Happy Independence Day!  I'm writing a blog entry because I have nothing else to do.  I do not have meat and peach cobbler and plates, knives, forks, spoons, cups, napkins and tablecloths to pack up for a picnic in a couple of hours.  Nothin' but time to reminisce about past Independence Days and write about it.  Ahem. 

So, I was thinking about what a fun holiday the 4th is.  It doesn't have the pressure of Christmas - no gifts to find, no tree to put up and decorate, no significant travel, no 4th of July Eve service to plan and attend.  It's just a great excuse to get together with friends and eat.  I'm all for that.  And it still makes for some great memories. 

Last 4th of July, we had a church picnic at a hot, sticky, crowded, noisy city park and discovered the game "Hit the $2 Plastic Baseball Bat Out of the Tree with Bocce Balls."  Our fellow picnickers seemed to think this an odd sport, but we at Mission OPC like to think of ourselves as innovators.  It will catch on.  Soon.

Two years ago, we were in northern Wisconsin at a friend's cabin.

Three years ago, we were in transit from Pennsylvania to Minnesota.  I have no pictures from that summer and maybe that's just as well! 

Before that, it all becomes a bit hazy. 

I do know that 14 years ago, I spent the 4th of July with New Song in Vermont while John slaved away as a caddy and my mom frantically put together all of the last minute details for my wedding.  Thanks Mom.  Not that anybody remembers any details from the day.  All they remember is the incredible heat and humidity and broken a/c.  But that is well outside the range of this blog post so I won't mention it. 

Today's plan is to go to a quiet park in Stillwater and enjoy the day with our church family.  The weather is sunny and the temp is in the 70s.  These are traditions I could get used to.  Especially the low temps. 

I hope that you are having a great day of grilling and eating and enjoying friends and family.     

Later - I spoke too soon on the sunny part.  It's raining now.   

Much later - After the rain, beautiful, gorgeous evening at a lovely, peaceful, quiet park, then fireworks to cap it off.  This is the good stuff. 

We interrupt this travelogue for a bit of summer. 

The kids - Johanna in particular - have been spending time outside.  This is a good thing.  I encourage this.  All that fresh air and sunshine.  I'm just thinking of their well-being. 

For Sam, being the youngest can sometimes feel like indentured servitude, as demonstrated here.

Sam, aka the rickshaw driver, is pulling Johanna down the street in her chariot.

Of more fun was our day at White Bear Lake last week with some friends.

The kids had fun collecting shells.  William even cracked open a clam shell and everyone investigated the slimy contents, thus concluding our first and last science experiment of the summer. 

Big man!

And finally, in a completely unrelated note, I have to show off my beautiful hanging basket before I kill it off.  Not that I want to kill it, you understand.  It just seems to be the way these things work out.  Something to do with the plague I carry around in my purple thumb. 

Fort William is famous because it acted as a gateway to the Highlands for the British armies which came through in frequent attempts to subdue the wild Highlanders.  So, we followed the well-worn path of the armies and headed to the Highlands after our night in Fort William. 

We got a marvelous taste of Highland history at the Highland Folk Park.  They had many old buildings and exhibits, but the place of greatest interest to me was the "township," re-created to replicate what we might call a village from the 1730s. 

The curators of the park don't actually know a lot about how the Highlanders made their homes.  Most Highlanders of that time were too busy surviving to write much down about how they survived.  Historians and archaeologists have to piece together what they can from the remains of these townships.  This is a living history museum, so there were two "residents" of the township, dressed in period costumes, who could tell us about what we were seeing.  One of the students commented that the place looked like the village from "Braveheart."  The whole place was truly fascinating. 

And beautiful!  The air was so clean and sweet.  I wanted to bottle it and bring it home. 

Our next stop in the Highlands was

Blair Castle.  The flag flying on top of the castle indicates that the 11th duke (of what I don't remember, forgive me!) was in residence.  Turns out the 10th duke died with no immediate heirs, so those who do this sort of thing had to retrace the family tree and go down a different branch to find the 11th duke, living in South Africa and completely unaware that he was about to inherit a dukedom!  So the day we were there, the duke was visiting from S. Africa so that he could muster the only private army in northern Europe, the Highland Atholl.  The grounds were also being prepared for a huge Highland games going on that weekend - what fun it would have been to attend a Highland games in the Highlands!  

