Centennial # 2

We lived in Colorado for almost a decade, and while we were there we managed to make a lot of really fabulous friends! Our quest to see as many of them as we could continued on Thursday. We managed to get Luke over to see his friend, which gave me some time to visit with his mom - my friend Andrea, who had gorgeous twin baby girls a couple months after I left.  They are precious!

While Luke was hanging out, Gabi had a last minute play date with one of her absolute best buddies from Peabody.  She was so excited when she found out - I don't know if I have ever seen her move that fast!  The grandma to Gabi's little BFF is our friend Lori.  Lori is the secretary in the front office at Peabody and she is like a sister to Michael.  We've missed her terribly- in fact I had a really difficult time going into the new school office in Alabama because I knew how sad I would be.

Me with my angel friend Julie

While the oldest and youngest were entertained, the rest of us had a lunch date at Costco with our amazing friend Julie and her son. Julie has a heart the size of Texas, and every minute I get to spend with her makes me a better person! We spent some time shopping, some time eating, and some time party planning.....which will make more sense in a couple paragraphs.

If I have a picture I don't have to try again, right?  :)

Then we were off to gather the kids and head out to meet Hayden and Lindsay out at Bear Creek Park to go stand-up paddleboarding.  Now if you know me well, you know that I am a clutz deep down and have very limited balance - so stand up paddleboarding sounds like an activity that I would prefer to avoid at ALL COSTS.  Sadly, I have adventurous children and since I raised them to be that way, I had to put on my brave face and paddle out on the water.  I was initially quite safe - I stayed on my knees and paddled all over the little lake with Isa on the back of my board.  It was nice and calm, little wind, and we managed to stay relatively dry.  Luke was standing up paddling himself all over the lake.  Very impressed with him.  Then Gabi went out with Hayden and came back standing - and jumping, and giggling hysterically as Mr. Hayden rocked the paddleboard - but somehow maintaining her balance.  I knew I was going to have to try to go out and stand up after Isa tried.  She's my most cautious child, and when she makes an effort to be brave I must join her to show support.  (Look back a couple years at the Pirates Post at who shamed me into jumping off a rock into the freezing Colorado River, yep, that would be Isa.)

So I paddled out and stood up, like a grown up.  Lasted about 25 seconds until the wind decided to gust, blowing my trembling, terrified knees off kilter and sending me head first onto the front of the board.  Pretty sure I landed and ended up looking like a duck with the front of me in the water, the back of the board up in the air like a duck's tail feathers.  Nothing like a swift dose of humility to remind you why you don't do these things in the first place.  Nails bent backwards, contacts dripping in lake water, I managed to get all of me back in the middle of the board where I sat there blinking and trying not to be mortified.  Unsuccessfully.  Yet I still had done it, and I took that as a win.  It was the courage to try that mattered.

And just when you would think that would be the end of our day, we jumped in the RV and drove back to Centennial to have dinner with our friends John and Dee.  We love them both.  Dee has been close with our girls since they were babies and she is still one of the most beautiful women I have ever seen - she's more than 15 years older than I am and she STILL looks better than I do in this picture.  Truly unfair!

Then it was off to visit with our friends Jim and Lisa and their two munchkins.  They were surrogate family for us in Centennial - we shared a lot of holiday dinners together and always celebrated the famous Heine holidays - Superbowl Sunday and Easter Saturday (with an Easter Egg Hunt at their house.)  They have been amazing friends.  We missed them when each of the Heine holidays passed this year.

Friday was more visiting:  first to see our friends the Bryants and their grandkids, then a friend for Isa, and then we were off to see our friends the Lamberts.  We ended up back with the Heines for dinner and conversation and a comfy place to sleep.

Saturday dawned and we were off again.  Luke went to see a friend, I went to visit my friend Mary and afterwards went to eat with our friends Marcia and Paul.  Its so fun to see what everyone has been up to!

Both the girls had this gorgeous teacher for Kinder.

My friend and mentor for my ONE and only year of helping to teach preschool, Leigh Ann.  She taught me more about patience than anyone has ever managed before.  And my friend Shelly who taught me that Lavender Essential Oil pretty much fixes everything.

Leah had all three of my kids for first grade.

Some teachers teach lessons far beyond the classroom. Christine taught our kids to love and ride horses. How lucky are we to know such great people!

Then it was time to head to the Tombaris for the party that we'd been planning that week.  Julie had decided that it was crazy for us to try to see all our Peabody Elementary family while we were in town (and after trying to see as many people as we did, she was right I couldn't have done it!).  So she decided the only logical conclusion was to throw a party.  So she did - and about 50 of our Peabody family came to see us.  The kids were thrilled to see more of their friends and we were so touched to reconnect with a lot of our former coworkers and friends.  Some of the kids' teachers came and our babies were over the moon to see them.  There were a lot of Alvidrez children hug fests.  Who am I kidding, I hugged everyone I could catch - some of the kids were too fast for me.

Each of our kids had a different second grade teacher. We love all of them.

By the end of Saturday night I couldn't even fathom how I was supposed to leave on Sunday afternoon.  Having had so many people I love around me for a whole week I felt as if my heart might just fall to pieces.  Somehow we got up, chatted with the Tombaris, went to church, snuggled a bunch more friends, had lunch with our friend Robyn, and then about 6 pm we got in our RV and drove away.

My beautiful girls from church - how did they grow so fast?

Our one last stop before we turned for home was to see Michael's dad and step-mom who are visiting family in Greeley, CO.  We enjoyed spending an afternoon with them and then we turned east to begin our trek home.  And somehow as we turned east our spirits lifted and we craved the love that was waiting for us in Alabama.

Quick pic with Michael's dad

 I contemplated why this vacation was so different than all the others that I have blogged about.    It just recently occurred to me that the name of this vacation summarized it in a way I hadn't intended.  Michael and I refer to this trip as the Heartland Tour - because we were in the heart of the country the entire time.  But its more than that - this vacation wasn't about exploring the country and finding adventure.  It was about our hearts returning to see people we love.  We took our hearts on a tour, and we came out better for it.

Who would have thought a year ago that my heart would be cheered by the thought of returning to Dixie.  But it is.  Because as a wise friend repeatedly reminded me on this journey - home is where your heart is.  I think that we feel at home where ever there is love waiting for us.  That is a blessing and a gift and we are forever grateful to our family and friends who made this trip so renewing for us.   We have been on a wonderful journey, and now love is calling us home.