Early Sunday Scene

The sure sign of summertime is the clothesline on the back porch heavy with towels and swimsuits. This oak table is sagging a bit in the middle and is scratched and scuffed after five generations in my family, the seats of the vinyl chairs have split.The kid-drawn picture on the wall is coming down, and the photocopied bird prints are curling at the edges. The lemon trees have left the floor sticky and the paint is peeling on the windowsill. The windows are marked with layers of dog-nose smudges and kid-sized muddy prints. It isn't a perfect picture, but my favorite pictures are often the candid shots that capture our normal life. This is a normal life picture.

 

Nearly every Sunday morning, we get up to go to early church service. This particular day, we decided to go to the later service because we slept a bit late, and I wanted to have some chill-out time before sharing a slide show of Uganda with my Sunday school class. The first ones to the breakfast table get first pick of the Sunday paper sections. Allen has the front section. Jon as the comics. Coffee is on the table, and since they are both just reading, breakfast is over and we are ahead of schedule. I love the slow Sunday mornings -- to not feel rushed, to sit and sip my coffee slowly while the sun shines through the windows.

Great Wolf Weekend

To celebrate Nana's birthday, Papa and Nana took the family to Great Wolf Lodge for a couple days. All three generations of children enjoyed splashing, sliding, swimming, and hanging out together.

 

There was still a bunch to do even if we weren't getting wet. Nana got the kids a "magic wand" that interacts with the decor around the lodge. The kids chose quests to go on, then they followed clues all over the hotel, up and down lots and lots of stairs, to do a scavenger hunt. Though they all enjoyed it, Jon and Will gave up swim time to keep going with the wand.

The last evening, the kids went to hear the bedtime stories and got to pose with one of the mascots.

PS - We really did have a great time, but I didn't get many good pictures -- partly because I didn't like having my camera out around all the water, partly because when I did have it out, the lens fogged over and the pictures were hazy.

Annual Family Snapshots

Another of our crazy traditions is to take a Fourth of July family picture every year... in the same pose. The last two years, we ended up at Allen's parents' the weekend of the 4th, rather than ON the 4th, but... it's close enough... and we still can put on our red, white, and blue.

And each year, the kids pose without parents for a nice picture...

... and a silly one most years.

And in just in case you like comparing the years (I DO!), here are the collages. In each of the family pictures, Jon is on my lap, Maddie is on Allen's, Will is front and center, and Ben stands in the middle back. As he gets taller, I suspect we will need to have him kneel to keep our photos well-composed. I'm guessing Jon will be okay sitting on me for another three or four years, but then we'll have to adjust.

In the kid pics, from left to right, are Jon, Ben, Will, and Maddie.

Williams Family Photos

It isn't often that my brother's family and ours is at my parents' place at the same time. It ends up being a lot of people in a little space. Allen, Will, and I came this weekend for two reasons: 1. It was Dad's birthday!, and 2. to bring the other three kiddos home after all our travels. Jason's family was there for the same reasons. Dad asked us to get a family photo since we were all together. It was a bit challenging to get a great one when so many kids (and adults who sometimes act like kids... ahem!!) are in the picture, but we got a few cute ones. I think this one can be Dad's birthday gift -- Happy Birthday, Dad!

Why is it that not everyone SMILES at the same time, but everyone is anxious to do the silly faces? I think I may print the silly one really big and give it to my parents for their anniversary... it is the most "real" representation of our family :)

Farm Camp

One of Will's school assignments in May was to look for career-oriented camps that he could attend. While he searched for first-aid, medical, and science camps, I searched, too. I was excited to find a camp for the younger kids that was happening at the same time Will would be at church camp. The younger kids would still be at Gramma and Granddad's house, but the camp was within walking distance of my parents' house. I had my parents investigate and they got our three six-year olds plus cousin Julianne registered for Farm Camp.

The World Hunger Relief farm hosted their first camp this summer, and my kiddos got to be part of the first crew of "campers." Kids were invited to explore and learn about the world around them. Through arts, crafts, games, and activities, they took home a piece of the farm each day.

The theme of the first day was "Get ready, set, grow!" The kids learned about plants, they planted seeds, and they repotted some flowers. They each brought home a couple newly-planted pumpkin seeds and some bright pink vinca flowers. They also made a flower press. I was impressed that the staff made an effort to include healthy and beautiful snacks each day, too!

