Summer time

Joel has had a busy summer of basketball and tennis three to five days a week. I dropped him off in the morning for tennis, and he'd bring both his tennis bag and basketball bag and go straight from the tennis courts to the gym for basketball. 

He's had several scrimmages for basketball and a couple tennis matches. I dragged Grant along with me for a couple tennis matches. He brought a book and got to meet Gracie, the Alcorn's new puppy at one of the  matches. Joel has really been enjoying tennis. It's great to see him excited and happy, getting to play the sports he loves. 

A few other random photos show how we're spending our summer days here--hammock time, garage shelves (several hours of hard work by Greg), picking blueberries, reading, and doing a whole lot of not much. It's been nice this last week to have some down time after a fairly full summer for the kids. 

Grant TCBC

 Grant was thrilled to be going to camp overnight for the first time ever. Last year he went to day camp (because of COVID restrictions) and couldn't wait to go for a week. He had a blast. He had two friends who went with him--Ethan and Bennet--and they all had a great time. 

On the drive home, Grant had us cracking up at his story of somehow not passing the swim test. He got a yellow bracelet, not green, and wasn't allowed to go in the deep end without a life jacket. At least it wasn't the red bracelet. Our water-polo-loving, fish-in-the-water kid, who has been diving since he was four years old, had to stay in the shallow end. Poor guy! He had a great week, in spite of the yellow bracelet of shame. 

I put the hat in his care package along with candy and a few other little things. It was a hit! We saw photos of him wearing it all week. :-)

College Visits

Kari and Kylee were looking forward to going to Summit in South Carolina at Anderson University this summer where they'd attend lectures on apologetics and current issues facing young believers. It was going to be a mini college experience--be away from home for 2 weeks with other students their age, doing fun activities in between classes, experience living on a college campus. They were all packed and ready. Kari had her suitcase packed at exactly 50 lbs, and we were going to be heading to the airport in a few hours when we got the email telling us it was cancelled. Multiple staff members had tested positive for Covid, and they were unable to safely run the conference. It was a huge shock and disappointment! We were still reeling from the shock of it a couple days later. We tried to reschedule, but other family plans made it impossible. Kari decided she didn't want to go alone (Kylee couldn't go for the later session), and we didn't blame her for making that decision. It was just such a bummer! 

It did jumpstart our college search, though. The girls had some extra time since their plans had been cancelled, so we booked them a couple college visits nearby. It all worked out very nicely, and we ended up visiting and touring both George Fox and Corban University in the same day. It was a long day, but it was good to start this process. Over lunch we even planned two more visits down in California! 

The girls had been out on a boat tubing the day before with the "dream team" NOE students (one positive of Summit being canceled--got to spend more time with their new friends), and they had gotten fried! Kari was SO very sunburned! The backs of her legs were the worst. The sunburns were an added challenge that day we tours the schools. Both girls had good attitudes, but they were kind of miserable. :) 

It was fun to see the campuses, though. It had been over 20 years since I'd been on campus at GFU. A lot had changed since I'd been there last! The campus was beautiful with new dorms, classrooms, a new dining hall, and a new student athletic center. 

I'd never been to Corban before. I didn't realize it's built on a hill. Our legs were feeling it after going up and down the hill and stairs everywhere on the tour! Kari liked the GFU campus better but liked the community feel of Corban and that they have all students and staff sign a statement of faith. It was a good first experience, meeting with admission counselors and seeing what college campuses are like. We'll see what she thinks of the California schools in a few weeks!

Aubrey TCBC

Aubrey came home from Trout Creek Bible Camp and said it was “the best week yet!” We are so happy she was able to go this year after last year getting Covid-cancelled. It was a different drop-off/pick-up this year, as they switched to a drive-through strategy, but we got her there and back just fine. Happy to have her home again. It's better when they're all home where they belong. :)

Hair cut

12 inches off and donated to Children with Hair Loss! Aubrey decided she was done dealing with all that hair in the heat of summer. She is so happy with her shorter, lighter 'do. 

4th of July

 A firworks/burn ban (concern about wildfires due to extreme dry conditions) threatened to ruin our 4th of July fun. It did keep us from doing fireworks, but it didn't stop us from eating good food and having a good time with friends and family. The Wilsons hosted their party, and instead of fireworks, they did outside games and slingshot water balloons and water "bombs." The kids had a blast launching and trying to catch the sponge balls. It turned into target practice eventually. :)