Summer began in May. Little A was invited to a missions party where everyone dressed up as someone from another country. She chose China. Several of her friends also attended. They played a lot of fun and educational games while learning about missionaries.
J headed off to camp. Not as a camper, but to work on staff! The first week was a week of training and Bible study. He then stayed 2 more weeks to serve. He filled in pot holes, helped build a new shed, and welcomed parents as they dropped off and picked up campers. We were some of those parents.
June was packed full of activities. The week after dropping off J at camp, we brought Little A. It was her first time going to camp, so she was happy to have a friend going that week, also. She had a blast!
While Little A was gone, K and I baby sat my nephew and nieces. This involved taking them to their swimming lessons. We also celebrated K's 13th birthday while the other 2 were at camp.
We picked up Little A from camp, then a couple days later, K left for camp with a friend.
Little A was now by herself, so we spent some time at a friend's pool. They were very generous and invited us and others from our church to enjoy their pool during the summer for free.
Little A also attended a vacation Bible school at a different church. She won this big green ball.
We picked up K and J from camp along with 2 other friends. K obviously makes friends easily.
This summer, we also got to dog-sit this guy! He's pretty tame and loves to cuddle.
The week after getting all the kids home, our church held its vacation Bible school. You can read about that blog here. J helped with the games. K helped in crafts. And Little A enjoyed being an Olympian for the week. At the end of the week, we celebrated J's 15th birthday.
Then, J headed back to camp, but this time as a camper. He really enjoyed being on staff and, of course, had fun as a camper as well.
The girls and I decided to visit my family in Iowa while J was at camp and Seth had to stay home and work. My grandma was selling her house and several of her possessions, so we went up for one last look and to take a few things for ourselves.
Wait just a minute! Sorry for the interruption, but this is Rambo. I must tell you about a disturbing event. Mom's aunts and uncles were all visiting as well. There were actually more adults than kids! But that's not the disturbing part.
There were cats. CATS! The kids were outside playing and these 2 cats came into the yard. I had to save the kids. I ran in and told the adults. There's cats! Come help! I need to save the kids from the cats! The adults just laughed.
I ran to the window, ran to the door, back to the adults. They did not understand the seriousness of the situation. I mean, there were real live cats outside with the kids!
Finally, Mom went outside, but she didn't let me out. In fact, I think the adults were all conspiring against me as none of them would let me out. I didn't understand. I ran back and forth, trying to tell the adults of this horrible situation and watching outside to make sure the kids were ok. Finally, the cats left. The kids were fine, thankfully. I could not believe the adults just sat there and laughed. I'm just glad no one was attacked.
Ok, interruption over. Mom, continue.
Um, thank you? Ok, well, my girls had fun with their cousins. We went to my grandma's house and looked through her things to lay claim on anything we wanted to keep.
We also got to watch my nephew play baseball. Then, back to Wichita we went. We picked up J from camp and June was over.
In July, we had some time to relax and just enjoy summer. Rain! There's a tree in front of our house that has dropped large branches during previous storms, and again, another one falls. This time, nearly hitting Seth.
I received news of my high school classmate losing his battle to cancer early in July. He had a long fight. He is missed.
On the 4th, we went outside and enjoyed neighborhood fireworks.
We continued to enjoy our friends' pool along with others from church. The kids looked forward to it every week.
K tested out her independence with several girl-outtings with friends. She went to the mall with this friend, the movies with other friends, and back to the mall with even a different group of friends. Did I mention she makes friends easily?
One week, instead of the pool, a few of us decided to go swimming in the river. It was a fun change to our routine and a bit spontaneous. Little A said she preferred the river over the pool. All of the kids had fun.
Summer was winding down in August, but not before squeezing in that last bit of fun. We still made a couple more trips to our friends' pool. My co-Sunday School teacher and I hosted a going away party for one of our students who was leaving for college half way across the country. They all had a blast. Pool, food, a daring food game, and a movie.
A college friend of mine lost her battle to cancer in August. She fought against 2 previous cancers and beat those before this 3rd one took her. She is very missed.
You know summer is almost over when you hit the stores for school supplies. It always seems to be an exhausting day, so I let us all enjoy a little treat.
I do enjoy the pool, too. This was our final swim in our friends' pool. Then, our family went to a water park for one final summer hoo-rah. K had fun singing and dancing with the lifeguards. Little A didn't want to leave.
Yes, it was a fully-packed summer. In the midst of all of this fun, there was emotional roller coasters throughout. Besides the loss of 2 of my friends, we had a difficult time figuring out where J would attend high school. From trying to get him transferred and being denied, to checking into online public school, to considering sending him to my in-laws in Idaho! We finally got the call that he was accepted into a magnet school and he would get to stay with us. Whew!
It was a long summer, indeed. School has begun and a whole new busyness has taken over our lives. But I love it. We are blessed.
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