Seven years ago today I shared a video on Facebook that cracks me up and makes me smile to this day. I’d just gotten back from a run in the morning and got a huge “Good Morning!!!” from Gavin. He was bright eyed, bushy tailed, and ready for action! Hearing his little 5 year old voice was wild. The voice may have changed, but the personality is totally still there. For some reason I wasn’t able to find the video in my library but it is shared to my FB Timeline if you want a dose of high energy guaranteed to make you smile.

The memory from three years ago was from our first day in New Zealand. To be sure, I’ve got a pretty good hunch that I’ll write more about NZ over the next few days. Tonight I was thankful for a completely different memory related to this trip.

Becky had left for New Zealand a few days before us for her conference – the reason we decided to take the trip down there. That meant that I was taking the boys to another continent on the other side of the world solo. Initially I was nervous, but by the end I saw it as one of the best “boys only” adventures the three of us have had together.

We got to the airport in Minneapolis very early and it ended up being even earlier than I’d planned. To help us burn a couple of hours we ended up touring the entire airport including visits to the highest numbered gate of of each concourse. Along the way we did pushups and goofed around on the moving walkways, ate junk food, watched jets, and laughed a ton.

By the time we got to San Fransisco we were ready for more adventuring! We spent the entire waiting time doing more of the same in San Fran. At one point Gavin was leaning on a spinning chair and was literally spinning in circles using the chair! Next thing we knew we were on a flight halfway around the world.

The adventure of getting there was one that I’ll never forget. The boys and I still joke about it from time to time. It was one of my favorite parts of our trip to New Zealand which feels weird to write, but it’s 100% true. The memories we made of having fun in the airport are ones I’ll hold deep in my heart for the rest of my life. We were on an adventure and enjoyed every moment of it (all 30+ hours of it!).

Thanks!!!