Where Did the Time Go? 10 DAYS!!

An incredible Southern sunset.

Wow!  We're down to 10 days til Blast Off!  Time has gone by quickly and we are SO excited to get on the road.

The past few weeks life has been a little chaotic as the Fearless Wonders and I have been preparing for our trip, and Jeff has been preparing for his.  We've also had a couple of obstacles.  Unfortunately, we've had several deaths within our family and circle of friends/acquaintances.  After receiving news of the death of the 2nd child, I began to think that maybe this trip was really just trivial and unimportant, as there is so much suffering and sadness occurring around me.  What is a hands-on paleontology lesson, when there are mothers and fathers mourning the losses of their children?  But then the obvious occurred to me, namely that this is more than just a meaningless trip- it's an opportunity to spend precious moments with my children in an exciting way.  It's also a lesson for them in hard work, confidence, prudence, and self-sufficiency as they save and earn money to put this trip into action.

We've got a lot of preparation to accomplish still.  Today we'll be (finally!) putting the girls' crafts up in our online shop.  We've still got to do a run through of putting up the tent and making sure we have all of our gear ready and in good repair. We'll also be creating our travel/camping menu, which will in no way involve drive-thrus.

The first half of our itinerary is set! I think I'm most excited about our little excursion into Nashville next weekend.  We'll also be meeting up with my Mom and adopted siblings in Lincoln, NE!  We are thrilled that they'll be joining us for part of the adventure.

That's all for now, but keep your eyes on the blog- new items in the shop later today!