June kicked off with one of my favorite ways to start summer - strawberry picking!!
These kids picked a LOT of strawberries!
Ryan joined a group of guys from our church to do a Tough Mudder race - this is a shot of him weaving his way through wires that were charged with tiny bolts of electricity to zap you! Yikes!
This is our second concert date with the Carpenters, who are always up for a late night adventure where we all pretend we are younger than we are - ha! This night was a live performance by the Local Natives
Rooke and some neighbor friends battling it out with the Beyblades
June included a visit from Grammy Deb! It's more and more challenging to find "new" things to experience with Deborah because she is so well versed with the DC area, but our trip to Fort McHenry was a first for her. We found a lovely picnic spot, and enjoyed touring the old fort.
Ryan and I snuck away for a night, staying in Leesburg, Virginia. We spent the morning hiking, and then slowly making our way home via back roads and quaint towns.
A "first" for us was visiting Ford's Theater, which was especially meaningful since we recently went to Gettysburg and studied American history (post 1812) this year in school. Here the kids are standing on the steps where Lincoln walked.
Heading up to the balcony for a talk by one of the park rangers . . .
The tower is made up of books written about Lincoln!
Sunday dinner!
After dropping Deborah off at the airport, the kids and I played at Gravelly Point park
I got to take care of our friends' baby for a few hours and soaked up this little piece of heaven . . .
Enjoying our front porch on a relatively cool summer afternoon
We tried out a new Uyghur restaurant and, while waiting for our food, had fun testing the kids' quick reactions to different expressions . . .
confused:
surprised:
someone passed gas!:
your grandparents just walked in the door:
Then Ryan and I took a turn, and I don't remember what face we were supposed to make, but I'm pretty sure we were not as good at the game as the kids - ha!
Starting off Father's Day with some morning porch reading
Happy Father's Day to Ryan! These kids have it GOOD!! Ryan is a wonderful dad, faithfully leading our family with prayer, love, wisdom, and fun.
Gifts and halloumi cheese lunch
Our traditional Father's Day book this year was a sequel to a book we gave him a couple years ago. The kids and I laughed out loud when we read it the first time . . .
. . . and Ryan thought it was funny, too! =)
The kids helped me serve lunch to the teachers at the school where our church meets on Sunday mornings. It was a fun thing to do with them!
Our church hosted four nights of Vacation Bible School! We unexpectedly had to make some changes to meet at the Town Park (instead of in the school gym where we meet on Sunday mornings), and the forecast for all four nights was rain, BUT . . . God's plans are better than our plans. It ended up being BETTER that we were outside with a growing number of kids each consecutive night. AND, it only rained some on nights two and three, meaning we had clear skies for the first introduction night and the last family BBQ night. What a joy to serve the community with my family, and with our church family!
Ryan and our pastor, John, were the fearless crew leaders each night for the oldest group of kids
I got to lead music and totally lost my voice by the end of the week from doing all kinds of silly chants!
Bridgette (and her siblings) were happy with the prize for memorizing the theme verses:
Romans 8:35,37-39
Who shall separate from the love of Christ? Shall trouble, or hardship, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or strife? No, in all these things, we are more than conquerers through Him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor future, nor any other power, nor height nor depth, nor anything in creation will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Part of the clean-up crew
Blueberry popsicles in the works
Saturday morning breakfasts are our favorite, especially when Grammy Deb treats us to croissants from the Farmer's Market!
A spontaneous lemonade stand in front of our house
Just in case you were wondering . . . Pink Bunny is alive and well =)
