn about Hezekiah’s Tunnel, the Tel Dan Inscription, ancient New Testament manuscripts, Peter’s house, and so much more.

It is so fun to dig in to all of these discoveries and see the Bible coming more to life.

This is the other post on the list that I wrote in 2023. I discovered this topic using my new blogging skill of keyword research too. This article marks so much progress for me as I try to turn this from a hobby to a job. It’s a big deal!

#6. 10 Facts You Never Knew About the Early Church

This post was inspired by the book, Tried by Fire by William J. Bennett., where I learned so much mind-blowing reality about the early days of the church that I just had to share! I think the time after Jesus, but before Catholicism was truly established as a powerful world influence is fascinating.

The way the church grew is incredible. Check out this post to learn little known facts about early followers of Jesus.

#7. Ow! What Just Stung us in the Gulf of Mexico?

I wrote this one around 2018, after our kids were stung, yet again, in the Gulf of Mexico. You know, most people have never been stung by a jellyfish. I have only been stung hard once, and that was when I was around fourteen.

But we have had numerous encounters with getting stung at the beach. Rarely do we lay eyes on what actually stung us, so I did some reading around on the internet to learn more.

#8. What the Nuzi Tablets from 1450-1350 BC Tell Us About the Bible

When I hear about an artifact from ancient times, I like to do a deep dive to see how they might tie in to the Bible. This is one of my hobbies. I have several excellent archaeology books I keep on hand for my ancient times rabbit holes that I get into. So you can rest assured when you read articles like this one on my website, they are well researched and do not come from Wikipedia.

I break this stuff down into only the most interesting tidbits. You might find it surprisingly educational and yet easy to read!

#9. Jerusalem in Pictures: Golgotha & the Church of the Holy Sepulchre

My Israel posts are my personal favorite of anything that I have ever written. To me, it was the absolute most exciting place I have ever travelled to. I still cannot believe I even got to go!

This post has tons of full color photos of the very place where Jesus was crucified and buried. The location of Golgotha is not a random guess either. This is backed up by the Bible and archaeological evidence as well as local history. I feel like most people would love to see it and will never get to, so I tried to share everything about it that I could in this series.

Then I took all of my posts on Israel and weaved them together in an e-book. You can find the book on Amazon.

#10. Which is Better: Home School, Public, or Private School?

I began writing this list of pros and cons in 2014. This particular list was revised and re-written in 2021. As a military family, we move every few years. That has created the abrupt decision process of choosing our kids’ schools over and over again.

At this point, I have the unique perspective of having sent four boys to all three of these options: home school, private, and public schools. My honest favorite is private school. The problem is that is not always affordable.

There is a balance to life, and we each have different circumstances, as do our kids. That’s why we all have to choose what is best for ourselves. In this list, I provide the pros and cons that we encountered that affected us the most.

2023 was a fun year for me to bring Storiesofourboys.com back to life.

I largely hung up my hat on this website from 2018-2022. Now I am excited and happy to call myself a blogger again and pursue it in earnest. This year I took this website from costing me $500/year to actually making about $500. Plus, I made additional income on my new blog, Getting My Act Together.

Looking to the Future

In 2023, I also became a contributing writer to Newsbreak.com and several publications on Medium.com. For 2024, I plan to continue to contribute to all four websites (my two blogs, plus Medium and Newsbreak).

Do I want to go get a “real job”? Heck no! I want to continue to work for myself. I am putting in the hard work now, making almost no money, with the hopes of making more as I grow. So far I consistently grow each month, and that is the whole goal.

In 2024, on storiesofourboys.com, I will be bringing you articles on sending kids to college, more Bible archaeology finds, and keeping the faith through all that life throws at us. I also still have one last Italy post to share, on that eight hour train ride we took from Naples to Sicily!

Can anyone go to Sicily without constantly quoting the Golden Girls? I sure couldn’t it.

Thanks so much for all your support!

You will see a lot more articles here this year, so I hope to see you more often! Your support, just by reading my stuff, means the world to me.

Happy New Year, y’all! I hope your year is off to a happy start!

The post Stories of Our Boys Top 10 Most Popular Posts of 2023 appeared first on Stories of Our Boys.

One thing I appreciate about Maryland is the sheer number of state parks.

