Category: Travel
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Car Trips and Read-Alouds
Need a way to survive long car trips? Read aloud a good story. Case in point: Brad, Anna, and I returned last week from a visit with family in the Midwest. How did we survive 13 hours in the car each way? We read. (Unfortunately, Jacob missed out on the good book and our trip…
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A Travel Tale, Part II
In my previous post, A Travel Tale and a Visit with Grandma, I recounted the hiccups and frustrations of my travel plans as I made my way to California to visit my Grandma. I also alluded to the fact that my travel adventures weren’t over yet. Here’s the rest of the story. Returning to Long…
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Journeys
This past week I spoke in Chapel at Stony Brook. Using the Gospel passage found in Matthew of the Wise Men visiting Jesus, I related the journey of the Magi to the journey my family took ten years ago. On December 26, 2003, the Brummeler family left Chicago, Illinois, and headed to Vancouver, BC, so…
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June Reflections
As I write this post, the sun is shining, a lovely summer breeze blows through the large slider window, and the views across Clifford Lake invite daydreaming. The occasional kayaker or fisherman passes by, but that is about it for lake traffic today. The cottage itself is a quiet place too—just Mom and Dad B,…
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Guidelines for a Successful (and Delightful) Camping Experience
Last weekend our family traveled to upstate New York to camp in the Adirondacks. We enjoyed beautiful weather (besides an early morning thunderstorm that passed through Friday morning), several campfires, canoeing, swimming, and a hike up Snowy Mountain. It would be going too far for me to say that I love camping, but I can honestly…
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Jacob in Israel
This past Thursday Brad and I drove Jacob to JFK and put him on a plane to Israel to see his grandparents. I couldn’t help but compare this experience to one probably five years ago when Brad and I put both Jacob and Anna on a plane to see both sets of grandparents for two…
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Indiana Weekend
Earlier in the fall my mom asked me if I would co-lead a workshop with her at her church’s women’s retreat the end of January. Always one for a new challenge and adventure, I said yes. Last Thursday I flew to Indiana for the weekend. The retreat didn’t start until Friday evening so we had…
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New York City
On Friday, November 18, my family crossed a finish line of sorts—we made it to Thanksgiving Break. That may not seem like a big deal, but when we started the job at Stony Brook everyone we talked to told us that the hardest part of the year was the long stretch to Thanksgiving. After that,…
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California and Back–and everywhere in between
Last night our family returned from a two week vacation which included a week at Lake Tahoe, a family reunion in California, and an overnight at the Grand Canyon. The four of us logged a lot of car miles over the past two weeks. I find the final stretch of any road trip to be…
Alicia Brummeler 