Lists and plans

I enjoy making plans and lists. As a homeschooling mom, I have plenty of opportunities to utilize those skills. There is menu planning which leads to online grocery orders or a grocery list if I'm shopping in person.  I have spent almost no time over the last year planning field trips, but that's usually something I really enjoy doing. Requesting library books is another regular task whether I'm requesting audiobooks from Overdrive or Hoopla or physical books from a local library. I check out hundreds of books a year from local libraries - mostly for the kids. Homeschooling three children involves making plans for each of them in various subjects. For example, we are using Creating a Masterpiece for art. I choose exactly which projects we'll do, and then I have to make sure we have all the art supplies that we will need to complete those projects. In recent months I've purchased watercolor pencils, inktense blocks, wooden eggs, various types of paper, and many other things for art. Buying Christmas gifts for thirty-two family members each year also involves a list.

Two lists I've been working on lately relate to Junior Ranger badges and future vacation plans. The kids have earned about 80 Junior Ranger badges thus far. In 2018 and 2019 they were earning them in person. They earned a few in person in 2020, but the vast majority of the ones they earned in 2020 and all of the ones they've earned so far in 2021 have been earned through the mail or online. Because of COVID, some national parks that previously only allowed children to earn badges in person have for at least the time being allowed kids to earn them from a distance. In some instances, they won't give you a physical badge if you earn it from home. I've been trying to only select those who will actually send you a physical badge or patch. My goal is 

for the kids to each earn at least 200 Junior Ranger badges. Because of COVID, some places haven't actually mailed us badges even though I mailed the booklets to them. Maybe we'll get them eventually? I realize some of the rangers are working remotely and may not have access to badges. I've picked out 133 badges that I'm planning to have the kids earn over the next four years (32 online or by mail and 101 in person), and I also have another list of another 37 that we might be able to visit at some point - mostly in NY, NJ, MD, or VA. Printing the booklets, keeping track of which child completed which booklet, mailing them at the Post Office, or scanning them and sending them by email are some of the efforts I put into the kids earning Junior Ranger badges. 

Nadia will be graduating from high school in 2026, which is a little more than five years from now. That is a sobering thought! It causes me to

want to be intentional about thinking through our future vacation plans. 2020 certainly taught us that all our plans can be scrapped right and left, but hopefully that won't be the norm for the next five years. I have done some reworking of previous plans in light of COVID and also in light of the vacations that were cancelled last year. Here is what I'm thinking at the moment:

1. This fall spend about 3 1/2 weeks on a long road trip that includes doing things in 18 states the kids haven't been in before. Some highlights would include Mammoth Cave (KY), US Space and Rocket Center (AL), Shiloh (TN), Oklahoma City, Albuquerque, Mesa Verde, Grand Canyon, Grand Teton, Yellowstone, Mount Rushmore, Chicago, and Detroit. 

2. Next year fly to Atlanta and spend some time in Georgia before driving to Florida and fly back from Tampa. This trip would be our usual length (between 1-2 weeks) and would add one state to the kids' list of states (Georgia). Highlights would include the Georgia Aquarium, fourteen National Parks in GA/FL, and three amusement parks. 

3. In the fall of 2023 I'd like us to take a 12 day vacation to New England and Canada. Since I was combining what had originally been planned as two different trips, I deleted a few stops such as Quebec City, Acadia, and some sites in CT/RI. Some of the stops are in states we've already visited (MA, NY, and the province of Ontario), but this trip would add three states (Maine, New Hampshire, and Vermont) and one province (Quebec) to their list. Highlights would include 20 National Parks, several science museums, a whale watching cruise, and some other historical sites in Salem, Boston, Ottawa, and Montreal. 

4. In 2024 I'm thinking we could fly out west to visit Lake Tahoe, San Francisco, Redwoods, Crater Lake, Portland, Mt. St. Helens, Seattle, Mt. Rainer, etc.  This trip would add three states to the kids' list (WA, OR, and NV) as they've already been to California. 

5. In the fall of 2025 spend about 2 weeks in England and France. 

Other trips that aren't included in this list would be shorter and closer to home such as in Philadelphia and D.C. I also want to take the kids on a short term missions trip sometime in the next 5 years - most likely to Guatemala. If we go on these trips, the kids will have actually done something in 43 states plus DC, Ontario, England, France, Guatemala, and Quebec. The seven states currently omitted include: Louisiana, Hawaii (which has been on my bucket list for many years), Alaska, Nebraska, North Dakota, Kansas, and Missouri. It would be lovely if we could take the kids to the Caribbean at some point. Nadia was there in 2009 when she was 11 months old, Nadia and Ian were on a Caribbean cruise with us in 2011 as well as a trip to Grand Cayman in 2012, but they were too young to remember any of those trips. There are other places in the US that aren't included in the plans that would be great places to take the kids some day if possible such as Carlsbad Caverns, Glacier National Park, the Alamo, Space Center Houston, Acadia, Hoover Dam, Bryce Canyon, White Sands, Zion, and the Everglades. The kids have also expressed a desire to visit their cousins in Quito. If we make it to South America, I'd also like to meet at least some of the kids we currently sponsor as three of our five sponsored kids live in Bolivia and Peru. Our other two live in Kenya and Haiti. We might have to wait until we're in Heaven to meet our sponsored kids.