Aaron and Meg in NYC: stranded at the nations capital

In a moment of frustration with Aaron while trying to plan our summer road trip together, I said, “I just wish you could GO to these places ahead of time so you would know what I’m talking about and why I have strong opinions about traveling there with young children.” 

The next day, I received a text with a photo of fight itinerary and the words “hey can you get a sitter this weekend?” 

This is so unlike Aaron and so EXACTLY like Aaron at the same time. Unlike him to make a grand gesture for us to sneak away. Very much like him to be spontaneous and book something without consulting me/the calendar/make arrangements for the children.  He knew that if he had asked me first, I would rattle off 100 appointments and justifications for not going. I most certainly would have talked him out of it.  He knew we needed this time together. Alone.  

The twins’ case is in appeal, which means we will not get an adoption date as soon as we had hoped. This system is broken and frustrating to say the least. But the children are worth every tear we shed and every bit of long suffering and impatient feeling that has vibrates through our bodies.  This time away together offered time for connection and uninterrupted conversation.  

Do we look tired in that first photo? We are. Flights to Newark were delayed for hours and hours and eventually canceled altogether. This left hundreds of people from Bentonville and Jersey (and you could tell very quickly who was from which by whether or not they were yelling😂) stranded at XNA trying to get to New York or surrounding area. 

We opted to be kind and were placed on a flight to Chicago with connection to la guardia. 

The LaGuardia connection had a problem and we ended up on a flight to Washington DC, but after delays for that flight, we got to DC at 1:30am, with a flight to JFK boarding at 5am. We had no luggage, we’d been traveling and sitting in airports for 12 hours, we were tired but had no place to sleep, but a full day planned ahead of us, so we were a bit disappointed that our already-a-whirlwind quick getaway that was 1/3 over before it had even began. 

Soooo we made lemonade! 

What does one do while stranded in DC for a few hours? Go sightseeing! Neither of us have ever been there, so we found an Uber for a $18 and took a self guided Tour de Capital at 2am. There were no lines, no hot min-day sun to scorch us, no one to keep track of or hands to hold but each other’s. It was really great! The Momuments at the Washington Mall were lit up and we had a wonderful time sipping around to see the beautiful works of art and history in the very very early morning hours. 


Washington Monument (we also took a photo of the Jefferson Memorial, but it was too blurry) 

The White House


Lincoln Memorial was much larger than I expected, and we got much closer than I imagined we would be able to. I think there is more security for the artwork at Crystal Bridges than in these places. 

The only other people there were a few group of young adults zipping around on razor scooters. 

A peek at the capital building.








I posed by a pillar to give scale of just how massive they are. These momuments are not tiny! 

We made it back to the airport in time to wait. Haha. We tried to sleep on some chairs for about 90 minutes, then made it back through security, picked up a snickerdoodle hot cocoa (we were freezing) on our way to the gate, and hopped a first class flight to JFK. 

Vacation Prep

Aaron has become Clark Griswold and dreamed up an epic summer road trip for our family. I have a million reservations about this, but am settling into my role of helping everyone maintain realistic expectations. There is also a lot of anxiety in our home about viditing new, unknown places. The more I involve the children in trip prep, the less nervous they are. So, I’m squeezing every learning opportunity out of this, and being the mother that I am, every trip to the library includes a haul of books about one of our travel stops. 

Corbin has become particularly excited about the book we are creating and has been writing “reports” to add to each “chapter”.  

Here is our Statue of Liberty Chapter: 

Corbin-

Reese-


Everyone contributed 


I offered $0.25 (to go toward a special treat just for them at Levain bakery in Manhattan) for every line of this poem that the children memorize. They gave it a 2 minute attempt to memorize the whole thing then gave up, but Corbin held strong and came back to recite it about 30 minutes later. Now the other kids are giving it a try. 


Soren-

Soren wrote this adorable report after we read a couple books during naptime this week. 


“There was a war against these flags. Then Bartholdi scetched a picture of the Statue of Liberty. Since they fighted so much, he wanted to make this place Liberty. They started to build the Statue of Liberty in 1871. [next page] They started with the torch. In 1876 they were trying to get enough money for the torch. Soon they had enough money then they did the same thing they had, then they finished the Statue of Liberty. But it was so heavy that they broke it.” 

More to come! This week, they added “chapters” aboutbthe Brooklyn Bridge, Empire State Bldg, Flat Iron Building, Twin Towers, Chrysler Building, and Niagara Falls, so far, to our family research book/binder. I love every page. 

Camp Wild: Roaring River Waterslide and Shortstop

Camp Wild 2019! 

Today, we loaded up the fun bus with us and Van Slootens and joined Shaws, Messicks, Gulbransen’s (plus Morgan and Granden), and Blakes (plus Holden) for Beebe’s “redneck” Roaring River Waterslide, and Mile High peewee cones at short stop. 

Corbin, Cole G, Ethan V, Holden C, Sam B, Landan S, Tristan S, Finley S, Reese, Sarah V, Delaney S, Quincy, Ruby M, Hannah G, Granden G, Jackson G, Sully S, Sam M, Aidan S, Emma G, Morgan, Jill G, Penney M, Shirley M,  Soren, Jill M, Julie S, Katie G, Gina B, Jennifer V and I started off our summer  a Canp Wild day. I love the tradition of Camp Wild and so do the kids. Look at those kids, arms linked around each in a side by side train. Big kids and little kids having fun together, and they all care about each other so much. Stay forever, Summertime! 

