Creating the Next Generation

March 29, 2009

Babies, babies, and more babies. Spring brings new life all around us and so is the case for many of the family friends that I grew up with. This past weekend, I headed back home to Michigan for Mindy (Watson) Drummond’s baby shower. Baby Drummond is the first in the line up of babies coming into the world. He will arrive in early May. My nephew will be coming in late May. My cousin will be having her baby girl in the beginning of June and Mindy’s sister Melissa will have her baby boy in late June.

It was great being at Mindy’s shower because the entire hometown crowd was there including all of the Watson clan and most of the Adams family. With many of us being spread out to different parts of the country and the world it has been a long time since all of the Westbrook, Watson, and Adams clans have been together. It was good to be reunited once more as the circle continues to grow with the next generation.

SB 09 Family Reunions

March 25, 2009

It seemed that 2 days of separation was too much for the group of us. The Wednesday after Spring Break we found ourselves back together once again for a family dinner to celebrate Jordan’s birthday complete with a piñata. 2 days later is was movie night with The Man from Snowy River and the night after that the girls got together to make granola and a thank you card for Chuck and Jean.

After a week you would think our attachment to each other would have died down, especially with the routine of school decreasing free time. Not the case as I invited everyone over for another family dinner the following Wednesday. 7 days after that, a campfire with smores out at Ketchum Woods.

After all of the trips that I have been on with a group of people, rarely have I seen this happen. I have left trips with talks of reunions but have never actually been to one let along 5. This is a true testament to what the outdoors can do. We found ourselves facing several crises over that short week which made all of us realize that we needed each other to lean on and found that we were all there to support each other. And still are.

Spring Break 09

February 28 – March 7, 2009
Sea Kayaking
Little St. George Island, FL

I don’t even know where to begin when it comes to describing this trip. Lynette asked me to co-lead this trip with her at first but ended up backing out due to the upcoming wedding. Leah and I along with Ryan Bowen and Chris Collins loaded up vans with 7 other girls and 9 other guys and started the drive down to St. George Island.

The word of the week was Epic and that really is the only term I can think of to describe this trip. Quick summary:

Saturday
6:30am: Leave for Florida
11:30pm: Arrive at Journeys (Kayak rental place) sleep in vans in parking lot.

Sunday
Wake up cold with the van swaying in the wind
Because of the windy conditions, no go on kayaking to the island
Hang out at local diner Fire Station #9
Met Chuck and Jean. They give us some ideas one what to do in the area.
Explore Tate’s Hell (really, that is what it is called)
Meet Chuck and Jean for pizza. They offer the girls a place to stay. The boys head to Rod’s house…a guy that Emily (one of the girls) met earlier in the day and offered to help us out

Monday
Get the okay to put the boats in on the Gulf side even though it is still a little windy
Strap all gear to boats
Start the 6 miles journey to Little St George Island.
Jake capsizes
Get Jake into his boat
I capsize
I get back into my boat
Start paddling
3 miles in the group gets spread out at this point. The main focus: getting over the waves.
Hear someone yelling “Help”
Head towards the shore, Christa’s boat is sinking.
Get half the group on shore. Dump boats, get people moving to stay warm. More of the group arrives. Point out the ambulance lights flashing back down the beach.
Rescue truck arrives to see how we were doing. Inform us of the situation down the beach. 4 people from the group have hypothermia.
Series of events lead to the entire group reuniting once again with everyone in one piece and just fine.
Fire Chief offers us a place to stay in the firehouse.
Have dinner, dry out, and play a couple rounds of Bingo complete with a legit Bingo board.

Tuesday
Put the boats in the water once again this time on the bayside.
Make it to the Island with no issues. Amazing!
Set up camp
Make dinner. Enjoy campfire. Go to bed.

Wednesday
Wake up to tent making whipping sounds
Stay awake for the rest of the night wondering if our tent is going to blow away with all of us in it.
Finally breakfast time
Guys hike to different part of island
Girls have a relaxing day in the sun with some good conversation
Move the tent to a less windy location
Enjoy a good nights sleep

Thursday
Wake up to beautiful sunrise
Girls start the hike to the research center on the island
Guys visit it in the morning and start hiking back to the base camp
Explore research center and make it back to camp just in time for dinner
Round of Silent Football around the fire
Sleep

Friday
Wake up to a beautiful day. All head to the beach to enjoy last day on the island
Paul whips out his blue leisure suit for prom
Feast by the fire with deep questions and new insights
Say good night

Saturday
Early wakeup call
Boats back in the water on the bayside
Make it back to the kayak trailer with out a problem
Load the vans to head back
Flight the crowds as the Annual Chili Cook-off invades St. George Island

Sunday
The Black Widow (the mini van) having some problems
7:30am Arrive at IWU completely exhausted

I would include in here the original plan but I can hardly remember it. God had a different plan for us and showed Himself so many times throughout the trip through providing us with places to stay or having a dolphin give us a show as we did our morning yoga. The trip started with 20 strangers piling in to vans. At the end of it all, we came back a family with memories of a trip that with be engraved in our memories for years to come.