Because of Zeb's work schedule he was only able to be there on Saturday.  Although it did limit our (or at least my) fun, it didn't stop it!

This little guy ran and played so hard.  Anytime we had singing or a lesson he got real quiet in someones arms.

Mr. Nick, Sara Beth, and a walking stick

Our second family activity was a scavenger hunt!  Needless to say the kids had a blast!

Always looking for a ride!

While the littles were napping, we went horse back riding!

After naps we went and did a suspended swing!  I was so proud of Sara Beth.  She was SOOO nervous!  You can see it in her sweet face.  She has conquered so many fears this summer.  She ended up doing it twice!

Katie

My crew...about 8:30 the third night of staying up late!

run to your local newstand

okay...so i am kidding about running to your local newstand, but if you happen to pass one around town, pick up a copy of parent's and kids.  they interviewed zeb a few months ago.  it was a quick interview, but nonetheless there are a few quotes in there.  oh, and you may just learn something!

Family Camp

This weekend we went to family camp at Lake Forest Ranch.  We did this regularly while I was growing up, but we haven't gone since I was a junior in college.  But I think we did it 12 or 13 straight years.  I had forgotten how much fun it was!  It is so laid back and the kids were just free to go!  Our meals were all cooked for us and our cabin was in a great location.  We had a large cabin with 4 rooms.  It worked out great for my family of 5 because we had a jack and jill bathroom shared with my parents and sara and then another bathroom where we were able to put Sam's pack n play.  

Saturday after breakfast we started with a family devotion.  If we go again, I have a feeling we will be bringing our own.  This was a little (or a lot) much for the kiddos!

Then we had a family activity.  These, of course, are always a little cheesy, but they were lots of fun!  We laughed a lot!

 We had to build a free standing tower of balloons with character qualities of each person written on the balloons. We didn't win--actually we didn't even come close!

After lunch was craft time!

This absolutely melts my heart!  During the singing Sam had just had enough!  There was a great speaker.  His name was Dan Hayden and he is really smart!  He spoke each session no Revelations 2 and I really learned a lot!

The rest of the afternoon was just free time!  While the kids were sleeping, Dad, Sara and I did the zip line!  Oh, my!!!  It was high, hard, and scary!  You can't really appreciate the height, but these are tall pine trees!

The kids all rode horses!

And then played by the lake before dinner!

i'm officially a soccer mom

sara beth has been wanting to play soccer for about a year.  last year she did gymnastics, so we had to wait until this fall.  she has only had the gymboree so far which consisted of 2 shortened games. but, she loved it!  

her fan club--sam, leigh, and kate

it was drizzling so there was grass all over sam.  he couldn't stand it. i looked over several times and saw this view!  what a sweet daddy to clean his shoes over and over!

her team

in action

she is supposed to have a game tomorrow, but because of the weather i bet we don't!

She has an account now!

About six weeks ago we took SB to the bank to open a savings account. You can see the pride in her face!  Now, about once a month we take her to the bank to put her savings in there.  Since she only puts a quarter in a week, it will take a while, but one day maybe she can use it to put a down payment on a house!

We debated for months and months about allowances and ended up just wasting a lot of time!  We finally just decided on a very simple system that we can actually follow through on!  She and Leigh get $2 a week in quarters.  One quarter they put in the offering plate at church, one in the bank, and six they put in the spending jar.  They have each picked out an item they are saving for.  Also, they have done some work for each grandparent that has helped them earn a few more dollars.  I can't wait for them to go and buy their toys.

(We took all their money that they had and divided it into thirds.  One third went into savings and the rest into spending.  You have to have $25 to open an account.  I think Leigh has about 8 more dollars to open a bank account.)

Hattiesburg

My friend from college, Emily, invited Rebecca and me to Hattiesburg about a month ago.  Well, actually...that may not be true, we might have invited ourselves!  Either way, we went, had a blast, tore up their brand new house, and came home very tired! But, we made some fun memories while we were there!

I hope they were having more fun that this picture shows! :)

fruit right off the trees