There’s one thing on kids’ minds when they go camping and that’s Fire Early the next morning, Justus and Audrey got right to that. I can only imagine what it must have been like for the early Indians and pioneers who had to make gathering and cooking their food as a main part of the day.  So much work!  I wonder if they ever thought of becoming more organized and scheduling their days better? Somehow I just can’t picture that. Can you? After awakening from a cozy slumber and hearing the quiet sounds of twigs being snapped and the murmurs of Zachary, Justus and Audrey, I emerged from the tent…

It was supposed to be a simple 3 day getaway – a special time in honor of Serenity for her 8th grade graduation. I’d bring all the food; we’d camp out; costs would be minimal. Simple. Zachary’s “boss of the year” cleared him and Seth (who is working with Zach for a few weeks) from working Friday, so the plan was for them to arrive home Thursday night and we’d take off Friday morning.   Reality! After being gone all day, me and my wonderful assistant, Serenity, packed and prepare food till 11 p.m.  By 12:30 we were all in bed but up again by 4. Red eyes with grit…

This is it – the final post of Zachary’s 10-day trip to Vanuatu. There was a church dedication while they were there   I thought it was really nice and quite interesting that the Presbyterian church came and sang at the ribbon cutting ceremony.  Actually, the whole village showed up for the dedication. The oldest lady of the village did the actual cutting of the ribbon and some official in Vanuatu came and spoke as well.   Leaving one of the villages they headed to this airport to catch their plane. Interestingly enough, the girl on the left in the blue shirt was a peace worker from Ann Arbor, Michigan.…

As we wind our “trip” to Vanuatu to a close, we must make another stop, this time to the 24 hour marketplace.   In Vanuatu, they grow most of their own food. Beautiful!   For baskets, they weave coconut leaves. You can also buy the leaves for various usages. One use is to wrap up their lunch. After they carefully place their lunch inside a coconut leaf, they wrap it up like a package and take a “string” which is from a (coconut??) leaf and tie it together.     I find this amazing and beautiful. The flowers that grow naturally in Vanuatu captured Zachary’s attention. Who can blame him? …

B&B Hut in the South Pacific?  Sounds pretty nice, doesn’t it? The hut that Zachary stayed in wasn’t called a B&B by the locals but Zachary tells me that’s essentially what it was. It is located near an active volcano. At one time somebody came and stayed there for a whole year while they studied the volcano. So, should you be intrigued enough to take a trip to an active volcano that has no guard rails to protect one from venturing too far, Vanuatu is the place to go. I’m sorry but I don’t know the exact name of the island, but if you’re interested contact me and I will get right…