That's a Wrap on Summer

I started on this post a while back and while I updated the look of the blog and finally updated the family/kids' pictures, that is about as far as I got. So, now to go back and finish out the summer. Back towards the end of July is where I need to start. We had our new K-Life directors over for dinner and they seem like such a great couple. Megan is pregnant with their first and due in September, but seems so at ease with all of it. Joel is very organized and motivated to get things going. He set up a few work days around the house and I joke that he was "speaking my language". He had little groupings around the house with a sheet that explained what job needed to be done and it was laying on most of the tools that were needed for that job. He also had a whiteboard with all the jobs on it so anyone who came over would know what needed to be done. Our whole family went for one evening and Ellie and I helped pull weeds all around the house, Jackson helped move furniture, Andrew helped paint and the younger boys ran around and helped out here and there. Lincoln actually had a soccer practice and walked over to the house after that. Then I just went to the next one and did some painting in the bathroom. The house looks so great though and I'm excited for what this year will bring.

Jackson had football camp that week of July, so that kept him pretty busy. That Thursday was Lincoln's birthday and he had to go to Quincy for that part of camp, so he missed out on the party. Lincoln got to celebrate twice on his birthday. He didn't have a certain theme he wanted for his party so we just did a Lincoln theme and and I did cut outs of his face and added those to some decorations I already had. He had a party in the morning for his friends at my parents' pool. I didn't plan any games and just let them play in the pool. We also had his friends bring school supplies to donate to Ray Miller instead of gifts. It all worked out pretty well. Then we had his family party that evening. It was probably one of the smallest family parties we have ever had with Jackson being gone and only Mary coming from Andrew's family. Lincoln didn't seemed too upset though and enjoyed his pretty simple presents. He is a pretty easy-going kid.

The week of his birthday, we spent a lot of time getting ready for kamp. With all five going this year, it took some preparation. Ellie did want to do most of her own packing though, so that helped. I purchased a fabric stamp with our last name on it this year and it made labeling everything so much easier. After getting all the trunks and bags packed up, then it was time to figure out how to get it all in the car. We ended up putting three trunks and the bags in the back and then wrapped up two of the trunks in trash bags and used ratchet straps to attach them to the hitch haul. It worked pretty well. The twins were pretty nervous about going, but we talked a lot in the week leading up to it about all the fun stuff they would get to do. They even did some training for the Polar Bear Plunge challenge and got in the bath tub with cold water and ice cubes.

We left Saturday morning to head down to Branson and stopped in Springfield to eat. We got to K-7 around 1:20 and were happy to see we weren't the first ones there. As we were waiting to get in, we got to see Kevin Harrison as he was getting ready for new kampers at K-West. It was good seeing him. Andy, Autumn and family showed up a little while after we did and Ellie was excited to see Briley there and find out they were in the same "teepee" (the girls actually have cabins now and the boys had one last year in the teepees). The counselors ran down to get the kampers, Jackson was the first one announced, followed a little while later by the girls (they were doing lice checks on all of them, so they had to take their hair down). We met their counselors (Jackson had one of his counselors from last year and was happy about that) and then were off for K-Kountry.

The twins were getting pretty nervous, but Lincoln would try to reassure them a little. Lincoln, Miles, Bennett and Baylor were all announced together and then we eventually met up with the Sedlaks. We got everyone settled in and the twins seemed really good at that point, talking and having fun. It was sad to leave them all there, but many prayers went up for an all-around great week at kamp.

After we all said our goodbyes, the parents met up at Black Oak Grill for an early dinner before all heading home. Then Andrew and I started our week with no kids. Amanda and her kids were in town, so I did spend some time at my parents. And then I got serious about cleaning out our storage area. It took a few days, but I collected several trash bags each of trash and donations along with vacuuming everything and it looked so much better. Andrew and I also started watching The Man in the High Castle. We haven't watched any sort of series like that and spent several evenings doing that (we liked it, but agreed it was a time-sucker). We also went over to the Truman track on evening and did a workout and totally eliminated any benefit of that workout by going out to Pear Tree on Thursday night. Then we headed out Friday morning to go pick everyone up. It actually went by pretty quickly. We got very short letters from Ellie and Lincoln. Bennett sent a postcard, but it arrived after we got home. And I searched the photos posted everyday for pictures of the kids...smiling when I spotted them and getting concerned when I didn't.

