After all the jumping, we went inside and sang Happy Birthday and ate cupcakes to celebrate Poppy’s 2nd Birthday.

It was a lovely evening spending time with very good friends and really sad to say goodbye. We will always treasure these memories.

Last night we said so long to saints whom we’ve grown to love over the last two years. I’ve been leading a Bible study at their senior apartment complex since right before Poppy was born. They’ve watched her grown up from womb to whippersnapper. It has been a great privilege to meet with them week after week, praying for them, praying with them, and studying Scripture together. We set out to study the whole Gospel of Matthew, story by story. At our last meeting we covered Matthew 18:1-9 where Jesus sets forth the example of a child as one who doesn’t seek to be the greatest in the kingdom of heaven but fully depends on the Greatest. We also saw Jesus’ great love for even his most inexperienced disciples, the “little ones.” Compared to these saints I am but a little one. I thank God for the opportunity to fellowship with them around the word.

We celebrated our time together with a little pizza party last night. Unfortunately not all our regular Bible study attendees were able to make it. (Many of the residents are constantly in and out of the hospital and rehab facilities.) The pizza was a hit. None of them had ever had ham and pineapple before!

Before leaving we made the following video. We sure will miss these precious ladies!

Look at this mammoth itinerary we’ve got planned for the coming weeks.* With gas prices at an all-time low this is bound to be a treat! We’ll leave Wake Forest on June 28 and head to my parents’ in Pennsylvania where all sorts of delights await (Fourth of July at the Maust Cabin and the beach just to name two). Later in July we’ll set out for Dallas, stopping in Louisville to see the ever-awesome Chris & Rhea before arriving in Dallas via Little Rock on July 15. We are aware that Wake Forest to Dallas via PA and KY isn’t the most direct route; but there are warm-welcoming friends and family there who cause us to deviate gladly.

This works out to driving 1,684 miles in about 28 hours if Google Maps has any idea what it’s talking about, which I don’t think it does because there was no place to note that one passenger is pregnant and the other is two.

Of the states we’re traveling through the only one I’ve never visited is Arkansas. My parents claim it is the land of love. That is where they first met after all.

*Plans subject to change!

Since Fayetteville is somewhat on the way toward the coast we decided to take the Monday after to relax on the beach one last time before we leave North Carolina. We visited Carolina Beach on what was mostly an overcast day. That didn’t keep our skin from getting a little toasted though (even with SPF 50). Poppy had a great time splashing in the waves until she was overcome with fatigue and desperately needed her nap. We thought about bringing our pack-n-play out onto the beach, but didn’t want to go to all the effort not assured thatPoppy would actually nap. We eventually got her to lie still on a beach towel long enough to fall asleep. She was that tired! Mummy couldn’t resist having a snooze either. I ended up going for a swim and reading while this beauties rested on the beach.

Later, after everyone had recharged, we walked on the pier and had ice cream that wasn’t nearly frozen enough.

Drew found Vollmer Farms, a cute little place that wasn’t too commercial but still facilitated a lovely experience for us and a fun time for Poppy.  The best thing about this place was that their strawberries were organic.  They had a cute little store where they sold already picked strawberries and other organic produce from their farms.  They had a play area with a wooden ship, an old plane and a giant black board with chalk.  Poppy also got to ride in a wagon as we walked to the strawberry field.  The weather was too perfect, nice and hot so we felt sweaty, sticky and overheated from working in the fields.

The end result was large bucket of sweet, juicy strawberries that tasted like they had been kissed by the sun.  I was satisfied.

Now, we’ll go ahead and let you in on our secret ingredient which we acquired from our local farmer’s market: sorghum. A farmer just down the road from us is in the process of bringing back this once well-used crop. When our Cowboy Cookies call for molasses, we substitute half molasses and half sorghum for a little added taste of North Carolina.

With all our ingredients ready to rock, we got to baking. Poppy was an excellent stirrista, complete with apron.

She was content simply stirring until she realized that the recipe called for chocolate chips. The temptation of measuring these tiny chocolately gems proved too much and she succumbed. Mummy will be glad to know that Daddy replaced the kidnapped chips so that neither Poppy nor the recipe suffered.

Finally getting everything mixed up and ready to bake, Poppy proved weak in the flesh…again. She went to town on the completed cookie dough this time. I’m not even sure the mind was willing to resist.

Finally, we loaded up our well-worn baking sheets and popped these babies in the oven.

Twelve minutes later we had the first batch ready to…wait for Mother’s Day? Nope, ready for a taste test. We did, however, make three different sizes so we would know whose are whose. You’ll notice that Mummy’s cookies cast the longest shadow!

Poppy and I participated in our local pregnant support services walk for life on Saturday called 4,000 Steps. This is the first time we’ve done anything like this but it turned out to be a wonderful and moving experience. And we got some exercise–well, Daddy did at least.

We checked in and got our name tags all squared away. Ms. Poppy visited the kids’ booths where she won a Princess rubber ducky and received a blue butterfly tattoo which she would later suck off her hand. It’s not edible, honey.

We were members of the green team headed up by a support-raising mastermind from our church. The nearly two mile walk took us winding through downtown Wake Forest and looped back around to the starting point approximately one hour later. It was a leisurely stroll with all participants being warned sternly multiple times, “Do not run!”

Arriving back at the starting point, we were greeted by cheerleaders and handed a water bottle. This was only the start of the Saturday celebrations. There were hamburgers, hotdogs, and tater chips out the wazoo. Poppy destroyed a pack of cheese puffs. Like Mummy like daughter!

The most moving part of the walk was the interview of two mothers who had reconsidered having their babies after visiting the support service offices. We were glad to play a small part in this vital ministry of life and “true choice.”

We met up with Pastor Jim and family today at Duke Gardens for a little picnic and chat about Bible translation and how his church might be involved in bringing God’s word to those who still wait to read it in their own language. What a wonderful afternoon! I only wish we had swapped packed lunches. We brought typical turkey sandwiches which they easily bested with sandwiches from that o-so-glorious chicken place that advertises with a cow. Eat more…yes please!

After (sorta) eating and spilling stuff everywhere, Poppy and her new friend JJ went frolicking hand-in-hand.

Poppy and JJ immediately felt a special bond, a bond of birthdays. Would you know that Poppy and her new friend JJ have the same exact birthday! When they found out, they could think up no better way to celebrate than by scuttling down the hill on their bottoms.