You know that thing when you work really hard for a period of time then take a scheduled and much-needed vacation, only to get sick.  Welcome to our world.  Last post, I emphasized that our time here in GA was not only to be productive, but also to have some R&R…and so, of course, we get sick.

For me, I have just wasted away into complete exhaustion.  Saturday I took a three hour nap and was otherwise completely worn out.  Yesterday I slept for four hours after church!  Thanks to happy grandparents, the kids woke today, but we didn’t, and I slept until 10:30…for real.  I feel a lot better, though still a little worn down.  Traveling+two small kids+ pregnancy…I have no idea who to blame, but I am happy to have the ability and time to get the rest I need!

For Amelia, this morning, she woke normally, but a half hour later came back downstairs (where we were sleeping in) and climbed into bed with us (on top of Daddy, really) and fell promptly back asleep for an hour.  Once we were up, Amelia came over and we realized she felt slightly feverish – Tylenol and crawling up on Daddy yet again and she is now back out.  Poor girl!

So far, Levi and Matthew seem fine, so hopefully it’s just a brief time for recovery as we do have some things planned for the week!

Otherwise, yesterday we had a great time at Brookwood Presbyterian Church, where we presented our ministry during the Sunday School hour and answered more questions during the lunch that followed the service.

Time to enjoy the Georgia heat – we’ve already caught a cicada and breathed in some extra humid air (though the weather is completely reminiscent of the Congo).

Don’t forget to head over and go crazy at our Pampered Chef show – it’s open until July 30th, but don’t wait!

After the hotel, we hit the road in the morning and headed south to Florida.  We took a brief lunch break in St. Augustine to see the history of the country’s oldest town.  We had a picnic lunch in a park and walked down to see the castle on the water.    It was very very hot, though, and we were ready to be back in the air conditioned car and finish our drive south.

Our hosts live outside of Orlando, close to Cocoa Beach and and Cape Canaveral.  In the words of their almost-nine-year-old’s son: “Have you stayed at a house with TWO pool slides?  Because I’ve been to houses with just one slide, but not TWO slides…”  Of course, we haven’t stayed at a house with a pool yet, until yesterday.  And it does have two slides.

We took a brief pre-bed dip after we arrived, and slept really well.  This morning we had a great breakfast and headed to the beach.  Our hosts asked what we wanted to do and we realized neither of our kids had ever been to the beach!  So, there is a small beach, about a half mile long, with perfect sand and waves just 15 minutes from their house.  It was great to be there on a weekday morning, too, because there were only a dozen people on the sand.  It was fantastic and the kids played for three hours straight.  Our hosts’ two boys, ages 6 and almost 9, were pros in the waves and Levi quickly learned to hop in them, mostly with the help of a random lady and her elderly mother who decided to hang out with him.  It was so sweet.

The adults enjoyed beach chairs and umbrellas, switching on and off with the kids in the water and sand.  But, lunch time was approaching and it was time to head home and get cleaned up.  Amelia quickly fell asleep in the car and we ate lunch and showered and Amelia finished her nap with Daddy after getting cleaned up.

It was time to head out for dinner where we were meeting my (Lisa’s) dad’s cousin, who has been really supportive and interested in our travels overseas.  It was so great to see him and meet his family.  It was his son’s birthday, so he got to pick the restaurant, so our kids got to experience their first Chuck E Cheese.  They had a great time, but were getting tired and it was time to head back.

Tomorrow is a get together with other families, some of whom are adopting from DRC.  We are so excited to meet more families who already love the Congo like we do and share our experiences from living there and why we are excited to head back.

Yesterday we left NYC and headed south.  Our goal was to make it to Chesapeake Bay for the evening.  We rented a boat for the night and wanted to head over to the Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum for the afternoon.  Matthew’s best buddy worked there for a few years a while back and, if you know Matthew, you know his love for sailing and boats.

We had a great time, though we’re all pretty pooped from two busy days in NYC.  The kids loved climbing all over the boats and seeing the jellyfish in the water (especially since Nemo had just been on in the car).  We grabbed lunch in St. Michael’s, MD.

Once we were ready to go, we drove another hour to “our” boat for the night.  The kids LOVED being on a REAL boat, though we didn’t get to take it out anywhere.  We had a wonderfully relaxing evening, watching the stars from the top of the catamaran, and each kid had their own berth and slept really well.  We had our own little snuggly berth and it was very cozy, especially in the middle of the night when it started to rain, lightening and thunder.  It was awesome.