Our state boasts fifty-three state and eight national parks, not bad for such a small state. There are also islands to visit in the Chesapeake Bay. Maryland also borders D.C., Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Virginia, and Delaware, so it feels like an excellent spot for an adventurer.

Not long after we moved in, I heard someone mention the King and Queen Seats at Rocks State Park, in Jarrettsville, Maryland. I figured that meant rock formations in the shape of two thrones, and I added this to my mental list of “must sees.”

We went to Rocks State Park and explored a little several times during the pandemic.

At times, it was actually swarming with people, and it was hard to find a parking space. With all the malls, theaters, and cities basically closed, the people were driven out into the outdoor areas. That was probably one of the better things that came out of the 2020 corona hysteria.

our favorite swimming area at Rocks State park

On our first several visits to Rocks State, we found an excellent swimming hole and lazy river type spot.

We walked the dog, swam, skipped rocks, and played frisbee.

What we did NOT find was the king and queen seats. Granted, we did not go out and hike up the hills looking for it too hard. We just parked at the first picnic area and headed over to the swimming hole.

Now that it is November, we decided it was time to hunt this locally famous rock formation down.

We have been inside far too much since school started. Saturday was the perfect day. The sun was out in force, and the humidity was gone, leaving the air a lovely, inviting 70 degrees.

Glorious!

Oh, and yes! Dogs are allowed on the trails. Rosie saw many of her kind!

(part of the Red Trail, not near the King and Queen Seats)

If you follow the brown road signs within the park, they will lead you to the parking lot uphill that is literally right beside the entrance pathway to the king and queen’s seats.

Of course, if you have never been, you might park your car and then take off walking half a mile in the opposite direction from your destination on the “red trail.” Ha! That is what we did anyway. We took a nice stroll through the fall foliage for a while before we asked someone where the King and Queen seats were and were pointed back to where we had started from..

So we turned back around, hiked right past our car in the parking lot and on that same trail mere yards from our car, and found all these rocks.

Giant rocks everywhere.

There was also a sign which explained why it is called the King and Queen Seats. It turned out to be from a legend. The story was that our local Susquehannock tribes would meet up there and their king and queen would take their place on these rocks in ceremony. The expert sign at the park explained that there is no evidence to back up this claim, but that it is probably a myth. Ah, well.

Honestly, none of it really looked like a throne to me either, so that was not exactly what I expected.

The climbing experience does not disappoint though.

You can truly feel on top of the world up there. Some of it even looks like a giant bridge. The rocks juts out over this cliff. With small children and dog in tow, I honestly did not climb it to its full potential. I find myself playing it extremely safe these days. Rocks State Park is one of those spots where someone is occasionally in the news for having fallen to their death from up there. Of course, I told this to all of our boys to make sure everyone was cautious, and they were.

Alan and the older boys explored the rocks more fully than I did. Rosie climbed to surprising heights too. She was so funny, whining about wanting to go visit all the other dogs.

I mostly hovered over John David and Daniel, making sure no one made any missteps that would lead to them plunging to their deaths. Out of all of us, I was the only who ever actually tripped, which I did a few times. Thankfully, I tripped on the trails though, not the rocky climbing area.

Of course, I also took tons of pictures. Every group has to have that one person. For now, I am that person. Caleb is the one for our next generation. He is very good about remembering to make photo and video documentation.

I think it actually looks scarier in pictures than it did in person. We did not actually engage in any risky behavior, really.

All of our family enjoys a light rock climbing excursion. This reminded me of places we have climbed in Harper’s Ferry, West Virginia, or Great Falls, Virginia, or Yosemite National Park in California.

Alan and Daniel in Harpers Ferry, WV, 2012.

Isn’t it silly how people ask if you are a mountain person or a beach person, as if you cannot be both?

Both, guys, both! We get to like both!!

But yeah, if I were to build a house anywhere I wanted, it would be on the shore. Mountains and cliffs and rocks like this are gorgeous and inspiring too though, and that is why God gave us both.

The post In Search of the King and Queen Seats appeared first on Stories of Our Boys.

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Do any of you ever feel so subconsciously overwhelmed that you just feel like doing nothing?

This week I definitely did not do “absolutely nothing.” In fact, I picked up all the boys’ school-issued materials for virtual school, set up and then re-set up work areas, and figured out how to work these new Chromebooks. That was a lot of things that I DID accomplish.

But it didn’t feel like I was getting so much stuff done, even though I was. I had so little energy most of the time.

And this morning, now that all the obvious things are done, I find myself wanting to seriously do absolutely nothing at all. My head feels sleepy, though I am not sleep deprived. There is almost zero energy in me, and I cannot think of any reasonable explanation for feeling so bleh.

My best guess is that my mind is more stressed than I realize, so my body is acting tired. Have any of you felt that lately?

Another monumental life change is charging towards our house like a bull charging towards a matador. Virtual School!!! I am over here feeling like I am standing with the red cape, bracing for impact, because no way do I actually know how to manage this bull…

Only the funny thing is we are all more prepared than we think we are. We did a bigger version of this back in the spring. Back then, there were no live classes, but we had to coach our children through their assigned tasks.

See, it is important to think these positive kind of thoughts because the fact is that I am sure there will be days when none of this goes right, and we NEED to scream.

This morning I was watching my husband out in the backyard, weed-eating, trimming shrubs, and coaching the boys through the lawn mowing. I thought, “He isn’t sitting on the sofa reading the same posts on Facebook over and over again. Where does he find this energy? What’s wrong with me? Why can’t I feel like that?”

Comparing yourself to others is always a terrible idea.

Yes, Alan scaled mountains this morning and had 12,000 steps logged by 11 am. He is not facing the enormous changes the rest of us are here this week. Yes, the boys are his kids too, but during virtual school, Alan does not even know what website they go to to log in each day. Nor does he already have the attendance start times memorized for each boy, along with their teachers’ names. I do not say this to knock Alan. We have equally important roles, but we don’t both try to do all the same things. That would be counterproductive.

Alan will be spending the first day of school working hard in our master bedroom-turned-home office. He makes enough money for both of us, and we need that. Team work makes the dream work. This week matters to Alan, but he is not the matador in the virtual school situation. He has different bulls to worry about, though he does support me in my bull-managing role as well.

I take comfort in the fact that back when Alan was facing returning to work after our two-week vacation, he too was sitting on the sofa all day, playing his Township app.

I’m telling you, doing nothing is a natural human response when facing a large, dreaded task.

Don’t feel bad if you find yourself playing seemingly useless apps or sitting on your porch staring at your flowers. This is how we cope! Letting your mind have time to think, process, and prepare is a very healthy thing to do.

There are actual research studies that support the health benefits of doing nothing, but I was too tired to read very much of them. haaaa! But you can read all about it here at Ivy Exec or here at Elle magazine.

I thought Pooh’s words said it well enough.

You guys take the time to enjoy your Labor Day weekend! The week with all of its demands will be waiting for us on Tuesday, and we will handle that then. Happy Labor Day, friends!

We are all going to find a way to make this work, and when things get rough, we will pray! I never cease to be amazed with how quickly God answers my prayers.

If you haven’t joined our Virtual School and Newbies’ Home School Support Group on Facebook , be sure to join us! It is called Schooling at Home. We are a safe place to talk about this new reality of education that we are all facing together, and we’d love to have you pull up a seat at our table.

The post It’s Okay to Do Absolutely Nothing When Facing Big Changes appeared first on Stories of Our Boys.

We make this trip down south to see our family every single year. Alan had to switch jobs back in June, so this year we pushed the pilgrimage back to August. I kept thinking by August “things” would be better. But alas, August is here, and things still look like a bowl of mush.

Alan had to get special permission to even take leave and travel so far during all this mess. With permission secured, we packed our bags and hit the highway.

We left town in a downpour comparable to what I would imagine was seen in the days of Noah and his ark.

Cars were pulled over on I-95 to both the left and right sides of the road, as the water was almost impossible to even see through. Giant diesel trucks were everywhere. It was rough, but we trudged forth.

Our faithful canine companion was tucked safely on her little chewed-up dog bed in the van floor between the middle seats. She is a champ of a traveler, though she did take some fascination with a random truck driver at a red light in the D.C. area who she barked at a bit. No idea what her problem with him was. He seemed to get the message and inched forward. Ha!

By the time we got through Baltimore and Washington, D.C., the weather cleared up. Hurray!

We only drove five hours the first day and knocked out the remaining eight on day two. This trip went more quickly than past ones, as we did take fewer stops.

Thankfully, at this point in the pandemic, August 7th, we did not have any trouble finding places to take a bathroom break or get food.

Have you ever suffered an electric shock from a car charger?

Our minivan has a charger in the back row, which the boys like to fight over. They use it to charge their modern day Gameboys. We were in the middle of settling a dispute over who had the right to charge their Nintendo in that space, when Daniel suddenly let out a dramatic “Yow!” He was in deep distress, and all attention turned to his giant blue eyes and upset face.

Apparently, there was a small pencil in the charger, and he reached down to grab it out. He touched the lead and the metal all at once, which gave him a solid shock. He was shook up.

Then all the boys, including Dad, started to tell their shock stories.

One was especially hilarious. Our son was sitting in his sixth grade class, ironically enough, listening to a lesson on electric current and graphite. He thought to himself that his pencil tip was like graphite, so he PURPOSEFULLY stuck his pencil in an electrical outlet! My son let out a yelp and was forced to explain himself to both teacher and class. The way he told it was pretty funny.

This was news to me.

I had never heard this story. Plus, I had no idea that so many of us have suffered shocks! Caleb and I are the only ones in our family who have never been shocked. This is also quite ironic, considering Caleb was the toddler who got caught by all three kinds of mouse traps.

We all had a good laugh over the electrical shock stories. I love how we all feel so close during family vacations. Vacations are an essential part of family life. That opportunity for everyone to step away for their ordinary engagements and have fun together for a while is refreshing. This time builds bonds and heals hurts.

One of the boys has Siri on his device set to “Indian accent,” and we got to listen to him ask it silly questions.

Biggest whiner of the trip: The dog.

Rosie was happy and quiet for most of the five hour trip, but any time Alan got out of the van to pump gas or run into a store, the dog whining began in earnest. It was as though she thought he was never returning. Alan is her master, and she is completely devoted to him.

Now that Alan works from home, Rosie spends all day everyday lying in the floor of the room where he works. Some days Alan goes into the office to work, and Rosie will still spend the day lying in the floor of his room, waiting for him to return.

We ended night one at a Hampton Inn and Suites in southern Virginia.

Hampton Inn’s Covid Changes

Most corona changes are mild: wear a mask in the hallways, smaller numbers of people in the elevator, etc. The only change that annoyed me was breakfast and coffee.

For breakfast, you had to put in an order of what you would like from a menu, by midnight the night before. We only arrived at the hotel at eleven-something, so I felt rushed on that with very little brain power, but we got it done. Plus, you had to sign up for a breakfast pick-up time. I did not like that level of committing to a wake up time after a late night, but it didn’t bother Alan. He always gets up early.

Once you go down to breakfast pick-up, you had to wait in a very long line, which always feels counterproductive to me in the age of rona.

Coffee is no longer self-serve, which makes sense. You had to got to the front desk and tell the clerk how to fix your coffee. I tried to just make coffee in my room, but it was a different system than I am used to. I did not have the patience for learning new things, so downstairs I went for the desk-clerk-served coffee.

The good news is the coffee was delicious, and there was no line for that.

How was there no line for coffee? Everyone else had the energy and functioning to figure out that tiny alien coffee maker in our rooms?

We were back on the road by 9:45 on day two. With four children, that feels like an accomplishment. Yes, I am serious. Some people, (I mean me), have trouble getting up before 7:30 these days…

More on our Bama vacation on our next post!

If you are considering taking a road trip in the age of rona, and have not decided yet, I say GO! Yes, COVID is everywhere, but you can take precautions in one state about as well as another.

Happy summer!

The post Successful Annual Road Trip to See Family During the Rona appeared first on Stories of Our Boys.

Today, no that is not true, this whole year honestly, I have felt SO incredibly homesick. This is not a small pang that comes and goes. It is a longing much deeper than that.

I have always said that home can be anywhere, that it is where my people are. That is mostly true, but the thing is that a pandemic year is the worst year ever to be newly moved in. Plus, there is the whole problem of my not even trying to make a place home any longer. I have hardly tried at all.

Maryland is lovely. You could not ask for a better city, better neighborhood, or even better neighbors. Things are perfect here. We even follow pandemic guidelines better than the South, so we are all honestly much safer here. Our COVID numbers are down while at home they are up.

But it is not home, at least not yet.

I have not felt this homesick since the year we moved to California. Alabama is home. Virginia is a second home, so that was extremely comforting last year, but Maryland is still new, and it is just not home. It is not.

