Vacation

We had a great trip. I took lots of pictures but only have limited time and space to share them here. We loaded down the car last Saturday and headed out. We made a last minute decision to take a babysitter and, let me tell you, it was the best decision of our lives! This is the first relaxing beach vacation we have had since Kiley was born. For the first time in four years, I wasn't having to go back and forth between the condo, the beach, and the pool to change a diaper, do nap time, eat, etc. It was wonderful. I actually think I spent more time with my children because I could devote some much needed one on one time to each of them!!! What a blessing. We took two days to travel down staying over in Jackson, MS on Saturday night. We arrived late afternoon on Sunday and immediately headed for the pool. Kiley and her dad had a great time playing in the water the whole week. I think Brad got his workout in swimming Kiley around the pool on his back all week. She barely let go of him. Although she is getting so much better at swimming. She doesn't use her floaties anymore which is a big step up from just a few weeks ago. Brad really worked with her a lot this week but may need some muscle relaxers just to recover from vacation!



Robyn, on the other hand, was absolutely fearless. Again, let me plug the babysitter here. The pool had another level about a foot below the surface with a ledge that ran the entire distance around the pool. Great for toddlers to walk on! Only Robyn didn't want to walk on it. She wanted to jump over it...with her eyes closed as you see her doing here. She doesn't know she is only 19 months old. It took all four of us (me, Brad, mom, and babysitter) just to keep Robyn alive this week. She was all over the place. She would try this jumping in maneuver at all different levels of the pool (at the stairs, in the hot tub, in the 5 foot section, around the rock waterfall feature). Whew!! What energy.



I didn't get any pictures of our day at Big Kahunas but that day was a blast. We left Robyn with Mom in the condo and took Kiley to the waterpark. I think I had more fun than she did. Brad stayed with her in the kiddy pool area and let me ride the water slides. I love that stuff!!! While there, we ran into Jenny Adcox, an old friend of ours from Jonesboro. What are the odds!? Well, I guess pretty good considering everybody vacactions in Destin during the summer. But it was great to see Jenny and catch up with her. We wished each other Happy Birthday (we share the same birthday). It was good to see her beautiful girls too!

The highlight of the trip for Kiley was our first annual Shumpert Family Treasure Hunt. "The Pirates" left Kiley a treasure map outside her door one day during nap time. She followed the map down the elevator, to the wood stairs, out the boardwalk to the beach, and to the "X" where she found some buried treasure! You have never seen a more excited four year old. I think this will be a staple in future family vacations.



Speaking of pirates...my girls made some friends on our trip who happened to have a raft. The young girl (Kate) was more than happy to share her raft with Kiley and Robyn:



Then Robyn pirated the ship and reveled in the booty!



Robyn seemed to calm down when we made it out to the beach. Getting her to go down every day was a chore. Of course, she and Kiley wanted to be at the pool most of the day. But we finally got them down to ocean for some good pictures. Here are just a couple:






Eventually, everyone gets tired. You never have to wonder with Robyn what she wants. She will always let you know. One day, I turned around and in her own little way she let me know it was time for a rest:



I have been vacationing in Florida for my whole life. I think family vacation is more meaningful to us than perhaps many holidays throughout the year. It is our time to do what we like to do and form our own traditions. I would not trade any of the time we have spent together. I definitely missed Dad this week. I tried hard not to cry this week and was mostly successful. I allowed myself a few tears the morning of my birthday but other than that tried to stay pretty positive. It was good to go back and remember all the times I have been here with my parents and move forward with my children. What a blessing.

Moving Forward

It's been a crazy week. I have anticipated this week with bitter sweetness. I have been able to keep busy and am thankful for the commotion. We leave for vacation tomorrow. There will be one very evident absence in the condo this year. Every year we could count on one thing, Dad would be in the condo reading his paper. This was his favorite thing to do on vacation. It will feel very strange not having him there to talk to and harass about not going to the beach. This is how Dad spent vacation for as long as I can remember. He would visit the beach briefly each day and retreat back to the condo to read one of about five papers he bought daily. Then, we all got ready and went to dinner for some great conversation. He loved to debate and I, as a by-product, picked up the art and loved relating to him in this way. There are few people on this Earth that I will ever be able to talk to like that. To say I will miss him this week is an understatement. I will miss his straw hat. I will miss that he never wore sunscreen. I will miss that he will not be able to teach my girls to swim as he taught me. I will miss the conversation about current events. I will miss his poor taste in clothing. I will miss his many rounds of Come Monday. I will miss his smile. I will miss his Hush Puppy shoes. I will miss his hugs with me and my girls. Last year was such a blessing, I now know. I wish I had soaked it up more but we thought he was cured and we celebrated. I am very thankful it has been a crazy week or I would have thought about all of this more. I think this will be harder than Thanksgiving, Christmas, or Fathers Day. I'll be thinking about him a lot this week. After all, he was there 31 years ago this week when I was born.

