Party of Five: June 2014

Wednesday, June 25, 2014

Monday, June 23, 2014

Jaelyn has been super excited to go to horse camp - and the day finally arrived! Every day this week Jaelyn gets to learn everything about horses - from all the different brushes they use to groom them to the ins and outs of saddles and riding skills. She even gets to do some arts/crafts withe a horse theme. Nothing can get better than that! It's pretty cool to see the empowerment/confidence that comes from riding too!

On her pony, Gypsy!

Going out for a trail walk

Brooke hammin' it up for the camera - Peek - a- boo! :)

Sunday, June 22, 2014

Cousin Time!

Emily, Alexis, Jake, Jaelyn, Ben, Elisabeth & Brooke. The kids are ready for their first swim in Uncle Tom & Aunt Sarah's pool!!

Brooke is a fish. NO FEAR of the water. She loves to "jump" off the side of the pool or off the diving board. She's all smiles and giggles kicking and splashing away! I was going to hold off on swimming lessons until next summer...but she's ready to go! :)

Saturday, June 21, 2014

fun with daddy

Ben picked up an Easton bat at the rummage sale & they are already putting it to use!

sisters cheering him on....

Wednesday, June 18, 2014

Sisters!

Nothing can be sweeter!

Precious!

Last day of 1st grade!!

How can this be? She is onto 2nd grade! We are very excited to be in Ms. Shaw's classroom next year!

With it being the last day of school Jaelyn rode her bike to school with Emmie & Eli (both Explorer kids). Super fun! :)

Sunday, June 15, 2014

FUN with FRIENDS

Kora, Emily, Jaelyn - super sweet & adorable friends!

Getting a chance to be goofy together

Fun timed with fun friends at GEMS camp!!

It was Graduation Sunday at church today - a time where we celebrate the milestones of all of our graduates. Jaelyn graduated out of Children's worship and into "Big Church"...meaning she gets to stay with us for the whole service! She was pumped about being able to sit next to us....as well as get her own Adventure Bible.

These are all the first graders together! What a fun group of kids - praying for lasting friendships!

Saturday, June 14, 2014

t-ball

Today was Ben's last t-ball game of the season. It was fun to watch them grow/develop over the season...by the end they were making plays and getting 'outs'! Ben even fired a throw from 3rd base all the way to 1st base...right on target!! Nice job, buddy!! :) Next season - must remember to set your bat down rather than throwing it!

Nothing like getting encouragement/advice from daddy!

The funny thing? Ben was adamant about wearing his shin guards! I guess it's good to be protected!!

After the game, the team party was at a local family fun center. What a cool experience!! What the players grandpa owns the place...so everybody have VIP bracelets to do any ride they wanted & eat as much pizza as they could!! What fun!!

Pretty excited that he could drive it by himself

Jaelyn with Dana

Ben with Coach Cori

Friday, June 13, 2014

Schools out for Benjamin!

Today was Ben's last day of preschool - - he's ready for summer break! He had two wonderful teachers this year: Mrs. Wilt & Mrs. Pitts. They truly LOVE teaching these rambunctious little kids and loved Ben so much! Good thing Ben's going to be in Mrs. Heimbigner's 4 day class in September so that it really wasn't a goodbye - - but rather see ya in September!

Mrs. Wilt & Mrs. Pitts

Ben's buddies at school: Tyler, Luke, & Chase

And one more....he just looks all grown up to me! I can't believe he'll be turning 5 in a couple weeks!

Tuesday, June 10, 2014

Explorer Family Camp

Family Camp 2014: Mt. Olympus

What a cool experience - Jaelyn's whole school AND families all met up at Warm Beach for 30+ hours of fun! The kids got to miss Monday & Tuesday of "in class" learning, however, there was lots of learning going on at family camp! The theme this year was Ancient Greece and the Interactive History Company put on 3 different electives that the kids rotated through on Monday. Add in the pool time, a scavenger hunt (aka "Challenge of the gods"), cabin time, lots of eating time ('cause isn't that what you do at camp?!), Mosaic art, & making catapults...it was a busy couple of days. You know it's been a good time when all 3 kids are fast asleep before you can even get on the freeway! :)

Jaelyn's cabin mates: Aria, Jaelyn & Arina

Everybody made togas w/ braided belts...plus each cabin put their own personal touches on the standards that they took from one activity to another.

Jaelyn waiting for her teachers to notice that their table was ready to be dismissed from dinner. In order to be dismissed the rule was that they had to sing a silly verse to a song they had learned at school. All 3 teachers went around to the tables...with Mr. Leviten playing the guitar.

Pool time!! The water was a perfect temperature...thumbs up from Jaelyn & Nilla.

Brooke is a fish ~ she LOVES the water! She swam the entire time they could be in the pool! It was a no nap kinda afternoon! She went strong all through the day and crashed after the campfire was done at 9:30pm!

The kids getting ready for the Olympic games.

....complete with chariot races (pulling the dads on the tarp)

Even Brooke got in on the action with her toga!

The campfire was a hoot. Lots of silly songs the kids have learned over the year. And a Q&A session with the Oracle (the 3 crazy teachers). Lots of belly laughs during the Q&A!!

Beautiful sunset over the Puget Sound :)

Sunday, June 8, 2014

GEMS camp

What a fun weekend Jaelyn & I got to share together! It was high energy, filled with lots and lots of giggles, great speakers, fun singing, new friendships, and not a whole lot of sleep - - but that's what camp is all about, right? The theme for the weekend was:

Walk in the Light

Run with Endurance

Wait on the Lord