MO -Relaxin!

{This weekend I am relaxing with my kids, my parents, and friends at Mo-Ranch in the Texas Hill Country…we drove down yesterday in the church van with my Dad at the wheel, my kids separated in different benches, and another mom and kids to keep us company! GREAT THING: the kids all took naps, survived the 7 hours without DVDs (they watched live action “movies” through the van windows of cows and trees), and I discovered how much it helps the “fuss factor” to have the kids separated (maybe a mini-van is in my future). I’m going “off-line” as of this morning for a Tech-Free weekend! Here are the “good things” from our trip to Mo last year…from my post Jul 29, 2011….}

Lots of “good things” from our trip down to the Hill Country of Texas, to Mo-Ranch for FPC Dallas’ 36th annual retreat (and I’ve been to 33 of them)!

It really was about 15 degrees cooler down there, away from all the cement, surrounded by trees, and next to the Guadalupe. (We even had a nice breeze and some rain!)
Lots of good “nature” time for the kids, to combat that nature-deficiency problem in kids today…
Experiencing a complete media fast -so refreshing! No phone, no TV, no internet, no texting. This felt like “no responsibilities” to me, and it was delightful. I could truly “be” where I was.
Eating our meals in the dining hall meant no cooking, and no dishes!
Ellie and I made up a cheer: “When I say ‘MO’, you say ‘ ranch’: MO – RANCH! MO – RANCH!”
My good childhood friends Ginny and Letha came from Houston to help me with the kiddos. I have been terrible at keeping up with them now that our paths have diverted so, but we’re the kind of friends who just pick up where we left off, along with childhood/ Mommy pal Rebecca, like no time has passed. That’s a good, comforting thing.
When we got the sad news about my grandmother passing away, we were surrounded by friends to hug and love us.
I rode the 30-foot Mo slide into the Guadalupe River in Mimi’s honor! Something her feeble body could have never done, a thrill she would have enjoyed. A good way to “make a splash” in celebration of her life. [wpvideo AHzqucae]
My “play” with MJ before nap-time was examining the treasures he found by/ in the river with Beffa: clam shells, sticks with lichen, smooth rocks.
The kids slept SOOO soundly, exhausted from all the fun! And I got to stay up late visiting under the stars, or gathered in the lobby one night for a sing-a-long.
MJ and Ellie participated as “helpers” in GareBear and Beffa’s duet in the talent show. MJ helped hold up the veggie pics for “Plant a Radish, Get a Radish” from The Fantastiks, and Ellie picked her nose for her stage debut.
I got to sing a cool song with a live band for the talent show. I rocked out to “The Story”, and dedicated it to my parents for their 40 years of marriage. Listen to Brandi Carlisle sing it. I promise you’ll love it. I heard it few months ago on Prarie Home Companion, and it stopped me dead in my tracks, tears pouring down. Listen to “The Story”
Star-gazing with MJ, showing him Orion, the Milky Way, and tucking him in with the story of how he turned into a magic constellation with sparkling blue stars for his eyes.
Getting to observe the kids, especially MJ, making friends and strengthening bonds with other great kids. Noticing how MJ (with his unending imagination) seem to be the ring-leader even in a crowd of older kids. He was the one calling the shots when they were excavating for dinosaur bones in the dirt down by the river, and making the architectural plans for the rock gardens during worship on the hill. What can I say? The little guy does like to be in charge – he comes by it naturally. (Did I mention my dad is the one who’s been in charge of our Mo-ranch retreat for more than 20 years? It’s in the genes.)
Watching Ellie enjoy her first root beer float. (Well, actually she enjoyed mine after she spilled hers.) Sooo good – with Bluebell, of course!
MJ (and even Ellie) got to experience some “free range” moments, wandering up to the dining hall with some older pals, tagging along to the pool with another family, hitching a ride in the golf cart with GareBear, walking along the streets (no cars allowed) without holding a grown-up’s hand, hiking up to the Chapel on the Hill with friends and without me, taking their own dirty silverware across the dining hall to drop down the cool slide, playing outside our room in the dirt with other kids, unsupervised by Mommy. Mo is the kind of safe environment where growing kids can experience growing freedoms, surrounded by 300 church family members who love them. These freedoms help to grow their brains and skills as well: their social skills, sense of self-esteem and responsibility, sense of self-reliance and adventure. I loved growing up at Mo, and hearing these kind of phrases: “Have fun this morning, and just check in with us at lunch-time in the dining hall.”…”Be back at the room by midnight. Don’t jump off the bridge into the river!” (Of course, we’re still a few years away from some of these freedoms…)
MJ and I had fun participating in the “Human Dam”, a great Mo tradition where we squeeze together to block the water flow, set a “new record” every year for raising the water level, then watch it gush and ride the waves!