I have the world's greatest dad!

Since my dad already made a post here about why my mom and I are staying in a motel in California tonight, I don't feel the need to recap everything. But I would like to share some photos of our journey thus far!

Before my mom and I left for California, my dad spent a lot of time making a binder filled with maps and detailed directions to the motel, to the festival from the motel and back, and home again (because my mom has the good-at-getting-lost gene, and passed it on to me.) It was very thoughtful of him, and proved helpful in helping us navigate our way.

What a surprise!! My dad left me this envelope this morning, which was complete with instructions for when and how to open the letter on the front. I was very excited and wanted to open it right away, but exercised great patience instead and waited to open it until we reached a rest stop in California.

Here I am at the rest stop, just about to open the envelope.

Me reading the enclosed letter, which, among other things, told me that my dad had arranged for me to personally meet Nick Vujicic while at Spirit West Coast this weekend!! Needless to say, I was incredibly excited. Especially after thinking that the letter was going to give me some directions to a restaurant or someplace like that...what the letter actually said was much better than that!

My mom and I squinting into the sunlight while at a rest stop.

(I'm sorry that this photo and the next are sideways, but I'm new to adding pictures to my blog, so I don't know how to rotate it now that I've uploaded it, or if I even can. But I can't upload it again, because it's already given me trouble. So, for now you can turn your head to look at them and next time I'll try to remember to edit them before uploading them.)

One thing my mom and I forgot about California: you have to pump your own gas! We asked a lady who worked in the fast food place we stopped at for lunch (which was located right next to a gas station) for help, and she got a lady to show us how to pump the gas. The problem was, she did it, but just told us what to do, so we thought we understood....but it turns out we really didn't. (I know, I know, how hard can it be to learn to pump gas? I say it's pretty darn hard if it's not properly explained. So there.) We had quite a bit of trouble at the next gas station we stopped at, even with a woman from the am/pm store trying to help. Eventually we figured it out, and I took some pictures to commemorate the memorable event.

Thanks again, dad, for making this trip so special!!

I'll try to post more updates and pictures in the next few days.

Just a quickie post

Whew. What a day! Today we spent 6 hours at the waterslides with the kiddos at my work. It was a lot of fun (probably my favorite field trip of the summer), but I am exhausted now. Something about being outside alternating between being hot (while waiting in line for the slide) and then freezing (when you first get out of the water and it's windy) that just wears you out. But it was totally worth it. I also got to take a lunch break there (I didn't think I was going to get one at all), so I had time to lay in the shade by the lake and read for an hour...it was so nice!

Speaking of books, I've been re-reading the Diary of a Teenage Girl series by Melody Carlson the past week. I LOVE those books! So good. Although they are fictional novels, they have this way of challenging me and motivating me to examine my own heart and actions and change some things.

Well, that's it for tonight. More to come later, I'm sure.

Wacky Wednesday

Ok, I know I said that Monday was nuts--but that was before today happened! Today at work we stayed at the center alllll day. Two people from a paint-your-own-pottery place came for a couple hours, so the kids did get to have fun with that. Then in the afternoon, I made blue and red jello with a group of kids, and they layered the jello with whipped cream to make patriotic parfaits. They turned out great! Another teacher also had them frost sugar cookies with red & blue frosting, so they were super sugared up (that's how we do it--sugar 'em up in the afternoon, take them outside to run and play [and sweat!], then return 'em to their parents a few hours later.) Speaking of being outside--I managed to get a lovely red & purple mark on my leg today. I was pitching for a boys' baseball game, and the first kid up to bat smacked the wiffle ball into my leg (it was an accident though.) You wouldn't think that a little puny plastic ball that has holes in it would hurt that made if it hit you, but let me be the one to say it most certainly DOES. And I have a red mark to prove it!

After work I helped out in the 3 and 4 year-old class at church. I am going to be teaching in a couple weeks, so I went to observe and get a feel for the way the class is run (I help out one Sunday per month in the kindergarten class, but Wednesday's service is different.) Tonight was CRAZY! There were probably 25 kids and 7 helpers, but the kids were really hyper and excited tonight. It was fun nonetheless, but I've gotta say that I'm exhausted now. What a long day!