We will never forget.
As Americans, we will never forget the tragedies of Sept. 11, 2001, and our family will never forget spending the 13th anniversary of this day in New York City.
I never truly understood the depth of the physical and emotional devastation here until finally witnessing it firsthand in 2014 during our RV trip around the USA.
I truly thought the book I’ve been reading was called Love Goes. I even told friends they needed to go buy it. Bob Goff’s bestseller is actually titled Love Does. I didn’t even realize that I had switched a letter to make the title my own. Obviously, I believe that Love Goes too.
Where does love take you?
Love is why I head to Valladolid, Mexico. I go because I love the people there.
I love who I’m there serving with and I love seeing my kids serving alongside me. Love is a good reason to go anywhere.
Our first mission trip to Valladolid back in 2011.
Our family closed out our summer with a week-long mission trip to the Yucatan. Unlike the two other times I have gone on this trip, I had a moment where I questioned my significance. I wondered whether my presence there was really important. Was I truly making an impact? What am I doing on a medical mission trip in a country whose language I can’t fluently speak?
In the past, I led Vacation Bible School in the villages all day long. Sometimes when we are busy, it’s easier to feel like we are making a difference. With such a large group from our church on the trip this time, I was “just” part of the soccer camp crew. I try my best to never question any role I’m given because I do believe that God puts us exactly where he wants us and it’s our job to just follow. One morning I simply felt lost without a real role to cling to. Why am I here?
Immediately the Lord quieted me and whispered, stop and look around you. Take a look at your children and husband. These five amazing people wouldn’t be here serving without you. Relax and take it in. I did and you know what, I was immediately humbled.
My eyes welled up as I walked into the room where my middle triplet was quietly cleaning the feet of local men and women as they entered the diabetes clinic. I never coerced him to go take on that role. I didn’t even know that was where he ended up until I walked in and saw him at work.
<
Next, I walked out back of the clinic to see my other sons serving in the hot Mexican sun, testing all the urine of the locals. I refilled my boys’ waters, made them laugh, and gave them sunglasses. Pride filled my heart as I watched them work together on this thankless job.
I then went out front to see my husband tirelessly shoveling and moving gravel. The men were covering the bare land that surrounded the colorful new playground that our church had just built. They were working hard, sweating profusely, and forming bonds through their teamwork. I felt pride watching my husband always working to fill any need day in and day out on his first mission trip.
My daughter was constantly loving on the village children. She helped in the diabetes and eye clinics as well as in VBS and soccer camp. She was a roamer and filled whatever need there was at the time. Here she is handing out cookies to the local kids.
One day I chased the kids up and down and all around the hot playground as they chanted over and over… Jugar! Jugar! All they wanted was for me to play with them. At one point I was so overheated and needed a spot in the shade to cool off. The language barrier between myself and my new friends caused them to follow me to my resting place and surround me. My first thought was, how am I going to be able to cool off? And then they began singing.
I don’t even know what they were singing. I asked one Spanish-speaking friend to translate it for me and what he told me was beautiful. The time I couldn’t catch a break was the time that spoke the most to me on the trip. I was loved just for being me and showing up. I sat in awe.
We may have times in our lives when we question our significance when our roles may not seem important enough. But, sometimes all we need to do is look around and realize that showing up in love may be all that’s required of us.
What’s summer break without a little camping action? We have such a fondness for our KOA brand after their sponsorship of our RV Family Sabbatical in 2014! KOA put us up for a couple of nights at their Branson, Missouri location after picking up our foursome from Kanakuk Summer Camp. It felt good to be back with the yellow shirts we know and love!
Manager Angie Dickerson with new Branson KOA owners Greg and Karen Wright.
At the Branson KOA, you can expect super friendly staff who are there to help you from the moment you check in to the park. They will also be in the convention center serving up free pancakes every summer morning. This perk is a huge bonus for our large breakfast loving family!
Not only did we love going for our complimentary morning pancakes, but our commute to breakfast was quite short. This was the view after walking out the door after stuffing ourselves- our home sweet home on wheels, Ally B.
Our premium RV site was just perfect and we had a lot of room outside to sort through all of the kids’ trunks and bags after picking them up from camp.
