Okay, so grownups don’t actually get summer vacation, but I thought I would answer the question anyway 😊
Here’s a quick rundown of the last two months:
My boys and I did an amazing fossil dig in Gainesville, Florida. It just does not get any cooler than finding million-year-old sharks’ teeth in a spring fed creek in the middle of the state. I totally recommend Mudslingers Tour – as a friend said, “It looks totally sketch, but its not.” She was right. It looked questionable, but it was super awesome.
We took a family trip to Charleston, SC. It was beyond hot, but very fun for three of the four of us. My 6-year-old wasn’t into the museums. My 8-year-old couldn’t get enough, and they inspired some really good conversations with him, so definitely worth the freak outs of the 6-year-old.
Every summer, my siblings and I try and get our combined 7 kids together. They are all fairly close in age. My 8-year-old is the oldest, and the youngest is 2. It is such a fun time. Someone is always crying or tantruming or screaming for no actual reason (that’s typically one of mine). It is virtually impossible to have an adult conversation, but I don’t think any of us would trade it for peace and quiet. I certainly wouldn’t. To top it off, this year we took a day and went to Disney World. Where we were surrounded by hundreds of thousands of other tantruming, screaming kids and their frustrated parents. It was so much fun!
As soon as we returned from Disney, my husband and I celebrated the highlight of the summer – our 15th wedding anniversary. This is a milestone to be sure!! And I requested that we celebrate with a vow renewal ceremony. My husband was on board once I explained that I barely remember our actual wedding and wanted to do it all again but this time focus on us, instead of the production of us. So, we invited our kids and our priest. Our 8-year-old was our photographer and our 6-year-old was our videographer. Only after the ceremony did we realize we didn’t explain to him how to take video. Instead of one long video we have about 53 two second clips. That just made it all the more real. Life is choppy; our video may as well be too!
From there, we headed up to North Carolina, with our kids in the backseat, to celebrate our anniversary. It was wonderful. We went hiking and stayed in a cabin next to a cow pasture. We ate smores and saw lightening bugs. The bed was awful and my husband and I didn’t sleep, but that was okay because we were together, with our kids squabbling in the next room. It was definitely not a romantic getaway, but it was real life, and there is something very romantic about a man who puts up with fighting children and a horribly uncomfortable bed all because his adoring wife of 15 years wanted to go hiking.
Almost as soon as we got home, my kids were the ringbearers in our former babysitters’ wedding. She’s practically part of the family, and I could not have survived the first 3 years of parenthood without her. My boys were the cutest ringbearers ever – fancy shoes, combed hair, and bowties – and she was a gorgeous bride that actually seemed more focused on her marriage, than her wedding. As our 6-year-old wiggled in between my husband and me on the dance floor, I found myself overflowing with love. These last 15 years have had their challenges, infertility being the biggest one. It tried to destroy us, but by the grace of God, it did not, and by the gift of adoption, we have our boys who give us so much more than we give them. They are a gift that we thank God for everyday. Though on the first day of school, I have to say I was also thanking God for the gift of school 😊 !
During the summer, I was also hard at work. So here’s the rapid fire on all things book related:
- Book 4 should be out in October. It’s at the editors now!
- I have a new website check it out jacqueline-brown.com
- I am super honored to say that New Day Christian Distributors are now distributing my books. So, if you own a Christian (Protestant or Catholic) Bookstore, please check with New Day or Spiritus and get the books ordered!
- And drum roll please …. The Light is now available as an audio book!! Click here to give it a listen!!
Have a beautiful start to the end of summer!
Jacqueline