Ten Days and a Thousand Miles

I've fallen asleep on the couch three nights out of the past seven. Very tired. But it's been a busy June. And I've developed an aversion to blogging, apparently, since it has taken me a week to knock this silly post out! Anyway, in the middle of the month, our family had a wild ten days of traveling and playing and ordaining and eating and more traveling and more eating and playing.

Two weeks ago, I took the girls up for a visit to my parents' in Louisville for a quick Friday-night to Sunday-afternoon visit. That Saturday, we went to Frankfort, Ky. to meet up with bloggy friend Kim and her kiddos for lunch and to visit the Salato Wildlife Center—basically a little zoo for animals native to Kentucky. We crammed a visit to a kids boutique in there as well, such that Kim's kids had about had it before we saw much of Salato. Still, it was good to see her (only the second time we'd met in person!) and my parents, the girls, and I enjoyed seeing the rest of the Kentucky wildlife.

There were buffalo, deer, a bear, and a wildcat (of course!) but the coolest might have been this pond of catfish and other prehistoric-looking fish that I can't remember the names of. There was a tunnel so we could see them up close under the water!

After ice cream (for the adults at least—Kate fell asleep about 30 seconds before we turned into the Dairy Queen drive-thru!) and a nice long nap, we went to a little outdoor concert where my old youth minister was playing and saw a bunch of old church friends (i.e. my parents' friends that I don't see very often!).

Sunday, we went to church and Kate helped Popi in the yard for a while before the girls, Mom, and I headed back to Nashville.

Mom got to experience Arlington's new Sunday evening alternative worship, The Road, and hang out Monday until Dad came down too for. . . (drumroll please!) . . . Matt's ordination!

Yes, he's been in ministry for thirteen years and has been the solo/senior pastor of churches for the last five years, but in The United Methodist Church, you're not ordained until you've jumped through all sorts of hoops. I'd give more detail, but my snark is flaring up, so I'll just stop there. Hooray—he's finally ordained!

Mom and Dad took Kate back to Louisville with them from Tuesday through (last) Saturday for some fun grandparent time swimming and playing outside and going to the zoo and splash park. With five full days, my parents experienced the full range of Kate's mercurial moods, including a laying-on-the-ground temper tantrum in a parking lot outside a Hallmark store. Now Mom understands why I say I can't get anything done while Kate's awake :0)

The first night Kate was away, Claire got to go to her first movie! Being little (and easily quieted by a boob) has its advantages, I guess. We got to see a sneak preview of "Unconditional," based on the true story of Joe Bradford, a Nashville man who became father to countless fatherless kids in the projects. Very inspiring. Claire did great, and it was fun to have kind of a date (we ate at Panera before the movie) with quiet baby just tagging along.

Matt had to go out of town for the next few days, so our family was scattered all over and it was just Claire and I for three days, which was actually a lot of fun. She's such an easy baby (minus still waking up at 4 am, but no big deal) so we had nice evenings and stress-free bedtimes, followed by several hours of room-straightening, kid-clothes-sorting, Goodwill-boxing, a bit of blogging, and some nice scrapbooking time too. I stayed up till midnight each night, so satisfied to actually be getting stuff done! I kept asking myself why I can't do that normally, but when we're all home, I tend to be exhausted by the time Kate is asleep, and can only manage to check email or lounge on the couch with Matt.

Matt returned late Friday night, and Saturday was filled with more productivity as I got my car completely detailed (You know you're a mom when you have to tell the guy, "there's ink on that seat, and vomit back there.") It's so nice to have my car all clean!! And while the car was being done, Matt and I went to the mall, where I used a Groupon for a mani-pedi, took advantage of a huge sale at Gymboree, and we ate at Panera again. Matt said he couldn't remember the last time he actually enjoyed a visit to the mall :0)

Mom and Dad brought Kate back that afternoon, and we all (Matt's parents included) went out for an Italian feast at Maggiano's to celebrate Matt's ordination a little belatedly. We also celebrated Father's Day at dinner as well. Our actual Father's Day looked like this:

I should mention I also PREACHED on Father's Day—something I have only done a couple of times in my life, but I had some thoughts brewing and it wasn't too painful this time, since I wrote the sermon over the course of several weeks, not just the week before, which leads me to have a total panic attack, which stresses Matt out as well :0) If you want to read my sermon, it is posted in text at MinistryMatters.com and as a podcast on the Arlington website. My topic was parenting as an act of stewardship. 

Hope you had a good Father's Day. Can't believe June is almost over already!