Project 365, Week 32

A combination of us spent a lot of this week at the apartment with Shaun, but those end up being pretty boring pictures. ;) The week had a very nice summer vibe to it.

August 5

I signed Amanda and Aiden up for swim lessons at the town lake. It ended up that Amanda learned everything they could teach her in the first lesson and we moved Aiden's level and time slot several times in the eight days, but it all worked out. This first evening was a lovely one to sit out.

For a year, J has had a strong desire to join our church on a mission's trip to Guatemala. With help from family and lots of her own earnings, she was able to go. At 8PM the shuttle left the church for their NYC departure. Her youth pastor matched her up with the sweetest roommate who was from a different church but we were able to spend some time with prior to the trip.

August 6
Friends were staying at a beautiful place on the beach. When I went to take family photos for them, my family joined me and the kids had a blast playing together.

August 7
No, you cannot do screens.

August 8
Amanda's favorite store is Staples...she was super anxious to get her school supplies and organize it all.

August 9
Games and dinner out with a gift card.

August 10
There is a song that says, Lord, I need you, oh I need you. Every hour I need you. Me! That's me. The moments I take in the mornings to get alone with God are everything to me. And my spot on the back porch early on summer mornings is a slice of heaven. So life-giving.

August 11
Off on an adventure!

It was an old Victorian-style house, so we felt right at home.

The porch wrapped around the entire house, maximizing the views.

August 10 on 10

10 pictures on the 11th day of the month (Monday). {Document a snapshot of your life; find beauty among the ordinary things in your day!}

Shaun and I worked in the morning and prepped for going away for a couple days. J was on a missions trip to Guatemala and we decided at the last minute to do a quick trip away, just the five of us for the first time in more than eight years.

Shaun found a unique place on Airbb...a house on a very small island off the coast of Connecticut. We met the owner at a marina, loaded up all our belongings on his boat and went for a 10 minute boat ride to the island.

This is it...an island with just three houses...we stayed in the middle house.

When you have three sisters, you know about tans and tan lines. :)

...but mostly he just had a fishing pole in his hand. There was unlimited fishing, hunting for crabs...the kids did a ton of all of it.

It was advertised that there was a boat for use...

...what was not advertised is that it didn't really work. Avery and I watched it all unfold, with great delight, from the porch.

Project 365, Week 31

This was a super fun week. The girls and I got to do a trip together and they got to do fun, stretching, character-building things. But first...

July 29

When you make a bet with your dad and you are wrong.

July 30
Our denomination has a fine arts competition, where students can compete in all manner of creative categories...singing, drama, sermons, art, writing, etc. My girls were part of a drama that cleared through regionals in March and got an invitation to compete on the national level. And so...we headed to Orlando!

As it happened, we ended up on the same flight with my sister and her crew...HUGE bonus to travel with them and stay in the same hotel. The kids (and adults) had such a great time together.

July 31
There was a nice mix of downtime and go time and wrangle-the-crew time.

Avery and Amanda's large ensemble. When it counted in front of the judges, they did the best version they had. It was a great learning experience, seeing what's out there, what's possible.

Each night there was a service for the 20,000 or so. So neat to see so many kids excited about Jesus.

August 1
Nathanael did his short sermon (1 of 445 in that category for senior high!). Love that kid!

The other large ensemble.

Maddy danced, her last year of high school eligibility after winning first place the last two years.

{Heart eyes}

We stayed in many different locations, but this was the entire group from our church!

While we were teenagers, Amy and I had an incredible youth pastor. He was young and single, full of energy and great ideas and poured into us. Anything youth group related was the place we wanted to be. He was also very gifted in the arts, specifically drama and taught us so much. We participated in fine arts and did summer touring at different churches throughout New England. We've kept in touch with him and his family throughout the years. He is a judge at nationals, so after service one night, we went down the street to the condo they were staying in for the week.

His friend, another judge, spent time talking with the kids and encouraging them in their gifts.

August 2
Fine arts wasn't the only competition of the week...there were pretty intense pool Olympics happening as well, complete with elation for winning and poor attitudes for losing. Hilarious! :)

We sat in on two hours of call backs for the large drama ensemble category. Really amazing stuff!

After service Colombo got everyone pizza and we hung out in the hotel lobby. There was another group down there and somehow dance lessons started. First salsa, then Maddy had about a dozen doing a lyrical dance. They never exchanged names but it was such a sweet, safe time for the kids and so fun to watch. All week we were amazed to witness how good and respectful the kids acted, with seemingly little supervision.

Accidental twinning, per usual.

August 3
Swimming, hanging and anxiously waiting to hear results of Maddy's dance.

She was in the top 3, for the nation!! We were so proud!

August 4
The girls and I fought through early morning security lines and caught a 7AM flight back home to see our boys.

Aiden enjoyed the afternoon at a neighborhood birthday party.