Last year my cousin Amber sent me a VHS video clip of an interview she did with our Maw-Maw back in the 1990s.

In this video, Maw-Maw told us there is a cabin in Tannehill State Park that once belonged to our great-great grandparents.

Once I learned we have an ancestral home on display in Birmingham, Alabama, I knew we had to go check this out!

My kids love it so much when I drag them out on these sorts of adventures. Ha!! No, they hate it when I make them go exploring with me, but they lived. Plus, I think they even enjoyed it a little bit, whether they admit it or not.

Our extended family hosts a family reunion at Tannehill State Park every year. However, my little branch of the family has never been to the reunion or to the state park at all. We are not from the Birmingham area.

I was so excited to finally get to explore it and find the family cabin!

We piled up in the van in the blazing Alabama July heat. Of course, we took a stop at Buc-ee’s on the way!

When you first pull in to Tannehill State Park, you will pay a small fee at the gate. Then you will come to this grander old home in the front of the park. This is the park office.

This park boasts over a dozen genuine pioneer cabins. Eleven of them are available as overnight rentals.

I was delighted to discover that our family’s pioneer house, the Williams House, is one of the rental cabins! Plus, it is modernized to include heating and air and indoor plumbing.

I’m not sad that they modernized the cabin. If this park service had not taken on these log cabins and made them into nice rentals, we would not still have these homes to enjoy today. I love that the park keeps them in tact for generations to get to see.

We obtained a map from the park office, found our house, and drove right over to the Williams House.

Thankfully, no one was staying in the cabin at the time. We were able to climb on the porch and walk all around the place without trespassing on anyone’s vacation. If I’d thought this through more, I could have asked park staff to let us look around inside since we are family of the original owner. They might not have let us, but we could have asked.

The sign in the photo above sits in front of the cabin. It tells a little about the family who built and lived in this home. My great-great-grandmother was one of the ten children who was raised in this cabin.

Jim Williams was my great-great-great-grandfather. He was born in a town called Pitchers in Tuscaloosa County in 1859. By 1870, they lived near Calera, Alabama.

Jim’s father was born in North or South Carolina, where his people lived since migrating from England in the mid 1700s.

The 1870 U.S. census lists Jim’s father, Hilliary Williams, as a teamster. Ironworker unions didn’t form until 1896. Therefore, this 1870 census occupation of teamster refers to a man who drove a team of horses or oxen pulling a wagon, often for the Army.

By 1880, Jim was twenty and working in the iron mine right there near Birmingham. Tannehill Ironworks Historical State Park tells the story of the area’s iron and steel industry. That makes Jim’s house a perfect fit for this location.

In February of 1881, Jim married Martha in Tuscaloosa County. Martha lived from 1861-1943. Martha’s people migrated to America in the 1790s, from Germany, to South Carolina.

Jim and Martha had ten children, and my great-great-grandmother was their firstborn child. According to the sign, Jim was a coal miner and a farmer. By the time of the 1900 U.S. census, he is reported only as a farmer.

The 1930 U.S. census reports that this house was located on Greenpond Blocton Road in the town of Kingdom in Bibb county, Alabama.

The censuses also tell us that Jim and Martha could both read and write. In 1930, they owned their home free and clear with no mortgage. By 1930, they had lived in this house for a little over forty years.

By 1930, James and Martha were seventy and sixty-nine respectively, and they still lived in this house. They had a seven-year-old living with them named Gertrude. She was their granddaughter. Gertrude’s mother was Leona Williams, the second of Jim and Martha’s seven children.

Leona died in childbirth in 1923, leaving behind several children. It would appear that the baby lived, and that baby was Gertrude, raised by her grandparents, also in this house. That’s just going off what I could find in the census reports.

Jim died in 1938, at the age of seventy-eight. I believe he died in his home.

Martha went by the nickname “Mattie”, and she moved in with one of her grandsons and his family in Birmingham after Jim passed away. Mattie lived to the age of eighty-two. She passed away in 1943.

The whole scene looks so picturesque from this angle, even in person. You can tell they added on a back portion, which I’m sure was necessary with ten children.

We enjoyed walking around the front porch and swinging on the porch swing. This took me back to the days of childhood, back when all of our grandparents had a front porch swing. That was such a pleasant staple of southern homes back then.