The gardens of Blair Castle were as gorgeous as the castle.  Again the air was pure and lovely and one could well understand why, once upon a time, consumptives were sent there to heal. 

The grounds also boasted...

 ...a field of "Heelan' coos!"  (That's Highland cows, in American.)  

After Blair Castle, we drove on to St. Andrew's.  We passed the famous battlefield of Killiecrankie on the way, but did not have time to stop - looked like just a lot of hills and trees anyway.

When we got to St. Andrew's we had some complications with the youth hostel.  Let's just say it made us realize what a nice place we had in Ft. William.  Once that was sorted out, Tom and I headed out to get some supper and see the Old Course.  (Dad, that's golf.)

This is taken from just beside the 18th hole. 

I'm sure this post has taken a long time to load, so I'll just put up one more picture.

This is the town of St. Andrew's, golden in the glow of sunset, seen across the beach where Chariots of Fire was filmed. 

Everything in this post (and more) was seen in one day!  It was impossible to really absorb it all, but pictures and blogging help it to soak in. 

Next time: more St. Andrew's and on to Stirling.

When we got off the ferry in Troon, we got on yet another bus with another driver.  This one was Colin and he was with us for our entire stay in Scotland.  We got kind of attached to Colin.  Colin drove us up to Loch Lomond.  The daylight was beginning to go so we first saw Loch Lomond in the gloaming (above). 

This is the youth hostel where the students stayed.  The students were pretty impressed and by morning, some were convinced it was haunted!  It was probably built during the Victorian era when the queen and Prince Albert made it fashionable to have a Scottish estate in addition to one's "real" estate.  (Get it?  Ha.)

Ben Lomond

Dean, Nancy, Tom and I stayed in a hotel on the water's edge.  This was Loch Lomond at sunset.   

Unfortunately, we had to leave really early in the morning and this was our only chance at Loch Lomond, but at least we had it.  As we wound our way out and over the mountains that morning, there was a thick mist over the loch.  It covered our view of the mountains, but was a satisfyingly Scottish morning. 

Bluebells were out in force all over the roadsides, making for a lovely blue and green carpeting under the forest shade. 

That day we traveled to the island of Iona and St. Columba's monastery there. 

Cloister

When we first arrived, we walked through a light shower of rain, but soon the sun came out and the day was brilliant.  Absolutely gorgeous.  You can see the many colors of blue in the water.

As always when I travel in Europe, I was impressed with a sense of history.  In the U.S., things are old if they are 100 years old, really old if they are 200 years old.  In the U.K., things are old if they are from triple digit years. 

That night, we drove to Fort William.  As we drove along Loch Linnhe, we looked out over the water to see an extraodinary moment in nature.  A huge black stormcloud was dumping gallons (since it was in the U.K., I guess I should say litres).  Immediately next to the torrential downpour, a cloud break of brilliant sunshine created a stark line of contrast between dark and light.  I had never seen anything like this dramatic display of weather.  I'm sure there are some great literary and theological possibilities in that sight, but I'll leave that stuff to you.  We passed Glencoe on our way, site of the famous massacre, but made it safely to Fort William and stayed in a youth hostel there.  Tom and I ate at The Grog and Gruel.  We shared an appetizer of haggis.  As long is one didn't remember whence came the haggis, it was quite appetizing. 

Tomorrow...on to St. Andrew's.  Fore!

For our last day in Ireland, we said goodbye to our lovely host families and boarded the bus to go north.  We drove up to the north coast to the Giant's Causeway, Carrick-a-Rede, and down the coast road to Larne where we boarded the ferry for Scotland.  Another action and breath-taking scenery filled day!

A scene from the north coast.

Giant's Causeway

taken from the cliff above the Giant's Causeway

A hillside along the coast road, part of the Glens of Antrim - the gorse was out in full force all over Ireland, making the land live up to its green and gold reputation. 

Scenery from the Glens of Antrim

Next time...Scotland!

 This was the train station where we caught the train into Belfast.  It looks like something out of Thomas the Tank Engine and I thought Sam might appreciate it. 

When we got into Belfast, we had a few hours to shop.  I took advantage of the "down time" to sit in Starbucks and read a book.  It was quiet and peaceful and I thoroughly enjoyed the time. 

