Between his work schedule and traveling to Florida for medical missions training, we didn't see Eli for about 12 days. When I realized this would be true, I promptly planned a trip to Michigan to see my family because this Mama, without doubt, would've lost every ounce of sanity in her being if left alone with these two little boys for 12 days. They're precious and adorable and they squeeze my heart in unfathomable ways, but goodness they're a lot of work! So we headed to Grandma and Grandma Clark's for a change of scenery.
I vowed I would never fly alone with these kids, but desperate times call for desperate measures. By the grace of God we had an extra seat in our row so there was extra wiggle room, which was needed. We survived the plane ride and went on to have a great week in Michigan.
We spent one morning at the Flint Children's Museum and they were in heaven. Animal puppets! Shopping carts! Toys and activities galore! When it was time to go, Caleb promptly crawled into a cubby hole and cried :)
One evening we went to the main park in Davison for a picnic. Caleb skipped dinner entirely because the playground was taunting him and that kid will never choose food over playing at a playground :) Admittedly, it's a fabulous playground. He was mostly excited about the sandbox while Kai enjoyed the slide and just crawling around.
Our next stop was my sister's house, where they have chickens. My grandparents and aunts and cousins came over to visit, but Caleb was more interested in those chickens than anyone else there. He eventually worked up the nerve to pick them up and carry them around. He did not want to leave because he just wanted to "pet the chicks agaaaain!" (Oh, and he wore this tiger costume all afternoon. He was pretty stoked about it :) )
And lastly, we had an evening at home to walk around the house, feed the horse, and go fishing. Although we only caught one fish, it was a beautiful evening and worth being outside.
It's always great to spend time in Michigan. And I survived the return trip with the boys. We did not have an extra seat on the way back to Minnesota, which made it, well, a plane ride with two squirmy kids in two small seats in a confined space, but we survived. And Kai was kind enough to wait until after the flight to get sick - he puked on the drive to Duluth then pooped out his pants the moment we got home, so good times were had by all :) But again, at least it wasn't on the plane, so there's the silver lining!
I'm not sure when we'll get to Michigan again so I'm glad we had this unexpected opportunity. And now we're home again, and Eli is too, which makes us all quite happy :)
I snapped some photos of Kai last week while he was playing in a tight space between a dresser and the wall. Caleb used to play and hide in this space a lot but he can barely squeeze in there anymore. Kai has only recently discovered it but thinks it's great as long as someone is doting on him while he plays :) Here's our darling boy:
My favorite part of Easter this year was teaching Caleb about it. We spent the few days beforehand helping him understand that Easter is a special day. We explained that Jesus died on the cross but that He rose again and that's why we celebrate: the Resurrection! We watched Easter story videos on the Bible for Kids app on my phone and we continued talking about this special day.
But it's hard for a kid to understand Easter. He's still only 2 years old and the concept of death doesn't exist in his world outside of orca whales eating fish. And if he doesn't understand death, he certainly doesn't understand resurrection. But we know it's important to teach him anyway so that someday he'll have a vocabulary for the concepts he's beginning to learn now. The day before Easter when I asked him what happened to Jesus, Caleb said with enthusiasm, "He fell off the cross into the lion's den!" So yeah, it's confusing :)
Easter Day was wonderful. We slipped into the back of the packed sanctuary and I held Caleb in my arms while we stood and worshipped. (He's going through a phase in which he refuses to go to his class, so he's been hanging out with us during the service the past couple months.) As we sang, Caleb pulled back to look at me and whispered, "We're singing to Jesus. Learning about Jesus." And my heart melted in the most beautiful way possible. My son, who was just repeating something he's heard us say before, was basically telling me that he's beginning to understand our relationship with Jesus. We sing to Him. We learn about Him. He died on the cross and rose again, and that is why we celebrate Easter! So we're ecstatic and encouraged to keep teaching him, even though his young mind cannot yet understand what the meaning of Easter really is. Bible apps on my phone will help, but the most important thing is teaching, talking, repeating. "Fix these words of mine in your hearts and minds: tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. Teach them to your children, talking about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up." (Deuteronomy 11:18-19). And someday these precious children will understand who Jesus is and why we love Him and celebrate all He did for us.
