The Long Road Home

Well, we made it home, and in not too bad of shape I might add. No vehicle troubles, no deer on the front bumper, and Chicago was a breeze this time! I even gave in to a little sight seeing on the way. I know that will make a little harder for all you other dads who like to press straight through with no fun on a trip.

The Wonder of Niagara Falls

It was only about 45 miles out of the way, so it was worth it. I had seen it 20 years ago, but for the life of me I could remember how to get down to actually view the Falls. I actually did stop for directions. I know I ruined it again for every dad who likes to pretend they are not lost.

School On The Road

We are a home-schooling family, so getting out of school was not a problem. I thought I would let you know how we reviewed a few subjects while VAN-schooling. First, there was a grammar lesson led by me. I challenged the family to come up with one sentenced where each word started with the same letter. In honor of Willie and Wanda from our church here in Canada I came up with: Willie winked wildly while walking with Wanda. Hannah creatively put together: Sarah sang songs so she said.

Next we tackled some math. How many dotted white lines in a mile?

We estimated 140 per mile, which means there were roughly 308,000 little white dotted lines on our round trip to Minnesota and back. I am sure that piece of information will come up on "Jeopardy" or "Who wants to be a Millionaire" someday, so remember that.

For some other travel with kids ideas check out MomsMinivan.

Meaning in Life

All of this to say that even in persevering through a long trip or going through some trial, we must continue to challenge each other to think, learn more about each other, and remind each other where this is all going. During some of the most tense times of the trip when the youngest ones were really finding it hard to be patient, Dawn would remind everyone that we were sacrificing our comfort and convenience to be a comfort to Grandma and Grandpa during their time of trial. Usually that worked it's magic to calm everyone down.

Life is about more than knowing. It is about knowing and applying what you know for the experience. Family is about "together" experience. I usually have to force myself to think hard for ways to make our experiences count for something in our relationship building. The Four Essentials of Relationships are archived here for more ideas of focused ways to to build family relationships.

Thanks for your prayers and concerns for Dawn's dad. Today he started radiation. It is a big trial, but he is positive, and it is another opportunity to grow closer together while watching God work.

Bryan