Family Journal

Count-down:  36 days until departure for Alaskan Adventure

I’ve never been great at journal writing, but for this trip to Alaska, I have an ambitious plan.  I’m going to buy each of us our own special notebook and have everyone write at least a few words every day.  For Jessica, Alyssa, and me this will be relatively easy.  It’s the two boys I worry about.  Can I get them to put their thoughts down on paper?  I think I can get my husband to do it, but Ryan’s not too much into writing.  He loves reading. Persuading him to write though, is as difficult as pulling a bear away from a salmon stream.  I have to coax him the entire way.

For some reason, I have the desire to see this trip through everyone’s eyes.  We will all see places differently, notice little things the rest of us miss.  A smell, a color, the way the wind moves through the trees. Ryan might see things closer to the ground. What will Alyssa see in a glacier that I miss? How will Jessica describe the blue of glacier fed lakes?

I want to capture these thoughts and experiences.  

I don’t want the writing to become a chore though.  So I’ve decided, in addition to the notebooks (or maybe in Ryan's and my husband’s case, in place of), every day we will do a quick two minute video log, describing what meant the most to each of us that day.  

When we return home I want to put together all our journaling, videos and pictures into a media project that tells our tale of adventure.

Maybe it's because Jessica and Alyssa will be heading off to college in a year or two and Ryan is almost ten, that I have the need to preserve these precious last moments our five member family has together. I want to capture this beautiful moment in time and hold it forever.

Kathy :)