Julia was riding in the car with Mama and playing with a handful of Little People figurines. I hear a little voice announce to the figurines that they are going to play bible study. “John, Peter, and Jesus go up a mountain” she says. The mama excitement builds as I listen to hear what she has gleaned from bible study and the transfiguration story. She continues, “And then they see the ice castle”. Well ok, we need to work a little on the details but if Jesus really is the King as we have told her him having his own castle doesn’t seem like much of a stretch to a five-year-old. The little people bible study continues in the back seat in quiet tones that Mama can’t make out so who knows what happens to the trio next, but Mama was joyful at the treasures that have been hidden in her heart.

Jesus said, “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these .” -Matthew 19:14

We took our summer trip to Florida at the end of July. This year Daddy drove down with us. Unfortunately he didn’t get to stay long, but we were thrilled to have him for the time we did. The girls traveled well on this trip with the exception of Emily coming down with something on the way home which gave her carsickness-like symptoms. We did get lucky and get them to sleep at the same time on the way down. On the way home they alternated naps.

Emily’s "almost" home photo and smile. These were the photos we sent Daddy to tell him we were almost home. Everyone was excited to see Daddy.

Julia was all comfy watching a movie as the sun went down. We tried to race the sun and get home before it went to bed, but as we were counting the red lights through town the sun beat us.

For the trip we rented a minivan; so that, we could take extra stuff and have some spare room. We filled the van pretty well despite the desire to have a little extra room. We encountered a variety of temperatures and situations and used almost everything we brought at one time or another.

This was the first time that the girls rode in a car together with space between them. Normally they are able to reach out and touch each other or for Emily to steal Julia’s toys. They adjusted pretty well, but I think they missed their general interaction. I was most happy that when Julia was asleep that Emily couldn’t wake her up by poking her.