This morning we got up, checked email during breakfast at IHOP – while surrounding patrons judged our parenting…it’s the classy parents that sit their kids in front of a movie at a restaurant while they hunch over their electronic devices.  Classy.

Now we are in Richmond, Virginia for the weekend.  Our hosts are just about to leave for DRC to get their kiddos (on THURSDAY!) and we are excited to get to coach them through the final packing process.  Tomorrow there is a get together with other adopting families and we will share about our ministry with them.

Sunday is a really exciting day…details to come!

Just want to shout out to all those who have come on board as ministry partners with us in the past few weeks – thank you for your willingness to partner with our ministry!!!  We just updated our Support Status page, so check it out!

Amelia at the Maritime Museum…

Levi is really into writing – we spell out the word at his request. In this case, he labeled an entire placemat.

Today was another great, and hot, day in the city!  Once again, we caught the bus to the ferry, the ferry to the subway, and the subway up one whole stop.  First, the kids were already hungry.  I’m not sure why, but they were and there was a deli, and I hadn’t had a bagel in New York yet…

After a few minutes of air-conditioned rest and eating, we walked to the 9/11 Memorial that sits on the site of the Twin Towers.  It is two huge pools, well, water falls into pools (that both kids asked about swimming in…), surrounded by the names of all those who lost their lives on that day and in the 1993 WTC bombing.  It is a very pretty site, very calm, and the pools are impressive – they are each the size of the footprint of each tower, and very deep.  I would look up the details for you, but you can probably figure out Google if you’re interested…

After that, we boarded the train again and headed uptown back to Times Square to get to Rockefeller Center.  My personal past time is television…the nerdy way, with history and trivia and whatnot – I’m a geek about it.  Anyway, seeing the NBC Studios has always been big on my to-do list and my husband is ever so loving to let me take the studio tour.  Little kids aren’t allowed, so the three of them headed back to Central Park and I got to take the tour.  It was so awesome to see the set of Nightly News with Brian Williams, the SNL studio and make up department*, and the Today Show set.  Just wandering the halls, escorted by smartly dressed pages, was really fun.

After my geek-fest, I walked down the 10 or so blocks to meet my family at our pre-arranged meeting spot, seeing lots of fun New York things along the way…we grabbed some hot dogs and headed back to the subway station.

We finally have the subway system figured out, so obviously it’s time to leave, right?  We came back to the little apartment, which is working out just fine, by the way – it’s in a great location and we are sleeping well.  We found a Chinese place and Matthew grabbed some dinner.

Now, the apartment is quiet, the kids are asleep and Matthew has ventured back into Manhattan…yep, by himself.  He really wanted to see it at night and one of us is required by law to stay with the children, or something like that.  Plus, I’m just too tired and/or too pregnant to walk anymore.  I’ve walked more miles in the past two days than I have in two years, I think…and to do it in the humidity while pregnant?  Fuggedaboutit…

*On seeing the SNL set: I am completely downplaying my excitement and geek-y-ness at seeing this cultural icon, by the way.  It is in the interest of YOUR interest…but if you’re also an SNL fan, then you can calmly geek out with me!  Eeeeeeeeeee…

So, blogging late at night is dangerous, but it’s really the only time I have to do it.  My post from yesterday left out our Friday night get together entirely!  Ahhh!!!  So, my apologies to our hosts and the guests that came!

We had a great time Friday night with one large family and a few others.  The large family was such a blessing because they have adopted several times over, from all over the world.  We just shared and chatted until we were all too tired to share anymore.

So, fast forward to today.  This morning we presented at Faith Baptist Church in Manchester, NH – well, Matthew presented, I kept two tired kids quiet in the pew.  We met some great folks after church during the fellowship time and were able to hang around long enough to meet the pastor of the church that meets there in the afternoon.  That church is African! We didn’t catch his home country, but just talking to him reminded me of home in DRC – the accent, the gait to the language, his fancy suit.  It’s a great connection!

After church we headed south about half an hour to a friends’ house – these are friends from our days in Alaska.  When they moved ALL THE WAY to New Hampshire, we thought we wouldn’t see them again, especially in their house.  We had such a great, relaxing afternoon with them.  Their son is just a year older than Levi and their daughter is a few months older than Amelia.  And, of course, we’re both pregnant with #3s…though she’s due by the end of the month and I have a ways to go.  Amelia and I even got naps while at their house – that’s how you know you’re with true friends.

Tonight is our last night in New England and tomorrow we head off on a brief adventure to NYC…