Perhaps there was a loft up top for such a small house to sleep so many? I know some of the log cabins in the Little House on the Prairie series had lofts. My hope is to one day get to go inside the cabin!

I am sure the park service has fixed this cabin up a great deal. It was donated in the 1970s, and I don’t know if anyone lived in it after 1938.

The Williams family was probably conscientious and kept it up well in its day too. I’m making that assumption going off of my great-grandfather, their grandson, who I knew personally until I was ten.

Great-grandaddy hung a photo of this cabin up on his wall. He was proud of it.

Great-grandaddy was always so impressive to all of us too. He was a preacher, a farmer, and a carpenter. Plus, he was a kind and gentle but strong man. He loved to make sure the kids were entertained and to take us fishing in his little catfish pond.

Great-grandaddy had a wood shop, chickens, vegetable gardens, and goats. He built his own house in the 1940s and lived there until he died in the 1990s. We all loved him. He was very generous with all that he possessed.

The women in the family all appreciated how he would sometimes be found washing the dishes in the kitchen.

Knowing that Great-grandaddy’s mother grew up in this house, I can bet you anything she and her parents were salt of the earth people too.

I absolutely love places like this one. It hearkens us back to a simpler time, a time of bare feet, shelling peas, and no internet.

Who knows if Jim and Martha even had electricity in this house? Alabama Power company was not founded until 1906. Maybe they eventually did get power. I’m really not sure.

However, if you book a stay at this cabin, or others like it in Tannehill State Park, they do all now have power and indoor plumbing. If that is not appealing to you, they also have “primitive cabins” available for rent, with less modern amenities.

Other park attractions:

This little train that runs around the park was a charming, fun addition. Our younger boys simply had to ride it. It is functional too though. Tannehill is on 1500 acres. This train is a fun way to get around and see more of the park without having to use your car.

Pioneer Farm

There are several different sections of Tannehill Ironworks State Park.

The cabins are scattered throughout several different park areas.

I liked that the Williams cabin is basically the anchor of the Pioneer Farm area. It made it feel extra special. They have it set up like it would all go together. You have the cabin in front. Then behind it are the rest of the Pioneer Farm buildings. They have a corn crib, blacksmith shop, and several other buildings all right together.

Alan and I have always taken our kids to pioneer and colonial historical parks like this. These places usually include a blacksmith shop because they were an important part of that way of life. One time when our oldest son was in first grade, he and a friend drew out a map of their own theme park design. I thought it was so funny because their theme park had a ferris wheel and all sorts of rides. Then in the middle of their theme park, there was the blacksmith shop. BAAAhahahaha!

There is a lovely stream that separates the Pioneer Farm from the restrooms, mill, and picnic area.

We spent most of our day over by the Williams house and Pioneer Farm. Thanks to the heat, by the time we finished exploring this area and rode the train, we were beat.

Tannehill Park keeps going and going though. Since we were so tired, we loaded up in our minivan and drove around the rest of the park.

Tannehill Ironworks Historical State Park has so much to see that we didn’t have time to see half of it.

The other areas of the park include several campgrounds, another creek, the Iron and Steel Museum and Visitor Center, an event center, a Country Store, the Cane Creek School, and a country church and cemetery. One of these spots was also selling ice cream.

In the back of the park, there is even a Furnace Area with an archaeological research site. I would have loved to have seen the archaeology part. It would also have been nice to visit the museum. Maybe next time.

We did manage to drive by a few of these places and take a photo of the church. It was pretty.

I don’t remember where the church was from or what denomination it was. Maybe Methodist?

On our way out of the park, we saw these lovely deer, having lunch by the road.

I would tell you to visit the Tannehill State Park website to see a schedule for this year or to book a cabin, but their site is currently being redone.

You can try that link to see if it’s back up.

In the meantime, there is also a Tannehill park Facebook page. They will announce events there.

This is such a happy memory. I love that we got to go see this tangible piece of our family’s history. Even if you aren’t from Bibb county, I think it’s a fun outing for a family who likes to camp, fish, hike, or visit museums or historical parks.

You should also go if you have a kid who loves trains. That alone would have made some of our toddlers ecstatic.

I’m so proud of the hard working people that I come from. Maybe some day I will get to move back to Alabama and have a little place of my own too.

