an afternoon at the lake and a friday playdate

Yesterday afternoon I took Emma and Rebekah to the lake. I was not being a very fun mom as I wouldn't let them get in the water. When we had those huge rains/flooding there was quite a bit of sewage that MMSD had to dump into the lake. The green signs were up indicating that the water was safe for swimming, but I know how Rebekah rarely keeps her mouth shut while in the water and Emma has a permanent smile that she just can't shake :-) , so the thought of the sewage lake water going into their mouths was a little too much for me. I'm not sure how many of the germs I actually spared them since I did grab a few buckets full of water to wet the sand so they could make a castle.
 Doesn't the lake look so pretty and blue and inviting? I probably had no reason for concern, I guess I would rather be safe than pukey {or worse}!


 Rebekah kept herself occupied making feet prints in the sand and Emma started working on a stick and rock sculpture. At first she couldn't get the rocks to balance on the sticks she had stuck into the sand.


 But a little determination goes a long way ~ Got it!!


 



And then today, Emma's friend Halle spent the day with us.
 




















Here the girls are making homemade playdough. We made playdough once when Emma and Halle were about 3 years old, and now it's something Halle asks to do just about every time she comes over. It had been a while so I was happy to take out the ingredients, even after they all three decided they needed to make different colors.


 The girls had also convinced me to buy these insanely HUGE marshmallows at Woodman's on our way back from picking Halle up in the morning. I don't even know how I was talked into this purchase, they are gross! The picture doesn't give a realistic view of how huge they actually are ~ and the pink ones are strawberry flavored. They enjoyed eating them, but I am confident they are the worst snack ever.

I always tell our girls what a sweet guest Halle is, and how I hope they are the same way when they visit friends' houses. She thanked me repeatedly throughout the day, and after thanking me for playing a board game with them, she told Emma this was the best day ever. Disgusting marshmallow snacks and all, she's still willing to play at our house.


I didn't make them sit at the table for the entire playdate :-). We went to the park too...
 


 Goggles Girl.


 By the time we brought Halle home in the evening they were all 4 {we had picked Alyssa up from church by this point} bargaining with me for a sleepover. All kinds of creative scenarios were being thrown from the backseat of the van.

When you're seven, there's no greater happiness than a friend you just can't get enough of!!

CYT's Disney On Broadway

The same week that Rebekah had ballet, Alyssa and Emma went to Christian Youth Theater's Disney on Broadway Camp. It was a lot of fun for the girls to have some friends there that they already knew from our church, and also have the chance to meet a lot of new friends too.
 The girls with their friends Nate and Rachel. They had fun themed activities for the kids all week, this day was dress up as a Disney character. Emma wanted to be Nemo, and Alyssa was one of Tinker Bell's fairy friends. Rachel was Snow White and we can't remember what Nate was, the girls thought he was a detective.


 Emma won 3rd place for her Nemo costume :-)


 They started each day with a game of freeze dance and a parade to show all the costumes of the day. All the kids cheered wildly throughout.


 And on team color spirit day, Ka'iulani won 1st place for her green team attire. Here she is being interviewed about her outfit selection.


At the end of the week they had a showcase where the children sang about 8 Disney songs from different movies. The choreography was really cute and funny, and the girls loved it.



 Kahiwa has already been asking if she can come back to CYT camp next summer. She loved all the songs and the dancing, even though it seemed a little hard on her healing ankle. Even now, about two and a half weeks after taking the cast off, riding her bike and scooter seems a lot easier for her than jumping and spinning does. She didn't complain about it at all, but I could tell it was at least a little sore.


 




















Alyssa said her favorite thing about CYT was singing the She's in Love song. She love, love, loved {!!} her solo and the dance that went with that song. She loved all the dancing, I think.

splish splash

Yesterday I took the two little girls to a nearby splash pad to cool off in the afternoon. Alyssa was busy with Fine Arts at church. It was a hot day, so of course, the tiny place was crowded, but the girls had tons of fun.
 




















The girls played together so sweetly. I love those times!!


 Simple summer pleasures. Just doesn't get any better!


 Tired little fish.

Rebekah Goes to Dancing School

Rebekah had a little Ballet Camp this week, and she loved it!
 She packed a tiny purse everyday, all the important stuff inside ~ chapstick, a toy cell phone, and $5. No idea where she came up with the money :-)


Several photos from the week follow. I was the paparazzi mom sitting in the back of class everyday ~ a little embarrassing but it's alright, hopefully she appreciates the pics when she's older, I love seeing them now.
 


