Birthday Party!!

First Grader!

 She has HELLO KITTY everything...She's ready to GO!!!

 My neighbor sweeties!

 Gettin' the crazies out b4 the bus comes!

Yeah, Jack is still our bus driver!  WOOT WOOT!

Mish Mash Vacation Pictures!

Sorry, I sort of ran out of steam regarding the vacation picture posting. It's a lot of work coming home after vacation...so many little stuffs to do...and big stuffs. SO...here are the rest of the pictures (well, most of them)...
Papa and Loverbrains went fishing...

...and we all went for boat rides.  I stick to the paddle boat personally...rowing is hard work!

We all went to the county fair...which I LOVE!  My city kids don't get to see farm animals much...

....Emma was licked by a Jersey heifer...I think she thought her hair was yummy hay!  Emma shrieked.  It was a surprise!  HAHA!

The little piglets are always a treat!

This goat is super amazing...FOUR horns!

One young girl was trimming her sheep for showing and let us pet her!

A nice young man from Papa and Nana's church was there...and he let us pet a chicken!  They are VERY warm and soft!

The boys enjoyed the tractor pull...of course!

SO, so many gorgeous quilts!  I took a lot more pictures than this...but...I'll spare you!

We swam almost every.single.day...and the water was 89 degrees!  Woot woot!

We walked up the mountain almost every morning...which is my favorite!!

Nana's kindergarten teacher cohort and lifetime friend came over to enjoy my kiddos and do puzzles...per tradition!

Lubby bought a bow and arrow with his birthday money.  It was well worth every dime...Hehehe...He's a pretty good shot!

We even went for a tractor ride...very fun...and bumpy!

It was wonderful...but now we are home...and Emmer is turning 7 and school is starting..today, actually!  I will share pictures soon!!!

Lasting Friendship!

On our third day of vacation we took a lovely scenic trip (ie. many back roads..some of them dirt and straight uphill, phew!) to visit my childhood friend Sarah and her husband Nick.

We have attempted to keep in touch, even amid life's many changes.  In truth, she's a bit younger than me but we were fellow PKs (Pastor's Kids) in the same fellowship most of our lives.  Around college we started writing...and even with the hiccups of marriage and family we've kept at it. 

I've had other friends that I've tried to keep in touch with...and it's hard work.  Our common faith is a great blessing to our friendship...and it was so encouraging to hear what God is doing in their lives as they strive to trust and serve Him more.

The kids found a katydid and played with it all day...we learned it had a broken leg...maybe it was in  pain and couldn't escape...hahaha!

Later, Mr. Nick took Emma on a four-wheeler ride...Caleb wouldn't go but he did sit on it for a minute!

It was a great visit...well worth the extra miles on wacky roads!

ER Excitement!

We decided to end our first full day of vacation with a drive to one of our favorite ice cream places. It's surrounded by gorgeous mountains, has little playhouses for the kids, and the best coffee ice cream I've ever had.

Unfortunately, I made a momentous MomE blunder.  Having been spoiled by our fabulous Ella's Frozen Yogurt that caters to Non-Dairy folks...I asked if the sherbet had dairy or not.  The young teen working the front said that no, it was made with orange juice.  Okay, right there I should have been suspicious cuz orange juice would curdle the cream...but I wasn't.  Even when it came and I saw it was creamy I didn't ask further questions...and watched my little man consume the whole whopping serving.  At first, he ran around with the best of them...until he started vomiting and swelling up.  Even with Benedryl he was covered in a rash from head to toe.  It was horrible!

So, off to the ER we went...you know you are a serious case when the check-in nurse calmly reaches up to hit the call button and they wisk you away while your husband stays to fill out the entrance paperwork.  Lubby was just irritated...and concerned about needles.  After being pumped with steroids he felt much better and wanted to go HOME!  Around midnight, we did!

But, he was up and headed out for our morning walk up the mountain at 7 AM!  I let poor Loverbrains sleep...and trucked along with the Sweet Boobahs.  It was a gorgeous morning...misty!  It made me think..."O LORD, be gracious to us; we long for you. Be our strength every morning, our salvation in time of distress."  Isaiah 33:2

See!  He looks fabulous...and alive!  Phew...thank you, Lord!!  His sister was very doting...she worries about him!  She's one of his best advocates!

We found many Red Efts...or salamanders that morning.  We like to rescue them by pointing them away from the road!

Later, we snapped beans...something that can be enjoyed by children of all ages...hahaha!  They were yummy too!

Big Birthday!

Our first day there we helped celebrate Grandpa's 80th Birthday!  My kids get in on the birthday action...because Lubby has one just before and Emmer-bean just after!  Gotta love summer birthdays!

Home again...

We are slowly un-kinking our bodies after our loooonnnnngggg drive...and I'm downloading pictures and preparing a visual recap of our fun times in Upstate NY.  They think they are experiencing a drought too...but upon returning home to the brown, crunchy lawns of Indy...I say AGAIN...it's lush and beautifully green there to me!

So, to begin my recap...On our way, we stopped a little over half way at one of our favorite rest stops...an overlook of Lake Chautauqua!

It was raining over the lake but not quite where we were...yet!  The Sweet Boobahs enjoyed running about and stretching their legs.  I was enjoying the view...and smell of rain!

My Calubby brought me flowers...

...note the focus...SEE green...and flowers...What are those??

Here's Sweet Loverbrains in one of his new shirts...my favorite.  In case you can't see it...Come to the nerd side.  We have Pi!  Doesn't he look so relaxed...no work...no computer!

I even got in a picture...woot woot...I almost always forget!

The bummer is that this gorgeous view is only available heading East...not West.  I suppose you could figure out how to get on and off and turned around...but not without losing lots of time.  If you're headed East on I-86 it's worth the stop!   The view is gorgeous and the bathrooms are pristine...and the welcome center is beautiful...oooo...and they had pink roses all over the place too!  HAHA!  Little things make me so happy when I'm traveling...and I realize I'm babbling...which probably means that getting up at 2:30 AM is catching up with me.  So....more pictures tomorrow.