I have a good excuse to go to Tannehill and visit the cabin again too. My mom and my brother still haven’t seen this place. Maybe they will go with me.

If you like exploring historical parks, check out these other past adventures in photos:

Pioneer Park in Troy, Alabama

Valley Forge, Pennsylvania

Gettysburg Battlefield, Pennsylvania

The post Exploring Our Family History in Tannehill State Park: A Beautiful Place to Take Your Family 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.

White House made of Lego bricks, Legoland, California

Happy 4th of July, friends!

There’s this one DIY/home decorating blog that I love, even though this blogger’s home looks the polar opposite of mine. Seriously. She has 4 kids, and yet she decorates in white.

And yet it looks beautiful. Her blog is Tidbits-Cam.com,  and if you want to be inspired by photos of sheer beauty (who doesn’t?), give her a visit.

Today on her blog, she is showcasing inspiring patriotic images, and I liked it so much I decided to do my own version of that post.

So I give you 25 photos of America the Beautiful.

Since we’ve lived all over the U.S. of A., we have seen first hand just how gorgeous our country is, and I wanted to share that here today.

All photos are my own, except for a few that Aunt Janet provided.

Lego Mount Rushmore, Legoland, California

Go ahead and get that song in your head. “Oh beautiful, for spacious skies, for amber waves of grain. For purple mountains majesties…”

near Yosemite, California

Half Dome, Yosemite, California

Yosemite, California

a day at the ballpark

White House, 2012

Alabama

Sea to shining sea…I don’t actually remember which ocean this is.

Golden Gate Bridge, San Francisco, CA

Look closely. Many of those rocks are actually sea lions laying on rocks. Monterey Bay, California

Alexandria, Virginia

Alexandria, Virginia

One of my all time favorites. Not only was he making snow angels, but you can see all the places he’d already walked, just like the way the Family Circus comics show foot-paths traveled by Billy. So cute!

Climbing trees are a bonafide part of childhood.

Poppies!

Carmel Valley, California, photo by Janet

Carmel Valley, California, photo by Janet

Monterey, California, photo by Janet

youth, photo by Amy Driscoll

on the road again

Grand Canyon, Arizona

Cliff Dwellers, Colorado

Disney World, Florida

Alabama

Billy Graham’s “The Cove” in North Carolina, photo credit The Cove

I count it one of my greatest blessing to have lived in so many different parts of this country. It truly is America, the beautiful.

Happy 4th of July to you all!

The post 25 Inspiring Photos of America the Beautiful for July 4th appeared first on Stories of Our Boys.

One last basketball game with friends

The movers came and boxed us up.

Day 1: I promise our children do not normally consume sodas and play video games all day. Remember this was a manly trip…which really just means that I was not there, so don’t blame me. 😉

California: Do you see the train going into the tunnel? Look closely.

hangin’ with friends

There was an Avengers thing-a-majig going on there,.

And Caleb’s turn

Next Stop: North Rim of the Grand Canyon!!

Before the trip they thought the Grand Canyon was worth skipping. Ha! They get it now.

And on the road again…

I love these window landscape shots. The Southwest is uniquely beautiful.

This one made me laugh. Bless their hearts. Buy them some sunglasses!!

Once you finish chuckling over their eye covers, check out the FOUR CORNERS behind them: You can be in Arizona, Utah, New Mexico, and Colorado all at the same time.

I’m thinking this is probably Colorado. I wasn’t there, and Alan’s outside building a trampoline, so I can’t ask him. Poor Alan. So glad I’m not the one with the big muscles that builds things.

Mesa Verde National Park

As I mentioned before, we learned about these Anasazi cliff-dwellers in school this year, so what a perfectly timed field trip.

When do I get to go see this because I want to too!

This part would have been my favorite!

On the road again, just can’t wait to get back on the road again….

Next Stop: Oklahoma City

It just might’ve been his best birthday ever. And no, we’ve never been Braves fans, but I thought it went along with the whole becoming Southern thing. He approved. He also loved his bat bag and baseball cards.

They went to an OKC Dodgers (minor league baseball) game. Caleb is crazy for baseball this year.

It was a double-header, so Alan even got them a hotel where they could watch the game from their hotel room. Nice!