The Branson KOA is in a beautiful location just half a mile from all of the action on the main street. The pool was a well-loved spot during our days there. Adjacent to the pool was the beloved laundry room that I spent lots of time in getting all of the kids camp laundry done. I don’t know what I would’ve done if we were in a hotel with all of the stinky and wet clothes that they brought back with them! The KOA was the perfect place for us to regroup and unwind together before heading back home to Arizona.
The Branson Main Street traffic is crazy! It is always bumper to bumper like this as most of the live shows, attractions, and restaurants lie along this road. Remember patience is a virtue and there are plenty of shortcuts from the KOA to keep you off this road! Branson is a unique family vacation destination known as the “Live Music Show Capital of the World.” I’m sorry to say that our family didn’t actually head to any of the shows this visit. KOA will recommend their favorites and can get you discounted tickets right there at the campground. Our family headed to Silver Dollar City Theme Park as well as did some go-karting at the Track and mini-golfing at the coolest Hollywood themed course we’ve ever been to! Check out my posts on the not to be missed Sunday brunch at College of the Ozarks and the tour of Top of the Rock as well.
Our kids were not happy at all about going away to a month-long summer camp in Missouri.
They were not happy that we were separating them in different cabins at a camp where they knew no one.
Many times I questioned our parental decision to send them off because life just feels better when our kids are happy, right?
Sometimes we need to remember that as parents we do know best and trudge on.
We knew that Kanakuk was the perfect environment for our kids to grow in every important aspect of their lives.
In six short years, our foursome should all be off to college and my husband and I will be left with a quiet house. Being without them for a month was tough, but it’s better to start figuring out now what being apart looks and feels like, so when that time comes I’m somewhat prepared. If you want to read my post on all the reasons WHY we decided to send our kids to sleep away summer camp, be sure to read this.
Sleepaway camp is an amazing way for kids and parents alike to grow on many levels.
We will never know what we are truly capable of by always remaining in our comfort zone. Our kids were able to meet others from all over the country (mostly the Midwest and South) and learn from living alongside them. The campers also got to be mentored by cool young adults every day. Where would they ever have a chance to form close relationships with high school and college students?
They also got to try new sports and outdoor activities that they just wouldn’t have had the opportunity to do at home.
Every night we would scroll through the camp photo website (as parents of sleep-away campers do) hoping to catch a glimpse of our offspring enjoying their time in the woods.
Every day I would find myself being so impressed by the pictures of the teenage girls around the pool and the lake. Seeing all these beautiful young ladies modestly dressed not only in one-piece swimwear but with sports bras and running shorts over them made this mother smile.
I grew up pretty conservative in Indiana and it makes me sad about the lack of modesty in our youth today.
Our daughter dear is back to her bikini-wearing ways, as most of the girls probably are now that they are home. But, she has learned about the value of modesty and being appropriate around the opposite sex as she grows, not just from her preaching Momma. She told me that the counselors would tell them that Modesty is Hotesty and I just love it.
All of the young men also had to wear shirts any time they were around females unless they were in the pool or the lake. Can I get a Hallelujah?
I’m sure you’re aware that we are raising kids in a Me, Me, Me society.
One of the main reasons we were drawn to Kanakuk, was that it is a camp for teens to grow in their Christian faith. Their teaching of I am Third is exactly how we are trying to raise our children. God first. Others second. Me Third.
To find a camp that strengthens our family values was awesome. We attend church, pray in our home, and serve locally and on mission trips, but the power of our kids being surrounded by like-minded believers in their peer group for a month was very powerful.
They were inspired by camp President Joe White and two of our sons even chose to get baptized before coming home. I am in awe. I had the opportunity to hear Joe talk a couple of times and he brought me to tears with his words and passion every time. I’m so grateful for his love and guidance for this generation.
Even though our four are yet to have cell phones, they love their Instagram and texting capabilities on their Ipads. No technology is allowed at camp, so it’s back to basic communication. Not being able to talk to our kids at all was the toughest part of having them away at camp with four weeks of only communicating through the mail.
How fun though to go to the mailbox and receive actual handwritten letters from your kids!
It is surreal to receive a note from your daughter saying that she just went on a three-day overnight canoe trip, sleeping in a tent while she had a fever of almost 100 degrees, but had a blast. One son wrote that he went on an overnight canoe trip through rapids that tipped his tin vessel and he and his cabinmate had to hold on to a log until someone came to rescue them. This was all before they climbed through a cereal box-sized hole in a cave to sleep for the night. It was an awesome experience, he said.
