Road Trip & Princess Power Training out West

I grew up in the airlines, and even though I enjoy a quick trip with a bird's eye view of God's stunning creation, nothing beats an old fashioned family road trip. We left on Sunday right after church let out. Two excited kiddos, I tell you.

 To help L & G track our progress, I velcroed photos of our destination (Vail, CO), the KS/CO border signs, and our home on the ceiling. I taped up a road of black electrical tape, added smiley face dots for every hour of the journey, and finally added our minivan to move along down the road.

 This was such a hit. The kids couldn't wait to move the car every hour, and it helped them comprehend so much about travel time and distance and approximate our arrival at certain landmarks along the way.

 I filched this fabulous idea from Pinterest and used little art bins from the dollar store to hold the kids' snacks. They knew that they couldn't ask for anything that wasn't in their personal snack bins, and they also learned how to make their food last for the journey (or not, which meant they'd be hungry later on).

 And when they weren't watching DVDs or listening to me read Junie B. Jones or The Magic Tree House, they were coloring on their own magnetic trays (cookie sheets) with magnetic crayons and markers (Pinterest again--what did I ever do without it?).

 What made this road trip so special was stopping midway in Sylvan Grove to see our dear friends, the Anderson family. These kids have grown up together since they all were wee babies.

 The kids were having crazy amounts of fun together.

 Sweet Julie even had a special dessert planned for Camp Connelly--s'mores!  Oh, she knows us so well.

 Their property is absolutely gorgeous--rolling hills, a crystal clear lake. So peaceful.

 And the timing of the trip was perfect, because Lorelei and I had the privilege of joining Julie and her girls for Princess Power Training.  I was thrilled to learn that they got to hold it at the local elementary school, and that moms and daughters had driven here from many different churches (including two pastors' wives) from over 30 minutes away.

 Jana (arms up) is leading music and dance to "I'm a God Girl."  She did an amazing job opening PPT.

 They made us feel like a part of their circle.

 Watching all these moms and daughters was almost too much for me.  My heart was just bursting with gratitude and love for all these ladies and their precious, precious girls.

 Julie led the lesson today on Honor and told the kids about the Pencil Maker, teaching them to be led and guided by the hand that made them and wants to leave a mark with their lives.

 Julie revised the cookie recipe we had used (since ours had flopped and melted all over our pans). Here everyone's filling their Scripture Cookie jars, learning to HONOR directions so that things turn out the very best and the way that the person writing the recipe had intended, just as God has the best for our lives when we obey and honor Him.

 I'm so grateful for Julie's leadership and initiative and for the way God does amazing things when we have a heart to obey Him.  And I'm so excited to hear that Princess Power Training is growing more and more as other moms share the materials and form their own groups.  Two more are in the works now and one mom (Jana) modified the materials for high school girls.  It's just so exciting and thrilling to see what God does with a willing heart.

 I'll post more about our trip to Colorado later, but I have to include two other dear friends I got to visit on this trip, Erica (we met in second grade) and Sam (my neighbor since she was two).  I grew up with these girls in Colorado and love them to pieces, and they're both expecting their first babies now! Erica's having a girl (Molly) and Sam's having a boy (Joey). I'm just so excited for them.  They were both bridesmaids in our wedding.

 We decided to embarrass Sam at Red Robin and request a birthday serenade. Oh, did she ever love it ;o)

 Okay, not really. But our waitress practically begged us to let her sing since birthday serenades were her favorite thing ever, and we couldn't let her down! Sam, having a June birthday, was our natural victim.

I'm so grateful for old friends who know everything about me and still love me and can pick up right where we leave off, even when we don't see each other often.  I love them so much right back.  More photos of our trip to come soon.