Blueberry Picking

More fruit picking, now it's blueberry season. :-)

Dutch Village

On Thursday we went to Dutch Village with some friends. We had a lot of fun. We dressed up like little Dutch children and wore wooden shoes called 'clogs'. My favorite place there was the candle shop called Holland House Candles, Inc. At the shop you could see how they made the special candles. First they dipped them in many different colors of hot wax. Then they took knives and made long slices which looked a bit like banana pealing. They would then fold the slices across the candle so that it looks sort of like a bow. They also made beautiful shapes on the sides of the candles. To see some of their candles you can go to this website: www.hollandhousecandles.com
They had many other little shops where you could watch how wooden shoes are made and see how they make cheese. There was a carousal and a swing ride where you sit in a swing and go around in circles. It was really fun.

Our Summer Home

Here are some pictures of our summer home:

Good Times, Good Friends

Hope's posting: Last time my 3 high school friends and I got together with our families was when I was pregnant with Starla 4 years ago. It was a joy to spend an evening together. How can it be that we are just shy of 25th year reunion time?

Kids Worship Arts Camp

Last week was the week of Kids Worship Arts Camp at our church. KWAK is one of the highlights of Lily and Robyn's summer. Since Lily is in the Senior camp she has gets 2 elective classes. This year she had Sign language and power point. Robyn had dance as her elective. Every day for a week, all of the kids come in and learn the songs and get parts in the play and go to their elective classes. At the end of the week they put on a production. This year their production was called "The Pirates of the 'I don't care' -ibbean" My friend Evanne and I were helpers in some of the classes. It was a fun week for everyone.

A Trip to the Beach

Yesterday we spent the afternoon at the beach. It was a lot of fun. The water was just right for swimming and Daddy blew up our big tube thing so we could lay in it. It is really fun to sit in a tube and ride the waves. Even Mommy and Daddy took a ride on the tube. One of my favorite things to do when we go to the beach is build things in the sand. I sculpted a car, it was a bit to small for me but just right for Starla. It had a front seat for the driver and a rumble seat on the back for Starla. We all had fun flying the kite. Lily, Robyn and Starla fed the seagulls some bread from their sandwiches.
It is always fun to watch the water in the lake some days it seems to have a tint of green and other days it is deep blue, sometimes it is a very light blue.

An Outing with Grandparents

We took Grandma and Pop-pop on an outing on Wednesday. First we toured the Hackley House. It is an old house Victorian style home built several years before the year 1900. It was full of beautiful carvings
and painted ceilings and other beautiful things. Then we rode the trolley. It was very fun to ride it. We all stood on the back and waved at people as we passed. After the trolley we walked the pier and watched the sun set over the lake. Then after dark we watched the musical fountains. Watching the musical fountains is like watching hundreds of enourmus sprinklers dance to music and lit up by colored lights. It is a little bit like fire works but not quite. It was a very enjoyable evening.

A Day in the Gardens with Grandma and Pop-pop

Grandma and Pop-pop came up from Ohio to visit us on Monday night and on Tuesday we took them to the gardens. There were lots of beautiful flowers and it was very fun. Degas' 'the little dancer' was on display there so we were able to see it. We were not allowed to take pictures of it though. We had a picnic while we were there. Then we all went to Russ' for dinner. (Russ' is our favorite restaurant up north.) Afterwards we all came home and grandma and pop-pop gave us each a gift and then we played games until bed time.

4th of July

On the 4th of July Daddy and I were in a parade passing out information about the parental rights amendment. We each had a large bucket of candy which we learned was not nearly enough. I took the left side of the street and Daddy took the right. I had to keep hurrying to catch up with the float I was supposed to be following and I threw candy way too fast at the beginning and I ran out about 3/4 of the way through the main route. It was a fun though.
We went to a friend's house for the evening and set off fireworks together and then watched the big fireworks from their front lawn. It was really fun. At the bottom is a video I took of the grand finale.

Teen Worship Arts Camp

I (Angela) was in teen worship arts camp at church. On Monday through Friday there were 4 elective classes which each person got to be in. I was in Dance, Sign Language, Hand bells, and Photography. Everybody got matching t-shirts with a logo on them. Then on Sunday morning we led the morning worship at church and put on a performance for the evening service. The theme was connections and how we communicate with others so often with cell phones, texting, email and other devices that we don't have time to communicate face to face with our family or even God. We need to take time to talk to God and realize that he is the most important person in our lives.
The performance went very smoothly and it was very well done. It was made up out of a series of skits and songs. I enjoyed being in it quite a lot. Here are some pictures of it: