the rest of August 2014

Well, right now I just want to get caught up on the blog....so my words will be few...the rest of August was fun to be back home in Blue Bell and the heat and humidity of Pennsylvania. The drive home went surprisingly smooth. And we wasted no time getting back to fun activities here before school would start. We went swimming....this is is James with his swim bag...and super excited!

 

We went to the Please Touch Museum...

I had a great little backyard group recital and potluck. It was super casual, low-key and fun! These kids did a great job! I love my little students:)

And we finished off the night with some rousing games of "red-rover"...which ended in tears for some:( Sometimes boys have a hard time playing gentle enough with little girls;)

And then we got the awesome opportunity (thanks to the AWESOME Ellen Draegert in our ward) to go water-skiing on the Susquehanna River!!! Dream come true for me:) It was SOOOOO beautiful. Sam and I had to take turns on the boat since it was not big enough for 4 adults and 4 small kids (not to mention it would have been crazy!). And it barely got Sam out of the water as it was....but the long drive and the craziness of the day (trying to get Sam back in time for the Priesthood Session of Stake Conference or something) were all worth it! Pure Joy for me:)

 

This was Ellen's husband Tom...who is an amazing water-skiier and still holds his own at age 60-something! He loves it as much as I do I think...

And when I got up and started shouting for joy and couldn't wipe the smile off my face, he was pretty happy to have found a water-ski-loving-kindred-spirit. Ellen didn't quite figure out how to get a good picture with my camera while I was cutting...but here is the proof that I skied on the Susquehanna!

And here is Sam's proof. I had to take his picture from the shore....

while I hung out with these cuties and James. Love these adorable and loving sisters...

 

And only these 2 were brave enough to go for a little swim off the dock...

with daddy of course...

He is definitely the best dad in the world! And doesn't he seriously have the best smile in the world?!

And there's our friend Ellen, in the water with the kiddos....and she was Ben's nursery leader for a while too:)

Sam had to finish off with some showing off for his kids;)

 

 

And Sam and I got to go on a fun date with some good friends from our ward. We went to the Philadelphia Museum of Art on their "pay-what-you-wish" night...right now it's the only way we can afford to go....but it has some of my favorite art!

Another night at the outdoor pool, that has an awesome playground too:)

 

And then one last trip to the beach before school starts...

A bunch of people from our ward meet down at the shore a couple times each summer...it's always a fun time!

James thinks this is a cool idea now.....

but then he gets some sand in his mouth and his happiness quickly changes to disgust!

And this was LucyMae's amazing primary teacher when we first moved here...Terrie Bittner! And then Samantha got to have her for 7 months as well. WE LOVE HER!!!! And so do the kids! She moved out of our ward though:( and this was her last Sunday photo with the kids...

Big group hug!

And that pretty much wraps up August:)