Last week Alan’s cousin Alyson, who is our age, was in the hospital for twelve days, fighting for her life after open heart surgery. All week our thoughts and prayers were in Birmingham. I am relieved to tell you she is at home now. Praise the Lord!

This week, as I was cleaning, I came across an old journal from my senior year of high school. One journal led to another, and now I have just read my way through my entire college experience. It was so entertaining because I always had at least one or two little melodramas going on, but it was also so sad because I miss those people, all of them.

I miss running to my parents’ house when I wanted to escape my problems for a weekend. What I would not give to go shopping with Mom, or Katie, or Leigh. How I would love to sneak in a beach trip with Jennings. I want to pick up the phone and call Heather, Nikki, and Ginny right over for a drama analysis of what I should do about this problem or that only to all end up laughing hysterically about who knows what.

I want to run down to Chrisynda’s room to watch movies with the group and eat her Little Debbie cakes. Then I want to jog around the campus of the University of Alabama without my back or feet hurting. I used to think those were the good ol’ days, but after reading these journals, I was reminded that those days were full of worries!

I want to go walking at Westgate Park, see an Alabama football game, and have Dad walk in the door at home to surprise us all with Goldfingers or donuts.

Usually by July fourteenth, we have all gone down to Alabama, visited all the family, and also squeezed in a beach weekend. This year I booked it all for August even before we knew about the ‘rona, but I know it is better this way. It is hard to wait though.

The past is a place best left undisturbed. Obviously, I cannot go back to my college days, but I would love to see my friends. And I do not want Alabama to be my past anymore. I want back in. With school out and all church happening at a distance, I am missing the ties that are needed to make this place feel like home. The boys are in that same boat with me. For Alan, it may not be as bad since he has his job.

The Army thing is a whole other part of it. We are eighteen years in to this Army gig. An escape to civilian life back down South near family and friends could be so close it feels reachable. It teases me constantly. I dream about what kind of house we will have and all the land I would like to live on.

But I don’t know that we are close to that Army retirement.

Alan is currently still on track to stay in. I do not see anything stopping him from getting promoted again. You have to have twenty-two years in to make colonel. Alan is currently a lieutenant colonel. A thousand times I have said it, and I still feel this way, but I cannot be the person who stops him from achieving that, if that is his goal.

My permanent return to Alabama could still be years away, but I try not to think about that. Even returning to the D.C. area would at least be a little closer to home.

Today none of that matters though. At this moment, I am just homesick. I want to go home and see the people I love and miss so much. Being away is suffocating me now, especially seeing that my children are not settled in here either. They think they are happy, and they play their video games with their friends everyday. That is why I let them play video games so much. Minecraft time is friend time in our current environment.

Now I know we will be okay.

I will. The boys will. Eventually, we will all be out and about again. God is still in heaven. The sun still rises every morning. Sky appears to be fully in place, not falling down around us.

In three weeks, I am going home. I do not care what tries to stop me.

Pestilence, disease, tropical storms, whatever. I do not care. We are going home for two weeks. Alan’s leave has been approved, and I cannot wait.

I am even trying to lose a few pounds so I will look more like the April you know and love. The last four years, ever since I began taking beta blockers, I do realize I have steadily been packing on the weight. So far I have lost four whole pounds, but that just means I am about back down to last summer’s weight. I still have a ways to go, but I am working on it.

The boys have quizzed me ever since school finished on when we are going to Alabama and why we have not left yet. We are all very ready to see you all.

Allen and Emily, I will let you know when have our schedule figured out because we want to see you so much. Amy and Greg, you too. Alyson, we will be happy to bubble wrap ourselves before we come see you so we don’t give you any germs. We are just so happy you are back home.

Nonna and Mom, y’all cook or don’t cook whatever you want, we just want to see everyone! We’ll eat or sleep anywhere. I only wish it could be going home to stay, but I will take the two weeks we are given.

The post Indulging the Homesick Feeling appeared first on Stories of Our Boys.

Alan pleasantly surprised me a couple of weeks ago when he announced that he had cashed in our hotel points and made reservations for us to spend July 5th in Ocean City.

Say what?? Granted, Alan can be very spontaneous, but this was even better than a last minute trip. This was a PLANNED vacation surprise! Wahoo! I had not even suspected that he was planning something like this. We have been basically stuck here. You see, not only is there a pandemic which we respect and take precautions for, but Alan is in the military. He is not even allowed by the government to travel beyond some specified radius for now. Don’t ask me what the radius is exactly. I haven’t bothered to look it up, but all I know is we are required to basically stay in place.