Whoa. The camp provided them with adventures and situations that built resilience and confidence that I could never provide at home. It’s difficult as a parent because I want to see pictures of all of the cool stuff they did and saw, but there are none.
Our sons and daughter have the memories and we get to hear their stories. It’s perfect and exactly how it should be.
Ain’t no party like a K-2 party! This camp is crazy fun. Kanakuk had a themed party night every week and dance parties all of the time. The leadership counselors are high energy and everyone just has a blast. My reserved kids were not looking forward to this part at all, but they all came home talking about how much fun the parties were.
At closing ceremonies, I was watching all of the campers letting loose doing the Whip and Nae Nae together for the very last time. It made me smile from ear to ear. The boys told me that the counselors would chant Dry Shirt Ain’t Hype– meaning get out there and let loose. Enjoy your life!
I receive absolutely no compensation for this post or recommendation of this camp. I truly love and believe in the experience that our family receives and want to pass the blessing of it along to you, as a friend did for me.
Camping season is upon us! More people than ever are taking off to the great outdoors and enjoying time in nature with their loved ones.
Whether you’re out there enjoying the great outdoors in your RV or dreaming of doing so, here are some tips I learned along our journey traveling around the USA!
Most campgrounds, unfortunately, come with bugs. Bring along hotel shower caps to cover your dishes for your outdoor meals! Don’t forget your cute, water-stain resistant table cloth too.
We used old comforter plastic zippered bags to store our dirty shoes while we were driving to keep dirt out of the motorhome.
These shower lanyards were a lifesaver for our kids to take to the campground showers!
Keep your RV bathroom clean and toughen up the kids by sending them to those campground showers! Get plastic baskets for each child to take with them containing their own shower lanyard, pajamas, and towel. Be sure to get a different colored towel for each kid too.
Long day on the road? Put dinner in the crockpot to cook in the sink while you’re driving, so it’s all ready for when you arrive.
Forget buying the expensive RV hangers! Cut a pool noodle in half and wedge it on top of your hangers so that clothes don’t fall off in your closet while you’re driving.
Make a simple clothesline to dry clothes outdoors or inside your RV. This clothesline is amazing because it’s flexible and takes up no room to store!
Want to make one? Check out how HERE!
Happy Summer! Happy Camping!
Our two favorite places we found when visiting Branson, Missouri were the College of the Ozarks and our adventure at Top of the Rock. Ok- neither of them are exactly in Branson, but just on the southern edge.
At Top of the Rock, we took a self-driven tour by golf cart along beautiful paved paths and through Lost Canyon Cave. Not only is there an amazing waterfall inside the four-story cave, but there is a bar where you can toast to your once in a lifetime journey. The last tour does leave an hour or so before sunset and the bar was closed when we got to the cave, so you may want to head out a little earlier if you want to experience that.
We enjoyed seeing some deer and other little critters along the way. Be sure to bring a sweater or jacket if you head out in the evening as I was freezing, even in the humidity! It didn’t help that we got caught in some rain along our journey.
You will experience the beauty of waterfalls, natural rock formations and covered bridges along the trail ride.
The views of Table Rock Lake are incredible from the top! You will have to pay a $10 fee just to drive into Big Cedar Lodge (if you are not staying there) where Top of the Rock is located. You do receive a $10 credit toward anything you spend up top though. We put it toward our tickets for our cart excursion, which run $25 each. Kids under 12 are half price.
After our tour, we took a shuttle up to Arnie’s Barn for dinner and to enjoy the scenery from up there. The Chapel of the Ozarks is stunning as well as the golf course that it sits on! So happy we found this place and highly recommend you checking it out if you find yourself in the area!
After dropping our kids off at summer camp in Branson, Missouri it was time to explore the Ozark region and check out what the area had to offer. At a time when there is much talk about what is wrong with the nation, College of the Ozarks, exemplifies what is right with America.
Founded in 1906, the College of the Ozarks is home to 1,500 students who work, rather than pay, for a quality liberal arts-based education. All students who are admitted to C of O must demonstrate financial need, academic ability, sound character, and a willingness to work. 65% of these students come from the Ozarks region. One of the places for students to work is at The Keeter Center.
Located at the entrance to the campus, Dobyn’s Dining Room is in the Keeter Center’s Mabee Lodge. Not only can you enjoy lunch, dinner and Sunday brunch here, but you can stay in one of 15 suites in the Lodge as well. If you don’t have time for a full meal stop in and enjoy a treat from the bakery or ice cream parlor just outside Dobyn’s.
