WRiTE Club Deadline

I'm still having a great time driving around Alaska with my family, but I wanted to make sure I helped get the word out on WRiTE Club.  The deadline for submission is midnight on May 31st...tomorrow, so get your writing sample in!

 It's a lot of fun, a great way to get your work critiqued, and it's all anonymous so don't be shy!

For all the details head on over to DL Hammons blog, (he's the genius behind WRiTE Club) and check it out.

My two favorite boys on the beach in Homer Spit, AK

Have a great weekend and don't forget to enter WRiTE Club!

Kathy :)

We Made It!

We made it to Alaska two days ago!

 It took us a seven full days to drive from the Winnebago factory in Forest City, Iowa to Alaska. It was an amazing drive!

I had no idea how well we would do in a 280 square foot RV with five people, two of which are teenage girls, but I'm happy to report that we are still a family of five.  My husband's limitless humor helped to smooth over the few rough spots we hit.

On the docks in Valdez, AK

Yesterday we enjoyed the sights of Valdez, AK a little town of about 4000 people on Prince William Sound.  It is surrounded by snow capped mountains on one side and the sea on the other.  It's like a tiny cold New England town mixed with Hawaii's mountains and rain forests and is absolutely stunning.

Sunrise on the ferry

Then we took a 5 1/2 hour ferry boat ride through Prince William Sound to Whittier, where we got off and drove to Homer Spit, AK on the Kenai peninsula. :)







We have seen a number of bears, but I'm happy to report that we haven't had to use the bear survival tips yet because we've only seen them from the car, not when we're out walking. I think the kids are so noisy they scare everything away! :)

Here are a couple more pictures:  

Athabasca Glacier, Columbia Icefield, Canada

First Campfire, Liard River Hot Springs, B.C., Canada 

Hope all is going well with you!  I'll be back intermittently as time and internet permits.  Until then have a great week!

Kathy :)

A Big Day

Mother's Day weekend was great!

Not because of Mother's Day though.  It was because my son had his first rock gig at a local bar.  He and his band, The Screamin' Demons, played three songs on Saturday and Sunday:  Dirty Deeds by AC/DC, Money Maker by the Black Keys, and Seven Nation Army by The White Stripes.  They had such a good time performing and we thoroughly enjoyed watching!  Their band has three guitarists, two singer/keyboard players, and a drummer.  They are all ten and under! I couldn't believe that they could play so well at that age!

This was my son's first time in front of a crowd and he was nervous, but as soon as the music started he just got into the music and loved it.  Here is a short clip of them playing Money Maker.  My son is the one in the orange and black striped shirt, between the two singers.
(The bass player is an assistant teacher.)

What did you get to do this weekend?  I hope you got to enjoy some beautiful weather.

We leave for Alaska in 4 days!!!!  If our internet access is good enough I might blog a little on the way, otherwise I'll be back in June.

Kathy :)

Happy Mother's Day

Happy Mother’s Day to all the moms out there! I hope you had a wonderful day. You deserve it for all the hard work and love you give to your families. Cherish every moment.

As I thought about all the wonderful moments I’ve had as a mom I tried to pinpoint one that stood out as the most special or heartwarming.  I couldn’t think of one.  There isn’t just one.  Having three kids 17, 15, and 9 has given me a whole life of wonder.  

From the moment Jessica was born 17 years ago, to yesterday watching Ryan at his first guitar concert and everything in between.

Watching each of them take their first steps.

Teaching Alyssa how to bake.

Teaching them all how to read.

Teaching the girls to figure skate.

Having Ryan climb into my lap to show me some new game on the iPad.

Watching them all grow into beautiful, amazing people.

Not everything has been happy.  There have been plenty of roadblocks along the way. Sickness, injury, frustration, and heartbreak are also part of the journey.  Together we forged ahead and grew.

Scary moments, sad moments and joyous moments are all part of my motherhood memories that I cherish.

But maybe the most wonderful moments of all, are those deliciously sweet times when my three children are talking and laughing together totally oblivious of my observations.  When their pure love for each other shines like the brightest of stars, telling me that even when I’m gone they will stick together and make new memories of their own.      

Kathy :)

Happy Mother's Day to my wonderful mom who taught me everything I know about motherhood and encouraged me to always follow my dreams!




