The First 5 Days

It's All In How You Frame It

My kids aren't really that tall...  ;)

We are enjoying our 5th evening of nomadic life, and things feel almost normal tonight.  Tim had a great work day, the kids and I did some schoolwork, we explored a local park and discovered birds and trees we’ve never seen before - actually saw a flock of parrots migrating - What!?! - and now we’re watching “Fixer Upper” for the first time ever.  Most of our Great Adventure year will be like this day.  Ellie says that she likes “hotel routine.”  After all, this will be our third night in one place!  :)

On Friday, we packed our home into a storage unit, packed our “essentials” into the van, and hit the road.  After over 12 hours of driving through crazy traffic, entertaining neighboring cars with a chicken puppet, meeting a very kind police officer when she pulled us over to chat, and a very unkind motel owner who for some reason was cranky about our checking in at 2am, we finally hit the hay.

Saturday was our day to explore the Redwoods.  We didn’t have much time, but what we all most wanted was to just walk among these magnificent beauties, the tallest living things on the planet.  In one day, we saw thundering ocean waves, towering redwoods, and a sky filled with a million stars.  We were absolutely humbled, in awe of our amazing Creator.

On Sunday, we visited The National Yo-Yo Museum in Chico on our way down to LA.  Tim has wanted to see this place for 15 years and was thrilled to see the largest operational yo-yo in the world and even several yo-yo’s made by the company he works for.

....and now for the "fine print."  ;)  The creating of this blog has been a matter of some discussion in our family.  We really want to make sure that we aren’t just putting up a bunch of photos of amazing adventures to in any way make anyone (…meaning ourselves) think that we or our particular adventures are any kind of big deal.  This mama is not ok with the young people thinking about the blog while we’re doing something, distracting from just experiencing it.  What we DO want is for our dear family and friends to know what we’re doing and know that we love them and are thinking of them.  (...and the kids will be sharing what they are experiencing and learning, as required by their teacher.)

I’m already learning that it’s all in how you frame it.  People ask Tim about his experience so far, and he enthusiastically shares about the Redwoods and the yo-yo museum, both dreams come true for him.  No mention of his sore bottom, lack of sleep, unkind treatment, or even the amazing adventure when the fuses in our cigarette lighters blew and we had no power for any electronic device and no way of knowing exactly where our Saturday night hotel was and ended up miraculously finding it for a midnight check-in.  ;)  He frames his experiences in enthusiasm and a grateful heart.  It doesn’t hurt that he looks through his camera that way, too, and frames some amazing photos.

I, on the other hand, am often tempted to frame the beautiful experiences in the sometimes painful reality.  I am grateful... and I do enjoy the moments... but I struggle and laugh through Brie’s injured knee and ant bites and the late night hotel check-ins and the “what do we have to eat?”s and celebrating my 23rd anniversary at a tiny yo-yo museum.  ;) I want to be honest, to be real.  We all know that when people “post” pictures, they post their best, and there’s usually a real story behind it.  No worries... I won’t share all of the real stories.  ;)  Just know that they’re there.  Every photo is framed by reality, if you were to zoom out a bit.

On our very first day on the road, we were pulled over by a cop, who was kind; and treated like naughty children by a motel clerk. We had “done something wrong” in both cases.  What a great opportunity to model understanding for people who are cranky, and to experience first-hand the effects of kindness or unkindness and discuss how that feels and therefore how we should treat people.  Our personal Kindness Adventure started right off with a kindness lesson.  It’s all in how you frame it.

We hope that all of our photos will be framed with gratitude.  We are so thankful to Tim’s company for giving us the opportunity to have this adventure, and for giving Tim such an amazing message to share with kids all around the country.  We are thankful for this great country, full of rich history and jaw-dropping natural wonders to explore.  We are thankful to our awesome God, who is good all the time, and will faithfully teach us through it all.  And we are thankful for you.  For real.