Alan and I went to Ocean City seven years ago, for a marriage retreat, but it was in winter. We have never been to their famous boardwalk. The children have never been down there at all. So this was something to get excited about!

John David actually said, “Well, I am excited because of staying in a hotel, so yeah!”

I was a little nervous about pulling off social distancing in such a crowded location. Catching coronavirus is certainly not on my summer bucket list.

In fact, I have only two items on 2020’s summer bucket list:

1. Do not catch coronavirus, and do my best to ensure the family does not catch it either.
2. Go to Alabama to visit our family.

So is it possible to pull off social distancing while taking a beach vacation?

Yes, I mean, not perfectly, but just as well as we do at home anyway. We ate out once and got take-out twice in twenty-four hours. Normally, we would not need to venture out for food or eat out as frequently as that.

I think anytime you go out and especially eat from a restaurant, it is a risk. Right? But I mean obviously, some risks are going to have to be made. Even going to the store carries some risks, but people do have to eat.

Before we left, I looked up Ocean City’s current COVID numbers.

Their numbers were even lower than our own county, so that was a plus. There just comes a point where you need to get out of your own house for your mental health, and we were definitely at that point.

Bathroom stops

I am happy to report that bathroom stops are possible. Royal Farms abound at every turn in eastern Maryland and Delaware, and their restrooms were open, so this was not a problem. I cannot say what level of cleanliness they were because the kids and I did not take any bathroom breaks. The trip from our house to Ocean City was only around three hours. Did you know that I have a bladder of steel? It’s an attribute I’m quite proud of. Once, in high school, I held it for thirteen hours, from Alabama to Texas. You see, public restrooms give me the eebidy-jeebies.

Our entire family is pretty crazy about Sweet Frog. This is a frozen yogurt place that lets you add all kinds of toppings of your choosing. It is also a Christian company. We were delighted to discover it was right next door to our hotel!

Hotel Stays with a Family of Six

Hotel stays have to be planned out very carefully when you are trying to room six people together. This requires that you book a suite that has two queens and a pull out sofa, or two rooms of almost any description joined together. This time we had two joined rooms, and it was so spacious and wonderful. Both rooms had queen beds, pull-out sofas, and full kitchens. Plus, one room was handicap accessible, so it had about two feet of extra width everywhere. Home 2 suites is also pet friendly, or at least this one is, so we highly recommend this hotel!

We originally booked a pet-friendly hotel, thinking we would bring Rosie with us, but in the end we decided to send Rosie to her boarding place. She stays at a doggie daycare that is run out of the owner’s house, so I can assure you, she probably has more fun there than she does at home. Rosie loves getting to go play with the other dogs.

The Golden Age of Parenthood

We are smack dab in the middle of the golden age of parenting. It is glorious. No one is in diapers, needs bottles, or needs help using the potty. Everyone can bathe themselves and wash their own hair. Meanwhile, no one can drive yet, so we always know where everyone is and what they are doing. This is our golden age.

I should also mention that we also left ALL video game devices at home so we did not have to settle any fights over turns.

Our Biggest Obstacle: Feather pillows!!!!

There are only a few things that could allergically ruin our vacation: cashews, peanuts, fire ants, peas, or feather pillows. Thankfully, our boys know how to avoid their food allergies with excellent accuracy and very little anxiety. Fire ants do not live this far north, so that only leaves the nemesis of at least FOUR of us….feather pillows.

It never even occurred to me to be worried about this, but it brought great distress and a little bit of asthma to our evening. Thankfully, I never travel without adult and children’s Benadryl. Several of us had to make make-shift pillows and switch beds, but I am happy to report that we did not end up at the ER. I cannot BELIEVE I was careless enough to forget to bring an inhaler. It has been a year since anyone needed one, so it never crossed my mind.

Yes, the beach was still somewhat crowded. It was Sunday, July 5th.

That did not mean we came into contact with anyone at all though. We set up our blanket about twelve feet from the nearest group, just as we normally would anyway. I did have to try harder than usual to stay away from other people in the water.