 She was a funny mix of serious moments where she seemed to be in deep dance concentration mode, and other times she was just plain silly, laughing, and slipping and sliding all over the dance floor.


 


 She loved looking at herself in the mirror as they tippy toe walked down the floor.


 


This video borders on the longish side, I didn't have a ton of time to trim it down any further. There's a few funny moments about 30 seconds in where she gets a piece of hair stuck in her mouth, as she got it out she catches me in the mirror watching her and starts giving me the sweet eyes.
She's been singing that I Love My Dancing School song all week.

Thank you so much to my mom who express mailed up a pair of ballet slippers early in the week when we couldn't find a pair here that fit her. The missing pair mysteriously turned up later in the week. She favored Grandma's pair, but did have times that she preferred to be barefoot ~ imagine that, Rebekah not leaving shoes on her feet. Thank you, Grandma!!

Hero HeadQuarters

Last week our church was transformed into Hero Headquarters for Vacation Bible School. The kids spent the week learning about unlikely heroes of the Bible and how they can be everyday heroes in their own lives. I was the fourth grade girls teacher, and we were on the Green Team, so we did our best to deck the walls out in everything green.
I have to admit to being nervous about teaching the 4th graders. Everything is so straight forward with my kindergartners, they love to sing, do crafts, listen to stories ~ essentially, it's really hard to go wrong with them. Immediately when I got my VBS teaching guide, I was so excited about these particular lessons because I felt there was such a great life application that the 4th grade girls could take away from the week. I just didn't want to mess it up!!!

Our five main lesson points: Heroes Do the Unexpected, Heroes Take Action, Heroes Step Out in Faith, Heroes Save the Day, and Heroes Stand for Truth. The kids had opportunities throughout the week {mostly by giving food to the giving pantry, providing care items for missionaries in the field, and donating school supplies for kids in need} to live these lessons out in a tangible way that directly affects our community.


The first day in class we played a game of telephone. I was worried the girls might not think it was very "cool" but it was so fun for them. They were laughing the whole time, and it probably helped out that the message lost all resemblance to the initial question that was posed by the time it reached the end. That's why they were laughing so hard. I sometimes feel like Alyssa is growing up way too quickly on me, so it was a sweet reminder of how little she still is that she and all of her friends so eagerly got engrossed in a simple game of telephone.


It was such a great week, and I definitely had no reason to be nervous. Every time I get the chance to spend time with Alyssa's class, I am always amazed by all of them. I just know that these girls will be used mightily by God someday! And what's more, they already are.


One of the days the kids were asked to come dressed up as a fictional hero. Alyssa got very caught up in the whole green team theme and refused to be anything but a Teenage Mutant Ninga Turtle. She put together such a cute homemade costume using a piece of felt for the tummy part of her shell, and a pillow stuffed in a green Menards bag for the back of her shell. I did a terrible job taking pics all week. Emma and Rebekah were dressed so cutely too, as Super Girl, and Lady Bug girl respectively. I had so much going on with my class and getting friends the girls had brought with them to their classes, that we had to skip a lot of the photo taking.


The awesome bounce house set up for game time. This was Rebekah's first year in regular VBS, they reserve the Jr. VBS for kids under 4 who are the workers children. Since she was so close to her fourth birthday, they let her go with the big kids and she loved it! It was funny watching her from the opposite side of the chapel and see her rocking out to the music H-E-R-O, God is our Hero...

We were busy during all the evenings of VBS week as well. Each night probably warranting a post of it's own, but I know won't get to all of that. One night after VBS we were so happy to have the girls' sweetest friend, Halle over.





















The girls kept busy racing bikes and scooters. Rebekah served as a traffic guard for a while too :-) Only two days after taking the cast off, I'd say Emma's ankle is feeling pretty good!


Love these girls!!!


And I know I have probably used this verse somewhere here on the blog before, but it's a favorite, and the verse we studied all week:

Don't let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an example for the believers in speech, in life, in love, in faith and in purity.
1 Timothy 4:12

Sand Castles in the Sand

Our girls love Grant Park. The playground that they call the "Spider Man Park" is in there, along with a pretty neat stretch of lake shore that is just beautiful during the summer.
 This past weekend, grant Park celebrated it's 100th birthday with lots of fun activities for the kids. Like a petting zoo. Rebekah loved the baby goats, she would have taken this little one home with her if she could have.


