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Sunday, September 6, 2026

2026 Scripture Memory Camp

We had been in a rhythm of going to Scripture Memory Camp every other summer, but this time, we went two years in a row. This was Carter and Calvin's 5th time memorizing and 4th time at camp (in 2020, they got an award in the mail instead of a trip to camp because of Covid). It was Cooper and Colson's third time at camp. Chance was officially a camper this year, but he was still a little too young to be able to handle all 25 verses, so he only got a partial scholarship. The memory program this year was Songs of the Soul Volume 1. Carter and Calvin memorized one verse from each of the first 75 psalms; Cooper and Colson memorized one verse from each of the first 25 psalms.

Lucas went with us one year, but this time, I took them myself. We left on Sunday after church and drove partway to Jacksonville, Arkansas, then the rest of the way to Ringgold, Louisiana, even arriving a bit early. The boys were a little disappointed because they had thought there would be a new and improved gameroom. But either they heard wrong or that project got pushed back. Still, it was good to be back at camp with familiar faces and some new friends from Cincinnati! We were pleased to find that we were in one of the super-nice new cabins with carpet(!) and two toilets/sinks/showers.

In the mornings, we all had a devotion time together down by the lake. Then the boys had classes after breakfast (the food is always so good!) and morning rally with a rapid recall competition. Chance didn't always want to participate in his class, so I did a lot of hanging with him instead of attending the adult classes. Then free time in the afternoon (zipline, rock wall, gaga, game room, canoeing, waterslide) and evening service after dinner. Finally, there's usually a special night-time event, whether a comedy skit (Who's on Pickin'?) or night-time zipline, or the carnival on the last night.

When I was outside the main service with Chance, I heard the phrase "train their appetite," referring to giving our children the taste for truth and life. I think of how kids who grew up eating international cuisine and salads and healthy foods have an appetite for that. In some ways, I feel like it's too-late to course-correct my boys' preferences. Alas. But it also got me thinking of how to train their appetites spiritually. Even though I didn't get to hear any of the evening sermons in entirety, that phrase has stuck with me.

Swimming at our hotel on the way

Our lovely NEW cabin!

Lots of air hockey time!

Always the first activity is the water balloon toss

First evening service!

Boat time together

Chance's first summer with a buzz haircut!

Snack shack fun!

We love the mini golf course!

Cheesin'

Nighttime watermelon

Nighttime zipline!

Boat time!

Carrying up the mat for the waterslide

Ready to go!

Downtime in our cabin

Sunset over the lake

Hanging on the porch during the service

Colson can make it to the top! Chance just liked hanging

In the gaga pit while the big kids weren't playing

Canoe time

My handsome boys!

We love the carnival on the last night!

Another great year!

Squeezing four in a bed at our hotel on the way home

2022 Michigan family trip

Every year, we usually take a trip with Lucas' parents and brother's family. We used to do a lot of nearby state parks, but we had talked about the Mackinac area for years and finally made it happen post-Covid! Since Mamaw and Papaw still had their RV at that time, we found a campground that had both RV hookups and cabins. It was a beautiful campground, right on the shore of Lake Huron. The boys STILL talk about wanting to go back there! We had some lowkey days around the campground, and we did day trips to Canada and to Mackinac Island.

July 8 - drive to Mimi and Pa's house in Indiana

July 9 - drive the rest of the way to Macknaw Mill Creek campground

July 10 - hanging around the campground

July 11 - drive through the Upper Peninsula up into Sault Ste Marie, Ontario, Canada

July 12 - hang out in Mackinaw City and the campground

July 13 - take the ferry to Mackinac Island

July 14 - drive to Traverse City and climb Sleeping Bear Dunes

July 15 - spend 2 hours at Empire Beach, drive back to Indiana

July 16 - drive rest of the way home!

2025 - New England road trip

Originally when we had dreamed about our NYC/Long Island trip, we thought we'd go ahead and extend all the way into New England. But we ended up deciding to do that as a separate trip the following summer.

I had been to Niagara multiple times, but our sons hadn't, so we started there. At the time, I still had 8 more states that I hadn't been to, and this trip covered 4 of them! Lucas questioned..."Why are we driving across a state line just to say we've been there?" "Uh...because it has been a lifelong goal of mine to visit all 50 states!"

Although this wasn't a business trip, we were able to make several connections. We got free entry into the awesome Strong Museum of Play in Rochester, NY. We also met up with two of his magazine team members whom he'd never met before (one at a beach in NH and one at a restaurant in Boston). We spent two nights in Vermont (LOVE that state!), stopped at a rest stop in Maine, went to a beach in New Hampshire and then had two more nights in the Boston area. Coming home, we stopped in Pennsylvania to stay with Lucas' relatives.

July 23 - drive to Niagara Falls

July 24 - stop at Strong Museum of Play on our way to Vermont

July 25 - went to Calvin Coolidge's birthplace (very cool!) and ate a maple creamee

July 26 - stopped at a rest stop in Maine, then a beach in NH, then dinner in Boston

July 27 - went to church, took public transit into Boston and walked around downtown parks and sites

July 28 - drove to Pennsylvania

July 29 - drove home

2024 Florida cruise/Pittsburgh road trip

Towards the end of 2023, we had emerged from the Covid craziness ready to try out our first ever cruise! None of us had ever been on one, and honestly, we wondered whether or not we would enjoy this type of travel. On September 2, I e-mailed a travel agent friend to explore the possibility. Originally, Lucas and I were thinking we would go just the two of us. But when we realized that adding our four oldest boys didn't actually add that much expense, we decided to bring them all along. One-year-old Chance would stay with grandparents in Florida. We kept it a secret until Christmas. I had hinted at a "big gift", and we had some smaller gifts for them to open (like some ducks to hide and a bilingual Spanish book since we'd be going to Mexico). Having never been on a cruise, though, they were disappointed that this was their "big gift." Now they get the allure of cruising!