John David and Daniel were ALL about the ocean. I loved watching them enjoy it so much. That was another golden age of parenting moment. No one was so small that I had to worry about their every step. I stayed close to them, constantly scanning of course, but it was nothing like those years where Caleb would take off running in the opposite direction or J.D. thought he could just plow right into the deep waves with no fear whatsoever. I was made to be a big kid mom!

You may be thinking, “It’s not as pretty as Florida.”

Well, no, it is not as gorgeous as the Gulf of Mexico. It was fun though. Really it was exactly what we needed.

Daniel told me early on, “I got pinched on the toes by a crab!” Isn’t it sad how we naturally think kids are wrong sometimes? That is exactly why I FULLY deserved that very real, quite startling, pinch I got on my big toe an hour later from a crab that I could not see in that dark water.

We saw many crabs, of all different sizes that day. Maryland is not known for its crabs for nothing. In fact, their prevalence makes me wonder why it costs so much to eat them. Ha!

Alan buried the boys up to their knees, per their request, and then headed back out for some swimming. Why do kids love to be buried in the sand so much? Ick. It is not for me.

Pool Time!

According to the CDC, you are not at risk of catching coronavirus from swimming in a well maintained pool or hot tub. I think it is the chlorine that we have to thank here.

Home 2 Suite’s pool policy was that you sign up for an hour at a time for the pool. No more than ten people in the pool at any given time. The great thing about this was that we had the entire pool to ourselves for most of the time. We thoroughly enjoyed our pool time. It was badly needed. The only swimming we had done this summer was the day the boys swam in the stream at Rocks State Park.

Longboard Cafe

This restaurant was next door to our hotel, so it was an obvious choice. We lucked up and got seats right away, and the food was delicious. I am quite pleased to say that everyone was on their best behavior. It went much better than last week, when the boys had not been out in forever.

Childhood Problems

We noticed at dinner that Daniel looked all pouty, so Alan asked him what was wrong. Caleb said, “He’s just mad because he didn’t get to push the buttons on the elevator.”

I laughed. Kids do not like it when you laugh at their problems, but it is so hard not to laugh!! We worked extra hard to make sure Dan got to push elevator buttons on the way back to the room.

Home 2 Suites Breakfast

They did still have the free breakfast. You just had to pick it up and carry it to your room. I had one of those microwavable sausage biscuits, and we made coffee in our room. The kids, as usual, all ate cereal, and everyone was happy.

The Boardwalk!

Ocean City’s boardwalk is famous. I have heard people talk about it ever since we first moved to the DMV (D.C./Maryland/Virginia area) nine years ago. The boys did not care one way or the other. They are funny like that, but I could NOT wait to check it out.

However, locals advised us to steer clear of the boardwalk at night this trip. There has been violence in recent weeks. Not ones to ignore sound advice, we decided to do the boardwalk on Monday morning rather than Sunday night. We enjoyed Sweet Frog by our hotel instead, and no one was disappointed really.

It looks so fun, doesn’t it? But the amusement park was not open when we went. Arcades did not seem like a good idea during the ‘rona either, and we weren’t hungry because we had eaten the free breakfast at the hotel. Plus, the sun was beating down on us with very little shade available. I can see where normally it is actually more fun at night.

We stayed at the boardwalk all of thirty minutes and then headed back home.

I would have been perfectly happy to remain in Ocean City all week.

But then you know how much I LOVE the beach. Like everyone else, I am tired of staying in my house all the time. I officially miss regular life. Yesterday, I was so sad to be back at my isolation island full of people fussing about their video game controllers, I just sat down and watched reruns on Netflix all day. That left me feeling even worse, so today I am aiming to be more productive.

I am already starting to daydream about our next getaway. Alan has resubmitted paperwork to take leave to visit family in August, so now we wait to see if it will be approved. Here’s hoping!

The post Overnight Trip to Ocean City, Maryland During the Pandemic appeared first on Stories of Our Boys.

When this whole crisis home school fiasco started, John David, our resident first grader, sat down beside me and laid out exactly how his school day usually goes. He fully expected our distance learning day to mirror the way things run at regular school. Oh, boy, was he set up for disappointment or what? However, this did give me good ideas. This year John David has a teacher who makes school very fun, so she is someone I should be copying.

J.D. explained that every single day they start school with a fun game and going around and sharing about their lives in general. This teacher created such a friendly environment. No wonder he loved school so much. We all live together, so the sharing thing did not work out as well. They get all silly and giggly and really manage to say nothing at all, but the game thing has stuck– like glue. You won’t catch our younger two boys picking up a pencil until they have had their mandatory morning game session.