If you want to join in on Dropcam's campaign to share your stories of being a mom contact,  Tiffany at tpham(@)dropcam(.)com.  They will be sharing their favorite MOMeries

Zucchinis and Zen

Count-down: 17 days until departure for Alaskan Adventure!

I can’t believe today is already the last day!  The Challenge went so fast this year! 

I have a hard time with “Z”.  I always want my last post to be really good, but “Z” words often don’t fit too well with my themes.  Last night my son, who’s nine, was trying to help me come up with a good “Z” word.  It was getting late because I’m a procrastinator and we started rattling off all the “Z” words we could think of.  Finally, he blurted out, “zucchini”.  I told him zucchinis didn’t have anything to do with Alaska.  He thought for a moment and told me we needed to take a zucchini with us on our trip, then we’ll have one in Alaska and I can write about it.  

Amid bursts of laughter we thought about drawing sharpie eyes on the zucchini and dressing him in a hat and sunglasses.  We would name him Zorba the Zucchini.  I told Ryan he might not make it through airport security.

My actual “Z” word, I decided is Zen.  I’ve only attempted meditation a few times, but I feel like our long drive will be a sort of meditative experience.  There will be long stretches of looking inside myself while my eyes focus on the constancy of the road.  I can let go of the everyday stressors and concentrate on breathing. On Being.  

Being not an individual, but a part of something bigger;  a family, a mountain valley, a speck in this grand universe.

   

Thanks for stopping by each day to read my posts! I had a great time this year and I learned so much from everybody. I want to thank Arlee for creating this wonderful A-Z Challenge! And thanks to all the co-hosts and helpers who help to make it run smoothly.  I know it takes a lot of time and effort. You guys/gals are awesome!  

Kathy :)

YOLO

Count-down:  18 days until departure for Alaskan Adventure!

My 15 year old daughter explained its meaning, “You Only Live Once”, because I’m not up on all the hip language of today.  She said driving to Alaska is definitely a YOLO moment.  Being the nerd I am, I looked up the term anyway.  It is similar to expressions such as Carpe Diem.  But, I was surprised to see it has negative connotations of taking dumb risks and explaining them away by saying “YOLO, man!”.  

That got me thinking.  What are we humans to do? Should we live as if we’ll die tomorrow, or live as if we’ll never die?  Maybe that is the same thing.  Either way we may take too many risks with our body or money.  Or should we do everything we can to protect ourselves?  That leads to becoming a hermit afraid of everything.

If I only live once, I don’t want either of those scenarios.  It’s not one amazing experience that is important to me.  It is a lifetime of combined experiences, wonderful adventures, painful trials, and quiet moments.  White water rafting together. Losing track of my two year old daughter at Reading Terminal Market in Philadelphia (we found her five minutes later).  Sitting with my son in my lap. Gazing out the window on a rainy day where the only sunshine is in the golden yellow wings of goldfinch.  Living each day no matter what life throws at me.  

Yes, driving to Alaska is surely a YOLO moment, but I prefer to think of my whole life as one long string of YOLO moments.      

My 9 year old son introduced me to this silly YOLO video from Lonely Island. I hope you enjoy it.

Kathy :)

Xperience

Count-down:  19 days until departure for Alaskan Adventure!

I love going on vacation.  I love having time where our whole family is together, with no outside distractions. Nothing that takes our attention away from one another.  That is more important to me than the actual place we visit.  Though the kids have said that our more experiential trips have been their favorites.  Seeing new sights and exploring the unknown has been more memorable to them than our beach vacations. There is something special about being adventurous as a unit.

It’s all about the experience.  What we experience together is forever woven into the fabric of our family’s history and brings us closer.  

A buffalo, for us, instantly brings to mind the time in Yellowstone when a big bull walked right up to our car window and Alyssa blurted out, “Look at that bad boy!”.  Say “Sea Lion” and the McKendry family brain is transported to St.Thomas where we swam with Omar, the sea lion.  

Even when the kids are all grown up and have moved to various parts of the country, they will still have these links back to our little family of five.  Hopefully they will smile and their hearts will be warmed by the memories we made together.  

So despite all the difficulties we may face driving 82 hours to Alaska, I’m thrilled to be etching forever on our brains a whole new set of family experiences that we can draw from later in life.

Moab = driving ATVs through desert canyons 

Kathy :)