Simple Hobby Homesteading

Installment 1… yup, that’s how I roll… in installments…

How does one describe one of the best weeks of their life?

For me it starts with having my husband and my sons close while surrounded by God’s glorious creation… oh and a never-ending supply of spectacular food that I didn’t have to cook or clean up after!

We did it folks… we went on an epic vacation. It all started 11 months ago when the homeschooling tunnel of fantasticness (I think I just made up a new word) fed us an intriguing opportunity to take a cruise to the Bahamas at a “There has to be a catch… you gotta be kidding me” rate. It was to be dubbed the “2015 Not Back to School Homeschool Cruise” because we would set sail in September, after almost all the public school kids had returned to their desks. I was still thinking that this was too good to be true… Hmmmm September… is it like 20 degrees in the Caribbean in September? Perhaps September is horrible hurricane season? Do the starfish invade the islands in September? How could we possibly be taking a cruise? We aren’t fancy enough for a cruise!

The Conways (us) signed on in late 2014 and excitedly told the kids on Christmas morning. They were mildly intrigued though worried about the possibility of pirates and motion sickness. The months seemed to drag on as I readied our birth certificates, asked question after question to our amazing cruise planners (props to you Shelly Rae Mabe and Mazie Middleton),  and tried to get my husband and kids super excited.  I ensured none of my does (female goats) were anywhere near a buck for the months of April and May so we wouldn’t have any kids born while we were away. What normal person has to think about such things when planning their vacation? I’m officially goat crazy!

When you have a farm, even if it’s just a hobby farm, it’s soooo challenging to get away for even a day or two.  We were incredibly blessed to have a couple offer to stay at the farm and work their tail ends off while we lounged in the Atlantic for a week. I was still thinking it would be march of the jellyfish season or the “month of algae” in the Atlantic but I figured a cruise is a cruise whether or not we would get to put our toes in the Atlantic. In all seriousness, we do not deserve to have such friends and blessings but I wasn’t going to look this gift horse in the mouth so I readied our friends a few weeks before our departure.

Time flew by as summer baked us into a beautiful brown. Before we knew it September was upon us!

The night before we were to set out for the 12 hour drive to Florida our sons were FINALLY excited! To say I was excited is the understatement of the century! I couldn’t sleep, I had barely any appetite, and adrenaline was coursing through my body like I was being chased by a lion… a lion with an ice cold Coke begging me to lounge in a hammock on a paradise island! No meal making, no laundry, no animal chores, no housecleaning, no “formal” homeschooling, no college homework, no emails, no phone calls, no hobby farm business…  NOTHING NOTHING NOTHING! TO make things even better, we decided at the last moment to take the Mazda (my husband’s main vehicle) instead of the minivan (obviously my main vehicle) so I would not be driving! Happy day oh very happy day!

4am… I’m up bright eyed and bushy tailed after having drifted off to a restless sleep a mere three hours before. I plan on us heading out around 6am to get that ever popular “early start” for our long drive to Florida. Candy didn’t cooperate during milking as it was obviously “too early” for her to be awake so it naturally took longer than usual. I spent an extra long time with my face buried in my horses’ necks as I knew I wouldn’t be getting that enchanting aroma for a whole week (talk about withdrawal!). I did some cleaning… some more farm chores… and well, I just don’t know what else I did but it was quickly 9am and the boys were starting to wake up and wonder why we weren’t on the road.

“Just one more thing to do” was muttered over and over again… my family knows to expect this from me. However… when it rolled around to 1pm and we still weren’t on the road everyone started to wonder if this vacation was still a “go”.

1:30pm, Saturday… we are on the road, headed to wherever we could get this first day of driving. I looked in the rear view mirror as we left the cats, dogs, horses, chickens, goats, sheep, rabbits, and guineas and everything I am comfortable with in the dust of the gravel driveway. I bet they all thought we would never return… or maybe they didn’t care because I fed them an extra big breakfast out of total guilt for leaving.

Our friends would be there shortly for love and cuddles with all the critters!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I said a prayer to God for safe travels, safety for our animals and the couple who would be holding down the fort, for my dear friend to hold her baby in one more week (she was due any moment), for the amazing blessing of this trip, and for His wisdom, mercy, grace, and patience with us as we set forth on this adventure.

Heading to Florida and then on a cruise… what could go wrong?

See ya tomorrow for installment #2!

Jhenna… traveler yonder