Well, iHop is a close second. Mmmm

Oh yeah, and Alan also took them to Pops, a soda pop factory/store. (Thanks for all the ideas, Greg!) They brought back a cooler full of sodas too. I might as well go ahead and schedule their dental appointments. No, it hasn’t been a full 6 months, but there was this trip.

On to Arkansas…

By this point, Alan was speeding the trip along, so they just whipped right through Arkansas, and on to Tennessee:

We were all intrigued to see what this giant pyramid was, and it turned out to be a BASS PRO SHOPS!! Haha!

And no trip to Bammer is complete without a visit to Bryant-Denny. (That’s the University of Alabama football stadium, for all you non-southerners or non football fans.)

They had to shield their eyes from the glitter of all those national championship trophies. hehe Roll Tide!

And finally, they arrived and reunited with Mom and little brothers!

We enjoyed being together for a couple of days, all of us as a family in our new house. But our work is not done. Alan, Joshua, and Caleb are over at my parents’ house, helping them move, and Joshua and Caleb are going to stay for the rest of the week. They are super excited because the Wii died in the fire, so Grandaddy has promised to buy an x-box for their house.

Happy Summer, y’all!!

The post Cross-Country Road Trip 2016: Cali to Bama in a Pick-Up Truck appeared first on Stories of Our Boys.

This beautiful lone cypress (a trademark of Carmel/Monterey area) painting was a thank you gift to Alan for being a basketball and baseball and tee-ball coach. It was painted by a grandfather of boys on those teams. This artist was at almost every single game. Thank you so much, sweet friends!!

It’s purely a man show this time, y’all. Last time it was just Alan and me. This time it’s Alan, Joshua, and Caleb.They are crossing the country mostly on I-40 riding in a full cab pick-up truck with a camper-cover. Is that what you call those things? I don’t know.  It’s a truck with a hut built on it to keep your luggage dry.

If you follow Alan on Facebook, then I have no news for you because Alan used up his text message plan and I took these pics from Facebook. Don’t you think it’s time for him to upgrade to unlimited texts?

Day 1, Friday:

Morning–hung out with friends and cleared out of old house. This military housing office was very easy to work with. Highly recommend!

Afternoon–Drove to Las Vegas

Evening–stayed at Treasure Island Resort

breakfast in Vegas with friends

Day 2, Saturday:

Morning–Hung out with the same friends they hung out with on Friday. If you’ve been to our house in California this past year, then I’m sure you met Tom and Amy and family. We love these people.

Afternoon–Drove to the Grand Canyon, North Rim (because we saw the South Rim last time)

Evening–Go to bed early because boys are desperately sleep deprived after having so much fun with their friends and 2 sleepovers prior to the trip. (See, Alan could have made them sleep in the truck, but he is kind.)

Caleb has tried over and over again to get out of this road trip. He begged to fly with me and JD, but we insisted. There is no experience like seeing the American Southwest for yourself. We wanted him to experience seeing America, appreciate the great distances, and see the Grand Canyon.

I think it’s going quite well.

Last night Alan said this in an email:

And, April, please know that we actually are having fun. I may point out a bad thing or two that’s happened but it’s mostly “really cool”, “really awesome road trip”, “thanks, Dad”, …with an occasional “No, I meant, you and Josh fly with me to Georgia and then come back and get the truck!?!” Yea, he asked for that during a lull today…BUT, it’s not much at all of the trip.

Future Plans:

Last night Alan said, “We’re staying the night in Jacob Lake, AZ and tomorrow is 4 corners, Anasazi Cliff Dwellers in Mesa Verde and then…who knows!”

I’m so excited that they get to see the Anasazi Villages!!  That one was mine and Caleb’s request!!  Remember, I’m only not there because my hip went rogue this year and won’t let me sit for long periods. I am the kind of person that would LOVE to be on a cross-country road trip. In fact, I went last time, and I blogged about it.

Have you seen the Anasazi Villages? We learned about them in the Classical Conversations curriculum this year. We even memorized this song:

“The Anasazi of the Southwestern United Stated built adobe villages on the sides of the cliffs from 500 BC to 1200 AD.”

Want to see what they look like? Here’s a short YouTube video:

When I talked to them on the phone a few minutes ago, they’d already left Four Corners. Apparently, the line was an hour and a half long, so they just took photos and left. We are not line people. I also skipped the Liberty Bell a few years ago because eh, history is interesting and all, but waiting in line? How many things are really worth that?