My greatest joy this Easter was listening to my son talk about Jesus. His greatest joy was probably his Easter basket :) Or maybe dying eggs for the first time. Or maybe eating lots of treats. There was no doubt in his mind that Easter was a special day!
So Happy Easter to you! May we experience the power of the Resurrected Christ and the hope it brings to our broken and hurting world. He is risen! He is risen indeed!
Our busy year continues! One or both or all of us have taken a combined six trips this year already, and there are more trips planned for every month now through July. Some traveling has been due to missions training, and some has been due to seeing people we don't see very often. It was difficult to travel when Eli was in residency, so this year we're dedicating time to doing just that.
Some of the first people on our docket were my twin sister and her family in Oklahoma. We normally see them just once a year, at Christmas when we all make it home to Michigan. So we planned a trip to the Sooner State last weekend just for fun. My parents joined the rendezvous and we had a great time!
Even though we arrived a little haggard - (How many times can a kid turn the overhead lights on/off and open/close the window shade and jump across the aisle and throw books on the floor? About a thousand times during a 2-hour flight, if you're Kai the Destroyer...) - we made it in one piece, and as soon as we got to the hotel, he started walking! We've been waiting 17 months for this kid to decide to walk, and he suddenly picked himself off the floor and walked across the room at a hotel in Oklahoma! He's really taken off since then and it's amazing!
After delighting in our son walking, we went straight to my sister's house to play. They live in the country where it's beautiful and quiet and spacious, and the kids had a heyday inside and out. There's a marvelous play structure in their backyard and the boys loved climbing and swinging. Caleb loved running through the backyard and Kai loved petting the dogs. It was a beautiful spring evening and we felt far from the 30 degree weather we left in Minnesota!
Next up in our weekend of fun: the zoo! Caleb is obsessed with animals. I mean, obsessed. He talks about them, he reads about them, he pretends to be them, and he tells you everything he knows about them. He watches Wild Kratts on a daily basis and can tell you that spider monkeys don't have thumbs and that sperm whales can dive deeper than any other creature in the sea. He knows about obscure animals like skinks and tapirs and narwhals and basilisk lizards and emerald tree boas. Every night when we pray, he says thank you for a variety of animals: "Thank You for orangutans. Thank you for colobus monkeys. Thank you for iguana!" All that to say, Caleb was rather excited to be at the zoo. (And he's been asking to go back to the "different zoo" ever since we got home.) Kai had a pretty good time too. He's loving animals more and more, and is no doubt being influenced by his brother :)
It was sunny and 75 over the weekend. It was absolutely perfect for grilling and playing outside. We soon realized that Oklahoma has some of the best beef we've ever tasted, which makes sense. It's sorta like Wisconsin having some of the best ice cream around. We had delicious burgers amidst a smorgasbord of other things, and the kids played and played till we made them leave for bedtime.
And of course we went swimming in the hotel pool. Caleb loved it and kept saying he wanted to swim all by himself. Kai was more timid than I expected but he was content to be held and eventually started enjoying himself.
Lastly, we visited the horse clinic where my brother-in-law works. He's an equine surgeon. That's right - his job is very cool and we love to brag about him :) Eli was particularly interested in the operation of the place, and the boys were particularly interested in the baby horses. It's foaling season and there were some adorable horses around, including this 3-day old foal that my sister helped the boys to pet. Caleb loved the place and even asked if the horses come on helicopters! (We told him we were visiting a horse hospital where the horses come to feel better, and he associates helicopters with hospitals because we see them fly over our house in Duluth all the time and watch them land at the hospital where they bring sick people "to feel better.")
We had a lovely time in Oklahoma and wish we could make it back again soon. But our busy year continues and there are other places demanding our attention: Florida, Michigan, Indiana, Utah, Georgia... So we'll have to save our next trip to Oklahoma till we're home from Africa for a visit. Whenever we get there again, we know it will be a good time!
