Yes, it’s July 4th.  I woke up this morning- at 7:45- to the sound of a helicopter about to buzz the roof.  Emerging from the deepest level of incoherence i remembered we are on the 8th floor in mid-town ATL, which is larger by far than the downtown we are accustomed to, and that there’s a giant road race going on right outside the bedroom window.  So the helicopters, the sirens, the loud cheers and the Eagles cover band at 8 a.m. are all totally normal for that. So much for sleeping in.

We’ve road-tripped this week, and had such a great time.  Just now I was reading a devotional at PortCityChurch.org that referenced this week’s sermon.  I must have missed that, i thought, since we’ve been gone, but then realized that was just six days ago.  Last Sunday we were in church, Monday morning we left for youth camp, where we spent an incredible 48ish hours with Brian giving 4 great talks within that timeframe.   This was our first youth camp experience.

I was amazed at the memories that surfaced– how in middle school, the first time away, it was borderline terrifying with all the wacky leaders, the thrill of eating Froot Loops every morning and staying up way to late giggling, only to be completely freaked out by the counselor jarring us all out of those miserable bunk beds with a megaphone at some uncomfortably early hour.  Then the high-schoolers know the drill, and are all nonchalant about grabbing a latte from that gas-station-style cappuccino maker in the dining hall before heading up to the morning session.  From what I could tell from my post on our cabin’s front-porch swing, and talking to folks, it looks like camp, or in some way getting out of everyday life together, is really still one of the best ways to really get people connected.  Awesome.

From there we went to Charlotte, spent a relaxing night with my family and slept in real (non-camp) beds.  Thursday morning we drove on down to Atlanta to take part in Olivia and Tommy’s wedding festivities, which culminated with their beautiful wedding last night.  Afterward we sat in the living room here in Uncle Bob’s condo, overlooking the skyline and enjoying being independent of our dependents.  There were times over the past few weeks when, as the kids took turns not sleeping when they were supposed to, or as discipline duties began to take their toll on all of us, Brian and i looked at each other and said “Atlanta.”  The knowledge of an upcoming getaway reminded us how nice it is to have this luxury– a few days away from our “usual,” a few days of sleeping straight through the night in a ridiculously comfy bed and waking up to a room flooded with beautiful light where we can sit and read and write and be still– this is good.

Definitely feels like we’ve fit about two weeks into the past six days.  That’s summer at it’s finest, i think.