This is the blog post that got this whole New Theme going. Bloggy Friend, Carissa, shared about a coffee date with a couple of friends. These 3 friends have 7 kids under 5 years old. What a blessing to have friends walking the same Young Mama Journey!
And ...
it reminded me ...
of my friend Tina ...
back in 1990.
We met "The Other Big D. Family" in October 1990.
Our kids were 6, 5, 3, 1, 1, 1 month.
Their kids were 6, 5, 3, 1, and due in 3 months.
Our #1 kids were 4 months apart.
Our #2 kids were 4 months apart.
Our #3 kids were 5 days apart.
(After not being in touch for many years,
these 2 ended up at Liberty University
in Virginia at the same time. Crazy!)
Our #4 & 5 and their #4 were 4 months apart.
Our #6 and their #5 were 4 months apart.
Our nickname for Lindsey was "Loo-Loo".
Their nickname for Lacey was "Loo-Loo".
(Our Loo-Loos were 4 months apart in age.)
We were close friends for quite a few years.
We homeschooled together.
We played together.
We went camping together.
We went to Bible Study together.
We lived on farms just a few miles apart.
Our kids went to Awana together.
Back Row: Chris (6), Cassie (6), Gregg (7), Destiny (7)
Front Row: Jeremiah (5), Bethany (5)
A couple of years later, we had Baby #7.
4 months later, they had Babies #6 & 7.
Which gave us
14 children under 10 yrs. old.
(We even went camping together
with all 14 kids under 10.)
But ...
one of my favorite memories ...
of our many fun times together ...
was when we Young Mamas decided to take
our 11 children under 8
on a day trip to Mt. Rainier
(w/ an hour and a half drive each way).
We all piled into my 15 passenger van,
and headed up to the mountain.
The only problem arose
when we had to pay the entrance fee.
The ranger simply Would. Not. Believe. us
when we told him that all of the children were ours.
He wanted us to pay a Commercial Daycare Rate.
Seriously.
To complicate matters a bit ...
I was just 29, with my 6 kids under 8 ...
and Tina was just 25 with her 5 kids under 8 ...
and we both looked a whole lot younger ...
than we actually were.
So, I guess it was understandable.
The ranger finally just shook his head and
let us pay the family rate; but I'm sure he
always thought we were lying.
We had a GREAT day at the mountain.
We took a short hike
(with each Mama wearing
a baby in a backpack,
and Tina pushing her
2 yr. old in a stroller).
Big D. Kids: Gregg (7) Cassie (6) Jeremiah (4)
Carissa (2) Lindsey (2) Josh (1)
Other Big D. Kids: Destiny (7) Chris (6) Bethany (4)
Lacey (2) Annie (8 mo.)
No one got lost.
No one got hurt.
And, we had many a laugh about
the ranger that never believed us.
Those were the days .....
How fun!!!!
ReplyDeleteI love to see pics of your family during the younger years and all the adventures you had! Truly inspires me to do more and intentionally make more memories with my four. Keep up the posts about doing things with little kids, because sometimes it is easier for us moms with "littles" to just stay home and we miss out on some incredible memories. :)
ReplyDeleteHi Sandra ... Thanks for the note. That is exactly why I started this new theme: a young mama asked me to write some posts about when my big kids were little. It may be easy for you to sometimes think, "She probably doesn't remember how hard it is." or "She must have had it easier." But ... really ... I do remember (the good and the bad) ... and I have such a passion to encourage you all while you are in the trenches with your Littles.
ReplyDeleteBlessings to all of you Young Mamas!
Laurel
wonderful memories! Thank you for sharing your wonderful friendship!!Friends like those are the best!!
ReplyDeletewhat a sweet friend! i love how the Lord brings others near who are journeying the same path we are. and wow... the two of you mothers must have been really tired! : ) you're sweet to mention me.
ReplyDeleteThis made me smile! I have sweet memories of having friends with little ones who shared my days when I was a young mom. My days were physically exhausting, but I loved it.
ReplyDeleteWow a lot of kids but a lot of fun!
ReplyDeletehttp://www.nmephotoblog.blogspot.com/
We are each only on baby #3, but I have a special friend & we seem to keep having babies at the same time :) I hope that we too can have many years of fun memories!
ReplyDelete