Summerfest

We had a fun, busy weekend. Yesterday morning Paul took Nadia and Ian to Lowe's to build the first of six Avengers projects. They made Iron Man's Avenjet. Ian loved it SO much, he asked if tomorrow we'd be heading back. Normally they only do the kids' workshops once a month, but in the summer they do them every other week. This means Ian only has to wait two weeks until the next one! While they were at Lowe's, Oliver and I were at the mall while Sears was rotating Paul's car's tires. We did some shopping at Claire's and JCP, and then we enjoyed a pretzel at Auntie Anne's. It's no shock that he loved it! It was special to have that one-on-one time with Oliver. Then we spent a few hours at home during which time the kids played outside some, and I mowed the lawn. Then a little before 4:00 we headed into town (5 minutes away) for the annual Fireman's parade. Oliver absolutely loved seeing all the fire engines (about 20 of them plus several ambulances). He waved his little hand ever so vigorously as each one passed. Nadia and Ian were somewhat interested in the parade which also included two bands, tractors, cars, etc., but for them the main highlight of the parade was the candy being thrown in their direction. After dinner at home, we went back into town to walk around the carnival a little bit. It had been going on since Monday. We used to take the kids every year, but we hadn't the last couple of years in part because there are MANY more rides at Knoebels and they are also cheaper to ride than at the carnival, but we did want to support our local fire company so we let the kids each play one game. Oliver picked the "pick a rubber duck" game, and the other two chose to throw darts at balloons. They didn't pop any balloons, but all children under the age of 9 who played the game were guaranteed a prize. At least now they know what a carnival looks like.

After church this morning, we drove to a state park for their Summerfest activities (maybe they should have called it Flag Day as technically it's not summer until next Sunday). The kids hammered nails and made a bluebird bird house that we brought home, and they each made two other crafts. Nadia walked away with a falcon decoy that was on sale for $10 because the man who made them just gave her one. The kids also had their very first experience in a kayak, and then we watched a 45 minute presentation about birds of prey (demonstrations by owls, hawks, and falcons). After cleaning up from the sand, we fed the kids a very quick dinner and dropped all three of them off at VBS. It is Nadia's 5th year of being in VBS, Ian's 3rd year, and Oliver's very first time. It's supposed to be for ages 3 and up, but since he will be turning 3 in less than 2 months, they let him join a preschool class. He loved it! In the past whenever any of our kids were in VBS, we still had one child at home with us. This was the first night of VBS that translated into Paul and I being home alone for 2 hours. We rather liked it! I will have choir rehearsal during VBS on Wednesday night, and Paul will be taking Nadia to Spanish tomorrow night, but we'll have the time to ourselves on Tuesday and Thursday nights. We're planning to go out to dinner on Tuesday night without having to pay a babysitter. What a novel concept! My baby is growing up. We are having the kids do three weeks of VBS. Usually this church and the one where they'll go the third week use the same curriculum, but they're not using the same one this year so the three weeks will each be very different. This week's is about Christmas. It felt strange to hear them singing Christmas carols in June. Nadia was disappointed that she'll only be going to two nights of this VBS, but she will be able to do more nights the other two weeks.