Dutch Wonderland

On Tues, we went to DW with Don and Anita, and Wendy/Madison/Caleb. It rained on our way there, so maybe that kept some people away-- turned out to be perfect for us. Very few lines. Had a very fun day. Lots of pics below. For you chronological people, so sorry these ended up backwards.

Madison

Jenna and Madison on Flying Trapeze

Caleb and Micah ran and ran and ran around and around this slide. Seemed like hundreds of times.

Caleb

Madison and Uncle Chad

Gpa did lots of rides with the kids-- Caleb's actually on the other side of him, I think-- Micah's in front

Wendy and Madison on the roller coaster-- she loved it!

The fun band we heard-- a tuba, 2 alto saxes, and a drum/cymbal. They sounded very good and were very well prepared. Did Name That Tune for a while-- Wendy's very good at that!

Gpa with a bunch of cute women. :) This is the Turtle-Whirl, and I think he was the only adult very willing to try this ride. Actually, Chad may have done it once as well, but did not like it.

Of course, the kids loved it and wanted to do it again. Maybe there's something different about their stomachs?

After our picnic lunch

Micah and Claire

Madison

This ride was a lot of fun to watch-- called Wonder Whip-- just rode in a flat oval, and the cars whipped around the ends. I'm pretty sure MY neck wouldn't have liked this ride, but the kids loved it. Claire was very protective of Micah while they rode it together, and he didn't mind at all. We have a video that shows Madison and Caleb riding it together, too-- I'll try to get that on later.

Katie and Daddy

Gpa and Caleb

Micah milks (waters?) a cow

Wendy, Caleb, Jenna, Madison

Teen Week

Last week was Teen Week at our church. IBC has been doing it for 25 years, but last week was the first full week of our involvement. Katie attended as a teen and Chad was a team helper. Made for a long, tiring week, but they sure had fun! 7pm til 11pm each evening. Food and games (here they are trying to stack cardboard boxes the highest) and a message and music from the Cedarville group Heartsong. Very tiring for Chad to do this along with work each day, but it was a great experience, too.

Father's Day

Silly card I made Chad this year.

Lawn cart we gave Chad. He also got a nice pair of jeans.

Our kids sure have a great Daddy!

Wendy's Visit

Last week, Wendy/Madison/Caleb/Lily and Anita came for a night and part of 2 days. Kids sure had a lot of fun together! And we played a lot of games-- below is Claire/Gma playing checkers, but we also did Nines and Up the River with Anita/Wendy/me/Jenna. Chad and Katie had Teen Week at church so they weren't there. We went to the park in Williamsport for lunch and playtime.

Madison

Micah

Lily

Lily

Claire, Micah, Caleb

Mike and Emily's visit

My brother, Mike, and his family visited this weekend-- we sure had a good time together. Our kids are at a good age to get along quite well. They arrived at their campground in Williamsport late Fri, so we first saw them when they came for breakfast Sat. Besides hanging around our house so the adults could talk and the kids could play-- We took a walk to the Potomac and didn't make it down to the river before a quick storm came thru, so we finished the walk later. Jason REALLY wanted to be able to put a foot in the water so he could say he was halfway in WV and half in MD. :) We played Spoons, Pictionary, Pass the Pigs, and Wii. Ate fresh strawberries that Jenna, Micah, and I had just picked. Went to Chick-fil-A because they don't have those in MI. Ate lunch at their campsite, sat in the camper and under the awning during a short/strong storm, tried to swim but their was voltage in the water!, and the men took the kids canoeing. We also took them to see The Falling Waters. :)

Below is a video of our Spoons game-- great game to play with all the different ages. Today, their family is off to D.C. They've got a schedule packed full for the week-- including going to their congressman's office and the White House, etc.

41 in 108

Yesterday Chad rode his bicycle 41 miles in 97 degree heat-- hottest day of the year so far-- and heat index of 108.

The office people at Grace had a meeting/retreat at Jack (headmaster) Appleby's house in Waterfall, PA. Chad was itching to ride around there since it's a very beautiful area that he's not been riding in before.

He carpooled up there with some of the office ladies, with his bike in their van. After the meeting was finished at 2ish, he set off over the mountain. Had lots of water along. Stopped to refill along the way.

He said 3 of the best parts of the ride: 1. going DOWN the other side of the mountain-- 3 1/2 miles of coasting! 2. the milkshake at McD's in Mercersburg :) 3. seeing Grace Academy where his car was parked. :)

A group from the church is going to do a 3-day 150 mile ride in August, like they did last year, only on a different route. Anyone else want to come join him?

New Piano Student

Claire started piano lessons last week. Here she is with her mean teacher.

Katie's Driveway Art

Yes/No

We had a short business meeting after church Sun pm. All the kids were in with us. I was holding a ballot when Micah came over to sit in my lap. He looked at the paper and said, "That says YES and NO!" nice and loud, so our whole family heard it. And I was stumped. How does he know those words? He knows what sounds some of the letters make, but I really didn't think there was any way he was sounding out a whole word yet.

We discussed it later, and none of us knew. I wondered if YES and NO were on the sight words videos Aunt Emily gave him, but the girls didn't think so.

Just figured it out this morning when he asked to play Reader Rabbit Preschool on the computer. He said something about how it ends with YES and NO. When he has to end the game, he has to confirm his choice to exit by clicking on the YES or go back to the game with NO. So, I guess he's not reading yet :), but it sure was fun.

Fire!

I've included this video so the Wingerts can feel nostalgic and so the Steenwyks can see how Wingerts do fires. :)

Last Cabin pics-- various

These last few pics are definitely not in chronological order. This is Chad leaving the cabin on his bicycle. The plan was for him to ride for about 3 hours and then I'd leave and catch up with him somewhere. He told me the route he'd be on because we knew we couldn't count on our cellphones (not much coverage in the mountains). However, we still managed to miss him. And it was HOT-- 95 and sunny and humid. He had a great 33 mile ride, tho, and, with the help of a very nice farmer who had just gotten his lawn mower stuck in some overgrown weeds by the road, we found each other.

Any guesses on how old this couch is? How about the afghan?

Penny Hunt Gma did for the girls in the driveway

Fry's cabin from the side

Cabin from back (faces stream)

Chad's fire creation-- all ready to burn an old school project of Katie's and a couple matchbox cars. Made for good smores. :)

Cabin pics-- walk to Potpie Bridge

Can you guess what everyone did while at Potpie Bridge?

I hope you can see this-- Micah and Daddy both have walking sticks (there's a nice collection at the cabin) and it looks really cute to see Micah try to use a walking stick.