Some comments on the New Yorker Cover

I've been in the dark for a couple of days but my attention was recently drawn toward this controversial cover. I will just say my piece and be on my way. This was an email I sent to my husband about the article and feel compelled to also share it here:

Is this where freedom of speech gets us? If given over to our own ends, this is the unpatriotic crap that the big whigs come up with? Satire or not, there are some things that people just ought to know better than to do. At some point, some things are just universally wrong and this is one of them. It is divisive at best and slanderous to a lot of people (not just Obama) at worst. Even if you disagree with the war, this kind of propaganda does no one any good. Stir the pot some more, we think we are in bad times now? We ainʼt seen nothinʼ yet. This kind of stuff is going to come back to bite us. It is arrogant and hidden behind the first amendment. It is everything bad about postmodernity wrapped up in one illustration. No topic is too sacred to ridicule (racism, war, marriage, religion). There are no rules of engagement anymore. This is the American kind of guerilla warfare.

Have whatever opinion you like about the cover but I'm a little fired up about it if you can't tell.

I love those rare moments when my girls are really getting along and learning to play together. Robyn is so proud of Kiley that she is trying to do everything just like her. They really get along well. Here are a few recent moments in the house:




I was in the kitchen and began to get a little worried because I didn't hear Robyn. I started looking for her and found her in the dark, in the bathroom, on her stool, brushing her teeth. She is very independent and VERY capable. She had pulled her stool up to the sink and grabbed her toothbrush. So naturally, I seized the moment and turned on the water for her. I'm still trying to get Kiley to understand the need to brush teeth. So cute!



And she's always thinking of others..."Want to share, Mommy"?

LSAT Results

We got LSAT results today. We actually got them a few days early, they weren't due out until Monday but we heard from a friend that sometimes when its around a holiday they will post them early. Brad did great!!! His score is right where it needs to be to apply to some of our top choice schools. We will start the application process and the future is officially now wide open. It will be great to see what God has in store for us. I am excited about how things will play out. It is an adventurous time. We also listed the house today with a realtor. She advised me to become emotionally unattached to the place and I told her I was there. She advised me of some cosmetic changes we could make and I am ready, willing, and able to make them. Let's get this baby sold!!! I can't explain what has gotten me to this point, but I think we have some exciting times ahead. As I sat outside yesterday trying to enjoy the evening whilst being eaten alive by mosquitos (or as Kiley referred to them as baby wasps) I realized just how ready I am to be moving forward. Even if we end up staying right here in Jonesboro I think we have a lot of adventures in our near future! We'll keep you posted on the journey.

We can breathe again

It was a crazy Spring to say the least. Normally, I am not thrilled about the start of another Summer in Jonesboro as I had been about the start of Summer in Chattanooga in my youth. But this Summer, I welcome with open arms. I am so glad to have some semblance of my family back intact. Mostly, Brad has come up for air...a little. We made it through the LSAT and are awaiting his test score. Meanwhile, I am focussed on Paces work and thoroughly enjoying my life. We are spending time at the pool and my girls are great. Their Grandpa took some pictures this weekend. One, in particular, epitomizes Robyn...



I see that she is definitely my child. So poised in self assurance and sassiness. She is confident about every move she makes and is very head strong. I love it!!! I'm sure we will butt heads a lot in her life. Anyway, not much else is going on. We made it through my first Father's Day without my dad. I was okay until my father-in-law ordered Loaded Potatoe Soup at Outback on that Sunday. One of the last times my dad was in town, just after his Throat Cancer surgery, we went to Outback and he had the soup. This was the first semi-solid food he had had in months and I remember the look in his eyes as he enjoyed every last bite!! But all in all, we had a great day. Brad had to study some, but we got to rest also. We are glad to be moving forward with a lot of new things.

Our friends, the Cebulskis, are getting ready for the Olympic Trials at the end of the month. We are praying Joe makes it to the Olympics!! How cool will that be to know someone in the Olympics!?!! Ta Ta For Now...

The Big Day

If you don't know by now, Brad is taking the LSAT on Monday. He is understandably nervous but feels that he is in a good place. Right where he needs to be with his studying and practice scores. Please pray for him throughout the weekend. Pray that he will have peace and relaxation for the next few days, that we can have some fun as a family to ease and prepare his mind, and that he will do exactly what he needs to do on test day. The test is at 1:00p on Monday in Memphis. I am so proud of him and what he has accomplished over the last year. What a testament to perseverance! Thanks for all your support. I am praying that God be with him and give him strength beyond what Brad can fathom. We are very excited about what the future holds and can't wait to start planning the rest of the journey to law school. It will be three weeks before we know his score, so also be praying that he can relax during that time. We will be glad to turn this corner and start looking ahead. This has been a long time coming even though many of you are just finding out about Brad's ambitions. So, please just send up some strength and encouragement Brad's way over the weekend. Thanks,