Family Vacation Stop #1

We left Maine on August 16th to begin our trek to North Carolina. But instead of killing ourselves by driving through the night to get there as soon as possible (like we normally do) we took the whole week to get there instead. Boy, was that nice! The first two days we spent at Storyland, an amusement park in New Hampshire.

Before I start with my pictures, I'd like to tell you about Storyland. We had been there as a family 2 other times before this, once when I was about 4 years old, and then again 7 years ago. Now that Rachel and Carrie were old enough to enjoy it, we decided to go once more. I have to say, that if I was wanted to take my kids to an amusement park, I would probably choose Storyland. It is centered around Mother Goose fairy tales, and is geared towards little ones. They have some things for very small children to enjoy, and then other rides and activities that we all could enjoy, but overall, most things are geared towards kids Rachel and Carries age. The thing I liked best about the park was the innocence. The park has not been corrupted with Hannah Montana, Sponge Bob, or any other modern cartoon that has done away with good, clean, innocent stories for little kids. The park started out being centered around children's fairy tales, and that is still what they are centered around. Everywhere you go, they have fun, appropriate music playing softly that sets a good atmosphere for everyone to enjoy themselves. I even took some time to observe other children around us, and I noticed that there were very few children misbehaving. I think that is largely due to the fact that the atmosphere is so pleasant for them. So, all that said, if you have small kids and are ever in the New Hampshire area, I would recommend Storyland for you!

Now, without further ado, here are the pictures from our activity-packed days!

The little kids did not know where we were going until we pulled up to this sign. Welcome, everyone!!

Humpty Dumpty

Goldilocks and the three bears' house.

Little Red Riding Hood's Grandmother's house. Carrie is certainly our drama queen!

Little Miss Muffett

Sat on her tuffett..... (in case you ever wondered what a tuffett was!!)

He loves his sisters, he really does.

The three little pigs. :)

Justin and I helping to stand guard over Cinderella's castle. We have a picture of me when I was 4 with one of these, too.

Throughout the park they have these tents with a mist spraying to cool you off. It is really weird, because you come out not feeling wet at all!

We have such strong men in our house. (Look at Carrie's face....she's a nut!)

Pretty convincing!

This was probably the highlight for Carrie...she got to meet Cinderella! Carrie was too young to remember when we went to Disney and met Cinderella there. :) We saw her as we were getting ready to leave the first day, and Carrie said, "Don't worry, I'll be back tomorrow."

They also got to sit on her throne. We have a picture of me when I was 4 on this throne, too. Only I didn't have to share it. :)

Yes, we are in there. This was called the Crazy Barn, it rose up off the ground and spun around...kinda freaky!

A water ride...we appreciate those! This had random things all the way through that sprayed you with water.

Dad had them spinning FAST!

We took a slower approach!

The antique cars

I *hate* old horns, so we were wrestling over him pressing it. :)

The teacups

The swan boats...nice if you want to relax and not go anywhere fast.

My chauffeur. :)

I absolutely love the expression on Carrie's face in this picture!!! I think I could sell it to Storyland as a promotional picture, don't you??

Carousels have got to be my favorite, but this was my first time attempting one in a skirt!! Woo Hoo sidesaddle!! It was still fun.

Look mom, no hands!

This is about as roller-coaster as you get at this park! But thats ok with me, we could all enjoy this, even Carrie.

Here we are on a log-flume-type ride. We were thankful for the opportunity to get wet, because it was very nice and warm!

Splash!!!

Quick Quotes

“We are always held in the love of God. We are never wholly at the mercy of other people -- they are only ‘second causes,’ and no matter how many second or third or fiftieth causes seem to be in control of what happens to us, it is God who is in charge, He who holds the keys, He who casts the lot finally into the lap. Trusting Him, then, requires that I leave some things to be decided by others. I must learn to relinquish the control I might wield over somebody else if the decision properly belongs to him. I must resist my urge to manipulate him, needle and prod and pester until he capitulates. I must trust God in him, trust God to do for both of us better than I know.”

-Elizabeth Elliot, Passion and Purity

Psalm 118:6 “The Lord is on my side; I will not fear: what can man do unto me?”

Psalm 27:1 “The LORD is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? the LORD is the strength of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?

Psalm 37: 3-4 “Trust in the LORD, and do good; so shalt thou dwell in the land, and verily thou shalt be fed. Delight thyself also in the LORD; and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart.”

Quick Quotes

"On the whole, God's love for us is a much safer subject to think about than our love for him." -C. S. Lewis

"For I am persuaded that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, not powers, nor things present, nor things to come, Nor height, nor deapth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord."

Romans 8:38-39

Survey Says...

So, just a little survey for the fun of it. I have done a lot of reading this summer, but now I am about running out of books to read. What would you recommend?

Top Ten Tuesday

I decided to start some brand-new things on my blog. Things that may be of interest to people who read it. Yeah, I know...looking at pictures of our beautiful ocean in Nova Scotia, reading about piano lessons, and musing over my random thoughts about scripture is interesting. Sometimes. (Please say it is!) But variety is the spice of life, right?

So welcome to your very first “Top Ten Tuesday.”

