Santa in August

| Mommakisses

We got up a bit late this morning, not a great start to our time with the in-laws! After a couple false starts, we got on the road for real… only 2 hrs later than we had thought… not too bad. With the short drive, we were here by lunch time and after grabbing lunch, in the park by 2ish.

We are in Dale, IN… the middle of a bunch of corn fields. Really… this water/amusement park, a Denny’s, a hotel and town folk are the only thing out here… that’s not a corn field. For a warm summer day, there were not very many people here…oh, yeah, it’s Friday… I bet we are swarmed tomorrow.

I am thinking about my friend, KC, today… see her daughters tried to bring her shopping for her birthday a couple of years ago…this park is called Holiday World, and it’s in Santa Clause, IN… KC loves her holidays! And it would be a great place to shop for Christmas stuff… except it’s a theme park… the rides are all named some type of 4th of July, Christmas, Halloween, or Thanksgiving kind of name. And there’s not much else here, so to be here in the off season… well, let’s just say there wasn’t much for the ladies to do.

So, KC… bring the grandkids during the summer. They would love it! And, for a theme park, they have some very cool food things… like unlimited, free soft drinks all day long. NO, really… stop laughing, ‘cuz I’m not kidding. They have Pepsi (another bonus) Oasis set all over the park. You walk in, grab a cup, ice, and drink and out the door. They’re set up like any restaurant where you can get your own drink. To top it off, even the food price is not too bad… the in-laws ate there yesterday… four adults for $20. Wow!

I will put pix up… probably after we get home ‘cuz I’m just too tired right now. I’ve got 5 people asleep in this hotel room, and I need to do the same. I’m having a senior moment… and I’m much too young for those… I know there were some great things said.. I am just not remembering them right now… Maybe tomorrow…

Pix as promised

| Mommakisses

As I said, J was into the sand castle thing, so here’s some pix my friend took – the only thing you can’t see here is the waterfall… we were trying to head back to the condo, so the bucket he used to create it had already been picked up. You can, however, see where it was… it looks like a slide in the sand.

Here’s a couple more pix for fun…

Thanks KT for the great pix!

Kings and Queens of Bubbles and Sand

| Mommakisses

I believe we have a builder or engineer on our hands… something creative anyway…

The building begins..

While at the beach, while his brother and sister were playing in the water, his youngest sister eat sand, J built these incredible sand castles. I mean, really, what kid do you know that puts a working waterfall into their sand castle? People walking the beach would stop to watch for a few minutes. There are pictures… just not on my camera. I know, BAD MOMMY!!!! I will put them up when I get copies.

S, ever the water baby, had a good time with Daddy in the ocean. I think Daddy had a good time, too.


Along with everything else this week, the girls also got to do their first bubble bath together. They had a great time…

Priceless Pirate Pictures

| Mommakisses

One of the things my kids love to sing is “The Pirates Who Don’t Do Anything” from the Veggietales. When J and G were younger, Daddy would sing with them at bed time… they would act it out and be very crazy!

So when we found this scalawag standing in the souvenir shop, pictures had to be taken:

T – has this pirate thing down.

J – has had lots of practice with daddy!

G – this is funny!

S – can pirates be pretty?

K – you people are insane!

Other pix that had to be taken: K had watermelon for the first time today:

Sinner

| Mommakisses

Ted Dekker‘s done it again…

I just finished Ted’s newest book, Sinner. OK, now before you run to the bookstore… it’s not out yet… Unless you were at The Gathering this year, you have to wait ’til September 2, 2008. Sorry. I can tell you… it will be worth the wait.

Johnny, Billy and Darcy are back… so is Black. And the fight for Paradise is on again. Overall, I enjoyed this book. There were some great surprises. There were a couple of things I wasn’t real thrilled with, but even Ted can’t be 100% all the time 😉 The message is there, it’s strong and it’s worth your time.

We are all the sinner. We must all see the light for ourselves. We must all dive deep. Paradise awaits.

Wish You Were Here…

| Mommakisses

Family vacation is a great thing… time to relax, figure out why you like spending time together in the first place… to have good friends around at the same time is a bonus. To have other kids to play with… what a joy! It’s nice to have a group of 14 and have everyone one act like well behaved kids!

The first time a the beach for K was BIG fun… lots of rolling around and eating sand… what more could one ask for??? J, G and S act like old pros at this beach thing…for the first 10 minutes, then they would rather be at the pool.

Here’s a few fun pix for you to enjoy…

Family Fun

| Mommakisses

We made it to the beach… and the kids have kept us laughing… most of the time. Last night we were looking for a hotel in Birmingham, AL. J seemed to think we had left the States… “Look at that Taco Bell… that’s not how they make ’em in America!” I’m not sure where he thought we were… despite what some may say, Alabama IS one of the fifty states. We reassured him we were still in America.

Then there was this gem: We pulled back out of a hotel that did not have a room for us and J spotted his current fast food chain of choice: “Hey… they have a Burger King!” To which S pipes up, “Well, duh!” Oh we laughed and were treated with various inflections of “DUH” from that little voice for the next 10 miles!

Since it was late, and we kept hearing there was NO room at the Inn, T starts this fun family game: I’m going on a vacation and in my suit case I’m taking… to which family members must remember everything that has been packed, and add to it. Goofy tends to be the name of the game, and about the third round (remember it’s around midnight) T announces he’s taking panties. S shouts, “Not MY panties!” Hysterics! S’s turn follows T’s and she packs “My panties.” More hysterics.

Now, every other member of the family must pack panties AND S panties. And each time some one packs the first pair it’s “NOT my panties” and when the second pair is packed it’s “Don’t touch my panties!” When J packs HER panties, S states, “Boys are NOT touching my panties… Never, ever!”

I think she needs to keep that mindset… forever and ever!

We did finally find a room two small rooms to split the family between. Girls in one, boys in the other. S and K decided to make it hard on Mommy and we finally all get to sleep about 1:30. S has one more trick up her sleeve… her asthma kicks in about 3:30 (I think dust from a sleeper sofa got to her) and I spent the next 45 minutes trying to get her settled in my bed without any meds… Note to self: PACK MEDS – it’s much faster. We do settle and she sleeps in bed with me the rest of the night.

I hope tonight is better!

Walls: to tear or not to tear?

| Mommakisses

I have tried to not go here… I have tried to keep my piece about all that this man is doing… but I can’t any more. See there is a time when, as a Christian, I have to say that’s not right. Well, Barack Obama is NOT right.

Today in Berlin, Germany, he tried to be like Ronald Reagan… walls need to come down, he says. There is a lot of things he has said or done I have an issue with… this is the biggest for me:

The walls between races and tribes; natives and immigrants; Christian and Muslim and Jew cannot stand. These now are the walls we must tear down. (This is from this site, I think it’s his campaign site, http://my.barackobama.com/page/community/post/pattysc/gGxydF)

This can’t be glossed over. Jesus says He is the way… that means the ONLY way, and that creates a wall between the Christian and the Muslim and Jews. Jesus put a wall there to say this narrow road is the one to walk. I have a problem with someone saying they are a Christian, and yet they are willing to blur this line. Or tear down the wall, if that’s how they see it.

I am not going to stop anyone from believing what they want. But I will try to tell you the truth in Jesus’ words. I will tell you all He has done for me. If you listen, great, if not… that’s between you and God.

This is America, you can say and do as you like… and so can I.