Too Much Fun?

  
This past weekend we had a sand castle building contest with our church family. A few weekends before, we had a church camp out. We've been having so much fun with our church family! I'm so thankful for the entertainment they provide for us!!


This is in the middle of the building. We were having a little trouble keeping one of the 3 larger towers in the back from falling.

I know I've never worked this hard on a sand castle before. It was fun to have so many others building at the same time. 

After a failed attempt at a tunnel, the girls decided to make a dolphin...complete with a blowhole! 

And this masterpiece is ours. Seriously, I've never worked this hard on something that would be washed away in a matter of hours! But we had fun. 

And this is how these girlies had fun, while the rest of us sweat over the castles  and how much water we had to run back up the hill...  ;)  








We aren't lost. We haven't gone away for good. We're just out having fun-- perhaps too much of it. Later posts will include pictures from our own camping fun, as well as the fun we are experiencing currently while having our bathroom remodeled.....  

:. Busy . Busy . Busy .:

We've been on the busy side...would love to share more, but let me just tell you this: 

Cousins!

Fun times at the Science Center...

the wading pool at the park...

 

 

 

 

 

We even made it to the beach! 

This was one sandy little girl!

Thanks so much for visiting. It was fun to hear so much giggling from the cousins and to have extra people around while the boys were gone on their own trip. Can't wait to see ya'll again soon!

 

Stuff Sacks

Last week Eric was telling me about how he wished he could find stuff sacks for certain items they need to bring along on their bike trip. As soon as he started the conversation I knew where it was going. I told him I just needed the right material...

I looked at a couple of tutorials on youtube about how to make stuff sacks, and in the end combined elements of the two I watched to make my own version. 

Have you ever felt like you're over pinning?? I was feeling that way when I pinned this, but I think it is hard to use too many pins when you're sewing in a circle. 



 

 One of the videos suggested "double rolling" the hem so that there were no raw edges. Since I was putting a round bottom on, I did this. Another friend had told me she used french seams, but I couldn't wrap my brain around how to do that around a circle...though as I type this I'm thinking I probably could have figured it out. Oh well.

(By the way, the stuff sacks we have from REI do have raw edges inside- wow- kinda surprised me.) 


So here they are. He asked for three-- two for sleeping bags and one for a tent. 

I even added little handles for the ends, if what is inside is hard to pull out! 

Yesterday they did another long ride- 50 miles- and took some of their gear. These two sleeping bags went along, and the sacks did great! Oh yeah, the guys did too! 





 

And while the boys are away, the girls will play I guess. I was busy inside the house, getting ready for some family to visit and the girls decorated the sidewalk in front! 

I Love their pictures! 

One Hundred Miles!

A friend of mine sent out a challenge to see who would run / walk / jog 100 miles in the month of July. I knew it would be a challenge-- I've done it before. It was hard then and it was just as hard now! But I finished strong and I'm happy I did it. Most of it was running/jogging and some of it was walking. My hips definitely know I've gone the hundred miles! 




Do you like my color chart? It shows how many miles I went each day I ran! 

One Day, Nine Years Ago...

Audra was born! Okay, so this isn't a super little baby picture of her, but we didn't have a digital camera yet, back then!! 
The night before she was born we had dinner with some good friends and I knew I wasn't feeling quite right. They suggested Payton stay the night while we went to the hospital. On our way there we got stuck in a line for a SOBRIETY CHECK POINT!!! Seriously. At that point I was having contractions. When they realized where we were going, they radioed ahead and got the traffic moving through a little more quickly for us. 
Audra was born at around 2am. I couldn't sleep hardly at all that night-- just staring at the sweet little girl in my arms...

And now here she is! Already 9 years old. She hasn't lost any spunk-- in fact I'd say she's only gaining it as she gets older! 





For her 9th Birthday we invited a few friends over and had fun doing something that girls love to do:  

Crafts!!! (specifically this one)
 

This is a picture of their flower circles drying after a coat of mod podge...We had to get creative as to how we could let them dry. 

Next came the painting...

It was fun to listen in on their talk while they worked. 

And this is the end product. I was pleased with how well they turned out! 


 We ended up running out of time for the other craft ideas. I wanted to be sure we had enough time for...



 
 ...the jump rope game. The girls jumped rope 6 times holding a cup of water. The idea was to be the first team to fill up the cups I was holding.

It did not look easy-- jumping and keeping the water from splashing out! 

Next on our list was a water balloon toss / fight. 

It quickly turned into a water fight. Which was fine because the pool was the next place these girls were supposed to be!

I love how Audra's choice of friends included girls from the neighborhood, church and also school. They were a fun bunch! 

Our last game was to see how many balloons they could hold down underneath the water at one time. They decided two was doable, and three was impossible. 

And I guess what pool party would be complete without the hand stand? So here it is. Makes me want to hold my breath just looking at them!

{ speeding through life...}

No time for any of this lately...

 

We've had a week of this going on...

My sweetie is on the left...

One of my favorite ladies at church!

"Let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us" -Heb 12:1

 

Presenting the gospel...

Look at how high she got crossing the river! That's my girl!

What an enthusiastic group of kids!

Morning singing..."Have I not commanded you be strong and courageous...wherever you may go." -Joshua 1:9

Our group of kids was just over 100!   For all those kids we needed...

A lot of help! What a fun week. 

This week is a little bit slower...but someone has a birthday coming up...

{ Lessons in the Pool }

While the boys have been busy riding their bicycles all over creation I did manage to keep the girls moving also...

One of our favorite people taught the lessons. Chloe learned about putting her face in the water and making sure to hold her breath. She loved to challenge herself to stay underwater a long time. 

Ring Around the Rosie, pool style! 

It wasn't all play-- look at those Big Arms coming out of the water! 

Audra got to have her lesson with a friend. This was nice because they would encourage each other and also challenge each other...

...alll the way across the pool! 

Audra's friend has a sister Chloe's age-- these two had a blast in the shallow end while their sisters worked out in the pool. 

--really, they did do a lot of swimming laps. But I guess they had time for some play also! 

"hakuna ma tater tot!" 

-the girls would yell silly things as they cannon balled into the pool :)  






A little more relaxing than riding for 40+ miles on a bike, but a work out nonetheless. 
We're back from a little vacation now, and I guess it is time to get back in the swing of things.