Bible School, Baseball and Gymnastics!!!

 

Our soon to be teenage son is growing in leaps and bounds!!!  I'm so proud of him and watching him become a young man is wonderful!!!  Uncle John gave Matthew a job for the summer of mowing the car wash yard and emptying out the sweepers.  Any change and money that people sweep up when cleaning out their vehicles, Matthew gets to keep!

 

When Matthew first started mowing the lawn, it was hard work for him.  It was tricky to get real close to the rock edges without the mower going down into the rain run off area.  Matthew complained the first few times but then he got paid!!!  Ever since, he goes out there like a man and mows it no problem!!!  He's loving the money he's earning!!! 

 

And this girl is totally living out a dream with these gymnastic classes!!!  She looks forward to each class and is doing great!!!  I'm not just saying it because she's our girl but honestly, she never took gymnastics before but she seems like a natural!!!  She works hard at each new lesson.  She sweats and needs a water break every now and then.  She loves the flips and is good at cart wheels already!!!  This has been the best investment for her this summer by far!!!

She was super excited to swing on the bars for the first time!!!  And let me just say that the man talking to her is Mr. Jeff!  He is SO GOOD with the children and funny!!!  He's always making hilarious comments like "put your stinky feet here" and "were your eyes open?  Good, because mine were closed!"  Ashlyn loves how he teaches!!!  She's a bit confused though because he teases all the time with things like "you don't need my help, I'm going home".  She's not convinced that Jeff is good at gymnastics.  Maybe next time she will have enough of nerve to ask him do something really impressive for the kids!  So far, when he shows them how to do a hand stand, he acts just like a learner and often does a real simply stand with him barely able to do it.

Bible School was last week and the kids loved every single night we were able to attend!!!  We took Hunter and Adrian along for two nights and what a blast they all had!!!

Each night, the lessons were on Daniel.  Skits were performed to act out some of Daniels life and Austin even got scared and cried a few times.  It wasn't a problem though because Hadassah comforted him because she was his teacher!!!  Win, win!!!

 

We also finished up our baseball season on Monday night!!!  Matthew's little league team placed first place again in their division!!!  They played SO WELL!!!  Way to go Tigers!!!

And, of course, Austin was right in the midst!!!  He begged to wear a baseball shirt just like Matt!  He couldn't wait to run the bases and get dirty!
 

Another trophy earned!!!

Tigers 2018!!!

And here's more gymnastics pictures!  She tries hard!

Each lesson they always start with some warm ups.  This time they had a parachute that they waved.

Lifted it up high.

Then they all quickly got themselves in the parachute and tucked themselves inside!!!  What fun!

This week is now Day Camps in Honey Brook and that means Hadassah and Matthew need to be in Honey Brook each morning by 7:15 and picked up again in the afternoon!!!  It's miles and hours of driving for me and Mike but we couldn't be more proud that Hadassah chose to be a counselor and Matthew chose to attend!  They are learning scripture!  Doing activities to enhance character.  Praying together and having fun!  If there's ever a time I wished to live a bit closer, it was last week with Bible School each night and now Day Camps each day!!! 

And a big shout out to my wonderful husband today!!!  He turns 41 and it looks great on him!!!  He's the best gift God ever gave to me!!!

I love him so much!!!

"Happy Birthday, Babe!!!!"

Lapp Family Vacation 2018

We just spent the last few days with the Lapp Family at an all time favorite cabin in the woods with a pool, pool table, outdoor kitchen, basketball courts, baseball diamond and very beautiful rooms!!!  The Bim Cabin has been our sweet vacation spot for years now with the Lapps but this was the first since we were there without dad and with the new renovations.  We needed to cancel our spot last year because Dad was so sick and dying.  This was the first that we were at this sweet spot again … but now without Dad.  We miss him like crazy but we still got out the Settlers games and Marble Chase and had a good time!!!

 

Gorgeous rooms!

Baseball diamond!

Our princess decided to come to our bedroom instead of sleeping with Mommy Lapp and so that next morning, when we got out of bed, she climbed in it!!! 

Pool games!!!

 

The pool is a huge attraction for the kids but the weather was not in our favor all weekend!!!  I left on Thursday morning with Mom and Anna Ruth and our children and headed to this beautiful cabin.  Thursday afternoon was warm and we enjoyed the pool so much!  Thursday night, Mike and John Ervin met us there with Matthew!  Friday and Saturday the rest of the family joined the fun but the weather wasn't nice.  Friday it was raining most of the day and chilly.  The pool water was on the warm side though and it didn't stop the kids from swimming some.  Then on Saturday, it was still rainy, overcast, cloudy and not sunny!  We so badly wished for nicer weather but we got out the games and still got the dads and little ones to the ball diamond for some pitch and hit! 

 

Austin and Felicia had so much together again!!!

 

And these girls … had a blast!!!  They swam and splashed together.  Painted nails together.  Got invited to sleep with Mommy Lapp in her king size bed!  Giggled and laughed!!!  What a party!

Settlers is a favorite Lapp Family game for some of us!!!  We played one game after the next!  This is when I miss Dad so much!  He was the best Settlers player because he played to win!  He tried to demand trades and when everyone else said no to his offer, he would look at mom in desperation.  He wasn't the best loser but it was enough to always want to start another game!!!  

One of the additions that were built since the last time we were there is the new outdoor kitchen!  It is totally awesome and here's the view from right inside of it!

We were really hoping and wishing to spend all of our meals and game times out here but the weather kept us mostly inside!!!  We hope next year, we will have lots of sunshine and more time out here!

This got used a lot more than usual because of the weather conditions.  Matthew and Mike played game after game of pool.  Lots of ping pong and air hockey too!

And on Saturday,  I sat under roof to take these photos.  It was raining but the kids didn't seem to mind.

Look at this beautiful outdoor kitchen just off of the pool area!

Steve was the sport man and swam with the kids. 

Austin was the water duck!  His hair never stayed dry like James and Janessa's did!  :)

Diving board memories!

We ate good meals and snacks.  We laughed and got irked in games.  The campfire night was good and the rains held off long enough to roast some marshmallows and chat around the fire.

We packed up on Saturday afternoon and even though the weather wasn't nice, we were not ready to leave!!!  Next time we have to stay longer!!!  We ate our last meal out in the outdoor kitchen because the cleaners had already showed up and needed to clean before the next crew showed up to enjoy this place!  I went inside and grabbed two garage bags for the trash cans outside but when I went to put the trash bags in place, there was already some trash in the one.  I grabbed the side and went to dump the trash in my clean trash bag when I dropped the waste can and screamed!!!  A baby opossum was inside the trash can!!!  It just peered up at me not moving!  It scared me so bad and totally freaked me out!  Matt grabbed the waste can and took it out to the grass and was acting like a total goof with the kids laughing but us moms screaming!!!  "Don't let it loose here!  Take it to the woods!  Kill it!  Kids stay back!!!"  These were some of the rants!!!  Ritchie went and grabbed the waste can and took it up to the woods and let it run out.  So gross!!!

Thank you so much Mom Lapp for the reservations and planning you do to make this always happen for the family!!!