 Belfast town hall with Queen Anne presiding out front. 

 We had a lot of showers during our walking tour, but when the sun managed to shine through, we had some gorgeous moments.

Can't you just imagine the carts and carriages going up and down here, stopping in front of the inns and shops? 

 When we were done in Belfast, we walked back to the train station in a drenching downpour.  We were soaked through, even through rain coats, but the rain couldn't dampen our sense of adventure.  We enjoyed our day in Belfast anyway. 

Sorry I'm so slow about this!  I have not yet hit any "lazy days of summer" so this could take a while.  Loading this page could also take a while - there are a lot of pictures - but I think it will be worth it once they load.   

The next day was Sunday and we took the train into Dublin.  We worshiped with an inner city mission church of the Church of Ireland.  At one point, the pastor asked Tom and Dean to come forward and explain a bit about Geneva, what we were doing there, and the state of the church in the U.S. 

We really enjoyed worshiping with this diverse, international church.

We had lunch at the Epicurean Food Hall which offered a fascinating variety of ethnic foods. 

Then our walking tour began.  In the rain. 

The highlight of this day - for me, anyway - was going to Trinity College and seeing the Book of Kells.  Amazing.  Absolutely amazing. 

This is the only part of Dublin Castle which survives from the Middle Ages - this tower was built under King John's auspices.  The "Castle" now is really an elegant Georgian palace, still used for important state occasions.  More rain.

St. Patrick's Cathedral, Dublin.  This is where Jonathan Swift was dean for many years and he and Stella are buried there.  Still more rain. 

Interior of St. Patrick's.  It was a bit crowded - everyone was trying to get out of the rain, I think. 

The next day, we went to Newgrange, a pre-historic temple mound.  Well, we went to the visitors' center.  We didn't have time to go out to the mound itself.  We did have time to check out a trail, though, which led across a bridge spanning the Boyne River.  You may know the Battle of the Boyne, the last big battle between William of Orange and James the Loser (that's his name, right?). 

The river looked peaceful enough this day; downright bucolic, in fact.

We stopped in Armagh to see St. Patrick's Cathedral (C of I).  The church stands where St. Patrick had his first church, where he preached. 

It is also the final resting place of Brian Boru, the first man to unite Ireland under one king.

From there, we drove up past Belfast and to Carrickfergus.

A few of us got friendly with the guards.

I made him blush.  Or maybe it was just the reflection from my coat. 

We had a little rain and a little shine for our tour of the castle.  Steven was an excellent tour guide.  He let us try on armor and hold a broadsword and cool stuff like that.  He drew the line at jousting, sadly.  I was hoping to take on my brother. 

From there, we hot-footed it back toward Belfast to meet our host families from the Trinity RPC and had a quiet evening.

Okay, Day 2 will have to stand on its own because we saw so much!

Ross Castle.  Gone was the beautiful weather from the day before and we got to try out all of our new rain gear.  We didn't take the time to go into the castle, but went up close and saw some.  This was our first official castle of the tour, so I think we all have some pictures of it.

Ross Castle

Cahir Castle.  The only time this castle fell to enemy hands by force was in 1599 when Exeter made his ill-fated expedition to Ireland.  There are still cannon balls stuck in the walls. 

The Rock of Cashel.  This rocky outcropping was a strategic defensive position and shows evidence of centuries of occupation.  We had a very wet, blustery tour of the roofless ruins.  This was our Irish baptism.

The monks here were professional musicians - 8 of them - paid to perform beautiful music for the Lord every day.  Not a bad gig, I think. 

This is the ruins of a monestary down the hill from Cashel.  Originally, it was a Benedictine Abbey, but the story we were told was that the Archbishop at Cashel had a dream one night that a line of black-robed Benedictine monks wound their way up the hill and murdered him in his bed, so he evicted the Benedictines and installed the less-threatening, brown-robed Cistercian monks.  It probably had to do with politics or taxes or something, but it's a good story. 

Finally, we stopped at St. Brigid's in Kildare.  There is a wishing stone at one corner of the building which supposedly grants your wish if you put your arm through the hole and touch your shoulder.  None of us found the rock in time to try it out, so we may never know if it's true!

