A Family Camping Trip...

Goof offs... Can you tell how hot it was... Mia and I don't "do" heat very well...

A Friend that came to visit our tent after the first night's storm...ugh, the boys caught it and took it away from our camp! It was a HUGE spider!!!

Garrett trying to fish in the area right across from our campsite... no bites.

Waiting to have smores... Nolan playing his guitar for us...

Let the fun begin...roasting marshmallows to go on those cookies and chocolate waiting...

Swimming in the lake...A Picnic lunch...

Last weekend we took a few days off as a family and went camping. It was a very fun weekend, but we have decided that our camping trips are destined to be filled with unusual events... namely, thunderstorms (last May, a major rainstorm ended our camping trip too soon). When we arrived at the camp on Friday afternoon, the weather appeared to be perfect, but during the night we experienced a pretty scary thunderstorm. We rode out the storm in our tents, and some of us got some sleep (not so, this momma!). Saturday morning brought sunshine, and we had fun exploring. It was most definitely humid and HOT! The afternoon plan was to fish for a bit and then swim at the swimming beach near the fishing docks. We had just got the kiddos settled in their fishing spots, when we watched a huge thunderstorm quickly rumble it's way into the area. It was slightly wierd to watch the thickening of clouds, hear roaring winds and thunder, and then the wind started. We made a quick dash for the car, getting everybody inside just in time. It rained for a couple of hours, and we spent our time in our tent reading stories. The nice thing about Saturday's storm was that it cooled the temperatures down. The not-so nice thing was that it was too cool to go back swimming. It made for a perfect campfire night, and of course we had to roast marshmallows ...SMORES, yummy!! I wanted to take pictures, but somehow I left the camera battery on the charger at home. We managed to get a few pics with Brad's phone, but they aren't very good (I will post them anyway). Saturday night was cooler and no storms, so we managed to get a decent nights sleep. Sunday morning, we had a simple breakfast and a family church service. I put the big boys in charge of having church for our family, and they did a super job. I am so proud of them... Nolan did the worship service,playing his guitar, and Garrett planned the lesson. I loved having church in the great outdoors. After church and after we had taken down camp, we took the kids back to the swimming area and let them swim. They had a great time splashing around, and then we had a picnic lunch. Every good thing must come to an end and so did the camping trip. I think every child was asleep before we had been on the road a few minutes. We enjoy camping; however, tent camping sure is a lot of hard work. It is worth the work because we can never deny the memories that we make as a family every time we take a camping trip.

Crazy, Lazy Days of Summer...

The older boys spent two weeks at golf camp and loved it!! Playing in the water and being outside fill up most of our days...

Friends to share our playtime just make the days even better...

...And then there is baseball, more baseball and even MORE baseball... (our season ends this week; however we have a few more tournaments into July)

Trips to a local swimming pool help us to keep cool in the heat...

Well, I don't know about lazy, except for a later start (than normal) each morning, we continue to have full days this summer. We have filled our summer with water fun, playing outdoors, going on trips, day camps and just plain ol' fun. In between fun activities, mom is working on getting all the school stuff reorganized, and it is time once again to place our curriculum order for next school year. There never,ever seems to be enough time in a day, a week , a month or even a year. I'm still in disbelief that June is almost over!

A Fun Visit

Mandy was thrilled today...she got a surprise! Her BFF came for a short visit. We had known for a few months that her friend and family would possibly be coming through town on their way to a vacation with family. We were excited to hear that they had made it into town last night and would meet us at church this morning. We kept it underwraps, only telling Mandy that "guests" were coming for a visit for several days now. She had begun to suspect something, so we told her this morning before church. She managed to concentrate during the church service; however, she wasted no time in going to meet up with J~ once she and her family arrived. It brought a huge smile to her face, and both girls loved spending treasured time together. We enjoyed lunch and some good conversation this afternoon. The visit was short as they had to head on out to make it to see family, but the girls love to be together any chance they get. This visit we met more of J's family and had a terrific time getting to know them. Thank You Ms Chris and Mr Craig for taking time out of your vacation to bring J~ for a visit. It means so much to Mandy! She loves and misses her friend. We enjoyed meeting their lovely family and renewing friendships. It was a wonderful way to spend our Sunday.