When Meg turned 10 we started a little tradition of taking a special trip. So, about a month after Nate’s birthday, Erik took him on a fantastic Lead With Character Civil War battlefield tour.
Artillery at the Battle of Sharpsburg
Bird flew out of this cannon and hit Nate!
Surveying Gettysburg… Round Top in the distance
Morning exercise, gun display at Washington & Lee University
Stonewall’s grave
Transportation, full of snacks & soda, all you can eat/drink, no moms.
During Spring Break we went on a one-night camp out near Unicoi State Park.
Meg and Nate took a wilderness survival course all day Friday…
...while Erik, Kate, Caleb, and I went biking and playing in a stream at Unicoi.
After a pizza dinner and mini-golf in Helen (we’re not really foil-packets-over-the-campfire types)…
…we set up camp. The next morning we had breakfast al fresco…
…then went back to Unicoi to let the kids play on the beach for a few hours, while we read in the sun.
A good time had by all.
(not necessarily in chronological order)
Magic Show
Lost. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .and Found!
an artfully arranged Mother’s Day snack
“Hello. Need any cleaning done?”
homework time
a list-maker after my own heart!
The celebration started the weekend before Nate’s birthday with a visit from Grampy and Grammy. Why, oh why, can’t I seem to get a picture of them when they visit?! They gave Nate the baseball backpack he’s been wanting, and got to see one of his games on a beautiful spring day.
March 19: Good morning birthday boy!
Hobbit Legos!
A field trip (concert) with some favorite pals.
Early family birthday dinner and cake, then off to the ball field for a night game, with Pappy and Mema cheering in the stands.
Due to a full spring calendar, we had to schedule the big friend bash the following weekend while Erik was traveling. Thankfully Mema stayed to help with the party: a sports-pizza-movie-sleepover extravaganza with lots of friends. (I think she spent five hours straight following the boys around cleaning…supper…cake…wrapping paper…popcorn…)
No real theme this year, just a hex-bug cake and a “nano” as a favor for each friend.
After the Hobbit, “The Best Pillow Fight Ever!”
And eventually, a little sleep for everyone.
Happy birthday My Buddy! It is fun to celebrate you—one of God’s good gifts to our family!
In March, Erik’s grandmother passed away. I think one of the last energetic trips she took, before her health and mobility began to decline, was to our wedding in 2001. Our family visited her a number of times over the years, but the kids and I got to know her in only a limited sense. It was wonderful to hear everyone remember and honor her at the memorial service with stories of her many wonderful qualities, gifts, skills, and interests, and her faith in Christ. The photo above shows her husband and most of her children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren. (Not pictured: a son who passed away several years ago, an adopted daughter, two granddaughters who live overseas, and two great-grandbabies—daughters of those expats.)
