Calvin Crest Week 2

We returned to Calvin Crest on Tuesday to be there with our high school and elementary students. The kids settled right into the camp routine with a visit to the craft condo.

Then we got to watch some of the high schoolers and Joshua do the ropes course.

David is transitioning away from naps, but sometimes has a hard time making it through dinner when he doesn't take them. That churro was so good though, he wouldn't let me take it away.

Wednesday morning we hiked down to Sherwood to join the elementary students for breakfast.

StrawMary Shortcake and Biscuits and Davy.

There's nothing like breakfast burritos cooked over a fire in Sherwood.

Enjoying some down time in our room.

The kids were excited to make more fishing poles at the craft condo and then use them to fish by the lake.

Thursday morning we hiked out the Gethsemane trail.

Happy hikers! These two were such troopers; they hiked all over camp and loved it.

Playing in the water was a hit again, and since we'd gotten an early start compared to last week, we had plenty of time to hangout.

Trying out Joshua's new CC hat.

Sharing an afternoon treat.

Working with clay in the craft condo with some of our high school girls.

The kids loved this clay and played with it for a long time.

We ended up making beads to string on a lanyard. David liked feeling how warm they were when they came out of the oven.

Friday morning we headed down to Sherwood again for french toast.

We went on a short hike before packing up our room.

The kids and I had a picnic lunch by the lake.

 We left camp in the early afternoon and dropped off the youth at church before making it home in time for dinner. It was another great week in the mountains.

Dave and Gayle Visit

Dave and Gayle came to visit Saturday, and we enjoyed a nice time with them. They spent the night because Dave was our guest preacher on Sunday. Following the service, we had lunch together before they headed home.

 The kids made a cozy spot with pillows and blankets.

Calvin Crest Week 1

FPC sent a number of kids to Calvin Crest for camp this summer. Since part of Joshua's pastoral responsibilities include working with the youth, he reserved a room in Cedar Lodge for part of each week that we had kids up at camp. Mary, David, and I were excited to go up with him on Tuesday. We enjoyed all the lupine blooming.

The kids loved hiking around and especially enjoyed finding bridges and checking to see if there was water flowing underneath.

Wednesday morning, we enjoyed some time at the playground.

Then we set off on a hike.

We hiked all the way to Gethsemane Falls where Mary and David got to take their shoes off and play in the water.

They liked throwing sticks in the river.

After lunch, we met up with Joshua to have a treat.

Then we stopped by the craft condo and strung beads on lanyard to make fishing poles.

Another morning hike Thursday.

Photo: CC

We had a grape snack on the pad in the afternoon.

 Camp wrapped up Friday, so we got in one more hike before packing up, having lunch, and heading down the mountain.

Fourth of July

We had fun celebrating the Fourth of July, starting on the third with watching fireworks from the Nickells' front yard.

We let the kids stay up late to see the fireworks, and Mary loved them.

David liked them too, but didn't manage to stay awake for the whole show.

The next day, we returned to the Nickell house for swimming, dinner, and festive desserts. David enjoyed eating most of the tomatoes that Michelle picked from Heather's plants.

 We decided one late night was enough for the kids, so we returned home before they set off fireworks, but the neighbors across the street had already started when we got home. They shared a box of Pop-Its, and the kids had fun throwing them in the street.

Pregnancy So Far

This pregnancy has been different than my previous two. For one, it's the most anticipated and in that sense very exciting, but I'm also the most impatient to be done and holding our new baby. That's probably partly because it's been harder than the others. The normal first trimester symptoms started much earlier, around five and a half weeks, and lasted the rest of the trimester and into the beginning of the second. Thankfully, those have mostly cleared up by now since I'm in the happy and mostly comfortable second trimester, although I still occasionally have periods where my heart pounds and races and it makes me lightheaded almost to the point of passing out (but I haven't, whew).

When I was pregnant with Mary and David, I wanted noodles all the time. This time noodles haven't had the same draw and at times sound unappealing. During the first trimester, I wanted peanut butter and applesauce all the time. The applesauce has waned a bit now, but peanut butter still sounds good all the time.

We have also had more ultrasounds than before, which has been fun since it's exciting to see the baby. With both the kids being older than Mary was when I was pregnant with David, there's a lot more anticipation from them as well. Mary is very interested in the baby growing inside me and when and how it's going to be born and what it will do once it is born. She and David spend hours taking care of baby dolls, including fake crying so they can comfort them. It's fun to see them share in our excitement of welcoming this new baby into our family.