Vacation

The last time I wrote we were leaving Portage, Wisconsin to head towards Wausau, Wisconsin. We headed over to the Wisconsin Dells just 15 miles west of Portage. It was a beautiful drive. When we got to the Dells, it was amazing what we found. Tourist attractions galore, waterparks galore, and tons of expensive shops. We wanted to do the touristy thing since we were on vacation. As a result, we decided to take the Army Ducks tour. The Army Duck is a vehicle that can go on both land and water. We took a tour of the lower dells, which was beautiful. We saw several amazing rock formations and huge houses on the lake front. Blessing really enjoyed the ride and squealed whenever we would take the plunge from land to water. It was amazing that they built a vehicle to travel on both land and water.

We ate lunch at a wonderful little cafe. The food was fabulous and the air conditioning felt fabulous. It was once again another day of very high temperatures and humidity. We then went back to the car and started the trek up to Wausau. It was approximately a 2 hour drive via interstate. Wisconsin is a very beautiful state, but we could never picture ourselves living there. Good news to some of you! :-)

When we arrived at Missy's house, we met her 2 year old son, Garrison. We just sat around and talked and caught up a little bit. We then worked on fixing supper. While Mr. Tall and Gary were out grilling supper, they let Hallie play on the deck with a dump truck. Blessing had a blast pushing the dump truck from one side to the other. She would cruise back and forth. Mr. Tall had to make sure that he stopped her before she pushed the truck over the edge....She even got going so fast that she would trip over her own feet and fall hard on her knees. To our disbelief, she got up and went again. Our knees hurt just watching her. It is so amazing how fast she has grown up. After supper, us girls put the children to bed and the boys went out for an evening on the town.

Saturday came around and Blessing and Garrison played the morning away. We ran and got a few groceries and then I did my pampered chef show. It went well. It was fun to meet some of Missy's friends. It was also a great excuse for a mini-vacation. After the show, we cleaned up and tried to put Blessing down for a nap. She didn't want to go down and screamed for about an hour straight. It was so unlike her. She finally went to sleep and I held her for about a half hour. I then tried to put her down and it started all over again. Who knows what was going on, but she was definitely upset. She has a huge temper....I wonder where she gets that from?

We then fixed supper, hamburgers, french fries, and salad. After supper we headed to the aquatic center. Blessing loves water so much! She really enjoyed her time there. She even went down a slide by herself....of course, we caught her at the bottom and didn't let her go under. She had a blast and actually cried when we had to leave because the pool was closing. Not only did hte aquatic center have a little person slide, it also had a big person slide. Both Mr. Tall and I went down it twice and had a blast. It felt so good to be a "kid" again, even if it was only for a few minutes. We have come to the conclusion that we are going to take Blessing to the pool in a local town for some fun. Both pools have slides as well....Maybe we will be "kids" again for a few minutes! :-)

Sunday morning came around and we went to church then packed up the car. We started our trek home. We took a little different way home. It took us 5 hours to get to Owatonna, Minnesota. By the time we got there, Blessing was definitely ready to be out of her carseat. It took all that we had to keep her entertained in the back. She would laugh and smile then fuss. She just ran around once we stopped. We walked around Cabellas for an hour and then went and grabbed a bite to eat. At about 8 last night, we decided to make the rest of the trek home. We got Blessing ready for bed and put her back in her car seat. She fell asleep and slept the last 3 hours home. She also fell right back asleep and slept through the night once we got home. We walked around the garden and were amazed at how much things had grown.

Overall, it was a very good trip. We enjoyed being away and escaping things for a few days. However, it wasn't what we had hoped for.

Vacation Reflections

1) Relationships change. Missy and I were best friends our senior year in college. We were close and could talk about almost anything. It was interesting to see her as a mom and to see how she had changed. I know that I have changed as well also. We didn't have the same connection that we had before. I had a hard time talking to her about things. We didn't talk a whole lot, just watched our kids play together and hung out.

2) Friends change. I guess I was just stuck back in my senior year where we were both carefree and focused on career. We have both changed our focus from career to family. We no longer look to our career for an identity, but to our families. We love different things. The closeness that was once felt, is no longer felt.

3) Faith changes. My faith has become stronger over the past year. I attribute it to the new relationships that I have developed with people that attend the church we attend now. My new friends challenge me in my faith. They encourage me to dig deeper and to be a "woman after god's own heart" and to FLY. I really noticed this this weekend. I no longer have a surface faith. I want to talk about my relationship with Christ and how things have changed. This is hard to do with somebody that has changed as well.

4) No escape. We couldn't escape the goings on of home. Work comp called and put forth a "solution" to things. We had to deal with deciding on what to do. Parents called and talked to us. We had to deal with things that we were trying to escape. It made the trip intresting and added more stress.

Good

Yes, it was good for us to get away. We enjoyed our time away and enjoyed seeing old friends. It made us realize how much we enjoy our friends back here. It made us realize how close we are to our friends back here and how moving away would be difficult. Yes, we are still considering South Dakota, but who knows what will come out of that. It is in God's hands.

Time away....even though we were contacted by work comp, it was great to get away.

Relaxation. Yes, a little. Mr. Tallwent out on the town one night and relaxed. I was able to read a little and get a little sleep.

Perspective. It was nice to get some perspective. We realized how much we enjoy our state, the country, and where we live. However, we also realized how nice it would be to be able to be to a grocery store in 5 minutes or to a pool in 10. However, we also realize that we have it great. We have amazing friends.

So, was the vacation good - Yes. However, it was disappointing at the same time. I learned a lot and made a lot of realizations.

Once again, Life is definitely a journey! A journey that we take one day at a time.