on their way

The kids are finally all awake ... again. 

It is only 2:00 in the afternoon here, but it has already been a full day for us.  This morning, we left home just before 4:30 to take Ronnie to the airport to begin his long awaited trip to Alaska.  Ironically, it was almost exactly a year to the day from when he found out about this trip to today when he and Brad set out for their all-day flight that will end inside the Arctic Circle in the city of Kotzebue. 

I'm excited for him to get this opportunity, though I must admit to a little jealousy since he's getting to do the fun stuff and I am here with the kids who are already missing their Daddy.  I know that he and Brad will have a wonderful week, even if they don't know yet exactly what they will be doing.  They do know that they are flying into the Land of the Midnight Sun ... right now in Kotzebue they have about 23 hours of daylight every day.  One of the kids at church asked Ronnie when (and how) they would sleep if it doesn't get dark, but he doesn't know Ronnie well enough to know that it really won't bother him ... he can sleep anywhere!

For us, I just plan to try to keep the kids busy.  We never really quit school work this summer and Monday I plan to pick up the pace even more by adding our new read aloud and science to the math and history we have already been doing.  I am looking forward to beginning Around the World in 80 Days with the kids.  I read it for the first time last summer and loved it, besides, a book about travel seems appropriate, don't you think? 

I'd like to say that he will be keeping us up to date with all that they are doing, but we just don't know what kind of cell phone service he will have there and he didn't take the laptop.  His last text said that they were boarding the plane for the flight from Seattle to Anchorage ... one step closer to the final destination.