One of the best things this day was four of us going into King Cormac's chapel at Cashel and then St. Brigid's and singing the 23rd Psalm.  The chapel was quite small and the sound was amazing with the four of us in the tiny chancel.  I tried to record a bit of it on my camera, but unfortunately "The Alto" was too close to the microphone and ruined the effect.  It was beautiful in memory, though.

As was the whole day.     

I got home late last Saturday night after a wonderful time of adventure and fun.  There's really too much to tell and we'd all lose interest before I was done.  But I will share a few pictures and tell a little bit.  If you want to know more, just ask. 

This is the Dingle Peninsula in southwestern Ireland.  This was our first day in Ireland and we were all hungover with jet lag, but the day was one of the prettiest you could ask for and the scenery was stunning, so it was worthwhile to fight through the sleep deprivation.  Even our bus driver commented over and over about the gorgeous weather.  We could see islands far out to sea (Skellig Michael) and, across the bay, the Kerry Mountains.  The water was as blue as it looks it here and the sun was bright and warm.   

Okay, we've covered...Day 1.  Don't worry, the other days will go faster.  Maybe.  I hope.  You hope. 

John and the kids survived - did very well, in fact.  Sadly, we sent Mom home sick after her week here, but we sure appreciate her help. 

I'm so thankful for the opportunity to go.  It really was a wonderful trip.  And I'm equally glad to be home now with my family. 

Several months ago, my brother told me about a trip he was planning for a college Humanities class in the spring of '09 and asked if I would like to go along as a chaperone.  Uh, no, not really, I have no interest in travelling to Ireland, Scotland and England (including Stratford-on-Avon) for 2+ weeks. 

Reluctantly, I agreed.  We leave tomorrow.

I'm not excited at all.  Rather blase about the whole thing, really.  Ho hum.  This is, after all, a working trip, you understand.  I'm a chaperone and I take my responsibilities very seriously.  I probably won't sleep a wink the whole time.  I will dedicate myself to caring for the students entrusted to me.

Okay, I'll stop.  You're not fooled anyway!  I'm wildly excited!  My stomach has been in nervous upheaval for a while now and may only subside when I return home!  I'm thinking in exclamation points! 

So, I won't be blogging for a while, but  when I return, I will regale you with tales of my travels.  Ad nauseum.  I'll even throw in a couple of references to inside jokes just to be really annoying.   

In the meantime, please pray for John and the kids as they fend for themselves!  And join me in praising the Lord for a husband who is brave enough to let his wife go halfway around the world and leave him alone with 4 young children for 2+ weeks!  Lest you worry about him too much, though, my mom is coming next Saturday to stay for the week and several people from church have already offered to help out - my sociable kids are going to want me to go away more often!  I'm sure they'll all be fine and I am so thankful for the opportunity to go on my big trip. 

Didja hear it?  Last night about 6:15 p.m. Central Time, you may have heard the sound of a large crowd cheering but been unaware of whence came the sound.  (I love using the word "whence."  It sounds so pretentious.)  Well, it came from Minnesota.  From Maplewood, Minnesota, to be more specific.  

You must be asking yourself, "What caused such an uproar?"  I will tell you.  William Shaw, yes, our very own William Shaw, made his first hit of the baseball season.  And, to make it even better, he hit in the game-winning run.  And there was much rejoicing.  He even got doused with the leftover liquid from the water cooler.   

To many, hitting the baseball during a game is fairly common practice and this event may not seem like much of a big deal.  But most of us can understand the pride and excitement associated with finally doing something and doing it well after a tough period of perserverance. 

Typical of William, he was was more concerned with getting out of his wet clothes than basking in the attention of his teammates, but once he was warm and dry, he was a very happy camper all evening.  It was a good day. 

I have a bit of a hangover this morning.  Before you think too badly of me, it's just a drama hangover.  Debilitating just the same, mind you.  But not quite as painful. 

Our production of The Tempest went very well.  It is an abbreviated and simplified version of the original Shakespeare.  So, that makes it  the temest in a teacup, right?  Ahem.  Well, anyway, it went well and it's over.  Both facts make me very happy. 

Here's William as Trinculo, the Jester.  (Not a bad costume for three shirts from the thrift store!)  William did very well and had a blast doing it.  We were remembering back to the beginning of last school year when William was petrified to stand up in front of people to do anything.  Now, he actually revels in it!  It's fun to watch him having fun. 