*Disclaimer: Yes, that title has the word “Tuesday” in it. And yes, I know that implies that I will do this kind of post every Tuesday. But don’t count on it. In fact, count on it not being every Tuesday. My excuses reasons: First and foremost I don’t have internet access any old time I please. Oh, wouldn’t that be wonderful. But I don’t. (Except for when I am at my Aunt Susan’s house.) In North Carolina I have to go to the school to get it, (Except for sometimes I can pick up someone’s wireless on our front porch...but it depends on the way the wind is blowing) and in Nova Scotia I have to go to the church to get it...which also requires sharing it with 6 other people. My second excuse: I may not always be able to think of a Top Ten list that would interest you!

Let me give you a little background of “Top Ten” lists in my life. It started several years ago at Christmas. Christmas is huge in our family, with 40+ people under one roof. Yeah, don’t worry, I’ll blog about it sometime. (Probably around Christmastime....duh.) Anyhoo, on Christmas night we always do a “program” with all of the “talent” in our family. (Don’t even ask what some of that “talent” includes.) Well, my Aunt Kathy and my cousin Jen started doing “Top Ten” lists several years ago. And so now I decided to include it on my blog.

So without further ado, here is my first Top Ten list.

Top Ten things you may or may not know about me:

(Warning: if you tell anyone about these things, I may have to shoot you. :)

10. I love sunshine. I love to sit in the sun, sleep in the sun, read in the sun, and anything else possible to do in the sun. Partially because I get cold easy, and I love to be warm. And partially because I have bad eyesight and I need lots of light. My college roommates used to call me a cat, because I would follow the patch of sun from the window around the room as I studied.

9. I absolutely hate to get a farmer’s tan. Now, if you want to, go right ahead. I’m not stopping you. But on myself, I avoid it at all costs. But I do like to get a good tan, which I usually have because I love to sit in the sun. (See #10)

8. While I am talking about things I hate, let me go ahead and include darkness. I HATE darkness. (Probably more than I hate anything else.) (And also probably because I love sunlight....see #10) I never go out at night alone. I don’t like flashlight tag, hide-n-seek, or anything else in the dark. I’ve never been camping. I refuse to get up to use the rest-room in the night. (The one time I did in the dorms, I stepped on a mannequin head. Don’t ask.) If I can have a light on, I do. If I can have 3 lights on, I do. (My poor father...I probably should be paying half the light bill)

7. So far, I have lived in 2 states: Maine and North Carolina. But I am about to move out of the country...to Nova Scotia, Canada. Out of all of these places, I can’t decide which I like best. I almost think North Carolina wins that one, because it is so nice and warm. (One of the reasons I like sunlight so much...see #10) But there are things I like about all three places.

6. My best friend my whole life is an MK in Argentina. Her name is Kati. Because she lives in Argentina, we only got to see each other every 4 years our whole life. In high school we wrote long letters to each other. (Yes, that was when I was still pulling my parents out of the stone age and we didn’t have a computer.) We have big plans to spend lots of time together this Christmas.

5. I graduated from college with my dad. (No Mr. Beal, that is nothing like the country song about being in 3rd grade with your father....he likes to bring that one up a lot.) Just for the record, (and because I am a nice daughter) he got better grades than me. But I blame it on the fact that I took WAY more classes a semester than he did...he had more time to study for each one. That’s my theory and I’m sticking with it.

4. My favorite color is purple. Any shade, but especially lilac. (Bet you can’t guess what my favorite flower is, can you??) When my Nana was alive, if I called something purple, and it was a light color purple, she would say, “That’s orchid.” When my mom was pregnant with Carrie I suggested the name “Lavender” for a girl. (I read it in a book...and I wasn’t really serious.) My mom said, “I can’t, Nana would always be calling her ‘orchid.’” It must have rubbed off....my Grammie recently painted her new bedroom a beautiful shade of purple. And I am hoping to decorate my new room in Nova Scotia with lilacs.

3. It is 1:45 am at the moment. Its nights that I can’t sleep that my creative juices flow best!

2. I’ve never had a tick on me. Ever. (Knock on wood.) Not even just crawling on me. I’ve been hiking with people who came out with several ticks on them. Not me. My siblings have had several just in the two months we’ve been in Nova Scotia. Not me. I used to climb trees, roll down hills in the grass, lay out in the sun (see #10), make forts and paths in the woods - you name it. But no ticks. My theory: I smell too clean. (I sorta have a fetish for being clean...but thats another post for another time.) Ticks must only like dirty people.

And the #1 thing you probably don’t know about me....

(Drumroll please)

(This is my biggest secret. Can someone please fan me, I already feel myself getting red.)

1. I still sleep with a teddy bear. Yes, I am 22 years old, and still sleep with a teddy bear. (My mother slept with a Snoopy dog up until the night before she got married. So I don’t feel so bad.) I don’t sleep with him because I am sentimentally attached to him (even though I am), but just because if I don’t have him tucked under my arm, I can’t fall asleep. For real. (By the way, his name is Chocolate.) I always take him with me, except for the summer I traveled with a quartet. (Can you imagine how humiliating this would be: “Hello Pastor Whatsyourface. I was at your 1,000 member church with the ABC singing group. I think I left my teddy bear in your church’s prophet’s chamber. Could you please have one of your secretaries mail it to me? Yes, it probably is the one you announced from the pulpit that you found. No, I would rather not donate it to your church nursery.”)

Well, there you have it. Now you know way too much about me. Don’t bother teasing me about any of it, because I am sure Ben or Andrew have sufficiently covered that. You can, however, let me know how many of these things you already knew about me....who knows me the best? Let me know what you think of this new addition to my blog. And by all means, please share your ideas for the next Top Ten list. Because next week I may not be up at 2 am. to think of all this stuff.