Day two was all about "Feathers, fur, and snouts, oh my!" The kids all had fun learning about some of the animals around the farm. They got to hold and pet chickens, pigs, goats, and rabbits, but they really had fun getting their faces painted like animals. The kids made pinecone bird feeds and painted gourd birdhouses.

The third day was about the world wide food web. They learned about what people eat in different countries and about how the farmed plants affect their diets. Thursday was a favorite, I'm sure, since I know my boys love bugs. The kids got to catch bugs in nets, investigate the butterflies, bees, and spiders in the gardens, and check out some old bee hives. "Bugs, slugs and other grubs" even made it to snack time -- not that the kids ate bugs, but all the veggies were cut to look like bugs in a salad garden. They came home with coffee-filter butterfly magnets, and even more pages were filled out in their science journals they wrote in each day.

"Farmtastic Friday" was a fun family day. Gramma and Granddad watched the kids in their plays. Jon was a bat and Ben was a moth in their group's skit. Maddie and Julianne were in a different skit and they were pigs on a farm. They ended the day with a hayride.

The four kiddos had a blast at farm camp and my three could not quit talking about everything they did and learned. I think Mom and Dad enjoyed the quiet as the kids napped hard each afternoon.

Church Camp by Will

Sarah's note: The second week I was gone, Will went to camp with a lot of kids from our church. I have heard bits and pieces, and I KNOW he had a great time, but I thought I should let Will tell the story as he remembered it. Here are his words:

I went to CentriKids church camp at Austin College. We went on two buses. When we got there, there were people with pool noodles hitting our bus and chanting. It was obvious that we were the first church there out of the other 6 churches (not including us). We unloaded our stuff and got out and went to our dorms in Daniel Baker Hall. After we did that we basically hung out until dinner.  After dinner we had a MASSIVE pillow fight, and one of the adult leaders was in it. After that we went to our beds and slept. On our ceiling there were lots of glow stars. In the morning we had breakfast and time alone with God. Lunch was next and don’t tell anybody but I had a soda challenge and my time was 27 seconds. My tracks were Weird science with Prof. Carson, who was my favorite teacher. My next track was Baseball with Coach Emily. Then Wet ‘n Wild with P.J and “The Flower”(she was called The Flower because she stayed on the tennis courts). Huh? The other days were like that, too. So that’s it.

Oh! On every vacation I go on I always get a souvenir. Do not read anymore until you have closed your eyes and thought up three things I could have gotten. And … I got (drum roll please)… A SUNBURN (confetti shoots). Yay! Well that’s my story. Hope you enjoyed it.

While Mama was Away - The First Week

The Friday before I left for Africa, I took the kids to my parents after we finished a full week of vacation Bible school at our church. Allen and I had a day and a half of a little bit of together time that we filled. Friday evening, we went to the Brown's to play board games, then Saturday morning, we spent two hours cleaning up branches, brush, and trash with about twenty neighbors. Sunday, Allen took Justin, Ellen, and me to the airport in Houston. I was thankful for the few extra hours with him.

Meanwhile, the kids were well into the fun at Gramma and Granddad's. We jokingly call it Camp Grandparents anytime they go. The week was packed with lots of swimming, canoeing, campfire cookouts, catching lightning bugs, fishing, water balloon fights, and hiking. Some of the new things they got to try included trapping (and releasing) a raccoon, hunting dino tacks at Dinosaur State Park, hunting fossils not far from my parents' home, and weaving potholders. Here are some pictures my parents took from the first week. (In no particular order... since I'm not sure the real order.)

At the end of the week, Granddad took Maddie to Ft. Worth where they picked up Julianne. Before they headed back to Waco, the girls got their own Dr. Pepper at lunch (a BIG deal for my kids), tried hiding in a deer "costume", and then got to shoot a BB gun at Cabela's. My girl had fun and was really proud that she hit the target 3 of the 5 times she tried. Back at the homefront, Gramma spoiled the boys a bit with a Coke and more swimming.

Saturday, Allen went to Waco to spend the day with kids and come back home with Will... for the next adventure!