Here he is with his partners in crime, the comic relief - Stephano, Caliban and Trinculo. 

Cast picture.  All shy, quiet, retiring type individuals, as you can see! 

Today, is pajama day at school since everyone's brains are mush anyway!  We'll have some fun and sprinkle in some academics for good measure and be done for the weekend. 

Actually, as of today, I'm done for the school year.  Yup, this is my last day.  Next week, I leave for my 2 1/2 week "working" holiday to Ireland and Scotland.  More on that later...

For now, I will say that teaching 4th and 5th grade has given me a new appreciation for elementary teachers and what they do every day; it has confirmed that I am not cut out to teach at this particular grade level; it has been a blessing to get to know the students and the other teachers at LCA; it has been a challenge and a blessing and I'm thankful that I had to opportunity to do it.  I'm also thankful to be done. 

Tomorrow is a big day.  The day of the Lower School Art and Drama Night!  The 4/5 class is doing The Tempest, adapted from the play by William Shakespeare.  In this production, William is Trinculo, court jester to the King of Naples.  He and his bumbling companions (characters in the play, of course.  I wouldn't say such things about my students! At least not in a public context!) provide the comic relief for the play. 

So, William needs a jester costume.  Yes, well.  Hmmm.  In a moment of inspiration, I went to the second-hand store and bought three adult long sleeved jersey-knit shirts.  I cut them up and sewed them back together again to make a jester's costume.  Okay, so I won't win any Oscars for costume design.  I won't even win a Mancini.  But I think it will convey the right impression and do nicely.  I hope. 

Tonight I am putting some finishing touches on so tomorrow I can post a picture of the finished product on the actor himself. 

And if you are so inclined, please pray for the production tomorrow night.  It could use a heavy dose of divine intervention. 

For those of you who are avid gardeners or who spend long hours on the landscape around your house, these pictures must cause shudders of horror.  My own husband grumbles about them and does his best to exterminate these "weeds," as he calls them. 

As many of you know, our family is in the process of pursuing an adoption.  We are nervously excited or excitedly nervous, I'm not sure which, depends on the day, I guess, but eager to meet our new daughter when she arrives. 

Part of that process, of course, is the home study.  With our adoption agency, that means three separate visits, although not all of them occur in the home. 

The first visit was three weeks ago.  Cassie, our social worker, came to our house, asked a bazillion questions (all in a very friendly manner), got acquainted with us and with the kids, and had a walk-through of the house.  (Just a walk-through; no white glove test, thank goodness!) 

Last week was the second visit and John and I met Cassie individually at a coffee shop to talk.  She asked a bazillion more questions while we drank a gallon of coffee and got even better acquainted. 

Today, Cassie came to our house again (we asked for it to be at our house because of the kids) and asked another bazillion questions to finish off the home study.  Cassie now knows us better than we know ourselves. 

So, the good news is that the home study is just about ready to move into the approval stage.  We have a little more paperwork to complete (couldn't we just shake hands and save a few trees?) and our profile book to complete and then, I think, it is my distinct impression, I do believe, that our profile will be shown to prospective birth moms and we could be picked at any time.  We could be picked immediately.  We could be picked in three months.  We could be picked in December.  We just don't know.   We wait on the Lord's timing.  According to those who know, this will be the hardest time, simply waiting.  With my own pregnancies, there was a due date, a goal, a definite waiting period.  For an adoption, it could be days, weeks, months, or, *shudder*, years.  We know that the Lord already has in mind the child that is supposed to be in our family, so we will wait on His timing.  Not much choice, there, huh?  It's His timing whether we wait patiently or impatiently. 

There are, of course, many causes for anxiety in this whole process and we ask for your prayers as we move toward adopting.  We feel like the Lord has called us to this and we know that He is faithful. 

For those of you who are curious, and you know who you are, we have specified that we want a girl and are open to any racial or cultural background.  Oh, and it will be a domestic adoption. 

Liberty's big fundraiser for the year, the Golf Classic, was a success!  Thanks to many generous donors, including the wonderful bunch who sponsored John (thank you!), the school earned over $83,000!  This is the highest event day total we've ever had, and more always comes in after the fact, so hopefully that total will go up.  This makes it more likely that we will get the kind of tuition break that we need to send both oldest boys to school next year. 