We picked up Jackson and Ellie first and it was great to see them both. Ellie really liked it, but seemed a bit hesitant. We found out it was her frustration with the new element of girls flirting with the boys. But other than that, she had a great time.  Jackson had a great week. He was actually a little hesitant about going this year, but then admitted that he was glad he went. He had a great group of guys in his teepee and really enjoyed his counselors. He even talked about going to K2 next year. He got the 110% Excellent Attitude/Leader award for his cabin and his 7 year kamper ring. Ellie got the Servant/Leadership award for her cabin and her 6 year backpack.

Then we rushed out of there to make sure we made it to K-Kountry when their gates opened. We got there in pretty good time and it was sprinkling a little bit. It was so great to get hugs from the boys. You could tell the twins had a lot of fun, but really missed us. Their counselors were great. Lincoln was Lincoln-happy to see us, but very comfortable in the kamp environment.  We somewhat ate dinner with the Sedlaks and Earlys in the sprinkles and the twins probably ate at least 4 ice cream sandwiches each. Then it was time for barn awards. Lincoln got the I'm Third award for his barn, Miles got the Heart Award and Bennett got the Pacesetter/Spark Award. Then we were off to the all-kamp awards. They had to cut them short as a storm was moving in, so they just quickly gave out the awards and didn't do all the extra stuff. Miles got the Spike Award, Bennett got the Unsung Hero Award and Lincoln actually ended up getting runner up in his division for the I'm Third award.

By the time we finished up and got back to the car, we were all pretty wet and just ready to get to the hotel. We were hungry though and ended up ordering room service :-). The next morning, we walked to one of the little breakfast restaurants in downtown Branson before heading to Cassville for the Farwell Family Reunion. When we finally made it home, it was time to tackle all of the unpacking and laundry...lots and lots of laundry. But by the end of the weekend, we had all the laundry put away, trunks repacked with clean items and packed away for next year.

The last week before school started was dead week, so although Jackson had some workouts lead by the seniors, it was nice to have some downtime before the craziness of school and the fall schedule started. Summer went by so quickly. The kids got hammocks at kamp when we signed up for next year and they found a way to put them all on the ninja course.

Speaking of the backyard, we ended up getting the nod from our neighbor that we could clear out the big weed patch in the back of their yard. Steve Embree and his crew got it all cleaned out and it is so much better. Now Andrew is making plans to bring in some dirt and seed it. Right now we are just happy we aren't losing anymore balls in it.

We managed for the kids to have friends over to swim a couple times, but not as much as they wanted. We took a quick trip up to Pella one day and went to their pool with the Taylors. The kids had a lot of fun on the slides, lazy river and diving board. Jackson spent most of his time on the diving board trying all sorts of flips and dives.

Andrew taught Jackson and Lincoln how to drive the tractor. Jackson has been stacking hay for Andrew and earning some money for his vehicle along with mowing Robin's yard.

The last weekend before school, most of my family was back in town. Everyone but Amanda and family came back and we celebrated Sully's 1st birthday and Finley's 6th birthday. But first, some of the guys participated in a corn hole tournament at the car dealership. Whichever team won could chose a charity to have $5000 donated to, so we were trying to win for K-Life. K-Life have 5 teams, but none of them made it to the finals and the winning charity was something to do with animals. I appreciated them all trying though. And before the tournament, some of us went for a bike ride. Andy and Brad brought their bikes with them, so Andrew and I joined them for a ride Saturday morning. Then Andrew, Andy, Zane and Brad went Sunday morning. I didn't join them because Miles had a fever.