Vacation Bible School

Jonas went to VBS last week and learned all about Paul's ministry in Athens.  So happy that he gets to experience Jesus love with all those other kids!

Boat Day!

Duane and I took the kids out on the boat this afternoon.  We even stopped and swam for a while - that's the first time we've done that!  The kids loved the bumps (waves) and kept wanting to go faster.  I can't wait to use the boat more this weekend.

4th of July

We had lots of 4th of July festivities planned.  We started the afternoon with a parade.  It started off kind of yucky, but the sun came out and it ended up being beautiful weather.  Jonas' dad walked in the parade for the Knights of Columbus, and he made sure Jonas and the girls got loads of candy!

After the parade we headed to Grandma and Papa's house to start making our treats for the BBQ.  The kids decorated star cut-out cookies, made red, white, and blue chocolate covered strawberries, and a fruit flag.

Grandma pulled out some sparklers she had lying around.  Those are always a hit, and a little scary at the same time.

We ended the night with some awesome fireworks.  The kids amused themselves running around and playing games until the show started.

Hope everyone else had as great of a holiday as we did!

Adventure

Jonas and I went down to Collins for an afternoon of adventure.  We took an ATV ride down to this really neat water fall and swimming hole.  The kids had a ton of fun swimming, jumping, and splashing around.  I even swam for a little bit too!  

We built a fire to roast some hot dogs.  The kids helped gather sticks and wood, and we settled down to eat  on the small rock beach next to the swimming hole.

As we usually do in Collins, we saw some wildlife too.  It wasn't really at a time when I could take pictures, but we saw a deer on the 4-wheeler ride down there.  He just stood there and watched us drive by.  We also saw a BIG fish in the swimming hole with us.  There's nothing like swimming right with the fishes!  We finished our day exhausted and happy, just the way I like it :-)

Getting in the 4th of July Spirit

We started our preparations for the 4th of July today by making fun hats!  Even Hayden got in on it, and did a great job sticking the shapes on his hat.  Bethany and Jonas decided that the stars were the lava coming out of their "volcano hats".  Everything has to do with lava these days for Jonas!

Hayden was tired after all the excitement though...he just couldn't keep himself awake :-)

Rainy Day

There's nothing better on a rainy day than building a good old fashioned fort and watching a movie.  Jonas slept in it, too!

Playing in the Rain

Why should a little rain stop us from playing outside?

Pool Party

We spent the afternoon yesterday swimming over at Aunt Marie and Uncle Larry's.  Jonas practiced his underwater diving skills, had a great time playing with all the kids, and chowed down on some yummy watermelon.  Even Great Grandma Vera came to watch.  Hooray for nice weekends (especially ones when you think it's going to rain, and it doesn't)!