This last week has been good. I came home late last Sunday night from being on a six day trip to Catalyst Conference in Atlanta and then visiting Elevation Church in Charlotte. It was an incredible trip that I will hopefully get time to write about later, but it is just good to be home.
From this point on, all of my vacations submit to Ezra’s school calendar, so I took this week off while Ezra had Fall Break. And its been a great vacation. Again, budget is tight, but we needed a good time to rest and refresh and reconnect in a way. Life has been so full lately that getting time together has been difficult, so we spent the week just being together as a family.
Every day has felt like a party. Whatever we were going to do, we were going to do it as big and as cool as possible. We hit Huber’s Farm and scoured the pumpkin patch for the perfect pumpkins. After staking claim to his pumpkin, Ezra proceeded to carry what ended up being an 8.56 pound pumpkin over 100 yards back to the wagon. And then, after weighing and paying, he carried it clear back to the van by himself. The kids carved their pumpkins and proudly set “Helen” (Calla’s pumpkin) and “Doc” (Ezra’s pumpkin) on our doorstep, on display for the neighborhood.
We saw all walks of life and ate all kinds of fair food at Harvest Homecoming, which apparently is a pretty big deal down here. We introduced Ezra and Calla to “The Lion King” for the first time and snuggled on the couch together. We hit the Louisville Zoo’s Trick or Treat Party, where Calla insisted upon getting her picture taken with every character on the trail (we’re talking Cinderella, Rapunzel, Snow White, Belle, Ariel, Dory, a polar bear, an ice cream cone…seriously, everybody) and the kids went crazy at a “kids only” dance party. We made a fountain science experiment that Criz found on Pinterest and spent a whole afternoon in our backyard chasing a couple snakes we found, building a miniature fort and planting a “weed garden” (not what you’re thinking). Crystal and I watched movies and cuddled on the couch almost every night after the kids were in bed. Ezra even created a chariot for princess Calla by tying his bike to our stroller and took her all over the neighborhood. Everything we did was fun…we turned baths into disco bubble baths and had monster dance parties in the basement…we spent almost every minute together this week.
And beyond all the crazy, fun memories, the week was sprinkled with precious, tender moments and really good conversations…the ones that reveal the kind of kids you have. Whether it was watching Ezra help his little sister onto the alligator roller coaster they rode together, or comforting Ezra because he was so upset with Scar for being a “bad uncle” and hurting Simba’s daddy, or snuggling with Calla on our couch, or listening to your kid sincerely pray for “everybody in the whole world who is sick or hurt right now.”
I’m a blessed man…and I pray I never forget that.
THE WOODS 