More Camp-out pictures

I was looking back at the previous posts about the camp-out and noticed immediately that I forgot a few pictures. Above are the boys lined up and ready to go down the slide. I especially wanted to post the pictures of Seth and Eliza below. This pose was too cute and unprovoked. Eliza was mimicking Seth.

And a picture of Eden, right where she wants to be. . . watching everyone go down the slip-n-slide.

Let's get corny!

First, a picture that belonged on the previous post of when we went to the county fair. We took in a few minutes of the bucket bottle calf show and I snapped this picture of the kids sitting together.

Last Saturday morning, the 24th, we did 300 ears of corn with Seth's parents. We have the process memorized and everyone has a job. Including the little girls.

Helping each other!

Ephraim was a great help dumping the husks.

Stirring the corn so that it gets cool.

And when the kids tired of their jobs, they got to play Legos.

We came away with quite a few quarts/pints and half pints from this day's work. There'll be more to come.

One last day of the fair

As if we hadn't had enough of the fair last week on Wed/Thurs/Fri with Bible Quiz, we wrapped up the week with a Pine Wood Derby race on Saturday the 24th. Ephraim raced his shark car that he made in Boys Club at church. There were 2 cars in his race and he finished 2nd.
Ephraim got a medal for his 2nd place finish. The fair was good and we had a great time, despite the hot, wet, muddy conditions. But it was no small feat to take 4 kids to the fair for 4 days in a row and it was definitely time to GO HOME!

Bible Quiz Interview

The boys got the chance to show some special people their medals on Sunday. First, they talked a little about Bible Quiz during church, at both 1st and 2nd service.

Pastor: So, you boys participated in Bible Quiz, right?
Ephraim: Yes.
Pastor: Show me what you got?
Boys: A medal, a trophy and a bracelet.
Pastor: And how did you do?
Ephraim: Good.
Pastor: Tell me about each day.
Ephraim: First day Emmet and I were a team. The 2nd day we played with the buzzers and the third day we played the grownups.
Pastor: How'd you do on the first day?
Ephraim: Good.
Pastor: What about the 2nd day?
Ephraim: Good.
Pastor: And who'd you play against on the last day?
Ephraim: Mommy.
Pastor: And how'd you do?
Ephraim: Good. We beat her.
Ephraim was pretty humble through the whole interview and the audience got a chuckle from his "good" answers. It was pretty cute.

And then the pastor tested their knowledge with a couple of their Bible Quiz questions that they knew right away. First service, Ephraim answered 3 of the 4 and the 2nd service Emmet answered 3 of the 4.

They did such a good job on stage!

After church, we visited the Great-Grandparents to show them the boys' awards. They always enjoy hearing about what our week was like!

And a special moment between Great-Grandma and Eden playing "High Five."

Sunday Camp-out

A storm blew through early Sunday morning, about 4ish. The winds picked up and it was lightning and thundering. Seth made the decision to move the family from the tent to the house. We packed up everyone and their bedding and made it to the house just before the rain started. Seth stayed with the tent and his dad stayed in his tent. At least for a while. And then his tent blew in. So, they evacuated to the house. And our tent eventually blew over, too. But then, so did 4 trees in the yard. One of them was just north of our tent.

The canopy that is normally over the dock was picked up and blown into the pond. So, we spent a little bit of time picking that out of the pond. Arlin started talking about paybacks due to the zucchini joke and I thought for sure he was going to tip the boat since I was helping with the canopy recovery effort. But with the kids in the boat with me, they were my safety.

Checking out the flooded crick. Normally, you can drive through it.

Getting geared up for more sliding fun!

The boys hanging out on the side of the pond.


Eliza eventually got bored going down sitting on our laps and decided that face first would be more adventureous.

Here come Emmet!

Eden, John & Eliza

Eden showing off the latest in hand-me-down Dora swimsuits.

Starting a collection of snail shells.

This is right where Eden wanted to be. No waterslide for her.

Another fashion statement from Arlin. Going down the waterslide in his hip-waders!

Oh, wait! Is that Eden in Seth's arms, kicking and screaming? Yes, I think we may get her down the slide just one or two times.

Eliza, face first, arms out, lovin' every minute!

Wiped out! Daddy and Eliza. This is their Sunday afternoon nap, before heading home.

Camp-out Saturday afternoon

It's a simple zucchini but it became the brunt of a few practical jokes over the weekend. It all started at lunch when I simply inquired if anyone liked fried zucchini. I was hoping to make that for supper. Their response was less than enthusiastic. Oh well, more for me. Supper came around and I made the fried zucchini. I kept passing the plate around and it came back to me with not much missing. Somehow, the teasing started and we dared Arlin to eat a piece. No way, he said. He looked away at some point during the meal and Paul put a piece on his plate. He eyed it and left the table. . . and we didn't know where he went. He eventually came back with his pliers, to remove the invading piece of zucchini. At this point, what he doesn't know is that while he was fetching his pliers, Paul put zucchini on his hamburger bun. He takes two bites of his zucchini and throws it down on his plate. His hamburger is ruined, according to him. I had a few slices of raw zucchini left over so I put those in a ziplock baggie and put those in his pillowcase. We watched his flashlight turn off for the night and nothing happened. The the light turns back on and we hear "I'm gonna get you!" The zucchini joke didn't end there. It lasted until Tuesday when we had the zucchini in his lunch box with a note "Take your zucchini to work day."

Quiet time Saturday afternoon. Due to the heat, we were looking for something indoors to do. We ventured to the Monroe County Historical Museum and had a great time.

There was an engine, caboose and schoolhouse to tour outside and lots of exhibits inside.

The men checking out the bathroom that "flushes" directly onto the tracks.

Checking out the arrowheads.

Ahh, ice cream is a perfect treat on a HOT day.