The first week of no school!!!

We just finished our first week of no school, and it was great. We kept really busy thanks to Vacation Bible School. Daddy was gone all week, so mommy had some friends over a couple times. This is a huge post-I debated doing a couple little ones, but I could never find time to finish, so today I finally got all the pictures on. I still have to figure out how to make the resolution smaller on my camera so I can download faster. So, just skim if you don't want to read-the post is mostly for me when I do my blog book:) Oh, it is also backwards, but I started on Tuesday putting the pics on, and you all know how blogger is....you get to work backwards!!

Friday
Yeah!! Daddy came home today. After I left the kids for their last day at Bible school, I went straight to the airport to pick Darin up from his trip. He had a good time but apparently Nebraska was very hot...in the upper 90's every day, so he was happy to be home. He picked up a movie for us to watch-you can get a movie at Red Box and return it to any one-we love Red Box. So we decided to just relax until it was time to pick the kids up and watched Confessions of a Shopaholic. It was really cute. Poor Lanny had to fight for our attention, but did manage to keep himself busy:)

The rest of the day was uneventful. We picked the kids up, had a trip to Costco, and a lazy afternoon resting. We went to eat at Silver Diner and then went to the church to watch the kids in their program they worked on at Vacation Bible School. I took some pics, but am too lazy to put them on. Not too exciting anyway-kids singing and waving their arms around:) It is so interesting to have a band set up in the sanctuary-the equivalence to our chapel. It is kind of fun to sing upbeat songs. I asked Darin if we should add that element to our worship service and he said no. Bummer.

Thursday


After VBS today, we spent the day at home. Jill came over with the girls and had lunch with us and watched some of So You Think You Can Dance. Then Lizzie had to go to a dress rehearsal for her dance recital so we got to watch Alaina. My kids are so smitten with her. She was a little overwhelmed with all the attention-they wanted to hold her, play with her, etc. It was so fun to have her-I knew she was really pretty tired, so I took her up and rocked her to sleep. I loved cuddling a baby again. Makes me want to....well....won't go there, but needless to say really love watching her!! The above pic is her in her Ergo carrier on Wednesday at the Nature Center.



Wednesday

Another day of VBS. The kids really, really love it. I decided it would be best to get some errands done with only one child. I took Landon to the library to get the kids all signed up for the summer reading program, then we went to the grocery store. So much easier with one child!!

After VBS, a big group of us got lunch and met at Hidden Pond Nature center. It was really fun to talk to other moms and watch the kids play. It was fun to see the girls together. It is like they just can't get enough of each other. We barely finished school, and when they saw each other on Monday it was like they hadn't seen each other in years.

We ate lunch, played a while on the playground and then went to the nature center. Everyone loved seeing all the animals. Landon was especially excited. Jordan did some coloring and Spencer did a bunch of puzzles. We decided to walk around the pond. It was nice because it wasn't too hot and there was a slight breeze. Jordan had a little friend with her and they were pretending to be fairies, I think, or maybe it was "Barbie Diamond Castle." They were in their own little make believe world. Jordan's pretend name was "Alexa" It was pretty cute.

Jordan and Rhiannon playing in their own little world.

Spencer loved the pond.
So scenic!! I loved taking pictures but need to learn more about light, etc.
what a fun place to play...thank goodness we had no one fall in!!
I love being outside in nature-so peaceful and relaxing.
Landon loved looking in all tanks to see what he could find.
Tuesday

Dropped the kiddies off at Vacation Bible School, then went home and spent over 2 hours getting our front yard done, finally!! I had to redo some mulch in the sidewalk flowerbeds from our torrential downpours washing away the mulch. I got some new flowers for around the tree since I do pansies in the fall and early spring, then impatients in the summer.

I love planting flowers-makes the house so colorful and pretty. I did some of the new things this year, and a couple new ones.

I did these petunias a few years ago, and decided to try them again. The fill in so nicely-once the sun is shining every day!!
Our cute little bridge with some impatients by it.
These are new flowers for me this year. The are called dianthus. I thought they were gonners when they were almost washed away from the rain, but when the sun started shinning, they came back to life!!
This plant is called coleus. I discovered it last year and it is so pretty. The ones we had last year were all red and looked so nice with our green bushes. It will grow really tall and looks great. I was happy Home Depot finally had some because I tried a bunch of times and they were always out.
Monday

We started our week with Vacation Bible School. The children were so excited and Jordan actually got up herself and was ready to go. Spencer didn't really want to stay, so I had to stay a few minutes to help him adjust. Landon made himself at home in Spencer's class and was upset to have to leave. When I picked them up later, they were both really excited and had so much fun. Jordan was in with Lizzie and 2 other girls from her kindergarten class as well as Lucas from her primary class.


While the older 2 were gone, Lanny and I went Home Depot to get some mulch and flowers and then home and cleaned up. It was like a normal morning when Spencer was in preschool. After VBS, we went to a playground and had lunch with Jill, Lizzie and Alaina. We sat by the pond and there was a great breeze. The playground was so fun. We went home and got bathing suits on for a slip and slide party at the Christensen's house.

We all had so much fun at the Christensens. Anytime water and popsicles are involved it is destined to be great fun. The kids all had a blast and got so dirty. Moms sat around and chatted, I had fun taking lots of pictures. It was great. From a mom who has no yard, I think all the moms with big yards should rotate doing this every week this summer:) Thanks Emily for hosting-who's next?


I took soooo many pictures, and can't possible post them all, but here are some of my favorites.

We had popsicles after we played a while. I don't know what was making Spencer laugh here. Such cute boys!!!
Spencer loved climbing a tree.
I just loved this shot of Amelia...she is so photogenic!
Jordan and Emma had a blast running around together. When we left, I told Jordan to tell Sister Christensen thank you, and the first thing out of her mouth was "can you set up a playdate for me and Emma?"
Landon really enjoys his popsicle. He insisted on one of the big ones instead of an otter pop. What's better than a popsicle on a hot day?

Our first week of no school started out with a bang!!!