Here is John in his foursome for the day.  The Payne Stewart look-alike was the event coordinator.  Sadly, I couldn't convince John to dress like that. 

We had beautiful weather, a high fundraising total, and lots of fun. 

Next year, John wants me to play.  If I play, will you all send more money?  Well, I have to figure out how to hit that tiny ball first.  There's a reason Mark Twain said that "golf is a good walk ruined."  He was foretelling my golf efforts. 

I realized that I never posted any pictures of Sam's little birthday party.  We had pizza and cake and presents - all the elements of a truly successful party. 

Here's the birthday boy beside the seat of honor. 

Here's the cake of the year!  Sam absolutely loved it.  He commented over and over on the soldiers and especially the "dead" one who was lying flat in a morass of chocolate frosting.  Besides soldiers and horses and a castle gate, the cake had M&Ms on top - better and better.

Blowing out the candles and preparing to dig in.

Opening presents.  This one was a set of Lego pirates - very cool.  He also received the book "Good Night, Gorilla," which I had never seen before, but which Sam insisted on "reading" all the way through before he could move on to any other presents. 

Here is Sam modeling the new Polo Ralph Lauren jacket he got as one of his birthday presents.  Instead of the polo player on a horse, it's on a motorcycle, but still with the helmet and raised mallet.  Kinda funny. 

So, the birthday was a success!  Many thanks to the grandparents for presents, and to Miss P and Miss K for hosting the event with such skill and grace and knowledge of what this three-year-old boy would like best. 

Somehow, whenever I look at this picture, I can't help but break out into song. 

"Come now to the campus, true sons of Geneva, With one accord, in song your voices raise.

Proclaim loud the glory, those walls old and hoary, the college where I spent such happy days.

Then, come, Geneva's sons, ne'er let the glad chorus fail (never let it fail),

That tells in proud measure how fondly we treasure, Geneva beside the Beaver Vale." 

Forgive me for any mistakes - that's from memory.  And, yes, I said, "sons"  and, you know what?  I don't feel slighted.  Maybe I should, but I don't.  I love the old alma mater. 

My other fave is "Moon on the Campus."  I just love schmaltz!  (Dad, spelling?)  "...In years to be, I'll always see one girl I'll love forever, the girl with the G, still waiting for me, 'neath the moon on the campus ground."  Nothing like it, I tell 'ya! 

Strange to think that the landscape on campus is changing so dramatically.  But this particular change is good, I think, much needed and probably long overdue.  The music major experience will be lacking, somehow, though.  They will no longer be "the quick or the dead" as they try to dodge 18-wheelers on their way to Alumni Hall.  Well, no great gain without some small loss.    

Today, April 23rd, is an important holiday.  One worthy of all the attention it does not receive.  Worthy of a party!  Worthy of cake, if nothing else.  Today is William Shakespeare's birthday

and, as if that's not enough reason to celebrate,  it is also St. George's Day!

As I'm sure you know, St. George is the patron saint of England.  The best, most beautiful version of this story is told by Margaret Hodges and illustrated by Trina Schart Hyman.  Check it out from the library in celebration of this historic holiday. 

Today, I took in cookies for my class and read them a storybook version of Shakespeare's life.  Any excuse for a party, right? 

Maybe to celebrate with the family tonight we'll have a dramatic reading from Hamlet or Twelfth Night.  Anyone want to come over?  I'll let you pick your part.  Hello?  This thing on?  *tap*tap*  Anyone still there?  Do I hear crickets?

Well, if those aren't reason enough to celebrate, anyone can celebrate the fact that today is 83 degrees and sunny! 

Johanna is a vampire at the moment since her two front teeth were pulled last week.  The teeth had to be pulled because they refused to come out by themselves (J. wouldn't let us tie a string to her tooth and shut the barn door hard to yank it out!), and her permanent teeth were coming in behind.  So this look is going to be short-lived. 

When I had this look, it was right before Christmas and I got to sing "All I Want for Christmas is My Two Front Teeth" for the school Christmas program.  I know.  Such an adorable child I was.  Precocious.  Talented.  Handsome.  Humble.  Just ask me and I'll be glad to tell you about me some time. 

But back to Johanna.  Nah.  I leave you with "me."