Father’s Day

Since “Summer, Week 4” has a couple of big events in it, I’m going to have to split the posts up.  Our first big event was Father’s Day.  Greg noted that this was the first Father’s Day that he got to spend at home since he became a father.  I went into labor with Luke the last Father’s Day he was at home, but Luke wasn’t born until the next day.  Usually, Greg is at Impact for Father’s Day and Luke’s birthday.  Now that we are in Nashville, though, Greg can be home for these events.  Yay!

Greg’s true Father’s Day gifts were getting to eat out twice.  My husband loves to eat out.  He has said repeatedly that if he ever won a bunch of money, the only thing that would change about his lifestyle would be that he would eat out a lot more.  (He has thus noted that it’s probably a good thing that we don’t play the lottery, as we would probably both gain a ton of weight!)  Anyway, it seemed fitting that on the morning of Father’s Day, would walk to our local breakfast nook, Bar-B-Cutie. 

I know barbecue and breakfast don’t seem to go hand and hand, but this restaurant has a delicious Southern breakfast menu!

After we ate, Greg opened his Father’s Day cards:

Here are Luke and Anna’s messages.  Luke was especially proud of all the smiley faces in his.

They’re so cute.  And Anna is so silly.

Greg’s gift was a Star Wars Kinect game that he thought Luke and him would enjoy playing.  They tested it out that afternoon and enjoyed it, although the Kinect continues to be a little clunky.

After walking back from breakfast, Greg headed to church while I finished getting ready.

At church, Kelsey enjoyed holding our littlest member, Genesis. 

And I had to take a picture of the Father’s Day card Anna made in Sunday school.  I was so impressed with the handwriting.

I’m not sure why there is a turkey or the word, Mom…but man, look at those capitals!

After a leisurely afternoon, Greg and I decided to take advantage of having the children’s old babysitter staying with us, so we went out on a date.  My adventurous husband had a new restaurant he wanted to try:

Speaking of adventurous, I got the quinoa-and-fried-avocado tacos…

…and they were uhhh-MAZING.  Just looking at the picture makes me want another one!

It was a good Father’s Day for a wonderful Daddy.  His children absolutely adore him, and rightfully so.  In fact, last week at Y.E.S. camp, Anna warmed our hearts when she attended chapel with Kelsey.  The chapel speaker opened with this question:  “Who is the best basketball player in the world?”  Immediately, the kids began to shout out names and debate whether Lebron James was the best or someone else.  While all this was going on, Anna resolutely raised her hand.  When the speaker called on her for her answer, she resolutely proclaimed, “My Daddy!”  Next, the speaker asked who the best football quarterback was.  Again, the chapel exploded into debate.  And again, Anna declared, “My Daddy!”

Then, the chapel speaker asked who the best singer in the world was.  This time, Anna pointed to her chest with both thumbs and said, “Anna Grace!”  Ha!  I told Greg that’s how we know she wasn’t just being nice to him.  In her mind, he really is the best basketball player and football player in the world.  I’m not sure about all that, but I do know that he is one amazing father!

Summer, Week 3: Y.E.S. Camp and Luke the Lion-hearted

Week 3 of summer consisted of the same whirlwind pace as Weeks 1 and 2.  We got home from Macon on Saturday evening.  That night, a former youth grouper, Kelsey, stayed with us, as she was going to be a counselor at Y.E.S. camp, which started the next day.  On Sunday morning, we headed to church and got to spend time with yet another Summervillian who was passing through:  Ms. Carol!  Ms. Carol was always such a big help in the youth ministry; she cooked at almost all our events!  It was so good to see her.  Greg preached that morning, and then we went out to lunch with Ms. Carol and Kelsey.  From there, Greg and Kelsey went to meet the others and head to camp, and the kids and I were left to go grocery shopping and settle back into life at home. 

Anna enjoyed snuggling with Ms. Kelsey while she was here!

On Monday, we had a playdate with a local homeschooling family, which was fun.

On Tuesday, we headed out to Dickson to see my best friend and her family.  They just moved here a couple weeks ago.  We spent the entire day with them and had such a good time.

On Wednesday, we headed up to Y.E.S. camp, as I was teaching crafts that afternoon.  Luke really had a DAY at Y.E.S. camp.  While I taught crafts, he went down to the creek with his dad and a group of kids.  While there, he hunted for crawdads and even successfully skipped a rock for the first time.  Later, he walked out with Greg to where the kids were doing a ropes course.  Some kids were riding a zip line through the woods.  Greg thought it would freak Luke out, and was shocked when Luke said he wanted to do it! 

Luke was actually excited to give the zip line a try!  Greg filmed it, so I don’t have any pictures of the actual experience, but Luke loved it!

Then, in a burst of bravery, he decided to try the tree swing.  It is another activity that uses a harness.  In this one, the participant is attached to a swinging rope that is apparently attached to another rope that is used to lift him high in the air.  When the person wants to let go and swing, he has to pull a small cord that detaches him from the, um, lifting rope.  Then he swings on the swinging rope…and if he is brave, he tries to grab the leaves from the tree branches that he swings over!

Y.E.S. camp is for 9-14 year olds, and many of the kids were too scared to go on the tree swing.  Others screamed bloody murder when they were let go to swing.  Luke observed all this while quietly, nervously chewing on his shirt--yet he was undeterred.  In fact, he was able to go sooner because the two people in front of him couldn’t quite summon the courage to put on the harness.  Luke, on the other hand, was READY!

