Other half

Brian's Andy and my Raggedy Ann

Besties

Emma's bestie, Bethany, got to come over for all of one day, plus that night, and most of the next day!  It was an amazing time for them to just hang out together.  They spent some time at Books-a-Million (with Mom of course), went swimming (twice, plus played in a little pool), did crafts, had popcorn and a movie, and did lots of reading and chatting.

Another year of Dance Camp

One of Emma's favorite summer events is Dance Camp!  This was her fourth year of dance camp but her first year of the older kid camp that was new this year!

The mini recital on the last day is always a source of anxiety for Emma.  Some years we haven't even been in the room.  This year she made some progress and we were able to watch the whole thing.  Ms. Patti commented on how well she did!

Ballerina and her Grandma

A new drum

Nathan had a week of band camp in preparation for High School Marching Band!  He has his drum assignment for this year-- and it's a BIG one!

 The boys tried it out (and so did I)

Snap!

Emma's 9-year-old pictures

Beautiful Emma... what a joy it is to have you as a daughter. 

 The light in your soul shines so clearly through you...

Nathan's first mission trip

During Fair week, Nathan spent several days in Chicago with our church youth group on an UrbanServe Camp/Mission Trip hybrid.  It was a perfect blend of worship and learning with service and witnessing opportunities.  Oh, and there was plenty of time for fun!  

Ready to get on the bus!

They stayed in the dorms on Wheaton's campus.  There were hundreds of other youth from around the country.  They spent their evenings all together in a service on campus.  Nathan loved the band (Unhindered), and said the speaker Darren Whitehead was REALLY good! 

 Their mornings were spent running a VBS style program with 35 or so inner city kids at an apartment complex nearby.  This was the service project for youth from our church.  Other groups had other assignments.  

In Nathan's own words:

It was an incredible experience for him and we were so glad he had the opportunity to go!  

Nathan came home with the title of Suicide Challenge Champion (he gets this from his Dad)

Nathan & buddy Julian

They got to see a few neat artifacts while at Wheaton:

J.R.R. Tolkien's desk

 C.S. Lewis's desk

 The Lewis family wardrobe (and another friend of Nathan's)

New little pets

When Lucas and I went for our walk on his half birthday, we saw a huge puddle in our neighborhood.  He wanted to know how deep the water was.  We didn't actually check that out but we did realize there were tons of tadpoles swimming around.  When we got home I basically begged Daddy to let us bring some of them home.  The kids and I had so much fun fishing them out with a net and putting them in a bucket.  Since then they have been a constant source of wonder.  I can't even guess how many we had to begin with!

We found a used aquarium, bought rocks and tadpole food, and got them moved to their temporary home.

(Photo taken on July 17)

We have been feeding them Tadpole food and pieces of cooked, chopped, and frozen romaine lettuce, which they LOVE!

We think they are little tree frogs but aren't exactly sure.  They are SO cute!

One jumped into Nathan's slipper the other day!

Lucas letting one jump up his arm

You can see some of them nibbling on a chunk of romaine lettuce

When we got them, some were tiny tadpoles, others were larger, and some had back legs.  We have watched them develop, they have grown arms and then their tails have gotten smaller (I read that they eat them- yuk!)  When they begin to spend more time out of the water, either on the big rocks we put in or climbing up the sides of the tank, we lift them out and turn them loose in our yard.  As of today, we have let 53 frogs go!  There are still plenty of tadpoles left in various stages so this little experience will continue for several more weeks!

First play date without Mom

Samuel was SUPER excited to go to his friend Jonah's house for the day on Wednesday without Mom!  He spent from about 10am to 4pm with Jonah and his family, and would've stayed longer if we'd let him!  He had a great time and is looking forward to doing it again someday!

A few pictures his mom sent me:

The cast is off

The cast...

is now OFF!

The Fair

It was another HOT day at the fair- this seems to be the story every year, no matter how cool it has been leading up to fair week.  We enjoy the experience despite the heat... but the temperature does seem to dictate which snacks we choose!  It was Shaved Ice again this year!

Samuel rode this cool ride first

Lucas was set on riding the "Circus Wheel" but we weren't sure he was tall enough.  

He just made it!

This is Emma's favorite ride so the three of us rode it together!

 A sorry attempt at a Selfie on top of the Ferris Wheel 

 Samuel & Lucas chose motorcycles next-- they even did Wheelies!

Emma rode the Ferris Wheel a second time, with Dad!

Finally, all three kids rode a little train roller coaster