{Almost} 13

Although Alyssa still has a couple more weeks as a tween, knowing that her coming weekends will be full of Rep rehearsals, we decided to have an early 13th birthday celebration for her before all of that kicks into high gear. A sleepover with a few close friends was her request and we were happy to oblige.

First on the agenda for the girls was three hours of pizza and bowling. Nothing says "Welcome to my birthday party!" like a huge growling polar bear at the entrance :-).

The girls had so much fun bowling, but in case you've ever wondered, 3 hours is a really long time for a group of girls to bowl!

Can you find the hiding {camera shy} friend in each photo?

By the third hour, their techniques were getting very interesting. There was a lot of loud, thudding drops of the ball on the lane, standing backwards tosses, behind the back granny throws, and Emma would set her ball at the front of the lane, back up, and do a straddle forward roll to push her ball. Not to mention all the pre-teen giggly, extravagantly dramatic noise they were making. I kind of thought we were going to get kicked out, and I've never gotten kicked out of anywhere, so the thought of toting two carfuls of little girls out of a bowling alley in shame was not exactly appealing. They are all such good, sweet girls, they are just also very, very loud!!

Back at our house, we had a few outdoor activities planned. It was a beautiful night for playing outside, and it was a good thing too, because the Iowa game was u-g-l-y that particular Saturday and the girls certainly didn't want to be in the house while Dave was watching it! They made scented bath salts using this recipe. It was pretty easy, yet super fun for them. I was looking for something they could do with minimal help from me, and if they messed up the recipe a little, it wouldn't really effect the outcome of the project. This was perfect!

And the finished product came out so pretty, the girls were proud of them!!


Next, they ran around the yard in teams playing flashlight tag and roasted marshmallows by the fire pit.

Alyssa has succesfully instilled a fear of fire in Rebekah. I love her big eyes as Martina's marshmallow went up in flames. From a safe distance away, Alyssa remained on fire patrol, letting anyone know when their marshmallow was about to be done and if they were standing too close to the fire.

Cool driveway chalkwork done by the girls. The "Smell This" was the welcome mat Alyssa created at the front of our garage which had become very fragrant after the bath salts project. Emma is working on drawing a raccoon, Alyssa made the Bible {btw: her version of choice is The Message, not the King James Version as her picture suggests}, Annalese made the neat abstract art and Karinna did the awesome self portrait.

Not being much of a cake girl, {crazy, right? I can be talked into cake at most any time!} Alyssa instead opted for brownie ice cream sundaes. They were yummy and a hit with the kids.

Happy {Almost} 13th birthday, Sweet Alyssa! We love you!!

Kings Island

King's Island, near Cincinnati, Ohio is such a great theme park. It was like having all the most amazing rides in one place. We went right as school was getting back into session for the kids in the area, so there were very few lines. So few in fact, that I had to ask the girls if we could take a break from the roller coasters, my stomach needed it! Here's our day in photos:








I had to take this photo because this is what Dave says to the girls all the time when they are doing something crazy :-)






Poor Rebekah began to run a fever and feel pretty lousy while we in the park. This was what she wanted to spend most of our afternoon in the waterpark doing ~ looking at the park map. She loves maps, just like her daddy. She still remembers the park as one of her favorite things on vacation, it was just a bummer that she didn't feel better!





Feeling much better a nap and a dose of tylenol later.

Who do you see from the top of the Eiffel Tower, Rebekah?






Kings Island + Planet Snoopy = The funnest end to a super summer road trip.

Which one of our doctors would you like to see today?

The Creation Museum

I can't believe it's nearly the end of October and I am still blogging about a vacation that happened back in August, but that's how things go...I think I am close to wrapping it up :-)

One of the highlights of our trip was a visit to the Creation Museum . It's such a cool place! The museum was born from a ministry called Answers in Genesis, whose goal it is to proclaim the absolute truth of the Bible and demonstrate the relevance of a literal Genesis with creativity to a world and culture that will often approach Biblical explanations with skeptism and false theories of evolution.

The museum brings the pages of the Bible to life in a very fun, real and colorful way! The girls loved it. We were just barely able to finish going through the museum after being there from open to close, and our tickets would have been good for two consecutive days, had we planned for that in our scheduling.

This next little section I am taking right out of the visitor guide book to the museum because I really liked their description of the museum's intent: "The Creation Museum places Biblical History within the context of the greater issue: why should we trust the Bible?

Our conclusions about the world are affected by the decision to trust either the words of the eternal, perfect God or the words of temporal, falliable men. There is an element of faith at work in every interpretation of scientific evidence.

Rocks and fossils don't come with tags on them, telling us how old they are. Scientists reach different views about the past, not because of what they see, but because of their different starting points: Autonomous Human Reasoning or God's Word."

In short, much of our worldview is shaped by whether or not we have faith in an all powerful, omnicient and loving Creator.


By Noah's Ark and then below in the Voyage Room. Quick Bible Quiz question pertaining to the picture in the top, right corner: Who lived longer than any other person and how long did he live? Answer ~ Methuselah, 969 years. (Genesis 5:27) Methuselah could talk and tell stories, and Noah who Emma is standing in front of could answer questions as they were selected from the screen in front of the exhibit. The entire museum was really neat and interactive.


The petting zoo was amazing! So many unique species like a zonkey and an albino peacock.

The outdoor gardens were beautiful too:



These tiny flowers were perfection. God loves detail and variety!!






Genesis 1:1 In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.