Work and school filled our October days. Made it to a couple football games. It was just Aubrey and Grant when we visited the pumpkin patch this year, and really, we just went for their apple cider slushies and apple cider donuts. Joel had a band concert, and we snapped a photo of him and Sam. Grant went as Harry Potter for Halloween this year.
The first six weeks were tough for Kari at school, but she was brave and kept working on making friends and pushing herself to be social. We saw smiling photos of her in "Be Reals" and from Rachael via Kylee and heard from her in a few texts and a couple sad phone calls. I sent her photos of the tree in our backyard as the leaves changed color and started to fall. It was weird to not have her here. I checked Life360 often. We prayed for her often, and she was never far from our thoughts. Joel accidentally used a fork to eat his "no-fork chicken," and we had to send her a photo. Technology and phones make the distance feel not quite so far.
I’ve reached a new low. The question used to be, “What’s for dinner?” Now: “Are we having dinner?" This is the season we’re in and the state of things around here. We’re fine. Everything’s fine. :-)
Greg found out last minute, of course, that he needed to on a business trip to Ireland. Off he went for his forth trip across the pond.
We got up and left the hotel by 5am to get to Disney as early as possible, and we were the first ones in line! Greg dropped me off and went to go park, and I was the only person there for a few minutes. :-) We were set and ready for rope-drop! We walked/ran all the way through Frontierland to Star Wars Land to ride Rise of the Resistance, and we got it done first thing! It was not without a lot of laughter, though. The McLaughlins had never done a rope-drop before (they didn't know how to do Disney and had multiple bad experiences, as a result), and we were determined to show them how it's done and make it the best day every. As we were rushing as fast as possible down Main Street, Heidi was looking at both sides of the street, saying, "But I can't even enjoy the atmosphere!" It was so funny! Greg was practically dragging me behind him as we speed walked. We were quite a site, I'm sure! We did it right, though--got to ride everything we wanted, had lunch at Cafe Orleans for a Monte-Cristo, got yummy snacks, and shut the park down at midnight. Our legs and feet were so sore, we literally hobbled our way back to our cars. We're all getting old, making rope-drop to close more of a challenge. It was such a fun day, though, and the best way to distract ourselves from the sadness and worry we felt about leaving our kids at college.
Here is my FB post on our way home that Sunday, after saying good-bye, and after Disneyland with our friends:
"Greg and I are on our way home from taking Kari to college at California Baptist University. We flew in Thursday night, moved her in Friday and said goodbye (I sobbed all the way back to the hotel), and then spent the day at Disneyland on Saturday with friends who also dropped off freshmen at CBU. I highly recommend this plan. We had an epic Disney day that started at 6am (very first people in line!) and ended at midnight. As my friend, Tiffany, put it, “We won Disneyland.” :-) It was a blast and the perfect distraction for after drop-off. We may have been limping to our cars at 12:30am (2 straight days of 10+ mile walking in 100 degree heat did us in), but it was totally worth it.
It’s been quite the weekend, and honestly, a wild, roller coaster of emotions. Cal Baptist is an amazing place, and I am so excited for Kari that she gets to be there, to grow and learn, make new friends, and experience all the fun that college life has to offer. I’m certain God has her just where he wants her. While I am absolutely thrilled for her and proud of her for being brave and stepping out of her comfort zone, my heart is also breaking—for her and the uncomfortable newness of this life change but also for us, not having her at home. Life is changing for our family, and that’s hard, really hard. But I wouldn’t want it any other way. It’s what we’re raising our kids to do. This wouldn’t be so difficult if we didn’t like each other so much! Kari Lynn, we love you and are praying for you every day and in each step you take. I know it’s hard, but it’s gonna be good! We’ve been right about most things in life, right? ;-) ❤️
(P.S. I totally made the guy in the seat next to me on the airplane uncomfortable with my streaming tears while writing this—I explained but still…)"
