Road Trip Part 1 - Gainesville

After two weeks on the road with the children, I am finally settling back down at home and ready to blog about our adventures... whew! First, I would like to give kudos to the children for being really good travelers. Aside from the constant "time checks"... as in, "How long has it been since we left?" and "How long until we get there?"... overall, the kids did great. Our first destination was Gainesville where we spent 3 1/2 days with our very good friends: Jameson, Kristin, Gideon and Ezekiel. 

The most stressful part of the trip was packing for everyone. In hindsight I definitely overpacked, but at least it all fit in the van nicely. Jake got to come along on the trip, too! Well, not really, but he was there in spirit. (There's a 4th daddy doll one layer down.)

Our first pitstop was lunch in Pensacola with our friends: Tami, Ava, and Lilah. We ate at Cracker Barrel and it was a very nice break in our drive! Bella enjoyed the rocking chairs out front:

Tami and Lilah:

Addie, Bella, Lilah, Jacob, Ava, and Will:

I let the kids pick some candy from the store on the way out... what's a road trip without the junk food!?! Addie and Bella traveled in the back with plenty of dolls and toys to occupy themselves. Their choice of candy was Rock Candy (they sell it without the sticks now!)

The boys traveled in the center seats - separated down the middle to avoid fights. Will chose a giant lollipop and Jacob chose chocolate coins for their treats. I took the liberty of getting one of my all time favorites, a Charleston Chew (not pictured). I rarely find those anymore!

10 hours after leaving home, we arrived in Gainesville. The next morning, we met up with our friends to go swimming and hang out at their house for a bit. I hadn't seen my friend, Leah, since college and it was neat to meet back up with all of our children in tow. We had some great conversations about life and the Lord, which started a great weekend full of seeking God and meaningful fellowship. God is good!

The line up - Billy, Jacob, Addie, Will, Essie, Bella, Mary, and Katie:

Back at Jameson and Kristin's house, I found Gideon singing praise songs to Jacob:

Another night we had some more college friends over for dinner... 8 kids = lots of fun! Jacob, Will, Gideon, Ezekiel, Bella, Judah, Elijah, and Addie:

One night Jameson undertook a massive tickle/wrestling adventure:

See? He really was under there!

Kristin and me - she is my dearest friend and I thank God for their whole family! 

There are so many parts of our visit that weren't documented by photos: I made some new friends; I got to listen to another friend, Ricky Kendall, play live one night; I went to a worship night in honor of a special man that the Lord called home recently; and the Lord worked on my heart and brought to fruition the verses that He gave me at the start of this year, Ezekiel 36:26-27.

²⁶ I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. ²⁷ And I will put my Spirit in you and move you to follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws.

In retrospect I know that the Lord had planned my trip to Gainesville from the very start. He gave me a new Spirit and a new testimony - He is so good to us!