Archives for December 2007

I admit I did not want to go to Legoland. I lobbied for seaworld again, the zoo, the dentist- pretty much anything but Legoland.

I went once before with my boys when Shannon and I first came to SD and it was so boring I wanted to gouge my eye out. The lego city they built was so cool, but it was so sun bleached and nasty looking that I couldn’t figure out why the main attraction was so poorly taken care of. Surely they could have at least covered it with a huge shade thingamajig or build it in a gianormous warehouse or something. But my wife insisted that there is a window of age in which Legoland is fun. She said my sister’s 3 to 6 year old kids were perfect for it and should be given the privilege of seeing it when it was in their target age, since it would likely be years before they got to go and blah blah blah.

Well, I lost the debate and we went the day after Christmas.

And here’s my confession, the old parts of the giant lego city are even more sun-bleached and nasty than I remember, but the new Vegas section is pretty cool. Plus, based on the amount of changes they’ve made to their ride offerings in the last 2 years, there are several things that we had a lot of fun doing; and yes, my sister’s kids loved it and so did mine. My face also gives away some picture proof that I had fun with them.

So.. here’s the evidence:

Shannon has two sisters who we don’t get to see much. Initially it was because they both lived with their mom like an hour away. Now it’s cuz they both are working and/or busy with college. But despite some distance and busy schedules, we share a special bond because of blood lines and the role our family has played over the last decade after the death of their dad and the “Campbell” side of our family heritage. For years when they were in kids they would come to our house with their dad. Then there were a few years of us picking them up or getting dropped off to us, and then in high school they would drive themselves across the bay to spend a day or two with us. But those days are gone and now they’re in their twenties and the last few years they have come to SD to hang out with us for a day or two.

Scott also had a sister who we see even less. But Becki and her family came to visit us too this year, all the way from Louisiana around the Thanksgiving time when Shannon’s mom was in town. It was a great few hours.

Welp, it’s a first. My name is on a billboard!

22 years ago I sat in neighborhood church as a freshman in high school and as a result of my family, the mentoring/teaching of Mark Teyler, the invite of my then girlfriend/now wife, and the Holy Spirit’s guidance- I dedicated my life to following Jesus.

So today, I drove to Nor Cal with my family to do Christmas with Shannon’s side of the family in our old stomping grounds and to teach at Neighborhood in the main service. I’d be lying to you if I didn’t say I wasn’t both super excited and scared to death. I have such great memories there and I really don’t want to drop the ball and screw that up.

I’ve taught in contexts like this lots before, but I still feel like returning home to teach at Neighborhood is somehow different. Maybe because I got married on this stage. Or maybe because after 14 years as a youth pastor, my name finally made it to the marquee. HAAAA!!!

If you’re in the area this Sunday, Dec. 30th… drop on by one of their two services and we’ll bond.

Day 2 of the cousins visit was riding bikes and then headed to La Jolla for a trip to check out the sea lions and the tidepools. It was so awesome. I love watching kids go crazy with wonder. They love putting their fingers in the sea anemone and having them close up. We had some fun finding hermit crabs too. It was low tide, so there was lots and lots to look at. The sunset alone was worth the trip.

Today, I’ve been trying to teach my sister how to do a photo collage. We downloaded a free trial version of Photoshop Elements. I was super impressed. It did lots of what I do with photoshop and it was way more affordable for her. It was fun to help her learn to collage her photos so she can share them with friends and family via their blog. Next month they are headed to serve in Uganda for a 2 year stint working with an missions/engineering firm called EMI, so teaching her how to share her photos is a win-win for everyone. Myself included.