Oh, the Lord is good to me...

For the second year in a row, our family spent the Fourth of July camping with a group from our church. What a blessing! The weather was perfect and the company couldn't have been better. The boys slept amazingly well considering the accomidations and our days were a nice balance of activities and relaxation. Add to that a big breakfast (cooked by someone else!) each morning and it was heaven on earth!

Here are just a few (okay,a ton of) pictures highlighting our trip.

Cooking dinner the first night.

Helping Daddy put up the tent.

And here's how it really happened!

The boys loved the playground.

Before we left, we made Fourth of July t-shirts with fireworks on them. I just had to get shots of everyone wearing them! (Shockingly, I actually made it into a photograph.)

Our family is now the proud owner of two very similar campsite markers. Zachary painted one himself...and then made Andy erase it and directed me on how to decorate it. Jacob did about half of his on his own and then asked me to help him finish it. Thanks for the fun activity Pastor Steve!

One of the best parts of the trip is the water slide. It's located at the campground and is definitely worth the short hike. Our church lucked into an hour to use it all by ourselves on Saturday and it was a blast!

The expert explaining the fine points to his little brother.

Jacob had no fear at all this year. He'd go down once and run up the hill to get back in the line...and he did this for an hour straight!

Zachary's one and only trip down.

Daddy had as much fun as Jacob did! (He has the bruises to prove it.)

Even I went down several times. This is Jacob, Andy, and me going down the slide together. Zachary could not be convinced to join us!

Let it grow, let it grow, let it grow...

Growing up we had garden fresh vegetables all summer long. My dad's garden is larger than our living room...as a matter of fact, I think it's larger than his living room too! When I went away to college and then "grew up" and moved out on my own, I missed those veggies more than I would have imagined. When you are spoiled by the good stuff, it's hard to eat produce from the grocery store!

The yearning for the good stuff has made me want to grow vegetables ever since we moved into our own house. However, every year there was some reason it didn't happen. This year the stars all aligned and for Mothers' Day my "boys" made me a raised bed garden. (Okay, it was just the really big one but the other two "helped.") Finally, Mommy has a place to grow vegetables.

The boys have loved gardening. They have been involved in all aspects of the project, from choosing what we would grow, to planting plants and seeds, to watering and weeding. (This has to be done very, very carefully since they aren't quite sure what is a weed!) We all delighted when the plants began flowering and the lettuce started popping up. Everyone cheered when the first cucumber was sighted, followed by the round, green grape tomatoes. And finally, just last week we enjoyed our first homegrown veggies when we used our own lettuce to make salads for dinner. As Zachary would say, "This is delicious!"

Our gardening adventures have included planting herbs in pots.

A must have at our house...Jacob's favorite, the cucumber.

My dad's garden always included cherry tomatoes (ours are the grape variety)...a favorite snack!

Although we didn't separate the lettuce quite like we were told, it isn't doing too badly! Next year we'll make time for the hands on tutorial.

A long weekend away

Last weekend I had the pleasure of being in one of the most wonderful weddings I have ever attended. As I prepared to leave all three of my boys and head off to Houston, Andy decided to take the boys to Richmond to see Grandma and Grandad. Although we all missed each other, I admit to having had an amazing time while I was away...and so did the boys. As Jacob said, "We missed you, but not too much."

One of their adventures while in VA was a trip to the Science Museum of Virginia. This trip was a first for both of them since we'd only been to the aquarium before. All three of the boys had a great time, especially in the hands-on part of the museum.

For a little guy, he sure looks strong!

The Quacker Smacker. How shocking that they boys liked something that allows you to shoot at things!

Scientists working together.

The Bubble Rainbow. Jacob informed me that it was really cool even though you can't tell that from the picture. (His words!)

The boys (and Daddy) built this arch out of foam blocks. This was Jacob's favorite activity!

An optical illusion...since it looks like they only have a head. (I had to ask about this one!)