We were fortunate enough to have made reservations in advance for the Sunday brunch! As soon as you walk into the dining room you are greeted with this scrumptious assortment of desserts. Behind this table was the student musician playing piano throughout the meal and then just beyond him is a homemade root beer float stand. The room is full of various food options!
This is by far the best brunch we’ve had and for only $25 is a deal. Plus, you get to chat with your student server about the College and learn about his or her experience there. Our server, Graham, told us about how he is working the summer program to pay for his room and board for the school year. On top of his full accounting course load in the fall, he will have to work 15 hours a week on campus to pay for his tuition.
After brunch, we decided to walk off the calories with a stroll around the patriotic campus. Be sure to walk all the way behind the Williams Memorial Chapel to the Point Lookout for a fabulous view of the Ozarks!
I just love the college’s slogan of Hard Work U. All of the signage throughout campus is inspiring!
Since we were here on a summer Sunday, the campus was very quiet as everything is closed and very few students are around. There is a College Dairy, Fruitcake and Jelly Kitchen, Edwards Mill and various other attractions to tour if you come on a weekday. The students also run a farmers market every Friday!
Have you ever been to this special place? We can’t wait to bring the kids here after we pick them up from camp!
I now know that this couldn’t be further than the truth.
Parents who make sleepaway summer camp a part of their family plan understand the value of all that is learned and gained through such an experience. Sending our teenagers to Kanakuk sleepaway summer camp in Missouri has been a part of our family plan for the last five years and is not something that we decided spur of the moment to do because we were tired of being with them.
Anyone who sends their children to camp knows it’s expensive and a lot of work to do so. Have you ever labeled 64 pairs of underwear with a sharpie? It would be a whole lot easier to send our sons and daughter to the grandparents’ house who have requested to have them anytime rather than send them to camp.
Growing up, I never knew kids that went away to camp. I went overnight once to Little Hoosier Camp and my husband didn’t last more than a night away at his hockey camp a few miles from his home in Providence as a child. As parents with minimal experience in this realm, we would’ve never even thought about sending the kids off to a sleepaway camp, if it weren’t for observing some dear friends who believe in summer camp as part of their family plan.
As parents, we don’t even allow our kids to go to sleepovers and keep them close to home most days. We’re not completely comfortable with the idea of being apart from our sons and daughter for weeks at a time, but feel it’s important, for all of us, so we faithfully make it happen.
The camp provides time for the kids to figure out how they want to spend their time, without Mom or Dad hovering over them. We spend so much of our family time shuttling our kids to their programmed sports and activities that there is little time for them to think of what they really want to be doing.
Their youth sports seasons are so long now that unfortunately most days it’s like going to a job for them. Camp allows them the freedom to choose whatever feels fun to them at the moment.
Our kids get nervous about going off to camp and I have to say the same goes for my husband and I. As parents, we want our foursome getting out of their comfort zone though. We want them to learn resilience and independence away from us in a safe setting. What better time to do that than now?
We separate the triplets in their own cabins which they aren’t thrilled about. At home, they share a bedroom and enjoy being together. At least they will meet up at activities, where daughter dear is truly on her own at a different camp 45 minutes around the lake from her brothers.
This alone is a major reason to send kids off to camp today. Even though our sons and daughter are still living without cell phones, they do have Ipads and boy do they love starting every summer day with them. Video games and Instagram fill every quiet minute they have.
How wonderful it will be to have a group of kids together playing outdoors without any gadgets in hand. Perhaps they will even learn skills to converse in person with other human beings.
We must mindfully provide our children with opportunities to live without technology in order to gain important lifelong skills.
Let’s be honest Arizona is nowhere you want to spend your summer. Our July through September is equivalent to winter in Chicago. You just bear it, but you definitely don’t want to spend much time outside. The only outdoor playtime for kids here is in the swimming pool. Camp will give them the ability to enjoy activities on the lake as well as sports and other outdoor fun that they wouldn’t get to do here at home.
Living without any family nearby, we purposely seek out positive mentorship for our kids. At camp, they are able to meet people from a different region than where they are growing up which is a benefit. Our sons and daughter also get to live under the mentorship of Christian college students and Biblically trained teachers who have chosen to spend their summer with them.
