Lake Time

Thanks Kittleman family for having us for the weekend! Pictures tell the story....

Let's TRI

The 13th Annual Kids' Triathalon was held yesterday. I noticed that I sometimes tri to make up for my childhood weaknesses (in this case lack of athleticism) by getting my kids involved in things that might have been difficult for me. There's got to be something Freudian about that. So despite the fact that I am completely wacking out my children, I am proud to say that they participated in the event along with the Streeter kids and cousin Hallie.

Here are number 68, 69 and 71 (niece Hallie was 70).

We learned a lot about how triathalons work including an education on "transition areas." This is Luke's square.

First, the kids lined up at the pool. The cool thing about this triathalon is that they started the kids at 10 second intervals instead of all at the same time.

He woke up crying fat tears this morning: "I don't WANT to do a triathalon," (see I AM mentally messing with my kids), however, he was so excited to jump into the water at race time!

Hallie and Ellie during the biking portion of the race.

Luke headed to the finish line!
They all crossed the finish line! Woo Hoo! You will be glad to know that I was rational enough to allow them to participate in the SHORT course instead of the LONG course, and that the SHORT course was truly that - SHORT. 25m swim, 1/2 mile bike ride, 1/4 mile run. Maybe the damage is minimal!

They were all smiles after the race and Ellie said with satisfaction, "THAT FELT GREAT!" I smile because of all three of our kids, she is most like me. Her weakness is probably athletic ability. Hmmmm. Maybe I AM doing something right after all.

Everybody who finished got a medal on stage. They didn't even hand out 1st, 2nd and 3rd places. How's that for increasing everyone's self esteem?

My proudest moment though? After Luke finished, he spotted a little girl walking by herself through the running portion of the triathalon. He sprinted over to her and encouraged her, "You can do it! Let's run!" Luke crossed the finish line for a second time, this time with the little girl by his side. That was cool. And it made me feel a little better about my parenting abilities. ;-)

The Last Sliver of Summer

Gotta Go to Gilcrease

Gilcrease Museum, that is.

Ok, so the kids weren't jumping up and down frothing at the mouth to do this summer field trip.
However, I would say they had an enjoyable day despite the thought of going to a place where you cannot run and yelling is out of the question.

At Gilcrease Museum, they do their best to make this adult experience friendly to kids.

My favorite things about Gilcrease?

1. Free to children under 18! 2. The Artifact Room where literally thousands of artifacts lay in drawers under glass. Kids are free to pull out the drawers at their leisure, and my girls enjoyed typing the number that accompanied the artifact into one of the 16 computers in the room. This allowed them to find out information about that artifact, such as place found and time period. This room was a big hit!

3. The Western Wing - I am in love with Western Art. I can't help but let my teacher side jump out.... "so, kids...." I ask in a sing-songy voice, "what do you think is happening in this picture?" When I can actually get their attention focused on a scene, I love to hear the wheels turning inside their heads. Just take a look at the detail in this one titled "Breaking Through the Line" by Charles C. Schreyvolgel. Wow!4. Frederic Remington - In the Western Wing sit several Remington bronzes that are just fabulous. Each one tells it's story, and let me fill you in on the time Luke first saw the sculpture below. **It was last summer, and he was just 5 years old. This one is called "Last Drop" and I didn't get a very revealing shot of it, but it's an old cowboy offering his hat to his horse. Inside the hat is the precious "last drop" of water that he's sacrificing for his beloved animal. Luke was touched by this sculpture, so much so that he cried quietly for about 30 minutes and talked about it for a whole year. He didn't have any tears left this summer, but we revisited the sculpture and had some more great conversation.

5. Please Touch - Even though most of the art is definitely HANDS OFF - they do have the occasional sign that encourages "please touch!" Fun for little hands. (but don't think we were touchin' the one below!!!) 6. Kids Zone - though this room was a meat locker, (I was freezing!!), it had some great things for kids to do. Here they could create their own impressionistic picture.

7. I Spy - You can pick up these backpacks for kids.... they hold free activities that the kids can use throughout the museum. Most of it was unrealistic for us - too involved, but one cool thing was a card that challenged the kids to find certain images throughout the museum..... not an entire painting, but maybe a bird in a painting or a certain element of a sculpture. This got the kids excited and focused.

8. The Arts and Crafts Room - at the end, we converged on this free experience, where the kids were able to choose from about 8 different and fun activities. 9. Childhood Memories - my parents took me here growing up!

10. Gets us out of the house and enjoying a cultural experience!!! You can make it through the museum part in less than an hour - and the kids stuff probably lasts about an hour too. That with the half-hour one-way makes it a good 3 hour outing for us. Then we go hit the pool, culturally enriched!

Big Fun in a Small Town

First came Tahlequah and now Thomas.

It was so funny.

In passing, while the kids were having lunch, I mentioned that oh... by the way....we'd be going to Thomas to visit the Wilsons in a couple of days.

YAHOO!!!!!! WHEN? HOW LONG ARE WE STAYING? YEEEEEEEEEEEEAHHHHH! WOO-HOO! CAN'T WAIT! LET'S GOOOO! I had to silence the masses. They were out of control with anticipation of our three hour drive to the town with not even a stoplight.

There may be no traffic control there, but what they do have can't be found in the city limits of where we live.

Open lands.Payton and Brennon.A different way of livin'.A backyard garden that resembles the size of a football field.
Sweet corn right off the stalk.Witnessing the earthy birth of strawberries, melons and a host of veggies.Larry.Enormous tractors regularly sharing the road with my now rather small-feeling SUV.The driver of the tractor offering my kids a ride in his country drawl: "Ya'll kids wanna ride on our fertlizer spreader?" (see Luke below along for the ride?)Friendship that digs down into my soul.

The smell of freedom.

Stars that seem to cut beams straight down to us.

The echoes of God in your heart.

That's why we go to Thomas.

And you better believe that we'll be going back!

Kanakuk Family Kamp - Day 7

Day 7 consisted of a breakfast farewell, during which we watched our cool Term 2 video and after which we took about a thousand, cheesy pictures.

But this is the only photo I am going to post for the last day.

Because THIS is what changed Tom's mind.
Well, maybe it had something to do with the amazing-zipline-cool-ropes-course-good-food-airconditioned-rooms-amazing-beauty-sports-oriented place we were in.

But on the drive home... I asked him... what did it for you? What "converted" you, so to speak? Because though on day 2, I still saw shades of skepticism, by day 4, I could see that not only had that vanished, but it was a replaced by a genuine enjoyment and engagement in these places and these people.

His answer? I want my kids to be like those kids.

Even though he may not tell you this (he is the strong, silent type), I will tell you that Tom developed more connections and relationships than I did! As we were walking out, it was Tom giving hugs and high fives way more me. He saw in those Kanakuk counselors and staff qualities that he admired, and respected and their interest in serving the families at K-Kauai was fantastic and unique.

The picture only serves to drive home his point.

Would we do it again? Absolutely. Just wish you could go with us next time!

Kanakuk Family Kamp - Day 6

This was one of the highlights of the week. At breakfast, a congo line of kitchen staff comes out singing this crazy song about "Magic Orange Juice." The girl in front is holding a tray with a coconut in the middle. Then the counselors stand up one by one and say these hilarious things like "One time I drank magic orange juice, and you know what happened? I got into a staring contest with the statue of liberty and I WON!!!" Needless to say, Luke and other kids his age were WIDE EYED at the hilarious tales they were telling. Here comes the fun part. They announced that one person would be able to drink magic orange juice if he or she had a sticky note under their chair. Guess where it was? Under Luke's chair! So he got the coconut full of yummy magic orange juice, and got to stand up on stage while everyone sang and clapped. This picture is a recreation; I didn't take my camera to breakfast on Day 6. Darn! The funny part is that a big rain came through that morning. A hard pounding rain with lots of wind. Later, after the rain had cleared, one of the counselors asked Luke, "Hey Luke, what did magic orange juice help you do?" "STOP the RAIN!" he responded without missing a beat. Everyone got a good laugh out of that.

Ahhh.... just as we are getting comfortable and have found our groove, the week is winding down. This is our final full day at the K-Kauai, and it began with praise and worship at The Reef. Praise and Worship time is one of my very favorite parts of the week!Kami sat by her sweet friend Kristina.And Luke and Molly became great friends the last couple of days!
But the challenges were not over! It was free day, so we rushed over to Diamond Head for one last shot at the ropes.
Kami climbed the ladder to the platform and took a flying jump at the trapeze (see the tiny white matchstick looking thing?) She didn't catch it, but I was proud she tried!
The game room became big for the kids towards the end of the week. Whereas at the beginning of the week, we kind of accompanied the kids everywhere, by this time, they felt comfortable going by themselves. We may join them later or pick them up on the way to dinner.
Day 6 was school color day. Here you see a mix of the Blue and Gold and Maroon and Black.
They called Night 6 Maui-Kablowie; it was a full night of Olympic activities deejayed by some of the funniest guys there. We had a blast competing in all the activities.
This could be the worst picture I've ever taken, but I had to include it because you can see the grand finale activity that Tom participated in... down a P, B and J covered with whipped cream and chocolate sauce and then swim a lap around the lazy river. Tom is on the left. The guy he beat is on the right.
The crowd reacts as Tom beats his competitors!!!! (with a Christian spirit, of course...)

Wow, we can't believe that tomorrow we are driving back home. We all stay out late and visit. We won't be sad until tomorrow.