Lunch with Auntie Ali

To say that my sister and I have never had an easy relationship is putting it mildly. However, over the last nine months we've both been working really hard to change that fact. As with anything new, you wonder if you are really succeeding or just trying to convince yourself things are going well. Our new found friendship was recently put to the test and I am thrilled to say that it passed with flying colors!
This past Saturday I found out that my sister had just received a promotion at work. How exciting! The twist was that she was going to be traveling for her training...to Pennsylvania. I surprised myself a little by automatically asking how far away she'd be (about two hours) and started to figure out how I could get to see her when she was here. (Trust me, if you don't the situation that well, this is shocking. Until recently we'd both be trying to find the easiest way out of getting together, not going out of our way to do it!)
After moving a few things around, we decided to meet for lunch...not exactly in the middle but so the ride wouldn't be too hard on either of us. Again, I was amazed at the fact that I was looking forward to this lunch very much and that there was no hidden anxiety about the whole thing. The boys and I set out Tuesday morning and had a great time spending part of the afternoon with Auntie Ali. It was nothing more exciting than lunch at Chili's and a quick stop at Target...but for me it was proof that maybe there is hope for us after all!

Strawberry picking

This year we made our first trip to the strawberry patch. Prior to this year, I just didn't think I could take the two boys without it being more of a pain than a pleasure. Now that Zachary is older and a "big kid" (as he reminds us daily) I figured it was time to give it a try.

After two weeks of rain, this week promised some nicer weather (at least on and off) so we made plans to go to pick strawberries with my friend Jenny and her son Evan. We headed out early to a local orchard. Unfortunately, our first stop wasn't quite what we had anticipated. The berries were pretty picked over (they said it was the end of the season which seemed odd since the weather had been pretty cool around here and several other pick your own places had just recently opened) and all of the plants were low to the ground, which made finding the strawberries themselves a bit of a problem. I didn't remember it being quite this much of a challenge! After about twenty minutes of foraging, we decided to call it quits there and give another place a try, one we knew had opened just the week before. Thank goodness we did!

Our first stop

While the boys munched on the few strawberries (maybe a quart at best) that we (mainly me) had picked, we drove to our next destination. I tried not to get my hopes up too high as we parked the cars and made our way to the pick your own area. As we walked up , bright red berries dotted the green plants that popped up out of the ground. Jacob and I cheered as we began grabbing berries to drop in our bucket. It didn't take long for the berries to start making it into our mouths as well. (Yes, even Mommy indulged in a few straight from the vine!) Zachary took a little longer to warm up to the idea this time around since it'd been nearly impossible for him to find any berries at the first stop. Add to that mud that he'd stepped in and he started out a bit miserable. It didn't take long (or should I say it didn't take more than a bite) before he was joining us.

Sweet success!

Jacob and I picked over five pounds of yummy berries. Zack managed to eat all the ones he pulled off the vine!

A bowling we will go...

Okay, I'll admit it. I'm not the world's best bowler. When I used to bowl in a league (stop laughing!), I always joked that my team kept me around for my personality, not my skills. However, I didn't know quite how bad I was until I lost to all of the men in my family. Yes, you read that right, all of them. Even the 29 pound child rolling a six pound ball that took about five minutes to make it to the end of the lane and on average knocked down about three pins. That's a real self-esteem boost, let me tell you! (In defense of my crushing loss, the boys had bumpers and Daddy and I did not.)

Actually, our trip to the bowling alley last weekend was a blast. A few months ago, Jacob received a free game of bowling as a reward for participating in a Read-a-thon (quite well, if I do say so myself). Of course, we waited until the day it expired to use it!

After talking it over for a few weeks, we decided that the whole family should go, rather than just have one of the adults take Jacob. (He'd been to two bowling birthday parties and we knew he was able to bowl decently and that he enjoyed it.) What a great idea that turned out to be! It was one of the most fun family activities that we've done to date. The boys both loved it and actually did quite well. Amazingly, they do carry shoes in to fit Zack's tiny feet so we were all able to enjoy the full bowling experience. All four of us are looking forward to going again soon!

Working on his skills. He scored a 98!

A little help from Daddy

Maybe if I go this way, the ball will too?

The last day of school

Yesterday was Jacob's last day of school. He is no longer a kindergartner and will be gone all day, five days a week in just a few months. (Yes, that idea makes me sad! Really, it does!) I can't believe how quickly this year has passed by and how much he has grown, not just physically but as a person as well. He had an amazingly wonderful year and so much of that has to do with a fabulous teacher, Mrs. Dietz, and his "buddies".

Waiting for the bus with Daddy...the only day we had to do this first thing in the morning!

Brothers on the last day

...and all those months ago on the first day