Another wonderful week....

The children and I started an online Vacation Bible School program through Holy Heroes called "Summer Faith Adventure."  Each day, there were videos, crafts, snacks and games that revolved around the teaching for the day.  We learned so much!  We learned about King David and the parallels between that shepherd and our Good Shepherd.  We learned about the wisdom of his son Solomon.  In the pictures below, are cookies we baked shaped like crowns and keys.  (crowns for the early king David and for the Heavenly King, Jesus.  Keys to represent the keys David gave to his master of the palace on earth and the keys to the Heavenly Kingdom given to Peter).  Another day, we made stained glass windows as crafts and as snacks, learning that that is how many learned important stories of the Bible if they could not read or afford one.

The kiddos also enjoyed swimming in their grandparents' pool.  Amazing how kids can just jump right into freezing water!  The hose wasn't even out yet and they were on their way in.  :-)  Just the thought of it would put my husband and I into coronary arrest, but I guess, that in our younger years, extremes in temperatures of all kinds were not so bothersome, either.  :-)  They had an awesome time, as you can see.

The first fruits of our little garden were also harvested this past week.  We enjoyed the cucumbers and tomatoes immensely and are looking forward to the peppers and eggplant, as well.

My husband and I took the children on a weekend excursion to Hershey.  He only has off on a Friday and Saturday once every two months.  When that coincides with his military duty, it could be as long as four months.  So, since the rain last week stopped our visit into Hersheypark, we promised the kids that we would try again on dad's days off.  What fun we had!

We went to an Adventure sports facility for batting cages and miniature golf.  We drove into Lancaster for an all you can eat smorgasbord and ended that night with a swim in the hotel pool.

The next morning, we headed to Hersheypark and went right into the waterpark where we literally spent most of the day.  The kids laughed that the giant "beach and wave pool" was so much better than the ocean since there were no jelly fish and mom didn't have to say "don't go out too far."  :-)  It was awesome jumping the waves with them over and over again.  And to see the boys taking turns lifting their sister over the waves was awesome.  There were lots of other water rides, too, that kept us plenty occupied (and soaked) for the day.

We shut down the park (along with everyone else trying to squeeze every last minute out of their admissions fees!) at 11pm, having gone on lots more rides and just having fun together.  We didn't want to come home!  :-)  And, yes, we indulged in chocolate and enjoyed every bite.

On Monday, we continued our Summer Faith Adventure with the kids making their own prayer books.  I really was impressed with how seriously they took the project and how they chose each picture so carefully.  I printed what they chose on photo paper, so they came out quite nicely.

Monday night we were treated to a "show" by our youngest two.  They reenacted "Jungle Book" complete with each of the characters.  It was very authentic and very sweet.  Each of us was given a personalized ticket and had a seat waiting with our names on it.  They did a great job.  Our 9 year old kept asking me to take pictures and to make sure that they were "put on the blog."  :-)  So, here they are:

And to put the icing on the cake of our great week, our tadpoles and caterpillars arrived.  Time to see and learn about the miracle of life and development first hand.  We will definitely post updates on these new arrivals!

Another week gone by.  They seem to do that faster and faster, don't they?  But, I do realize how richly blessed I am to have made even more wonderful memories with my family, whom I adore.