Swimming in books

On my nightstand:



Books for Trev:



Books for Holly:



Books that Holly's read:



And books waiting to go back to the library:



You'd think I never get to the library, but I just can't get them back fast enough.

Wishing I was here today...

Virginia Beach and the rest of the second day

As most of our relatives live around the Puget Sound area, my kids have been around the water, on the water. However, Washington is hardly known for its warm, sunny, white-sand beaches. We've not had a lot of beach time.

Three years ago on San Juan Island. It's further north than that tropical resort, Victoria, BC.

August 2005

In fact, even in August, it was so cold that Trevor wrapped himself in seaweed, trying to keep warm. And note the rocky beach.

2005

They never complained; it's the only beach they know. But I can't help but think they miss out. Growing up in California, we were just a 40 minute drive over the hill to Santa Cruz. I have countless great memories of the Boardwalk, Twin Lakes, friends and family, sun, sand, heat exhaustion, sunburns--plenty of beach time, even occasionally in the winter.

A year and a half ago, while visiting Williamsburg, Robert and I decided against driving the additional hour to the beach. We've regretted it ever since. In Jamestown this week, when Holly and Trevor asked again to go, how could I say no?

Looking at the map, I was excited to drive over the 3.5 mile bridge spanning the James River...


...until it turned into a tunnel.


I've never been overly fond of tunnels, but this wasn't that long.


We passed Norfolk Naval Station.


Parking was a cinch at the beach. There is metered street parking, along with lots of lots (!), and at 10:00 on a weekday morning, we got a front row spot--just $.25 per 15 minutes. I don't think I can park this cheaply in Roanoke.


This was my first time at the Atlantic Ocean too!


It was gorgeous, already in the 80s.


We were totally unprepared, no swimsuits.


Trevor had only tennis shoes;


Holly had only jeans.


The kids collected shells.


We wandered about 3/4 of a mile down the beach.


It.Was.Wonderful.



Adding to the thrill were the fighter jets that circled around two dozen times.


Just when we thought it couldn't get any better, Trevor spotted something in the water.


Bottlenose dolphins, a very common sight. They were all over, in groups of two to five, just beyond the breaking waves.


I was hopeless at catching them with the camera, but Holly snapped away.


A perfect end to a perfect morning.


We hopped into the car and headed toward Richmond. We knew of a few malls, but we didn't have much of a plan. We found Einstein's and picked up a dozen bagels to surprise Robert!





And, of course, found a Q-Doba for lunch.


We had another four hours until home...where it was raining!


It was good to be home, but our hearts stayed behind.

♥ ♥ ♥

Jamestown!

Sometimes it's almost too simple. The few times a year that my kids are up early enough to actually GET to the school bus, I mention the poor kids who are actually out waiting for it. As a result, Holly and Trevor have never had much of a burning desire to go. Although they woke up this morning while it was still dark, we left an hour after the school bus went by.

It's almost a five hour drive to Jamestown. I had to make the first bathroom stop after 30 minutes. (Seriously.) For posterity's sake, I should add that it was the first of three such stops, but the kids never had to get out of the car. Sigh.



We drove through everything from overcast to blue skies, to torrential downpour. The temperature, however, remained a pretty constant 80-plus degrees. I'm so thankful we live in the western/central part of the state where the humidity is much lower.



We didn't know what to expect from Jamestown. This was a spur of the moment decision made just last night. Trevor's studying Jamestown this week; Holly did last week. This kids will not be this close in an historical time period again, and this is the last year Holly will study American history. We live so close to Jamestown; there's no excuse to not visit. I kept looking at our calendar, and the only good time in the next six weeks was this week. I mentioned it to Robert, and while he wasn't initially thrilled with the idea, my charming personality apparently won him over (or something like that). I knew Robert would prefer to stay home, so he did.

A Powhatan village

We went straight to Historic Jamestown, which replicates the local Indian culture and settlement. A mile away, the real Jamestown continues to undergo an archaeological excavation.



It's Homeschool Week in Williamsburg; that had nothing to do with why we came. It was a nice extra to enjoy the discounted ticket prices.



We wandered through the Indian village and buildings. It was surprising that everything was so open, real animal skins, tools, pottery and furniture that we could touch and use in the houses, and shells available here to scrape the hide.



We were able to board replicas of two of the three ships which originally brought settlers to Jamestown. At 116 feet long, the largest ship, the Susan Constant, carried 71 men for five months across the Atlantic Ocean.



I was thinking of my family, and though the four of us love each other very much, five months of just the four of us in our house would drive us batty, I'm sure.



We made our way to the recreated Jamestown settlement.



Trevor quickly fell into the role of pastor, lol.



We wandered through the different buildings, small homes, bunkhouses, the church, the smithy, and we viewed a gun demonstration.



We all enjoyed Jamestown. We have free tickets for Yorktown tomorrow, but I'm pretty sure we'll skip that.