Some people take a road trip around the country visiting all the baseball parks or seeking out infamous burger stands everywhere they go. Our family sought out the top doughnut spots across the country during our motorhome travels. It’s a good thing that my scale was broken when we returned home because it’s best I didn’t know how many pounds this little adventure brought on.
Gotta start with our hometown hero, Fractured Prune. This Maryland based franchise offers a fun variety of toppings for your cake doughnuts. You mark your selections beforehand, hand them in and wait on your freshly baked goods. These hot, fresh, made to order treats taste a lot like your typical mini donuts with whatever gourmet toppings you have chosen such as French Toast or Key Lime Pie.
In this post about my trip to Charleston, I mentioned how luscious the doughnuts are here at Glazed Gourmet. Hands down Glazed Gourmet is my winner of the tastiest donuts from our US travels. I’m still thinking about this place on upper King Street!
There are several locations of Top Pot Doughnuts in Seattle! The glazed old fashioned may look familiar as this company originally made the donuts for Starbucks.
No pictures of this one even though we made our way here twice! I wasn’t a huge fan, but my family loved the donuts served with fried chicken. I would say that it’s an interesting concept and for sure to check it out. You’ll have walked enough in this city to earn yourself a sweet treat and it can quality for lunch when you add the infamous protein too!
Yes, New Orleans is known for its own special doughnut, the beignet. Of course, our family had our share of those in the French Quarter before heading off to seek out Blue Dot Donuts! It’s a small place offering not very unique flavors, but definitely delicious nonetheless.
It’s hard to believe that today-June 2- marks the one year anniversary of when we headed off in our newly purchased motorhome on our family sabbatical around the USA. It’s been one year since we left and six months since we returned. Time sure does fly!
This past year has no doubt been one of the best of our lives. Traveling for 6 months and then reflecting on that experience for the next 6 has made for an amazing year. Our sabbatical introduced us to so many like-minded people- in person and virtually- that we would’ve never met in our routine daily life at home.
Tomer Lanis and his family are an inspiration as they also pulled out of life and spent 6 months sailing the Caribbean. Lanis sent me his book You Can Take Six Months Off. I thoroughly enjoyed reading and relating to so much of their adventure. Although our means of travel were drastically different, our passion, dedication and determination were the same.
The Lanis Family enjoying Maho Beach, St. John, USVI along their 6 month sabbatical sailing around the Caribbean.
If you would love to take six months off and travel with your family or if you have done it before, you will enjoy this read. It is interesting and inspiring at the same time. One chapter is dedicated to a Mind Map that breaks down the multitude of interconnected tasks that may intimidate anyone thinking of taking their own time out. I really liked the way Lanis spelled out 16 tasks that their family worked through to prepare for their sabbatical.
Excerpts from the book that inspired me and that I totally related to in why we took six months off as well:
“The purpose of the trip is neither the destination nor the activity. It is my family- dedicating time for each other, intensifying our bonds, and expanding our horizons. Staying at home is incomparable because the experience is too familiar and static. Endless distractions steal your attention from your family.”
Love your life? So do we. It’s ok to just take a break from it! It can all still be there when you return.
“I have read about and met others who had taken longer breaks. They sold their house and quit their jobs. For me, that would be too much to lose. I love my life at home and truly enjoy my work I appreciate my social network and am lucky to own a home in a beautiful location. I don’t want to give all that up. I would like to pursue my dreams without sacrificing my current life. Six months, for that purpose, is the ideal duration for me to be away.”
“I am neither the first nor the only one to realize that taking my spouse and kids for a time out of the rat race is the best use of my resources- my money, my energy and my time. Allowing my job, the kids’ school, our mortgage or my comfort zone to take control of my life would certainly lead to regret.”
No Date- No Commitment
“Setting the date means making a commitment. In principle, no date is convenient for interrupting our routine life, leaving our home and putting our jobs on hold. While you’re immersed in daily tasks and the career race, any date seems to be the worst possible timing. There is no wrong timing for dedicating time to each other. Any date will do.”
Put your job on hold
“Taking time off- or not- is my decision. Letting me return to my job when I’m back- or not- is my manager’s decision. My employer is not the master of my life, I am. They are not responsible for my dreams, I am. If I’m not wanted back at work after my absence, then I am probably in the wrong place anyway.”
Connect with Tomer Lanis on his website. His book You Can Take Six Months Off would make a great Fathers Day gift. Purchase it here on Amazon.
