This weekend, Joe and I took the kids to Family Camp at Bair Lake Bible Camp. BLBC has a very special place in my heart, as it was the first camp I ever staffed at, and was important in the forming of who I am. I've thought about Family Camp since Bella was only a year old. That seemed crazy, so we waited, and this year we planned to attend with another family for Fourth Of July week. Then Joe got a new job (awesome answer to prayer!) and we couldn't take a week vacation. So our friends went without us (and had a great time!), and I registered us for Labor Day Weekend Camp. We had an amazing time. Our first night there, Andrew had his first successful head-first dive into the pool. (He'd been working on this all summer in swim class....and just five minutes with Coach Daddy and a lower diving board and presto!) We made Superhero I.D. cards and a family Superhero crest. WE ate amazing brownie sundaes (calories don't count at camp.) We had a hay ride through the woods at dark, and the kids slept in a camp cabin for the first time ever. Pure bliss.
Saturday, we zip lined, we went tubing, had great times in chapel listening to Jerry Jacoby teach with his puppet chicken, Elmer (who had a crush on yours truly for the weekend, and made my children squeal with delight when he tried to kiss their mommy), we did Superhero training, and we listened to two out of our three munchkins talk about how BLBC was better than Disneyworld. More bliss.
Sunday, we shot BB guns, the boys climbed the Stand (David even turned and jumped for the trapeze at the top!), we built a boat out of cardboard, duct tape, and saran wrap and then sent Andrew out on the lake racing in it! (Our boat, "Fire Slinger" stayed afloat the longest, but had steering issues as it's captain was nervous :) We played on giant water mats at the lake the boys tried kayaking for the first time then collected oodles of dead cicadas and cicada shells (gross!). We had a family campfire with the last s'mores of summer 2013, and went for a night swim under the stars. Double bliss.
Monday, we said goodbye to BLBC, but not until we played Gaga ball, sang more silly songs with Jerry (who had another puppet, "Popcorn" fall in love with Joe...hilarious!), and of course, made Hobo breakfast (the kids cooked their breakfast on a tin can outside! Everyone was sad to leave. David and Andrew are already planning their stay at BLBC for Juniors week next year, and our hearts are full. Before we went to pack the car, I had to walk the kids down to sit on the double decks by the lake. I told them how that was my favorite spot to meet with Jesus when I staffed at camp. It seemed surreal sitting there, remembering the sweet lessons my Savior taught me that summer, surrounded by my three little ones. Life moves so fast. I'm so thankful that this weekend, we had a chance to slow down and soak it up, before summer ended. These are a few of my favorite photos :)
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| first night in the cabin! |
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| Super hero training paintballs and wrist rockets |
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| villains beware! |
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| ready to zip |
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| David zips |
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| Andrew zips |
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| Mommy zips |
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| Daddy coaches Bella, but she opts to try "when she's older" |
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| Daddy zips |
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| tubing!! |
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| David...took a while to warm up to tubing, but loved it by the end |
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| Momma's turn! Whee!! |
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| all smiles! |
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| First tree frog :) |
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| Cicada shells were in abundance in the pine trees. Gross. |
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| first toad |
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| Bella demonstrates a lion voice on stage. Fearless. |
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| A true marksman |
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| another marksman :) |
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| ummm....Bella LOVED this! |
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| The Stand |
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| Andrew climbs on! |
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| Aminis and "Fire Slinger" |
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| Andrew captains "Fire Slinger" |
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| First time kayaking! |
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| Andrew's first kayaking outing! |
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| Hobo breakfast! A new hobo is born at BLBC |
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| Another hobo cook :) |
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| Andrew finally got a turn on stage! Another lion! Last chapel! |
