Such a fun time today at out Bug-a-boo’s party.  It was at my friend Charlotte’s pool.  The weatherman called for a 50% chance of rain, but they did get in well over an hour of swimming before the lightning started, so we were thankful for that.  By the time we did cupcakes and June opened presents, it was about time for the party to be over anyway.  Lee’s mom Bennie brought these watermelon cookies to the party.  They are SO cute.  The daughters of someone she works with open a bakery every summer to fund their mission trip to Haiti, so she brings these.  They are yummy, too!

The party animals:  in front are Adam and David and Kelli’s baby Estelle.  Second row are Charlotte’s granddaughter Brenna, Clara, Millie from softball, Katherine from June’s class, & Katherine’s sister Emily.  Back row are Charlie, Eva Kimrey from church, June, Mase, and David and Kelli’s Landon and Ragan.  It was a good bunch and a good time.

This past week has been the Salkehatchie Camp at our church, when kids from around the state come in and sleep at the church, and work on home repairs for a family in the area who needs them.  Evelyn is the camp director – she has been a huge proponent of the program since she went when our kids were teenagers – but I have never been to a site where they were working.  Yesterday on my lunch hour I took snacks out to them.  It was in Hickory Grove, so they have quite a ways to drive every day.  I was so impressed with the great work they were doing. I mean they had replaced floors, added a room to the back – just unbelievable.   This is the only picture I got – Evelyn and one of the homeowners.  I think she said his name was Tony.  He lives in the house with his mother.  What a reaching out this is to these people.  They are being Jesus’s hands for sure.

Thursday night Lindee and the girls went with me to the Charlotte Knights game – a client from work gave us tickets.  The stadium is as awesome as I remembered it – right downtown in Charlotte, with a killer view of the skyline.  Afterwards, as is becoming our tradition, we headed across the street to Romare Bearden Park, to check out the fountains.  The girls had fun playing in the misters AND the fountains.

Clara took a picture of her mom and me in front of the fountains.  It was dark so it’s a little grainy, but it was a fun way to end a good evening.

What a good day I had yesterday!  June and Mason got here at their regular time, and we got everything ready & headed over to pick up my friend Sherry and her grandson Will, and went to Lineberger Park in Gastonia to check out the Splash Pad.  Kelli Gilreath had told me about it when I saw them at Addie & Lee’s the Fourth of July, and sure enough, it was great.  We splashed, at the picnic lunch we brought, the kids ran all over the fields up near the picnic table, and we finished up our day on the playground.  Great fun.

Then soon after I got home Lindee, Emma and the girls arrived, & we went to the Daniel Stowe Botanical Gardens to take in the Corpse Plant.  It was bizarre looking, but had actually finished blooming – it only lasts about 48 hours – and therefore wasn’t nearly as stinky as it would have been earlier, I don’t think.  We did get a couple of “good” whiffs.  They also had extended the Zimsculpt exhibit for another week, so we got to check it out.  We had loved it when we were there last year, so that was a pleasant surprise.  Clara’s favorite sculpture was The Eagle – of course :-).  What a good day.

Sunday we got up, had another great breakfast Renee and Zollie cooked over the fire, and broke up camp.  Then we headed to the picnic area where we were to meet Lindee & Jackson, who were coming up to help haul the kids back home.  The kids got a small introduction to bouldering, which they all enjoyed.

We also got a chance to check out the homestead area, which was very cool. Several old buildings had been moved in from around the area, and it was very cool seeing them and having Lig give us a tour around it. Just a great, great way to end our awesome weekend.

We found the wild ponies when we went hiking that morning. Awesome.

Saturday morning of our camping trip dawned bright and clear – but the same could not have been said for the night before.  The kids’ first camping experience was in the middle of a thunderstorm, complete with lightning and torrential rains – talk about baptism by fire!  They all did great, though, and we woke up to wonderful, though very, VERY windy morning.  Renee cooked scrambled eggs over the fire and biscuits in a dutch oven.  It was great.

We didn’t know it when we chose this date for our campout, but it was Grayson Highlands’ 50th birthday celebration on Saturday. They had all kinds of awesome activities that we all enjoyed. We started the morning with a hike led by a re-enactor of the original inhabitant of the area where the park is located, and when we came down they were having a demonstration of pioneer cooking.  The kids got to help – here is Adam shucking corn.  What a great day to be there.

Later that afternoon, as part of the celebration, Olivia led Field Games in the field right next to our campsite.  She had all kinds of balls and hula hoops and sidewalk chalk for the kids – and adults – to play with, but the biggest hit hands down with our group was the multi generational kick ball game.  The players ranged in age from about 2 to senior citizens, and they had a ball.  It was just a great, great day.

Friday we left Clover about noon to head up to Grayson Highlands State Park in Virginia, where Olivia is working this summer as an interpretive ranger. Zollie & Renee had set up this weekend for the kids & I to come camping with them. What a wonderful time we had! Only Adam had ever been camping at all, and I haven’t been in decades, so it was a brand new experience for us all pretty much. Olivia had the kids help her set up the tents.

We pitched tents & fixed supper. Zollie taught the kids how to make foil packets of potatoes & onions, & we cooked those on the fire, along with hotdogs for supper, and then headed to the big Friday night campfire that they have every week. Sometimes Olivia does the program, but this week was another Ranger’s turn. She told about the history of the park, and really of the whole area, and just talked about the different things the park has to offer. It was a really good program. And then most importantly they had the makings of somemores. Yum. What an awesome way to kick off our weekend!

Today Charlie, Adam, June, and Mason were here at the house, so we decided to head over to the Museum of York County for Wonderful Wednesdays.  Today the program was No Bones About It, about insects.  Our kids are big bug lovers, so I thought it would be fun for them.  It was good, but in all honesty we spend a lot of time out in the yard and woods collecting bugs around here, so it was maybe less exciting for them than for kids that don’t see that many.  Here they are, though, with a magnifying glass checking out some of the inhabitants in the garden.

We came back to the house, ate lunch and took fat naps, and then spent the afternoon – between bouts of playing outside – making Spiderman cheesecake. Here are the strawberry Spidermen we made to go on top. They weren’t nearly as professional looking as the pictures we’d seen, but the pros surely didn’t have any more fun making theirs.