Summer with my Favorite People

Summer is dwindling. I went back to work shortly after we returned from Tahoe and the kids have just over a week until they go back to school. Jeremy also started his new job this last week. Time is flying by and it feels like summer is just slipping through our fingers. With that said, I think today might be a bit of a hodge podge of some of some of the last bits of family fun squeezed into this summer.

Merrick has spent a good chunk of his summer fishing. If he is not working or with his girlfriend, you will usually find him at the river fishing. Last week, Elsie wanted to go to the park and practice softball. Since the field is right next to the river, Merrick decided he would come along and fish. Pretty soon, CC decided fishing sounded like fun and she would come along too. Eventually, Elsie got tired of practicing and the whole fam ended up down at the river to fish. As Merrick put it, if we are ever in a position to have to fish for food for survival, we are in trouble. Not only did we not catch anything, but we ended up losing several of Merrick's lures and I owed him some money before we called it a day.

Another recent highlight was this week's youth trip to the coast. They went out on Friday afternoon to play, have dinner, watch the sunset and have a devotional. While they were gone, Elsie and I had some special time. She wanted to go to the arcade. We had a bit of a slow start after arriving, but hit our stride playing Fruit Ninja and the fishing game. Elsie was thrilled while playing the fishing game that she caught the shark twice (worth 25 tickets each) and even caught the elusive jellyfish (worth 150 tickets). After the arcade we went to dinner together to cap off our special night.

Yesterday, I helped put on a church activity for all children ages 8-12 in our congregation and the neighboring congregations. We had an Olympics theme. We started by making Olympic torches and having opening ceremonies, then had stations for the groups to visit before having closing ceremonies and presenting cookie medals. Elsie is the right age to participate and C.C. came too to be a helper. It was a fun day and even more fun to have my girls there.

I have to say that the highlight of my summer has definitely been the time spent with my family. Having little kids is hard, but as my kids have grown and become more and more self-sufficient, it is less work and more enjoyment doing things together as a family. They are really just my favorite people. Even with that, sometimes they still have there moments, especially at the end of a summer spent with a lot of togetherness.