VBS 2013

 

Our church’s Vacation Bible School theme this year was Colossal Coaster World—facing fears, trusting God. The kids had a lot of fun!

The first night happened to be the same night as the community 4th of July event. Naturally it went along well with our amusement park theme. So the kids made a sparkler pen & did sparklers outside.

 

Andrew’s & Leah’s favorite part was probably the music. They loved the upbeat songs, and they were definitely catchy enough to get stuck in your head. They’re still singing them a week later. Their preschool class was the biggest of all the classes- average of 14 kids a night!

  

Abigail was in a class all by herself. She got extra special attention from Ms. Brenda. She did so well for being so late at night! She loved all the activity.

 

 

We all took our picture in the roller coaster.

 

   

Andrew has been acting very “3” lately and didn’t always act as good as he could have, little stinker. He does better when I’m not with him, actually. He also has a new thing where he says he didn’t have fun even though he clearly did.

 

I taught the 1st-2nd grade kids and I couldn’t have asked for a better group. There were just 4 in my class and they were pretty well-behaved and listened well. I enjoyed that age! Our presentation the last night went really well. The kids sang their songs loudly and recited their memory verse & motto for the week. Leah even got to show off one of the crafts she made.

 

I know these are the memories the kids will look back on fondly when they grow up!

Beach Day

 

It’s mid-July and we live less than 2 hours from the beach; yet this is the first time we’ve been this summer (and Abigail’s first trip ever). Our Sunday School teacher has a place at Topsail Island and invites us all down a day every summer. This year the kids loved it. They both said beforehand they didn’t want to get in the water. Once Daddy got in with them, we couldn’t get them out! They cried when it started pouring down rain and we had to rush back to the house!

  

 

    

This little monkey, on the other hand, was not a fan of the beach. It was right at naptime and she was probably hot and tired. She seemed okay with the sand at first, but once the waves came to get her, she was not a happy girl.

 

 

After the quick rainstorm got us, we enjoyed swimming in the calmer, warmer water behind the beach house. I was really surprised both kids wanted to get in with their floats (I think it helped that all their friends were getting in too) and spent quite awhile in the water!

 

We had such a fun family day, despite our sunburns and tired bodies. So glad we got to enjoy the beautiful weather!

4th of July Fun

 

The Saturday after July 4th, an older lady in our church invited us to a hot dog cookout with her family at her home. We didn’t really know anyone there, but we ended up having a lot of fun. There were a few kids there so our kids had a great time! And they experienced quite a few “firsts.” They got to try their first sparklers (even though it wasn’t quite dark out yet), which they seemed to enjoy although they weren’t quite sure what to do with them.

 

 

They also had their first ice cream cone. (Don’t know why I’ve just never given it to them in a cone.) It was a little messy…

 

I found cute matching shirts cheap at Walmart, so of course I had to take a photo op.

 

  

 

The next Sunday, our town had a little 4th of July celebration at the park right next door to our house. How convinient it was to just walk down and not have to deal with parking and crowds (which surprisingly did get busy later in the day)! The kids loved the bounce houses, especially the one with an obstacle course inside. Daddy had to go down with Andrew the first couple times, then we couldn’t get him out!

 

 

They had a little cow train but Leah wasn’t too happy about it taking her away from Mommy.

We played a couple carnival games. They had surprisingly good prizes for only $.50/ game. Abigail enjoyed her view from the stroller.

 

Leah really wanted a balloon “animal.” So I waited in line for her over an hour to get this mermaid balloon. Andrew got a helicopter.

 

We finally got to see fireworks. Since it was so close to our house, we walked through our backyard and sat in the field next to our house. We figured the kids wouldn’t be as afraid since they were so close to home and they’re older now. Nope. Leah was still terrified, the whole time. She covered her ears and whined for it to be over. Andrew said he was scared at first but quietly watched and took it all in. At one point he said he liked it, but then later he said he didn’t, so we’re not so sure! It was really a pretty decent show for our small town and I’m glad they got the experience!