This time, I was there (trying not to pass out), so I filmed while Greg took pictures.  The rope pullers didn’t immediately hear him say to stop, so he ended up being lifted up even higher than he wanted.  I could tell he was terrified.  I thought that there was no way he was going to pull that cord.  And yet, as scared as he was, he patted his chest until he found the cord and then gave it three solid yanks before it dislodged. 

Greg caught a picture on the way down.

And up…

He was stiff with fear, and he stayed frozen pretty much the whole time.  But he never screamed or cried or anything. I was really proud of how he handled himself.  I was proud of his willingness to try something new and scary, and also his toughness when he was clearly terrified.  I’m sure part of his bravado came from the fact that all of the Y.E.S. kids were so impressed with him and were cheering him on mightily:).

Once it was all over and he was unharnessed, he said he was cold and then had to sit down on the ground for a moment.  I asked him if he liked it, and he good naturedly told me,  “No.  I should not have done that!”  Too funny.

That night, we spent the night with Gramma Dottie, who lives quite close to camp.  Her younger brother, Uncle Joe, and his wife, Aunt Betty, were there, and so we enjoyed a good visit with them.  We stayed there for most of Thursday morning and then headed back to camp for lunch and another round of crafts (or in Luke’s case, another round of creek swimming).

Luke also impressed me by learning to make a lanyard while at camp.  And both of the kids made me proud by memorizing the day’s memory verse.  Granted, they only became interested in Scripture memorization when they realized it was the ticket to visit the canteen, but once they realized a candy bar was at stake, they learned John 3:17 lickety-split:).

I’ll leave you with a cute picture that our camp director, Daniel, snapped of Anna.

The Y.E.S. kids and Greg enjoyed a great week of camp, and Luke, Anna, and I sure enjoyed our two afternoons!

Wordless Wednesday

Summer, Week 2: Camp Canaan and Workcamp

 

On Sunday of Summer, Week 2, the kids and I headed down to Macon.  I have to say, they were delightful on the way down there.  They really are very nice travel companions…even though Anna needs frequent bathroom stops!

Then, bright and early Monday morning, we all headed over to Camp Canaan!  Camp Canaan is a day camp located on our church’s 57 acres of property, back in the woods.  It started when I was a child, so I have been a camper, a counselor, and for two years in college, I even planned the theme, the Bible lessons, and the skits!  In the meantime, my mom has been in charge of arts and crafts, I believe since the camp’s inception.  Thus, I’m pretty sure she has been the one constant in the past twenty years or so of camp!

Needless to say, it was cool that my son got to attend for the first time:

During the opening skit and worship on the first day.

In Bible class.

His first time at arts and crafts (Mom is saying, “Raise your hand if this is your first time at camp.  You can see Luke in the very back, tentatively raising his hand).

My little introvert wasn’t overly thrilled by the whole idea, but he held up pretty well.  He never wanted to leave arts and crafts (although really, does anyone?), and I did let him go home early the first two days, but he generally seemed to enjoy it.  By the end of the week, he had even made some friends!

Anna and I didn’t stay all day for camp, but we did visit for large chunks of each day.  Mainly, she had fun in Gaga’s craft cabin:

While there, she enjoyed some good bonding time with both grandparents:

Do you think my kids are loved???

Of course, it was even better when Luke was in the mix:

Even without him, though, the craft cabin was a place of joy for little Anna:

Don’t be fooled, though:  it was also a place of hard work!  Anna once again proved herself to be a “little Gaga” by working her tail off helping Gaga transport, hang, and put seed into bird feeders:

Seriously, Little Bit could not stop working!  She was a machine, just like Gaga!  We did all have a good laugh at one point, though, when sweet Mrs. Pauline brought over a handful of bird seed bottles, saying, “Here, Anna!  I brought some bottles to help you!”  For her efforts, all Mrs. Pauline received was a stony look from Anna, who then desperately ran to get more bottles, worried that someone was horning in on her Very Important Job!

Besides the craft cabin, both Anna’s and Luke’s second favorite spot was the playground.

I didn’t get as many pictures of Luke because whenever he saw me, he would ask to go home.  That made me keep my distance a bit because I really wanted him to get used to camp.  However, I did snap a few pictures on the last day:

Here he is, enjoying a sno-cone, while decked out in his camp crafts:  tie-dyed shirt, handmade bracelets, and cross necklace.  His face is also covered in corn starch from Science/Nature class where the kids “walked on water.”

And here he is showing off his whirly-bird:

Yep, he pretty much thinks he’s the stuff!

So obviously, camp was wonderful…and yet that’s not everything that happened that week!  Here are some other things we did while in Macon:

Started our first homeschooling subject—handwriting:

Swam like fish:

Played with friends:

And went out on the boat:

It was a great week, and everyone had lots of fun!

In the meantime, Greg took a group to Nashville Workcamp.  I wasn’t there, so I can’t tell you about it.  Apparently, though, it went something like this:

So…that was Week 2 of summer!  And so far, Week 3 is shaping up to be just as action-packed, and Week 4 promises to be more of the same!  These are some crazy times for the Kirby’s…but they are a lot of fun, as well!