Luke's swimming lessons!

This was Luke's first year to take swimming lessons. He did great and even swam by himself some! We loved his teacher Ms. Christy.

Luke's class.

Luke swimming with Ms. Christy.

Swimming through the rings!

Weekend at Pickwick!

We spent a great weekend at Pickwick! We were there with Michael's brothers Paul and Mark and their families. The boys really loved seeing their cousins and being on the water. Andrew had his first boat ride.

All aboard!!

This was my first year to be co-VBS director at my church. Our theme was Lifeway's Boomerang Express. It was a lot of hard work, but I had a great time organizing and decorating! The boys really loved the train decorations.

Andrew riding the train!

Luke on board the Boomerang Express!

Ice Cream Day!

We made ice cream at Parents Day Out today. The kids all loved being able to make their own ice cream. They especially loved putting on the toppings and eating it!

Here's the recipe we used for making ice cream in a bag, it was taken from the website www.kaboose.com

What you'll need:

• 1 tablespoon sugar
• 1/2 cup milk or half & half
• 1/4 teaspoon vanilla
• 6 tablespoons rock salt
• 1 pint-size plastic food storage bag (e.g., Ziploc)
• 1 gallon-size plastic food storage bag
• Ice cubes

How to make it:

1. Fill the large bag half full of ice, and add the rock salt. Seal the bag.
2. Put milk, vanilla, and sugar into the small bag, and seal it.
3. Place the small bag inside the large one, and seal it again carefully.
4. Shake until the mixture is ice cream, which takes about 5 minutes.
5. Wipe off the top of the small bag, then open it carefully. Enjoy!

Tips:

A 1/2 cup milk will make about 1 scoop of ice cream, so double the recipe if you want more. But don't increase the proportions more that that -- a large amount might be too big for kids to pick-up because the ice itself is heavy.

Luke and his class making ice cream

Luke eating his ice cream!

Andrew and his class eating their ice cream!

Aunt Fran & Uncle Roy

Luke & Andrew love their Aunt Fran and Uncle Roy!

Weekend with family!

We had a great weekend with family! Jennifer and Mitch Miller Miller and their children Heather, Emily and Joseph along with my parents came for a visit. All of the girls went to see Wicked. We had a great time at the Orpheum! The next day, we all went to the Pink Palace. They have a new dinosaur exhibit that the kids enjoyed checking out. Luke & Andrew also really liked the old country store! The boys loved seeing their cousins! Heather & Emily need to come back and stay with me, they were great taking care of the boys!!

Jennifer, Heather & Emily at the Orpheum!

Andrew & Luke checking out the old country store!

Luke & Mimi

Emily, Heather, Andrew, Joseph & Mitch

Father's Day!

We spent Father's Day weekend in Liberty. Michael picked blueberries. He had a little help from Luke and Andrew!