Little moments - Big memories

The Baxter family just got back from a wonderful vacation with family at the beach. It was a great time of relaxing, celebrating Christmas, and making some memories. Playing pool, the hot tub, dinners together, Wii golf classic, board games, sneaking off for a date with my wife, and staying up late talking. I like vacations like that; not grand moments but time spent together, where running off to the beach at midnight and staring at the stars opens up sharing from the heart. And yet... one of the biggest 'little moment' of the trip was on the long and arduous ride to get there.

We were headed into a huge snow storm but it was smooth sailing until Charleston, WV. We pressed on, but at a toll both were told to turn around, as all the roads into Virginia were closed. (What??!)  There was no alternate route, just told to go back and find a hotel room. We drove back West, but nothing was open. No room at the Inn :)  At Charleston they laughed when we asked for a room and told to go another hour West. It was getting late, we hadn't eaten, and had a long trip yet ahead. The kids asked what was wrong. "None of the hotels have a room." "Can we pray that one would have a room for us?" asked Justin. "Sure!" He did, and the three other kids did likewise. Dawn made one more phone call and asked if they had a room. The receptionist said she didn't know. The power had been out all day and had just come back on - she would know when the computer finished rebooting. "Where are you?" asked Dawn. "Exit 48". We just past exit 47. "We'll be right there to see!" After getting off I-64 we couldn't find it, but took a wrong turn up a huge hill from which we could see the Sleep Inn. A couple of people decided to leave when the power went off and so they had a room! Restaurants and stores were all shut down, but Dawn found a movie theater and got us popcorn and Oreos for dinner, to go with a huge cup of Ramen noodles. Yummy! To celebrate, I made sure the boys jumped on the bed.

I'm thankful that God taught them something about prayer (repeatedly actually with some other answered prayer on the road). Did God miraculously turn on power for 80,000 people just because four children prayed? Which is more wonderful, if He answered directly at the moment, or if He chose to act well in advance? Guiding us to a wise decision to delay one day? Using a pottie break to put us within one mile of the only open hotel in a 50 mile radius at precisely the right time? Guiding us to pick up that particular hotel guide at a previous rest stop with the needed phone number? Helping us via a 'wrong turn' to get to a vantage where we could actually see the Sleep Inn? Or simply reaching out to Justin to call us to prayer at the exact time power was about to be restored? All of the above? I imagine that often answers to prayer come by means of natural causes, but God can and does guide us and act through other people. He's not constrained by time, after all. Regardless of the how, I'm thankful for God and His provisions, and for the deep sense my kids have that He loves them. Happy New Year all!!!

Back from a Wonderful Disney Cruise

Wow! That's my one word summary of our vacation a week ago, myself and the family aboard the Disney Wonder for a 4-night Disney Cruise. That's our first time doing anything remotely like that, as most of our vacations are simply trips in the minivan to visit family. We had one of our best vacations ever - and a rare one in that despite four days with tons of activities and events, at the end I was actually refreshed and relaxed instead of ragged!

Dawn had wanted to take the kids on a Disney World/Cruise package for the last two years, but I wasn't keen of prebooking a very expensive cruise 10 months in advance during hurricance season, nor of taking low stamina too-young kids to a place filled with long lines. The time to the kids fall break was coming soon, and this was probably the best chance to do this while all the kids were young enough to enjoyed Mickey and friends. We opted to forego Disney World (as the kids aren't that much into scary rides anyway) and choose a 4-night Bahamas cruise instead - thanks to some pretty nice last-minute specials that put this in range of our budget.

The flight to Orlando was the kids' first flight, so that was an adventure in itself. They were champs! The Country Inn and Suites in Cape Canaveral served as an excellent place to stay the one night before the cruise, and Thrifty got us from Orlando to the ship early, with a minimum of fuss or cost. There were several impressive highlights on the cruise:

Live family entertainment every night. Included in the price of the cruise, the kids loved the musical, the play featuring all their Disney buddies, the comedy and ventrioquist. On top of that, they had a movie theatre where we enjoyed 'Ratatouie' and 'Underdog'. (Given the price of six movie tickets, that's a luxury we don't normally indulge in.)

Castaway Cay, Disney's own private island. We passed on Nassau, taking advantage of less crowded conditions on the ship, but we did disembark for Castaway Cay. What a huge mental difference it was, facing mobs of strangers and high priced chair rentals, versus a private getaway designed solely for the passenger families, and with friendly and helpful staff everywhere to make sure all your needs were met. We even got to check the kids into a kids-only zone with lots of fun activities while Mom and Dad got to spend some time along on the 'grown up' beach.

