Road Trip South

For ten years, we traveled south for Spring Break.  I miss those days.  Packing up and heading to where the sun shines is always so welcome in April.  So when Ally and I got invited by Ally's friend Sarah and her mom to visit the campus of Liberty University in Virginia we said yes.

There's nothing like a road trip.  It may or may not be all about the food as you'll soon see.  Either way, I have pictures of our adventure.

First part of the week, I went to Syracuse to speak to a MOPS group about marriage and raising kids.  I love doing this so much. The moms were eager to hear some good news - like that they will survive this season of parenting.  They will.

I stayed over and then raced up to the Adirondacks to grab Ben.  I figured he may as well take a look at Liberty too.  And I wanted to spend some more days with him.  Because I'm his mom.  And I miss him.

I saw a tip about packing I decided to give a try.  Since six of us were cramming into a seven passenger van, we were politely asked to pack light.  The tip was to put each outfit into a large ziploc baggie and coordinating jewelry in a smaller one.  Take a look.

 It totally worked.  I squeezed 4 outfits, 4 pairs of shoes, my toiletry bag and a few other things into a medium sized bag.  I'll be doing this again.

After one hour of driving (phew!), we were hungry for breakfast.  Everyone around here stops at Krispy Kreme.  It just so happens Drew's dorm is minutes away.  Coincidence?  I think not.  He had a few minutes before his first class, so came down and had a donut with us.  I just never get tired of seeing all three of my kids together.

The picture on the right is of our Liberty crew.

After awhile back on the road, it was time to introduce Ben to the movie Frozen.  Can you believe he hadn't seen it? 

A quick stop for gas is where I saw these giant pickles.  Thought they reminded me of Scott and me.  Sportly and Sassy.


 Or maybe not.


We also ate at Chick Fil A and Sonic.  You have to when you're down south.





The campus is gorgeous and huge.  I don't want to admit to how many times I got lost. We enjoyed some beautiful warm sunny weather and loved seeing some pretty colors too.

Of course, we technically were there to check out the college.  Ahem.  This is convocation.  Chapel.  Thousands of students gathering to worship and hear the Word of God preached.  It was quite something to take in.  I loved it. We ran into many of the kids friends.  It's always fun to see familiar faces.

We attended many admissions sessions.  Eventually I lost interest (shocking) and took to people watching.  Scott would have lasted much longer. This guy in front of me clearly had checked out as well.  I wanted to know what he was listening to in the worst way.  Ben wouldn't let me ask.  On another note, aren't these the cutest sandals?  Pre-birthday gift.

We also got to go to a football game on campus.  It was exhibition but still fun.  And one of us won a free t-shirt.  They were being thrown into the crowd.  I didn't exactly catch it, but it was coming straight for me when the dude in front of me snatched it right out of my hands. Not cool.  I think he felt badly about it because he turned around and gave it to me.  As he should have.

A bit of an over-smile but the kids make fun of how I smile in pictures. They yell at me and I get nervous.  Then this happens.  They might need a spanking.

Saturday morning we awoke to my birthday.  No big deal, of course.  I met the kids for breakfast.  The food on campus was pretty good.  Resident students say it's always better on College For a Weekend.  Works for me.  Had a custom made veggie omelet.  

 

Then Ally wanted to take some selfies of us.  This is the new thing in case you live under a rock.  Kids don't make or buy you a card anymore.  They make a frame of pictures and post it on instagram.  I'm not complaining - I got one from each of my kids and I loved all of them. 

 

Scott was kind enough to give me some pre-Birthday love letting me have some gifts in advance like the much anticipated new MercyMe Cd.  He rocks.  Scott, that is. Well, the CD does too.  You'd better get it.  You won't be sorry.

Still, it was kind of weird being away from home and away from him and Drew for my birthday.  These two sillies made up for it. 

 Not too old for a little cuddling on mom's lap.  Actually, it was kind of painful.  One of them is very boney in a certain area.  Not mentioning any names.

I guess they are not too cool to still walk like this with me too.  I like that.

It was a great weekend.  I don't know if either of them will end up at Liberty, but I sure liked checking it out with them.  I thought they might ditch me for all the fun and for the students they roomed with.  So I was quite surprised to get lots of time to hang out with them. I thanked God for each moment.

All good things must come to an end and  I was ready to get home to Scott.  Later that night I read one facebook message after another and found a stack of birthday cards waiting for me.  I thanked God for giving me a beautiful life.  I'll never run out of things to thank Him for.

And now we have begun Holy Week.  The last days before Easter. We have so much to celebrate.  I'll have more to say about that.  Stay tuned.