This Week

This week: Soren and I busted out the paper Automata book that grandma lady gave him for Christmas. We made this awesome little hen that pecks when you hit the lever. Soren ate this activity up with a spoon. He loves puppetry and was fascinated by the mechanics behind creating an automata. 

This week: Soren started swimming lessons with Makenzie. He’s SUPER close to being an independent swimmer! 

This week: Sloane failed a hearing test and she and I endured a 2+ hour wait for a scheduled appointment with the audiologist. She literally began spinning and climbing the walls at the 2 hour mark with insanity. And I literally stopped trying to entertain her. They got us in “shortly” after and after 4 minutes with the audiologist we were on our way home. The ENT removed some buildup and she passed the hearing test this time. $225 later....

Notice her self selected flip flops “this one is to match my dress and this one is to have unicorns.” Excellent logic! 

On Sunday after church, two of my children had had enough of each other and a sibling argument escalated into something quite unholy. Aaron and I separated them and I prayed about what to do.  Both children turned their anger toward other family members and I knew they needed to be out of the home and away from the other kids while they worked through their emotions, and Aaron agreed. But where to go? 

A very clear answer came to me: put them in the car and drive to the Christ of the Ozarks statue. 

I really did not want to do this. 

At all. 

I was super tired and had hoped for a Sunday nap (what’s that? Haha) and had promised a friend I would make 3 pans of Pioneer Woman’s mashed potatoes and whipped sweet potatoes. An hour long each way drive was not on my docket. 

I’m tired. Raising preschoolers (who are still toddlers developmentally) and teens (who exhibit some similar behavior as the toddlers) is exhausting. I cannot remember a day in the last 6 months that did not begin or end or both without at least one child crying. It’s a chaotic season and the little ones begin their day with the sun, and the older ones end their day long after the sun and I’m more tired than I ever was with a newborn. 

But weary or not, the prompting came again, and Aaron encouraged, “So go there.  I will peel potatoes and you can cook them up when you get back.” 

So I took two very angry Willardsons for a drive. I was met with extreme resistance and one spewed vitriol toward me for a solid 45 minutes, which is much shorter, I believe than the episode would have lasted had we stayed home.  I remained calm and firm in my faith that God is smarter than I am and that he would not send the Holy Ghost to guide us with nonsense. There was a purpose. 46 minutes into the drive, like the flip of a switch, one of them fell asleep and the other one took a breath and stopped the tantrum.   Then, with some coaching, she regained self control.  

They switched roles on the drive home and while one child slept the other was open to conversation. No major concerns were resolved that day. But I know that particular drive is what everyone needed. 

This week: the twins’ case went into appeal. This means that someone has challenge a previous court ruling, and the file will go before an appellate court. This process can take 6-12 months.  It was a tough blow to our family to know we will remain in a state of waiting for permanancy and that the last 18 months of hearings hangs on the decision of another judge.

This week: our young friend Aldo had an appendectomy. I got to keep his mama company and then had the privilege of hanging out with this sweet boy for a few hours in his recovery room last night while mama tended to her other children and her job.  My time with them strengthened my testimony that God is in every little detail of our lives and he prepares our course beautifully. 

This week: insulation is going up in the house! I met with the “dream team” as I call them (contractor, cabinet carpenter, and plumber) all at the same time yesterday. The contractor is working with the hvac crew to get rid of the hole in the kitchen floor, and to move all the air vents that were installed up in the middle of the walls in Sloane’s room (vs down near the floor). The cabinet guy and I drafted up a new kitchen plan. The fridge will be enclosed in cabinetry, the microwave will be moved and a custom hood fan in it’s place, the island narrowed by 6 inches and extended by 18inches. A skinny cabinet will go in next to the fridge to hold cutting boards and cookie sheets, and the base cabinets under the island overhang will not have useless drawers in them. 




This week: Aaron and I attended a barn wedding for one of Aaron’s coworkers. We came home to a house full of cute teens hosting a birthday party for one of Reese’s friends. This was a welcome contrast to the new but near constant sibling contention that is currently plaguing our home. We stood under this LOVE sign and danced during a song/game that the DJ/event coordinator organizes where couples in attendance were eliminated based on the years they’ve been married. We don’t consider ourselves to be newlyweds, but we were quite surprised to be among the 5 couples who had been married the longest.  The ceremony was lovely and we felt and discussed later how we both could feel that marriage is important to the Savior.  I think Aaron enjoyed being at an interfaith event and participating in prayer together with so many coworkers. 

The setting was picturesque. I have zero time or energy to care for acres right now, but I long for property with quiet, beautiful views such as these.




This week: we celebrated National Donut Day with free Krispy Kreme. My favorite price! 

This week: we found friends at the splash pad, the public library, and the Amazeum.  We rode bikes and blew bubbles in our front yard, went to the creek, and went swimming in the neighborhood pool. 






This week: we attended the baptism of our friend Dan Malek.  We are so happy to celebrate and support him in the covenants he is making. It was wonderful to feel all the love in the room for Dan and his wife, Virginia.  

Shareholder Week

It’s a fun week to live in NWA and a fun week to be a Walmart Associate. Associates from all over the world come to town for Shareholders Week. Flags and fun little vendor freebies pop up in downtown Bentonville. An Elvis impersonator wandered the aisles of store 100 singing to patrons.  There was a free Peter Frampton Concert, Jennifer Garner hosted the shareholder meeting with guest acts Lady Antebellum, One Republic, Neon Trees, and Sofia Vergara. Aaron prioritizes his role as a father above everything else. I love seeing his mr business side on occasion. He enjoys his career, loves working for Walmart, and is thankful for the livelihood and experience that working for this company provides for our family.