Being that we were just coming off the heels of a dream vacation, we knew this year's Spring Break would never come close to making those kind of memories. However, I knew we had to something. I've had my old/new minivan for two months now and it was begging for a road trip. That and Quinn had a soccer game in Vancouver, Washington.

On Wednesday all three boys and I set out to head from one end of the state to the other. Exit 255 to Exit 7. Knowing that plowing through in one fell swoop would make for a crabby mother and equallyunpleasant children. We broke up the first leg into several little visits along the way. First stop was Grandma's--about two hours away. Exit 143. Our nephew and cousin was on his spring break and my brother stopped in to say hello so we had a house full--which "Ma" loved. Pizza, laughter and noise ensued.

Thursday morning we continued south to Tacoma. Exit 133. My BFF from jr. high and high school is a middle school U.S. History teacher. She has recently inspired me to return to college and get my teaching certificate (this will be the next post). Her spring break had been the previous week so she invited us to come visit her classroom. We stayed for 4th & 5th periods, administered a couple quizzes and watched her in action. Quinn loved "being a student without really being a student", Ian enjoyed sitting alongside Teri and watching for cheaters during the tests and Ben thought it was super grown up and cool to drink Cokes out of her personal fridge while the middle schoolers whined about him not sharing. Just before we went to leave, I turned around to grab my camera and take some pics only to discover one of those middle schoolers had walked off with it. I was disappointed but not half as much as Teri was. She went on the hunt for the thief but returned empty handed. I tried to make light of it by reminding her of all the naughty things we did in 7th and 8th grades but she still felt horrible. I never liked the camera anyway but I was bummed that I wouldn't be able to capture what lay ahead on the rest of our trip. So the pictures that follow were moved from Facebook or other places on my computer. Telling a story involving people just isn't the same without images, is it??

When I visited Teri's classroom a year ago.

Next stop: Vancouver. Exit 7. Last spring I reconnected (via Facebook) with my bible study leader from my junior year of college, ReNai. She was such an inspiration to me and someone who really challenged me in my faith. My favorite memory of her was that she always had her purse-sized bible with her and referred to it all the time. I always wanted to be a woman of deep faith and conviction like her when I grew up. She married her high school sweetheart right after college graduation and they are both teachers in Vancouver. She teaches Kindergarten and he teaches middle school. Is there a theme here???? It was the first time our families had met one another but that didn't matter. Their son is Quinn's age and is wild about sports. Their backyard ended where the elementary school field began. Within minutes the cones and flags were in place and a full-fledged soccer game was taking place. Followed by "bump" on the basketball court and "FIFA soccer" on the Wii. Add ReNai's homemade spaghetti and meatballs and what's not to like? AFter dinner I shared my memory and ReNai broke out that very bible all tattered and torn and well loved. Unfortunately their family was not on spring break so we had to say "goodnight" and "goodbye" that evening. When we left the next day Quinn said, "we should stay here every time we play in Vancouver." I agree, Quinn.

College days: 1989

The lovely Joy family.