Weekend on the Meramec

 Last weekend we headed to Steelville, MO to spend the weekend with my parents and Abby & Alex at Cobblestone Lodge (check out her blog here).  It was a lot of fun!  We had sleeping cabins, all the playgrounds Ethan and Nora could handle, 3 meals (provided) each day, a pool, 2 float trips per day and lots of planned entertainment.  Saturday morning after breakfast, we headed out on a raft for a float down the Meremac river.  I was nervous about how Nora would do, but she really liked it.  She wanted to swim the whole time...but still did great!  Ethan loved every part of it.  Here are some a lot of pictures from our trip.

Ethan and Jared- climbing to the top

Nora, digging in the dirt

Heading to the river

Ethan and the open river :)

Nora wanting a dip in the water

First swim in the Meramec River

Loving it!

Sister selfie!

Capitan Pop

Nora loves her Pop

Stopping for the play time in the river

Throwing rocks. (Yes, she is shirtless...she got cold in her wet shirt)

Just lounging in the river

Ethan found a good stick

The 4 of us

View down the river

All of us...floating down the river!

On Saturday after lunch (did I mention the cooked every meal for us?!), Jared and I and Abby and Alex went back on the river.  This time in canoes!  Jared is a canoe paddling rockstar!  I sat in the front and didn't have to paddle at all.  Such a sweet husband I have!

Abby & Alex

Canoeing fun!

We also spent some time swimming in the pool!

Pop, Ethan and Abby

The 4.5 of us :)

Nora and Daddy

Ethan has been practicing his swimming.  He's getting good!

Nora loved this water gun...and didn't care who she shot.

Saying goodbye to cabin #6

Sunday, after breakfast, it was time to check out.  We all decided we weren't ready to end the trip that early, so we made plans to stop 30 minutes down the road at Meramec Caverns.  It was a fun tour and the kids did great (even if Nora had trouble understanding the "don't touch" rule).

Ethan and Nora- hanging with the James brothers

Ale and Abby

Jared had to duck a few times...especially with Nora on his shoulders.

Ethan, hanging out in the "Wine Room"

"The Stage Curtain"

Grandma Terri and Pop, with some silly kids!

Thanks, Mom and Dad for a great weekend!

We had such a fun weekend! 

Daddy's Softball Game

Monday night, Jared played in his first softball games of the season.  It worked out well that they were the early games and the kids and I could go.  Ethan loved sitting in the dugout with Jared and all the other players.  He was big stuff!

Oh yes, he brought his glove!  He and Jared played a lot of catch!

Our softball hero ;)!

She's a cutie...but also quite the stinker!

It was a fun evening and Jared's team ended up winning both games!  He even hit a home run!

Week in Cincinnati/Week with the Grandparents

Last week, Jared and I dropped the kids off to spend the week splitting time between Grandma Terri & Pop and Grandma Karen & Grandpa.  It was tough saying goodbye for the whole week, but I knew they would have a great time and we would stay very busy.  We went with our church youth to Cincinnati for a mission trip.  It was a great trip where God moved through a lot of hearts!  We took about 130 students and adults!  When we got home, 14 of those students were baptized!!
Jared's was in charge of a group who worked on several urban gardens.  I never made it to their site, but I know what he looked (and smelled) like every afternoon after a morning of work :)!  He worked very hard and ended up with gardens ready to grow lots of yummy food and beautiful flowers!
My friend, Emily, and I were with a group of high school girls at a church outreach.  The church we went to ran a summer camp with some academics and LOTS of activities!  We were put in charge of planning activities and games for the 1st-8th graders who attended the camp.  We were so proud of our students! They did a great job and loved on those kids like crazy!  Here are a few pictures from our time in Cincinnati (sorry for the poor quality...phone photos aren't the best).

 In the afternoons, we did a VBS in a few Cincinnati neighborhoods.  Ours happened to have a splash pad.  We had a good turn out of kids for the VBS.

Splash pad fun!

We ran some games for the kids at our work site.  They ran out of water...so we improvised!

Thirsty Kids!

Playing water balloon toss

We stayed on the campus of Xavier University and all of our worship times were held in the Cintas Center...where Xavier plays basketball.  It was pretty cool to see the huge arena and court.

Stealing a little time with this scruffy guy!

Our group, like I mentioned above, was very big.  We had around 130 students and adults.  It's quite overwhelming...check out the sea of blue shirts :)!

FCC Cincinnati Mission trip Group!

After we completed our week serving in Cincinnati, we drove a short 30 minutes to Great Wolf Lodge.  It was a fun day and I even got to go on some of the water slides :)!

Jared is a big kid...this place confirmed it :)!

We were kept informed and in the loop with pictures and texts while the kids were having a great week in Salem.  They started and ended the week with Grandma Terri and Pop and had some Grandma Karen, Grandpa time in the middle.

Rural King, popcorn, chicks and Pop!

Playing outside with Pop

Monkey boy at the "big park"

Lunch with Pop!

Sweet girl with a sweet smile!

Ethan doesn't nap anymore...but he must have been worn out.  This is how Pop and Grandma Terri found him during "rest time."

Grandma Karen took the kids to the beach at Carlyle lake one day, and they had a blast!!

Playing in the sand

Fish in the lake!

Silly, messy hair Nora

Fun in Grandma Karen's pool!

Our kids are so blessed to have the 4 grandparents they have.  They were all excited about and looking forward to their time with the kids!  Thanks for taking such good care of our kids while we were away!