Game time in the morning is a great idea, and this is why:

1. It promotes a fun, happy atmosphere right off the bat.
2. Kids are actively learning when they play games. They learn skills as well as sportsmanship.
3. What else do they have to look forward to with everything closed? This gives them something.
4. Love grows when you are having fun together.

The boys have several official rules about game time too that I, sometimes begrudgingly, have to stick to:

1. No board games
2. No video games
3. No Go Noodle– That’s supposed to be popular with kids, but my boys hate it.
4. Absolutely NO educational games. No adding sight words, study questions, or math problems to the game. (You know I’ve had to be reminded of that one several times.)

So without further ado, here are a few games we have enjoyed. These are good for all ages, I think, but the ages at play in this house usually range from first through sixth grade.

#1. The floor is lava!

I set up old papers and chairs across the floor. Each player rolls the dice to see how far they get to advance forward to get from start to finish. This was such a big hit that we played about five rounds.

#2. Human board game

We have a ceramic tile kitchen, so we use the tiles as you would the tiles on a traditional game board, like Sorry or Candy Land, only we are the game pieces. I cut out squares of paper and wrote game play instructions on each one like, “Move forward 2, Move backward 2, Move forward 5, Switch places with another player,” etc. Then I shuffled the cards, and on each turn the boys would take the top card and follow the directions. I shuffled the deck each time we finished all 10 so each person didn’t always end up with the same cards.

#3. Hangman

This is one we do most often because it is easy to do. I think of a name of a book, character, or movie, and just play the regular old version of Hangman with a wipe-off board.

#4. Hide and go Seek

….when my feet aren’t hurting too badly

#5. Making Cards

They don’t love it, but sometimes we make birthday/graduation/thank you cards instead of a game. I haven’t paid money for a card in ages. I feel like this should be a natural benefit of having young children.

#6. Hot/Cold

They love this one, and I do not because, well I don’t know why because, but it isn’t my fave. We hide an item. Then they have to come in and find it, using our hot/cold instructions. They will play it over and over again, and I have no idea why they like it so much.

#7. Mad Libs

I love mad libs, but only one of my boys loves them. We’ve only done this one once.

#8. Charades

Well, you all know how charades works. The boys like this one, but I have to be careful to come up with very easy ones for our six-year-old, or he gets upset and gives up. This one can be super fun if you include people that everyone in the game knows and you have to try to act like them. Hilarious!

#9. Pictionary

I haven’t actually done this one yet, but we are planning to try it.

#10. Simon Says — or “Mom says”

Everyone knows how to play this one.

#11. Bingo

We only do this every once in a while because they have this firm belief that the winner should get a prize, and I find that annoying, but I do enjoy Bingo. Maybe just say up front that the prize is a bag of cereal. Haaa!

Free Printable Bingo Cards Here

#12. Twenty Objects

The boys like this much more than I thought they would, probably because it was new and challenging. You put twenty random items on a tray or large plate. Cover it with a dish towel. Start a timer for one minute, and take off the towel. Tell everyone to memorize what is on the tray. When the timer goes off, put the towel back over the tray, and put the tray away. They have to list as quickly as they can everything they can remember that was on the tray. It’s surprisingly challenging!

#13. Four Corners

Another popular one. They love this. One person, “it”, closes their eyes and counts to 10 while everyone scrambles for a corner of the room. Then “it” calls out a corner number. Whoever is in that corner becomes “it.”

This is an easy game to turn into an educational game because whoever is in the corner you call out can answer a question, but in the mornings I am forbidden to do this…

#14. Balloon toss

This is literally just bouncing a balloon around the room.

#15. Monkey in the Middle

You play catch with a third person in the middle who tries to snatch the ball as you toss it. This can get messy in our house, so we really need to do it outside.

or Bonus #16…Trampoline WITH Mom.

If I jump on the trampoline with them, they will count that as a game, but of course, not everyone has the benefit of a trampoline in their backyard, so I didn’t include this one in the fifteen list.

I hope at least one of these ideas will help you bring more joy to your children and your day as a whole. We all need all the joy we can get, right? I am always on the hunt for new game ideas, so please share your own favorites in the comment section below!

The post 15 Fun and Simple Games to Start Your School Day appeared first on Stories of Our Boys.