First day of Summer!
I sit here hours before our first open house begins, and I reflect on our Summer of 2010. My little chickens have been spread far and wide this Summer. I don't even know that I would call it a Summer. School let out the last week of May and begins again next week (August 4th). I just wanted to post pictures of the fun that was had by all!
We made our yearly trip to Methodist Annual Conference in Jackson. This is the few days that parents swap roles. Daddy becomes the Pool Patrol and Mama attends meetings.
This year was different in that a day into the meeting we took Sarah to Magee for send-off. She left for Honduras with Paw-Paw, Mrs. Lou, Emily, Ashley, Aunt Lanelle and a group from Magee. This was Sarah's first plane ride and international trip. She had a blast and got off the bus stating a return trip for next summer.
Sarah,Aunt Lanelle, Ashley, Mrs. Lou and Emily
Sarah and one of the many children she met in Honduras
We got Sarah back the next week in the middle of the night. We stayed up with Julie and her girls hearing all about their ventures in Honduras. What a blessing to have a group of teen girls who had seen the world from the eyes of another country! We washed clothes while we visited and began to repack Sarah.
Mary Katherine had stayed back with our church to ride to Mosaic, a week long mission in Long Beach. We let the girls sleep in then gathered Sarah and her repacked suitcase and met Russ & crew in Hattiesburg. Sarah and MK were off for a week of local missions on our MS Gulf Coast. This ministry started after Hurricane Katrina and our church is still apart of the continued rebuilding process there. The girls love to participate in the work and retreat of this week.
The Orchard crew at Mosaic
We skipped a few weeks and enjoyed a family vacation to Atlanta (see separate post).
It was finally time to send Trippe and Wynn to Camp Lake Stephens. This is a place that is dear to my children. We normally go in June and this Summer just demanded that we wait. Trippe and Wynn met friends at camp on Monday. Mary Katherine and Sarah helped me get them settled in. Back when I would take the older girls to camp and Trippe & Wynn were young, we had a tradition to dry the tears. Trippe and Wynn hated leaving their sisters and I drug them back to the car with promises of ice cream. We drove a few miles down the road to get Baskin Robbins each time- the treat of those who had to return home. Well this year the big girls didn't really cry, but they remembered all the years they missed out on ice cream.
Trippe and Wynn had a blast! They returned with many stories of laughter, song, swimming, zip lines, and camp outs. They also returned with chiggers and a few ticks. You know you have enjoyed camp to the fullest when you itch for the following week!
Philip & Sarah returned the following Saturday to retrieve the younger ones while I dropped MK at the high school. She left for a week to attend Brevard Running Camp. Yes, we actually paid money for her to run twice a day in the mountains all week. She is on our THS Cross Country team and actually enjoys running. MK learned that post run soaks in a cold, natural stream is wonderful. She learned about goal setting, and that she likes to run where their is no MS humidity.
XC Brevard Running Camp 2010
We gathered MK the following Saturday. We washed her clothes and repacked she and Sarah for a three day trip back to Atlanta with the church youth group. They spent a day at Six Flags. On Sunday night, they attended youth at Northpoint Community Church. The girls enjoyed the time with their church friends and returned exhausted.
Orchard Youth at Six Flags
Now, all the chickens are in my basket! I am currently preparing to attend the first of our school open houses. To answer your question, even after all the crazy trips and washing loads of laundry, I'm not ready for Summer to end. It has been a blast!
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