Oceanview Club - you could drop off your kids in an age-appropriate room where it was non-stop fun, play time, and special activities. We got a pager so they could contact us if needed and we parents got to go off and relax, read a book, take a swim, hit the spa, and get some quiet time alone. Best of all, the kids were in no rush to have us come back to get them :)

The food was amazing! No surprise there, if you've heard anything about cruises. We knew the stories, yet were still unprepared for just how abundant and just how delicious everything was. My biggest dilemma was "Filet Mignon tonight, or Glazed Veal?" My server's answer "Oh sir, get both! And we've got some scallops as well I know you'll love - I'll bring you some!"

The ship was magnificent - every detail was special, from the glass elevators to the elegant restaurants, to the cute towels in our rooms shaped like animals. Everything was in perfect shape, when and where you needed it, with no extra charge.

This will be a vacation and family time that none of us will forget. I would highly recommend a Disney Cruise for families that can afford it - and given how much it would cost elsewhere for 4 nights in a hotel, 4 full days of delightful eating, non-stop entertainment, car rental and parking, it was really quite a good deal! (To be clear, we have no relationship with Disney, just six very satisfied customers)
 

Back from Vacation

Greetings!! I'm back from a fantastic vacation with family, feeling refreshed and feeling like a lucky husband and dad. My wrists are even thankful for the lack of internet access for quite some time. The only downside is feeling sluggish due to the outstanding food I've eaten, but I'll run around extra hard at volleyball this month to catch up!

Ok, actually, I've been back a month and a half. My perfectionistic tendencies have been warring with my desire to blog, with several ideas for series and half-written posts that have not seen light of day. Today I want to take a (minor) stand against procrastination, to try to get back in the habit of blogging. To be honest, this tendency to procrastinate has led to a lot of stuff 'slipping' that I should never have let slip, like keeping in touch with family. I've got some practical information I want to share on diet and exercise, as well as some excellent progress on that front that's got me very encouraged! Rather than back-date the posts on Blogger, or editing them, I'm going to post them essentially as-is, starting with the rest of this vacation report, which I wrote back on July 6th, 2007...

We started with a week at the pool and on the beach in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. My sister and her family live there, and we lured down my Dad and Mom for a surprise 80th birthday celebration. My other sister and her husband from New York were able to come down as well. Amazingly, it has been over 25 years since we've all been together in one place at the same time. (It better not be that long before our next gathering!) What a great time we had seeing each other. The SC crew knew the owners of a wonderful Italian restaurant, where we spent the whole evening dining and laughing and being serenaded on the accordian. Our four kids got to hang out with their cousins (who they had never met) which was very nice. My son and I enjoyed the "Lazy River" at our hotel, which is like a pool in the shape of an oval where you just float around in the shade. Dawn enjoyed walking on the beach and seeing the ocean again. My Dad was indeed quite surprised, and it was a fitting tribute to the man I love and respect so much. He even got to give us a good solid thrashing at bowling.

The next week was back in North Carolina with my parents in their log cabin on the lake. (What a great place to retire for a man who loves fishing!) Even better, Dawn's entire family was converging nearby (her middle sister also lives in North Carolina). Her younger sister and husband brought down a speedboat. The kids *loved* that! Well, two did anyway, and the other two enjoyed it with reservations. I had a great "lead by example" moment when I agreed to get dragged behind the boat in a tube at high velocity. Seeing Mom do it didn't convince the kids because, well, she'll try anything. But if Dad does it, *anybody* can. So after my ride, my daughter agreed to try the tube. With this a smiling success, first one boy, then all the rest, agreed they would try the tube. We only went about 2 knots, but this was a major achievement! With an excellent dinner at the Outback, the kids were able to see essentially *all* their aunts and uncles from both sides of the family, and all but two cousins, in one trip. I don't know if we'll ever see that happen again.

On the way back, we stopped by our alma mater, Virginia Tech, to pay our respects, visit the memorial, and generally see how the place was holding up. There was quite a bit of construction since the last time we were there. It was a touching and sober visit in the light of recent events, and we're glad we got to stop by. As an added bonus, we got to go to our favorite restaurant in the entire country - the Farmhouse in Christiansburg, Virginia. The food there is to die for, delicious, hearty, and not unreasonably priced. I tried Seafood Newburg (for the first time) and it was exquisitely good. The kids even loved their onion rings - and they hate onions!? Each time I go back there I figure it can't meet the high expectations and memories of the last visit, but each time it does.

Of course, it does feel really good to be back home. It also felt good to get back on the volleyball court after several weeks away (and about five pounds heavier). That was a real workout when I let them twist my arm into a fourth hour of play, and 3-on-3 at this point. Thoughts of this, some recent conversations, and a niece who is just about to embark on a diet program, have put me in the mindset of improving physical fitness. For my own sake (and perhaps for my niece's sake) I'm going to do several posts on diet and exercise. Pray for me as I have ten more pounds to go on my goal to lose 50 pounds. I'm getting close! :)

Today, Aug.23, is my 'target' date for reaching the 50 lb. mark. Have I made it those last ten pounds, or has procrastination (or gluttony) foiled my attempt? Stay tuned and see!