Vacation Update

Its ben way to long since I have updated the blog. Many happenings worthy of commenting about.

I made a 3-week road trip with my wife and 2 children (Megan & Cameron) to the southwest. The main goal of the trip was to spend some time with my brother and his family that relocated to Peoria, AZ (northwest Burb of Phoenix), in July 2005. It was an EPIC trip for my family and some real growth was experienced by everyone (me, my wife Cindy, Meg and Cam). When a family travels 5,000 miles in a car over 3-weeks, growth is bound to happen. My children have a typical sibling (sister - brother) relationship. Including lots of arguing, fighting and with a dash of selfishness. So I knew that a trip like this was going to put some stress on our relationships, but that this tension needed to be worked through. As I am sure many of have experienced in life, road trips provide a great opportunity to connect with your spouse or significant other. Cindy and I have always enjoyed road trips because of the focused time together. On one of the longest days / drives of the entire trip, my family really came together, enjoyed each other for the who we are and had a major break through. I wish I could say it was something major or an specific event, but it wasn't. I believe the catalyst was the time we spent together! As a father I have become aware of how loud my actions speak, not so much as the words. The action of spending a huge amount of time with my family "together" spoke to my family in a huge way. In the daily busyness of life, I loose focus on how important it is for my family to be together and getting to a point in our relationship that we appreciate each other. So the trip really helped me experience this and the importance of this. Praise God for allowing me to be humble enough to recognize this truth and desire a change of heart.

A recap of some of the highlights of this 3-week Epic Paladino road trip includes:
- Racing a 1/2 Ironman Triathlon, not having the day I hoped for but having the peace to know that I did my best on that day, taking the time to kiss my kids at the beginning of the run and running down the finish chute with my daughter Megan!
- Spending some great quality time with my family in the car
- Experiencing the Grand Canyon "South Rim" in person and appreciating it as a wonderful example God's creation
- Re-connecting with my brother and his family
- Experiencing Sadona, AZ and the rock hopping and mini-cliff jumping (Wild and Heart)
- The 3 EPIC mountain bike rides in the wild desert of AZ with my bro Jason and his neighbor Chris. Including one the ended in the last 3 miles ridden on a flat front tire.
- A 2 day trip to San Diego and an opportunity for my kids to experience the Pacific Ocean and body surfing
- 2 hikes to the summit of Camel Back mountain (one with my wife, brother and sister-in-law and one with my daughter Megan.
- Experiencing the heat of the desert in the summer and realizing that it can be oppressive.
- Riding my road bike in the heat of the day (107 degrees) and feeling the furnace heat, what they call a breeze!
- Forced to take break from my training and realizing that I wasn't going to die from the lack of training
- A 2 hour run in the heat of the day and feeling like my heart was going to explode
- Spending the better part of 2 days in the car with Megan and Cameron and growing closer to them than I could ever have imagined
- Visiting with my good friend John and his wife Carrie in Denver and experiencing the foothills of the Rockies on a mountain bike.

A ton of activity in a short amount of time and a very memorable trip for all of us! I am thankful to recognize the growth not only in myself but in my family that this trip facilitated. Also - I am excited about future trips with my family and the challenges and growth that they create.

Kevin