Soon after Christmas in January 2024, we drove down to Florida to drop off Chance with Mamaw and Papaw. Then we headed to Port Canaveral to catch our ship. Our cruise ship used to be one of the largest when it was built but is now considered a "smaller" ship without all the bells and whistles of the massive ones. What I loved about the cruise, though, was how it was like a "create your own adventure" opportunity. We all found things we liked to do. I got swept up in a scavenger hunt trying to find all the countries represented by the staff. Lucas enjoyed relaxing. Carter liked eating a bunch (he'd go from the Windjammer buffet to the formal dining room to the late-night pizza) and playing video games. Calvin, Cooper, and Colson enjoyed the kids club and just hanging out. And even though it wasn't a "couples" trip, Lucas and I had a lot of time just the two of us. We had two connecting rooms, so the four boys were in the room next to us. Every night, we'd check the boys into Kids Club and go to the nightly show (magician, comedian, singers, etc.). And after experiencing Mexico one day, the boys preferred to stay on board at the next Mexico port. So, we checked them into Kids Club and walked around Cozumel by ourselves!

After our cruise, we met up with Mamaw and Papaw to get Chance and to have a beach day. It was a bit too cold to swim, but the boys enjoyed the waves of the ocean since they hadn't really been to ocean beaches much. Then we headed straight north to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania! On the way, we celebrated my 40th birthday with peach ice cream and boiled peanuts in Georgia! In Pittsburgh, Lucas took Carter to their first-ever GDQ (a video game charity event). Meanwhile, I took the younger 4 boys to some museums and a friend's house in Pittsburgh. Then we drove home!

Day 1 - drive to Georgia (stayed at a Drury Inn!)

Day 2 - drive to Florida to see where Mamaw and Papaw spend the winter and to drop off Chance

Day 3 - drive Port Canaveral and hop aboard our first cruise!

Days 4&5 - enjoy the cruise ship (Royal Caribbean's Mariner of the Seas)

Day 6 - Puerta Costa Maya

Day 7 - Cozumel

Day 8 - sea day

Day 9 - meet Mamaw and Papaw in Vero Beach to pick up Chance, drive to Georgia

Day 10 (my 40th birthday!) - drive to South Carolina to see Aunt Phyllis

Day 11 - drive to North Carolina

Day 12 - drive to Pittsburgh

Day 13 - GDQ, Pittsburgh

Day 14 - GDQ, Pittsburgh

Day 15? - drive home

Whew! Kentucky to Florida to Mexico to Pittsburgh and back to Kentucky in the middle of January. What an adventure!

Old Vacation Recaps!

After our Colorado road trip in 2022, I was a lot more active in updating this family blog. I had a recap of each day, which I'm thankful for now, looking back. Before we head to Japan, I wanted to write up summaries about our other big road trips and family trips. Although the details are a little foggy now, better now than never, right?

2022 (June) - Colorado road trip

2022 (July) - Michigan family trip (Thomases)

2023 (July) - Scripture Memory camp/Texas road trip

2023 (October) - St. Louis family trip (Thomases)

2024 (January) - Florida cruise/Pittsburgh road trip

2024 (August) - NYC road trip

2024 (August) - Bowling Green family trip (Thomases)

2025 (July) - Scripture Memory camp

2025 (July) - New England road trip

2025 (October) - Gatlinburg family trip (Thomases)

2026 (July) - Scripture Memory camp

2026 (July) - Bloomington family trip (Lundquists)

Saturday, September 5, 2026

2023 - Scripture Memory Camp/Texas road trip

2019 was when I first heard about Scripture Memory Camp, held at Southland Christian camp in Ringgold, Louisiana. Scripture Memory Fellowship is the ministry that offers full scholarships to kids who memorize the camp verses ahead of time. I'll admit that my initial interest was because I had never been to Louisiana before! But alas, in 2019, I was due with Boy #4 that summer, so a long trip to Louisiana wouldn't be possible. So my oldest two memorized all the required verses in 2020. But alas, Covid. They did send a nice study Bible in the mail for each of them that they still use. So 2021 was finally our first year. I took Carter and Calvin, and we still used precautions since Covid was still around. Then in 2023, we went as a whole family -- all 7 of us! The memory program this time was 14:6 - The Way. Carter memorized all three sections of each page, Calvin did two verses per page, and Cooper and Colson did one verse per page. I was particularly proud of Colson since he was only two years old when he memorized all the verses and recited them cumulatively. This technically starts when they turn three, but since Colson turned three right before camp, he had to learn them as a two-year-old.

Whenever Lucas goes with us on a road trip, he drives the whole time. There are lots of possible ways to get to Louisiana (we've gone and come back different ways every time). This time, since the boys hadn't been to Mississippi, we went that way and came back through Arkansas. It was a wonderful week of camp. Chance was still a baby, and I was still pumping, so that was a bit stressful, but we snagged a nice, close cabin. Lucas and I tag-teamed with the little three, and we let the oldest two come and go as they pleased. We loved mealtimes, both for the food and for the fellowship. We sat with a dear family from Kansas that we connected well with. And there was always some kind of trivia game after the meal.

All piled in!

Mississippi!

Walking down to a pizza restaurant for dinner (perhaps our first dine-in restaurant since Covid began?)

We stayed at an awesome AirBNB in Como, Mississippi! There was a large, old house with a courtyard and hot tub out back. And then a guest house behind that! Plenty of space to explore and relax after a long drive!