Visits with Friends

The month of May gave us several opportunities to be with friends from afar.  We're grateful when friends come to visit, and when travels include stops with us!

A very special six-day visit was spent with Mike, who is the pastor of the church we were a part of while living in England.  Mike and his wife, Debs, became dear friends through weekly Bible study and conversations at McDonalds (we left that food to the guys!).  Flash forward a few years and Ryan hears about a weekend event our current church hosts for pastors.  So we disguise our desire to spend time with Mike in an elaborate invitation for him to take part in the pastor conference (he he!), and he gets to come!  Ryan and I prayed for and expected Mike's visit to be good, but we were not prepared for the deep, soul-level encouragement we experienced from time spent with this dear brother.  Ryan was able to take a little time off work and join Mike for some of the meetings.  And after full days at the conference, we were happy to lose sleep for some late-night conversations in the kitchen with hot chocolate =)  We also had a full day of being tourists in DC together!  Thank you, Debs, for sharing your gentle and humble husband with us for the week!  The Paynes are better for it.

The Potomac River . . .   

When we found out Mike loves Chinese food, we knew just where to go (I was grateful for the excuse to eat more dumplings and noodles!)

Sisters!  They've made it a tradition to take this photo in this spot every time we go through the FDR memorial!

On the steps at Jefferson's memorial 

Speaking of friends from England . . . the Leach Family was in town!!  What a treat to be included on their summer vacation trip.  We loved the hours we spent walking, talking, and taking in the sights together.  It's wonderful to be with friends who can seemingly pick up right where we all left off (just with a little less British accent from the kids this time!).

I also got to host my dear friend, Kenan, for a night!  Life looks very different now than when we first  met in the Freshman dorm at OBU so many years ago, but my gratefulness for her friendship has only strengthened.  We squeezed in as much talking as we could in our hours together, and it just left me wanting more time with her. . . . and her precious daughter!   

Gretchen's Dance Recital

Gretchen took part in her first ballet and tap class this year!  Wearing tights and a leotard are not among her favorite things in life, but she enjoyed being in class with her sweet friend, learning the dance routines, and everything involved with the performance (make-up!).  There were two recitals back-to-back so all the family and friends could watch.  Uncle Steve and Aunt Vallerie were there with us to cheer on our beautiful ballerina!

Disneyworld!!!!

Last summer, when we moved to the DC area, I started planning this trip in my mind . . . a spring road trip to Disneyworld, breaking up the drive with an overnight stay with the Schmidts.  When my parents said they could meet us there, the dates were set!  

We left early Saturday morning with our eyes set on Davidson, North Carolina.  Chris and Claire Schmidt were our neighbors and dear friends during our time in England.  They have two precious children and were extremely hospitable to our crew that crashed with them for the night.  Our brief stay with their family couldn't have been more perfect.  Great weather to enjoy the sprawling yard, amazing food prepared by one of my favorite cooks, easy and encouraging conversation, and even a fun glimpse of the quaint and beautiful town of Davidson.  The cherry on the top was when Claire pulled out the Dark Chocolate Digestives - a favorite treat from England!

The next morning we headed out with our sights set on the Shades of Green military resort in Orlando, Florida - yipeee!  The second day of driving went better than the first where kids are concerned.  Everyone just needed to remember how to road trip!  These laminated photos are still one of the kids' favorite car activities!

After traveling to South Sudan, Florida, Singapore, and Nepal . . . Kaye K and Big Daddy found their way to the hotel parking lot.  And there was much rejoicing! 

Shades of Green Resort

We spent our first night with pizza by the pool (while Dad of the Year, Ryan, figured out how to trade in our vouchers for actual tickets). 

First morning!  Riding the monorail to the Magic Kingdom!

This next photo pretty much sums it all up:

Rooke - "Let's go.  Wait - What's that over there?"

Ryan - "All right.  Let's do this."

Bridgette - "I'm happy to be here!"

Kaye K - "Woo Hoo!!  Isn't this great?!  I love my family!  I'm walking through Disneyworld with my family!  Wave to everyone!"

Gretchen - "I picked out this outfit for this exact day before the trip and I'm happy that so far everything is going as planned"

Big Daddy - "Huh?!  I got the stroller.  Don't wait on me."

Angela - "Hey guys!  Look over here!  We're at Disneyworld!"

The last time Rooke rode the tea cups, he wasn't a fan.  This time, our two cups were spinning the fastest! 

Mom, Dad, Ryan and I went to Hong Kong Disneyland back in our China days.  One of our favorite memories is riding the Buzz Lightyear ride many times, shooting the aliens, and competing for the best score.  We got to do it all over again, and you can see how seriously we take our alien-shooting competition!

Gretchen remembered not getting to drive the car herself from our trip to EuroDisney and was so glad to get behind the wheel this time around.  

Splash Mountain!!  The adult faces vs. the kids - hilarious!!  They really did have fun!

Day 2 - heading to Epcot 

The park was ready for the flower festival happening the following week so the grounds were especially beautiful.



We started our day in Norway.


The best part of the Frozen ride was when the boat  started sailing backwards into another room and Gretchen shouted, "It's Elsa!!!"

Test Track was in the top three rides for all three kids.  I think they had as much fun designing their cars and seeing how their car handled the test track as they did actually riding in the car!

Big Daddy and Kaye K took the kids back to the hotel for some swimming and rest . . . 

. . . while Ryan and I stayed at Epcot and walked through the all the countries.  A pretty magical date!

We all ended the day back at Epcot with dinner in Morocco and a spectacular fireworks show.

Day 3 was spent at Animal Kingdom


We headed straight to the safari ride when the gates opened.  The morning temperatures were cooler and, besides the lions, we saw all the animals moving around!

My favorite ride was the Mt. Everest rollercoaster.  The kids were felt varying levels of courage when we rode for the first time, but were all willing to do it again.  And Bridgette rode in the front with Ryan!

Bridgette waiting with Big Daddy and playing in the gift shop while the rest of us rode the only ride she wasn't tall enough for.  This little five-year-old blew us away with her adventurous spirit and willingness to try it all!

This dinosaur hunt ride thing was pretty scary!  But the Finding Nemo show was so good!

Day 4 started back at Epcot with early-entry passes.  We rode the kids' favorites again (Soarin', Test Track, Frozen) and then visited a few countries before riding the ferry over to Hollywood Studios.

After the Star Tours ride, a few shows including the Indiana Jones stunt show, the kids were done.  It was a hot day and everyone was anxious to swim!  So we headed back to the hotel for swimming, then went to Downtown Disney for a Cuban dinner - yum!

After checking out of the hotel the next morning, we split up guys and girls and headed North to St. Augustine for lunch at the second best pizza place in the country!  It was ridiculously good.  

We said goodbye to Kaye K and Big Daddy, then drove the remaining ten hours home, arriving safely at 2am, grateful we had nothing planned for the following Saturday!  There's no way to capture all that we enjoyed, but suffice to say the week was better than we'd hoped, and we're grateful for the new memories.