Family Time

Tomorrow morning we're heading out for our very first family vacation. We're going to Branson, Missouri for the weekend. Kendall was able to get TWO WHOLE DAYS off from work (but actually just one off day since already he had to make up one of the days) so we decided Branson would be a family-friendly place to visit that wasn't too far away. If you know much about how our life works, you'll know that it's a huge deal that Kendall's getting a day off. In the three years that we've been married, I can count on one hand the number of weekends that KJ has been able to sleep in and actually be off work. We've probably had breakfast together on a Saturday morning MAYBE three or four times. Sundays are typically his only day off, so that usually allows us to get to be together a little in the mornings before church, but even that is somewhat of a busy time: getting Lola ready and fed, I'm always late....Needless to say, it's very rare that we actually have a weekend together.

And, outside of our honeymoon, we've never even had a vacation of our own! (While I was pregnant, we did manage to go to Texas overnight for KJ to attend a reunion of all his old college baseball buddies. I still had "all-day" sickness and he was playing baseball, so it wasn't exactly the best time. ) He works at least six days a week and in the summer it's very common to work seven days. He leaves the house by 5:30 every morning. Always has. His only day off is Christmas Day. Thanksgiving? Nope. He usually has to go in for at least the morning. Easter? Nope. He's technically supposed to be off on Sundays, but this past Easter was the first time he didn't get called in. When I was giving birth to Lola, he tried to use some vacation days out of the whopping 5 days a year that he got at the time, but nope. He got the day off that she was born and that was it. It actually worked in our favor that I had a scheduled delivery so he was able to be there. And, by going in early everyday, you'd think he'd get off early too. Nope. Summertime is always busiest but it's pretty much year-round that he works until evening. Sometimes he'll get a break late in the day but have to go back at night to "move fans" or "water." (Turf lingo.)

I had no idea what kind of life this would create for us as a couple. In fact, I didn't even know what "Turf Management" was until I met him. (For those of you who don't really know, it's a horticulture degree with a specialty in grass. I'm not even kidding. I hear that golfers prefer green grass without spots, disease, dry patches, WEEDS, etc., so these guys work their booties off to make sure it stays pretty and green.) He's such a hard worker, and he still finds time (and energy) to volunteer and do extra jobs on the side. It's crazy! We're very lucky to have him.

All that to say that we're so excited to go to Branson! You'd think we were going on some fancy trek through the islands or something for as excited as we are! LOL We just never get to do anything like this! The forecast is calling for rain the whole time we're there though, so say your prayers that it holds off. We'll have fun no matter what bc ultimately it's not about all the things we find to do while we're there, it's simply just the fact that we get to be together for a few days.