Meanwhile, Dan, JD, and I are relaxing at my parents’ temporary house. Tomorrow I’m going to go polish my floors.

Wait. Did I say “my floors”?? That’s right! We take occupancy tomorrow!  We don’t have furniture until at least next weekend, but I’m just pleased as punch to not have to put my stuff in storage or live homeless like I did last time we moved!!

Yep. We are happy, happy, happy!

Want to read more Road Trip posts? See this list from last time!

Cross Country Road Trip: Days 2 &3

Alabama: https://storiesofourboys.com/2014/06/20/road-trip-jd-turns-1/
Tuscaloosa:
https://storiesofourboys.com/2014/06/21/thoughts-from-the-road-trip/

Southwest:
https://storiesofourboys.com/2014/06/23/we-dont-want-to-eat-the-bread-we-just-want-to-collect-the-bread/

The post Cross Country Road Trip 2016: The Man Show appeared first on Stories of Our Boys.

San Luis Reservoir

Day One: You know we love a road trip.

Today we did something wild and crazy. We left our children with Alan’s parents, and got ourselves out of town! Does Alan have big, important projects due on Monday? Yes. Do I have important things to do Monday? Yes. Do we have children recovering from illness? Yes.

Do we have a wonderful life that we are thankful for and don’t actually NEED to RUN away from? YES! We just needed REST. Alan needed to go to bed at 9, and I need to sleep all night and wake up at 7–like a wild woman! We just need to be together, just the two of us, and remember who we are, outside of our jobs and our stress.

So excited!

Yosemite National Park, here we come!
Sometimes you just HAVE to get away.
First, we had a road trip, just a few hours. Alan drove. I built next year’s school calendar for Pacific Christian Academy. I got all the way through quarter 3, and then the Doritos and soda kicked in and I felt a little like hurling, so I put all the books away and just enjoyed the rest of the ride.
Why do I eat things that I KNOW will make me feel terrible? Bad decisions, repeating mistakes: One of life’s mysteries.

It looks beautiful, but don’t touch it. Now that we live here, we know that that tall, brown grass that covers everything is actually full of thorns. Yow!

The drive was, of course, beautiful. Endless, endless farms and ranches, mountains, valleys, hills, and plains. God just shows off in California.
Only one thing missing. Facilities. I can neither confirm nor deny if anyone peed on the roadside for the very first time. 70/ounces of water/day is a lot; that’s all I’m saying…

Ah, so nice!

And then we saw it: our little piece of paradise: a one bedroom cottage, with a kitchen, a gas fireplace, a gigantic bathtub, and…..WIFI.

So comfortable! You gotta visit this place!

This mirror reminds me of the ones they sell in Mexican border towns. I bet that’s where they got it. Now I wish I had bought one in Mexico myself!

We are so happy. We even took a couple selfie in a mirror, just like the “young people” do. 😉

We found an awesome BBQ joint!

After hours of seeing no sign of civilization, we were pleasantly surprised to hear that we are staying 10 minutes from the town of Oakhurst. By this time, it had been three hours since the Doritos/Coke mistake, so we headed on over to a BBQ joint in town, Alice’s Cookhouse. I love finding pulled pork BBQ in California. This is the food of my people. It just feels like home!

Did you see the wall sign behind Alan in the above photo: “Vegetarian” of Indian origin: meaning “bad hunter”. LOL!  Meanwhile, this place forever changed my ability to enjoy an ordinary BBQ sandwich!

YA’LL!!!

They put put coleslaw in the sandwich, right on top of the pulled pork. I couldn’t get over it. SO DELICIOUS! Now I just need to learn how to make coleslaw…
Tomorrow: we hike Yosemite. That will be the really good pictures! Don’t worry. I will share.

Tonight: Alan passed out at 9pm, and I’m plotting ways to get the whole family to this amazing vacation location!! That’s the thing about vacationing without the children. We needed the rest so badly, but I just keep thinking, “Oh, the boys would love this!!” And they will! Boys, I think this looks an awful lot like “Science Camp.” 😉 Field trip planning is in the works!

The post Running Away from it All: Yosemite Day One appeared first on Stories of Our Boys.

San Diego Day 1: I have never been so badly in need of a vacation as I was this Spring Break.