 The older girls enjoyed the pony rides {Rebekah didn't want to go} along with their friend, Jaydon.


 Down by the lake shore there was a sand castle contest. Emma and Jaydon worked together.


 Sun kissed Kahiwa.


 Alyssa worked so hard on her castle. She had a little help from Rebekah, but ended up doing most of the work herself when Rebekah lost interest.


 And ran off to play with a beach ball instead. It was fun {and pretty funny} to watch her rolling over and over the beach ball.


 




















We usually only visit the park during the summer, but I heard a lady say that she and her kids are typically the only family out there in February when they get to see the ice formations on the lake. She referred to them as ice volcanoes, which has peaked my curiosity about a winter visit. For today though, we are very thankful for the beautiful weather and a fun day spent at the lake shore.

Happy 100th Birthday, Grant Park!

Quality, Value, Convenience

Dave's Mom loves QVC and is probably one of their most valued customers! Around holidays and special occasions, she always sends us the yummiest stuff ~ Nathan's Hot dogs, Cheryl & Co. cookies, Miss Prindables caramel apples, they're all our favorites. So when we were near West Chester, Pa. we knew we had to stop in for their Studio Tour.
 It was a really impressive tour, I had no idea all the different pieces that need to go together in order for QVC to run. The first thing I learned was that the "C" in QVC does not stand for "Control." For some reason, I mistakenly thought it was Quality, Value, Control and I thought that had a nice ring to it, but Convenience makes so much more sense.


 While we waited for the tour to begin, the tv in the lobby told us that Rachel Ray was there in the studio filming. What luck!


 We sat in the studio and watched her on the stage as she filmed a segment briefly. We weren't able to talk with her or anything, but it was still cool just to be able to see her in person. Her 30 Minute Meals show completely changed the way I cook around the time Emma was born.


 On the Studio Tour.


 Alyssa loved all the cosmetics. The girls each bought a pair of earrings with their own spending money that my mom had given them, and Dave's mom got me Rachel Ray's special of the day. I know QVC has a special name for the item they feature each day, I just can't remember the catchy name they use. I'm super excited about it! It's a serving tray that I can bring snacks to the girls school in, and it includes a thermal bag for carrying everything in. Very, very cool! Thank you!


 




















The girls posing by the different hosts. Alyssa managed to knock one of these life size cut outs over. No worries, nothing got broken, but it's really something only one of my girls could have managed :-)

Dutch Wonderland

When we were planning our trip to PA, Dave had a bunch of brochures from a travel packet that we looked through with the girls. Rebekah pulled out the Dutch Wonderland brochure and said it was her pick for the trip. It was a really cute castle themed park.




 




















Kamele loved the Frog Hopper at Dutch Wonderland. She made me ride it with her the previous day in Hershey, and I had to ride it once here too, but after that, she was on her own. She and Emma rode it several times! I thought they looked so cute up there together.


 It was such a cute park with lots of old fashion kiddie rides and nice walking paths around their ponds. We liked their tiny Statue of Liberty.


 The landscaping was really pretty.


 And full of butterflies! It would have been a beautiful park to have a picnic in had it not been so hot.


 Rebekah's laughing as the girls pose for this picture because as I helped them get up on the drum she said, "Ugh, I need a butt horn." I'm not sure what Disney tween show {maybe Sonny With a Chance?} I can thank for the expression "butt horn," but Alyssa knew what she was talking about right away. She said, "Yeah, Mom, you know a shoe horn for putting on your skinny jeans."


 At one point, Rebekah was sitting in the stroller, relaxing and waiting for a boat to pick us up when she saw some ducks in the field that she wanted to talk to. She ran over, the ducks immediately scattered and she came running back to us. The ducks knew better, they recognized trouble coming when they saw it!!


 I don't love water rides, but I agreed to ride the log ride with Alyssa knowing we were going to get at least a little wet. She was sure though that she had convinced me that we would stay dry. After the big splash at the bottom she was laughing hysterically thinking she had pulled a fast one on me :-) She loved the water park side of Dutch Wonderland, where she talked me into several water slides. It was fun.