Camp Harvest

Our little Katie left for church camp this past Sunday. This is the first time that she has ever been away from us for more than a day or two (and not with any relative). It is hard to see her go, knowing that she will grow up during this week...but her excitement couldn't be contained, which made it a bit easier.

The group of 60+ kids (all 4th & 5th Graders) and 12 adults left on Sunday morning to head to Camp Harvest in Newaygo, MI (6 hours from us). Katie will experience things she has never tried before - rock wall climbing, archery, shooting a gun, riding a zipline, fishing, just to name a few. I can't wait to hear about her experiences...and if you know Katie, you know that we will not lack for details!!

Here are some pictures of Katie with some friends before leaving. The first picture is Katie with her friend from next door - Brandon! What a blessing that they get to experience church camp together!
Hannah & Maddie are in our small group - the three girls have hit it off really well and requested to be together in the same cabin. Praying that all the time together this week will bond their friendship even stronger!
On the bus & ready to go.
Alex, Maddie & Will waiting patiently for the bus to leave.
Waving goodbye to the bus - until next Saturday.
We are praying that God will touch many hearts this week, Katie's included.

A Change in Plans - Springfield, IL

We had already planned to head to Des Moines, IA this past weekend. We were going to play at Adventureland for the day, stay at a hotel with a small waterpark and finish our long weekend with some letterboxing. However, due to Alex's ear surgery (and not being able to get her ear wet), we decided to postpone that trip for another time this summer.

We looked at our summer goals list and Springfield was one of the places we wanted to visit with the kids - both for the history aspect as well as some letterboxing. We decided to head that direction. We left Friday morning, arriving in New Salem late morning. New Salem Pioneer Village is rich with history. It was nicely set up and the kids enjoyed it.

Will - sporting his new coonskin cap! He LOVES this hat!

After a picnic at the village, we headed towards Springfield. First stop was the cemetary to pay our respects to one of America's greatest presidents.

Hard to believe that Will's pouting about something!!

We attempted to find a box in the cemetary, with no luck. Our next stop was the Lincoln Depot to find "My Friends," by Shorty. We were fortunate to get there when we did - 3:50 - as they close at 4! The guide was extremely helpful and interested in letterboxing.
Next stop was Tom Madonia Park to search for "Illinois State Quarter" by TsukiAmes, planted by Mark & Sue Pepe. The kids were blessed by another youngster who shared a loaf of bread with them so they could feed the ducks & geese. Unfortunately, the cicadas were so loud at this park, Becki started to get a migraine! We decided to head to the zoo (just down the road) to find 2 more boxes "Pidgel the Penguin" and "The Other Pole" both by Jaxom & Sharra. Luckily the zoo had just closed and the employees were heading home when we stopped to find the boxes. Next stop, dinner and then the hotel for swimming and bed.
Overnight it rained & stormed - A LOT! We woke up debating which direction to go. Our initial plan was to go to the Lincoln Memorial Garden to find Mark & Sue Pepe's 5 box series on Lincoln. However, we knew that the trail could be messy and the bugs would be bad. We decided to give it a try. It actually ended up being a mulched trail (most of it) and the bugs weren't too bad - minus the cicadas!. Minus a little whining, the kids were good hikers and enjoyed the trails.
Here is Maddie, navigating through a downed tree (not sure if from the previous night's storm or a storm from earlier in the week). We were happy that the bridge didn't seem to suffer any damage.
I glanced at the kids while Matt was stamping in and saw this. I quickly turned on the camera and snapped this without them even noticing!
I think this says it all...she's acting in the picture...but we see this face too often!

Matt went searching for "Abraham Lincoln" by Snakes on a Plane (are you noticing a theme with these letterboxes!!). The kids & I started with him, but we soon hit mud and swarms of mosquitos! We turned around while Matt found the box and logged in.

We ended our time in Springfield finding the box, "Playin' Hooky with PeeWee", by KC. Definitely a place we will have to go to next time we go to Springfield!

Heading north, we decided to make a side trip to the Bloomington/Normal area to find a few more boxes.

We hoped to find a few boxes in Funk's Grove, on the way to Bloomington/Normal. We stopped at a nice rest stop and found two boxes: "Jubilee or Bust" by Trailrider and "I Can't Believe You Planted That" letterbox by Light Travelers. We also stopped at the old church & cemetary in Funk's Grove...hoping to find Fungus Woman's "Dixie Truckers Home"...with no luck. We did get to visit this peaceful setting for a chapel. It is aptly called "Chapel of the Templed Trees".
We stopped in Bloomington at White Oak Park to find "Hearts at Home" by Light Travelers. Another great experience for our family! It was a beautiful evening and there was a nice breeze off the lake. The horses came running to us as soon as they saw us. This entertained the kids while Matt stamped in. We spotted this little road side park and decided to let the kids stretch their legs for a bit...there was also a nice Rt 66 exhibit beside this park, so Matt & I enjoyed that as well. Unfortunately, the kids got a **bit** dirty from the tractor tires...we were happy to find that the local gas station had a hose & water spicket!
The end of our trip...a movie, jammies & ice cream!

Ear Surgery

Our family has been plagued with ear issues. Becki had ear infections (just short of tubes) as a child...Katie has had 3 sets of tubes, Alex 2. We thought Will might be the next one for tubes, but it seems he has outgrown the infections, praise God!

Alex had her last set of tubes almost 3 years ago. The tubes have since come out, but one of the eardrums didn't heal up/close once the tube was gone. The doctor has been watching it for the better part of 2 years and hasn't seen any change. After much discussion and prayer, we decided to go ahead with the surgery to repair her eardrum. We pray that over the summer, her ear finishes the healing process and she can start swimming and bathing without the ear plugs!

Here is Alex the day after her surgery. The doctor bandaged it up pretty good!

Summer Fun

The kids have been out of school for a few weeks now and it seems we are in the midst of summer activites!

We will be attending 4 different Vacation Bible School sessions this summer - our church, my parent's church, our Awana church & preschool church. We are excited about seeing friends that we haven't seen for a while! Becki is excited about the morning break to herself...or the evening date night with Matt!

Katie leaves for her first ever camp next Sunday. It will be hard to see her leave for a full week, but we know that she will have a blast and *may* not even miss home!

Matt & I put together this "kid wash" last week. It was a fun idea from Family Fun Magazine. The kids have had fun playing in it, unfortunately, it has turned cold! Too cold for the hose water! Hopefully in another week, the weather will be more cooperative for the outside water fun!

One of our summer goals is to have the twins riding their two wheelers without training wheels. Right now, Will shows no interest in riding the two wheeler (why do that when you have a super cool big wheel!) Maddie is VERY close to riding all on her own! Becki worked with her a bit last weekend and she was getting pretty good at it. We now need to head to a bigger parking lot so she has some room to improve!