We made our way to our hotel. One of the highlights of every hotel stay, for some reason, seems to be eating dinner on the bed while watching Cartoon Network.



Early bedtime tonight.

Blog tour - If God Is Good by Randy Alcorn

I received this book courtesy of WaterBrook Press. I'm behind in my reading (imagine that), and I have not yet read this book. HOWEVER, I personally would note that the author's Reformed beliefs do not match my own, whatever difference that might make in this topic.

Publisher's Summary:

Every one of us will experience suffering. Many of us are experiencing it now. As we have seen in recent years, evil is real in our world, present and close to each one of us.

In such difficult times, suffering and evil beg questions about God--Why would an all-good and all-powerful God create a world full of evil and suffering? And then, how can there be a God if suffering and evil exist?

These are ancient questions, but also modern ones as well. Atheists such as Richard Dawkins, Christopher Hitchens, and even former believers like Bart Ehrman answer the question simply: The existence of suffering and evil proves there is no God.

In this captivating new book, best-selling author Randy Alcorn challenges the logic of disbelief, and brings a fresh, realistic, and thoroughly biblical insight to the issues these important questions raise.

Alcorn offers insights from his conversations with men and women whose lives have been torn apart by suffering, and yet whose faith in God burns brighter than ever. He reveals the big picture of who God is and what God is doing in the world–now and forever. And he equips you to share your faith more clearly and genuinely in this world of pain and fear.

As he did in his best-selling book, Heaven, Randy Alcorn delves deep into a profound subject, and through compelling stories, provocative questions and answers, and keen biblical understanding, he brings assurance and hope to all.

Author Bio:

Randy Alcorn is the founder and director of Eternal Perspectives Ministries and a bestselling author. His novels include Deadline, Dominion, Edge of Eternity, Lord Foulgrin’s Letters, The Ishbane Conspiracy, and the Gold Medallion winner, Safely Home. He has written eighteen nonfiction books as well, including Heaven, The Treasure Principle, The Purity Principle, and The Grace and Truth Paradox. Randy and his wife, Nanci, live in Oregon and have two married daughters and four grandsons.

Book Reviews

Where Do I Go? by Neta Jackson

This is the new series that follows the Yada Yada Prayer Group books. Gabrielle's ambitious husband begins a new business in Chicago, moving them from the East Coast. Her husband yearns for the glamorous life; Gabi is drawn to a homeless woman and takes a job at Manna House. I wasn't sure how the author was going to tie in Yada Yada characters, but it worked well, and I really enjoyed this book. There was a cliffhanger ending, and I can't wait for the next installment.

Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants series by Ann Brashares

I debated including these four books here, but it has taken up a lot of my time. I prescreened them before passing along to Holly; nothing special, just usual teenage angst, mildly trashy twaddle.

Trevor's Rembrandt

Trevor studied Dutch history, including Rembrandt, this past week. He recreated an etching by scratching through a layer of crayon to make his artwork.

First soccer game of the season!

Fall soccer means games are back at the NICE field! It's much closer to home (relatively, anyway), the fields are nicer to play on, there are bleachers, the fields are spaced further apart, and there are several trash cans and a few bathrooms. The location is cool too, up against Mill Mountain, alongside the train tracks, adjacent to the hospital, with the helicopter making frequent runs.



It doesn't get better than this. Holly's team won 10-0. I don't have photos--for the first half of the game, they didn't come near my end of the field, and I moved during halftime, leaving my camera behind.



Trevor's game went much the same way. The defense chatted and hung out while the offense scored...and scored...and scored.



Trevor had an opportunity to play offense, fun for him! And they won, 12-0.



We finished the night up at a local pizza parlor to celebrate. We feel badly for the losing teams, hard to be beaten so soundly. Our teams, however, have been together for several years and play HARD, which usually gives them a good advantage.

Go RamS!!!!

Holly's riding lesson

Holly had her first riding lesson with her new instructor on Thursday. I was a little concerned about the weather, but Mary had almost everything planned in case it was too wet to be outside much.



The weather held out, yay! Holly and Chadwick had plenty of time to get to know each other.



I get very apprehensive over this stuff, talking to new people, doing things for the first time. I am seeing very clearly where I'm rubbing off on Holly, and not in a good way. For the most part, I tried to stay out of the way, just taking pictures.




On a side note, Trevor was thrilled, as it was the FIRST time he really stayed home ALONE! We were very close by, he could reach me by cellphone, or even run over if necessary. Robert had an appointment in Roanoke, and he stopped in on his way home to watch too.



Mary was very attentive to Holly, and the hour long lesson went over by another 15 minutes. After not riding for two months, Holly enjoyed both Mary and Mary's horse. She's making a switch from hunt seat to dressage and will go every week for the first few lessons, and then drop back to just a few times a month. I'm thankful to find a hands on instructor, who is also much closer to home, and I'm hoping? this is an answer to prayer.