Actually, I’ve lived in need of a vacation since June 2013. I promise I wasn’t always this tired and whiny.

There were actually lots of years where I felt relaxed and happy. I was busy, but it was a healthy level of busy.

I want to get back to that healthy level of busy, but happy again!!!  

Forget this overwhelmed, stressed, and slightly homesick version of April. I am busting out of this. I know I can do it. This vacation felt like the first step.

Actually, I take that back. When Jennings visited, that felt like the first step.

Jennings said something that reminded me that some changes have been for the better. She said, “You are so different now than back when you had two kids, just a few years ago. You’re so much calmer now.” (or something like that)

That’s true. I am calmer. Our whole act runs a little smoother, which is kind of bizarre because there are even more boys now. A lot of that is just experience. Toddlers get a lot of forgiveness, and when in public, that’s what strollers are for.

Alan has also been asking me what we could do to get that “happy, outgoing” April back.

Mostly: Finish my first year of teaching. I didn’t enjoy teaching when I tried it in the public school, and I haven’t LOVED it this time either. Yes, I DO love being with my boys all day. I adore my boys; however, I’m not so sure I will be a home school mom forever. We all have different callings in life. What’s important is that I fulfill my God-given purpose. How long that will include home-schooling, I’m just not sure yet.

I have a few goals for this last 9 weeks for getting “happy, outgoing April” back:

1. Exercise every single day. I saw pictures of myself from the rear on this vacation. It wasn’t pretty. I tend to put on inches when I’m bummed, and that’s been happening.

2. Finish lesson plans!!! If I can get this done, I will feel so much happier.

3. Alan wants me to start “entertaining friends” and “hosting” again. We’ll take a stab at being more social.

and

4. Plan summer and fall vacations, because man, are they important!!! Let’s kick this off with a San Diego trip.

OKay. I know. That’s not what you came here to read about. You wanted to see San Diego, right?

Well, Day 1 was really just a road trip. It was 10pm when we rolled into San Diego. However, I DO have Los Angeles photos, so aren’t you glad you stopped by? 😉

Day One:

Sunday

We started out by letting Daniel open one last birthday present:

Alan had this trip planned out military style.

He printed out papers, in a binder, of a detailed agenda for every single day of the trip! He even researched restaurant options and routes through LegoLand and the San Diego Zoo, to optimize our vacation experience.

Alan planned for us to stop at an Observatory in Los Angeles, from which you can see the Hollywood sign.

What we didn’t realize was that this is apparently “the place” to be at sunset, so the crowds and parking were INSANE.

Not only did I have to drive in LA, against my better judgement, but I had to drive up the hills to this observatory thing and find parking. Ugh. We did a quick driver switcher-oo for the parallel parking portion. I am so bad at parallel parking!

Oh, and as I was anxiously driving the 8 lane highway through LA, Daniel suddenly let out a “WHOOO-YEAHHHH!”

“Daniel! What in the world are you yelling for?”

Daniel grinned sheepishly, “LegoLand. Me excited ’bout LegoLand.”

Ah.

One great thing about having four children is that it forces you to get nice hotel rooms.

We stayed at a suite that could comfortably sleep six. We experimented with bunking Joshua and Daniel together, so we wouldn’t have to unfold the sofa bed. That lasted all of ten minutes.

This road trip was an amazing success. All children were well behaved, quiet, and excited. There were no traffic jams, car problems, or accidents. We even pulled into a “full service” gas station where they pumped our gas and washed our windshield for us, old school style. We never even got out of the car.

Come back tomorrow, and I’ll actually tell you about the vacation! 😉

Today I’ve been cycling mountains of laundry, uploading photos, studying the book of Luke, and WORKING OUT.

That’s right. I did 30 minutes of P90x, because “ain’t nobody” got time to exercise for 90 minutes. 😉 Meanwhile, I’m sure my arms will be killing me tomorrow.

We are bringing happy April back!

“Then the Lord said to Cain, “Why are you angry? Why is your face downcast? If you do what is right, will you not be accepted? But if you do not do what is right, sin is crouching at your door; it desires to have you, but you must master it.”

Genesis 4:6-7

The post Day 1 of the Trip to San Diego. Vacation renews a tired Mom. appeared first on Stories of Our Boys.