A is for Adventure
If you haven't figured it out yet, I love "adventure!" Now, when I use the word "adventure" I don't mean bungee jumping, para-gliding, skydiving, or anything extreme sport-ish. I mean just getting out and experiencing new things. Sean has the same addiction to adventure - why do you think we're missionaries?
I can't usually go more than two weeks without going somewhere. It doesn't have to be far, fancy, new, or costly - just something different from the norm. Because of the ages of our children, drives are the perfect way to get out without totally messing up nap schedules or wearing ourselves out too much (grumpy and unhappy children can quickly ruin a perfectly good outing). We've spent a lot of Saturdays or Sundays out for drives, looking for roads we haven't been on before or new restaurants we'd like to try. We've seen and experienced a lot of Ecuador this way and found all sorts of fun places that we ended up returning to time and again. If we see a sign for something that looks interesting, I guarantee that we'll stop and check it out.
We're passing on our sense of adventure to our kids too. Almost every morning Brooklyn asks us where we're going, if we're walking or driving, and what she should wear. If Sean is home, she knows we'll at least go for a drive, if not a trip, and she's ready to go! Maddie went on her first big trip when she was two weeks old. It took her longer to warm up to the idea, but she's on board with the rest of the family now! She's a great little traveler. We all get antsy if too much time passes between adventures. I'm not sure this is totally healthy (will our kids be unable to settle down or just be content in one place for a while?), but it's who we are and I feel like the memories we're making are far more precious than any toy or gift we could give our children.
Besides our drives, what kind of adventures do we like? Hiking and camping, staying at hotels in any other town besides the one we live in, visiting tourist attractions, traveling to new countries - these are all things Sean and I dream about. Between the two of us we've been to every continent but Australia. I've got a running list of places I'd like to go - especially as our kids get older. Places like the Great Wall of China, the Great Pyramids, the Great Barrier Reef, the Galapagos Islands, Easter Island, Machu Pichu, Stonehenge, Jerusalem, Alaska...honestly, anywhere will do!
*****
A is also for:
Audrey, my precious baby niece. Oh, man is she cute! She's just a few months older than Maddie and we're going to really have some fun getting those two together through the years!
Ambato, the city we visit regularly to stock up on grocery items not available in Shell. We make the two hour drive up, buy our groceries, eat KFC or Dominoes and then come home. Not much of an adventure but we're glad we don't have to go all the way to Quito for that stuff like they used to.
Allergies. I've got pretty severe allergies to animals. I even look at a dog wrong and my eyes puff up and get all itchy, my nose starts running, my throat gets scratchy, and I start sneezing like a maniac.
Animals. I love them. Which poses a problem (see above). But I'm still the one that always wants to get the girls a new pet. Sean usually vetoes. I'd have a rabbit, chicken, goose, pig, monkey, goat, parrot, guinea pig, and pony in our yard by now if it wasn't for him. (We do have a dog and cat, which is a start, I suppose).
****
Don't forget that you too can participate in All About Me from A-Z by leaving a comment about something about you that begins with the letter A!!
Keep checking in for pictures of our most recent adventure!
I can't usually go more than two weeks without going somewhere. It doesn't have to be far, fancy, new, or costly - just something different from the norm. Because of the ages of our children, drives are the perfect way to get out without totally messing up nap schedules or wearing ourselves out too much (grumpy and unhappy children can quickly ruin a perfectly good outing). We've spent a lot of Saturdays or Sundays out for drives, looking for roads we haven't been on before or new restaurants we'd like to try. We've seen and experienced a lot of Ecuador this way and found all sorts of fun places that we ended up returning to time and again. If we see a sign for something that looks interesting, I guarantee that we'll stop and check it out.
We're passing on our sense of adventure to our kids too. Almost every morning Brooklyn asks us where we're going, if we're walking or driving, and what she should wear. If Sean is home, she knows we'll at least go for a drive, if not a trip, and she's ready to go! Maddie went on her first big trip when she was two weeks old. It took her longer to warm up to the idea, but she's on board with the rest of the family now! She's a great little traveler. We all get antsy if too much time passes between adventures. I'm not sure this is totally healthy (will our kids be unable to settle down or just be content in one place for a while?), but it's who we are and I feel like the memories we're making are far more precious than any toy or gift we could give our children.
Besides our drives, what kind of adventures do we like? Hiking and camping, staying at hotels in any other town besides the one we live in, visiting tourist attractions, traveling to new countries - these are all things Sean and I dream about. Between the two of us we've been to every continent but Australia. I've got a running list of places I'd like to go - especially as our kids get older. Places like the Great Wall of China, the Great Pyramids, the Great Barrier Reef, the Galapagos Islands, Easter Island, Machu Pichu, Stonehenge, Jerusalem, Alaska...honestly, anywhere will do!
*****
A is also for:
Audrey, my precious baby niece. Oh, man is she cute! She's just a few months older than Maddie and we're going to really have some fun getting those two together through the years!
Ambato, the city we visit regularly to stock up on grocery items not available in Shell. We make the two hour drive up, buy our groceries, eat KFC or Dominoes and then come home. Not much of an adventure but we're glad we don't have to go all the way to Quito for that stuff like they used to.
Allergies. I've got pretty severe allergies to animals. I even look at a dog wrong and my eyes puff up and get all itchy, my nose starts running, my throat gets scratchy, and I start sneezing like a maniac.
Animals. I love them. Which poses a problem (see above). But I'm still the one that always wants to get the girls a new pet. Sean usually vetoes. I'd have a rabbit, chicken, goose, pig, monkey, goat, parrot, guinea pig, and pony in our yard by now if it wasn't for him. (We do have a dog and cat, which is a start, I suppose).
****
Don't forget that you too can participate in All About Me from A-Z by leaving a comment about something about you that begins with the letter A!!
Keep checking in for pictures of our most recent adventure!
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