Kayaking craziness

With all of our weekend events behind us, we decided to hit the road for some state park adventures on Memorial Day. We heard Goodale had an awesome 3 mile kayaking trail and anything with water is a hit during this heat wave. A brilliant idea hit me one day....we could fit the girls small kayaks in the car with us if I put the kids sitting front/back instead of side by side. We don't have a top rack yet so this was a perfect solution! 

After hunting down the park ranger, Patrick and I rented a canoe and got all the instructions. The details included avoiding alligators that swim in a circle because they are nesting mamas and will be very aggressive. Hmmm... Let's just say that didn't sit well with the girls, but we mustered up some courage and set out on our adventure. 

The trail is on a lake with a cypress grove. So we weaved in and out of a beautiful forest (while keeping our eyes out). The trail was well marked fortunately. Anna did a great job navigating and I was so impressed with Paige who had to problem solve a couple of times when she ran into some thickets. Both girls handled the course smoothly. Patrick and I also did really well in the canoe even with the tight turns. 

A rousing game of "Going On a Picnic" got us back to shore. In the end, the girls were proud of themselves and what they had accomplished. We never saw any gators, but we did see a turtle and several dragon flies caught some rides along the way. We're intentional about building up muscles like bravery and perseverance with activities that will push their limits a bit. This was a good one and we all left as happy kayakers. 

There's a dragonfly on my finger!

Signing the studs

We had an awesome worship experience on Sunday morning. Over the last several weeks we've watched as our church building has slowly started coming together and taking. It's been fun worshiping at our Pavilion and seeing the progress each week. Well, this Sunday we got to actually go inside! The builders gave us permission to hold our service in the building which has a roof and is all framed out. I was so proud of Anna and Paige who helped put out the folding chairs the night before, AFTER all of the Parish Games stuff. What troopers!

It was a short service, but so fun to imagine and think about us being in this space hopefully before the end of the year. Despite the heat, we sang, prayed and learned along with our brothers and sisters in Christ in a building I know one day will be used in amazing ways for God's Kingdom. I continue to bring back focus for myself, that the building is simply a tool we will use to discover, live and share the transforming love of Jesus Christ.

After the service, I took pictures of our congregation signing the studs with prayers and scripture. We had thought of several verses beforehand, but the girls were on a roll and continued to look up scripture to add.

Towards the end, I spotted them buddied up with their friends writing verses together. These sweet kiddos have grown up in this church, spurred one another on in their faith and made lovely memories with each other. It's crazy to think they were just babies being toted along to planning meetings or being passed off during lunch gatherings or crawling around on the floors of our first church locations. I pray one day they will have children who know each other and know the Lord.

Parish Games

On Saturday afternoon, we held the 2nd annual Parish Games for our church. Patrick and I are in charge of putting this event together, but we sure couldn't have done it without the help of our kiddos and friends. I was really proud of the girls and how hard they worked to help us pull everything together without a single complaint. I should also mention we are in the middle of a heat wave with temps feeling well over 100 degrees!

First up we had several fun yard games and competitions including classics like a sack race and water balloon toss. The water games were a big hit especially since we were all feeling the heat.

Then we had grilled hot dogs with toppings, followed by a move night that ended up at our house instead of outside because we were all done with the heat. It was a fun time had by all!

Splash Day

It's Maycember around here! All the things are happening. You know? The celebrations and gifts and functions and...so many fun things and so little time!

On Friday the girls started school with their weekly Dance Party Friday. It was only on the way to school we realized this was Anna's last DPF. Sniff! When Paige joined her a couple of years ago, they held sibling dance-offs. It was sweet to see them cut a rug together there for the last time.

Meanwhile, I was gearing up for Splash Day, the annual wet event at their school. I was co-leading with a friend so it was a busy day. We got all the pre-set up stuff ready within two hours so that gave me enough time to get home and get some other things done before heading back. It was a well-oiled machine and I think everybody had a good time. I ran around getting pictures of all the kids.

My homeroom mom partners in crime

Anna being wrangled by her teacher into the fire truck splash.

Anna and Reese

Let's just say after 5 hours in the sun and heat I was zapped. I texted Patrick on the way home and said, pick us up some Chick-fil-A...you'll find me passed out on the couch!