Family Fun Day

Yesterday the kids and I enjoyed the first really hot day of our Vermont summer at a small carnival put on by a local church. Everything was free and the kids said they had the best time! It was really just fun being outside and enjoying the sunshine.

They got their faces painted. (Andrew's was a bit more detailed-- Leah's was a few flowers, but Andrew wanted to be Spiderman.)

They played a few games, including knocking off Goliath's head and throwing bean bags into the lion's mouth.

Andrew must have been down this huge inflatable slide a hundred times. There was always a line for the bounce house and they could only jump a few minutes, but on the slide they could go over and over again. So they did. Abi wanted nothing to do with either of them. She kept acting as if she would go in, and then chicken out.

They had a short demonstration by a police dog and we learned how loyal and obedient they are to their partners. They even got to pet him.

They had a sack race-- not sure who won but it was funny to watch.

And proof that Abi really was there. She was just a little uncertain about everything new. She did like the cotton candy. And popcorn. And a snow cone. Not so much her hot dog.

We were there wandering around at least two hours and they really didn't complain much at all-- except about the 20 minute line for cotton candy. 

AWANA End-of-Year Ceremony

We had such a great year of AWANA at church this year. It was the first year the church has had any program for the kids on Wednesday night, and though we didn't grow into a HUGE program, the few kids we had were faithful and did a great job memorizing verses, learning about missions and other Bible stories, and of course, playing games together! I wasn't sure what I was getting myself into when I signed up to be the Commander, but it actually went really smoothly because there were many adults who helped out as leaders without much help from me.

Andrew was in the Cubbies, which is preschoolers. They all pretty much keep the same pace with their verses, memorizing one each week, and have a story that goes along with their verses. So each of the five faithful Cubbies we had completed their entire book-- which was a total of about 32 verses! Most of them could probably still tell you them, even now, if you asked. The system of rewards with stickers each week and patches after a few weeks, seems to be a great motivator. I am so proud of his willingness to work on those verses every day of the week to really learn them.

Abigail was actually only in the nursery, but by the end of the year (as nursery workers tended to not show up and I had to keep her with me) she had convinced everyone she was actually a Cubbie-- she was singing the songs with them and playing games with them. She just didn't do any verses.

Leah was in the Sparks, which is K-2nd grade. There were only 3 most nights, but each of them worked hard and also finished a whole book. They also had to memorize at least 30 verses (plus Leah worked halfway through her 2nd book, adding at least 10-15 more), plus the books of the New Testament. They had to do other things like invite a friend to Club, learn about a missionary, and even tasks that showed obedience to their parents. 

Leah is pretty motivated in most things when it comes to learning, but especially so when it came to memorizing the verses. She pushed herself a lot harder than I would have pushed her, sometimes memorizing 3 or 4 a week. She was determined to get through that book and get the jewels she earned for each section and so proud of herself when she did them correctly.

This is pretty much our whole club, minus a few who couldn't be there for the Wednesday night service where we gave out the recognitions and finished out the club year.

Andrew gets to move up to the Sparks next year since he'll be in kindergarten (sniff), and Abi gets to officially be a Cubbie. Leah will probably work equally as hard to finish another book & and a half so she can finish all 3 Sparks books before she, too, moves up to the next club. I am so proud of how each of my kids gets so excited about learning and memorizing God's Word!

Robert Frost Trail

We decided last weekend to go on an easy hike near our home that we've heard a lot about. The famous poet Robert Frost lived and worked right here in Vermont for many summers and the college where he worked has created a trail in his memory. Some of his poems are on plaques along the way. The day started out rainy and gloomy but it was clear long enough for us to take the one-hour hike. The kids did pretty well with only a little complaining at the end. Abi walked most of the way, only asking to be carried the last few minutes.

There was a lot of different things to see along the way: rivers, ponds, meadows, forests, and fields.

This is the spot that inspired Robert Frost's most famous poem that states, "two roads diverged in a wood, and I... I took the road less traveled." We tried to capture that there really are two ways to choose on the hike. (Neither was the road less traveled-- they ended up the same place, but that's only thanks to the Park Service.)

This sign was only a few steps away from "The Road Not Taken" poem. How can we take the road less traveled if we have to stay on the path?!

This would have been a beautiful view of the mountains if the weather wasn't so gloomy and the clouds weren't covering them.

These kids haven't got many adventurous bones in them. They were all scared of being this high up in the tree, trembling. (Except Abigail, actually, who showed no fear.)

I captured a few sweet moments between these two, who get along like this maybe about half the time, and the rest of the time they're always arguing! For some reason, Abigail loves rubbing people's ears for comfort. Andrew's seem to be a personal favorite of hers'. He usually doesn't mind.

We met a few friends along the way, too. This is Lizzy the Lizard. And I don't know the caterpillar's name. Andrew was the only one not afraid to hold them.

We will definitely do this easy hike again, as it was a lot of fun and we saw a lot of cool things.