Whatta Lotta VBS Camp Week

The boys attended a week-long bible camp at Salem Grace Nazarene church. They learned different bible stories throughout the week, had fun activities, and took a field trip each day.  They were also raising awareness and money to help children of needy families attend school, by supporting a chicken coop project. For the field trips, they went bowling, to a gym, jump park, had a water day at the church, and swam at the city pool. The following Sunday, they performed songs they learned throughout the week.

The first day of camp, Caleb came home and said that he has a cousin in his class. Turns out he does and his name is Carter Purcell...there are a lot of Purcell's in Salem! They had a fun time together throughout the week and we were glad he made a new friend.

Doing some activities in the gym.

Benjamin made a friend named Weston and they played together all week long.

These boys love to swim ;).

Benjamin's class

Caleb's class

All the kids before their show on Sunday morning.

I took minimal video because both boys stood there like a deer in headlights during the show, but the kids did a really nice job. And a big thanks to all the leaders and coordinators who taught our kids about the bible, and for the really fun week!

4th of July

We had a fun and festive 4th of July this year! We started the day watching a parade at a nearby town.

The boys received lots of candy from the people in the floats...counting their goodies!

Afterwards, we visited the Veteran's Memorial at the community college.

We ended the evening with fun activities, ice cream, and fireworks at the city park.

And finished the night at home with sparklers. It was a fun 4th and glad we could experience it in true US fashion this year!

Neighbor Friends

The boys have enjoyed meeting other boys that live on the street, and playing and riding their bikes outside together.

 And they love the girls across the street, Tina and Bella, who have known both boys since they were born. Benjamin especially likes to be with the girls, and will ask them to come over to play in the yard any time he sees them outside.

St. Louis Science Center and Planetarium

Betty had the month of July off from work, and Mark has a flexible summer schedule, so we took several fun trips during the month. First stop was the St. Louis Science Center and Planetarium. This cool statue was at the entrance to the planetarium, and it was called looking up - quite appropriate. 

The boys have been wanting to visit a planetarium for quite some time, so I was glad we finally got the chance to go. This was the only picture I took inside of Mark and the boys in the best seats in the house, because we were not supposed to take pictures. It was a really good show - they talked about what we would see in the sky from St. Louis that night, to include 5 planets ( Mars, Venus, Mercury, Saturn, and Jupiter) and the constellations. We all learned a lot and enjoyed the show, and that night I think we spotted all 5 of the planets in the sky!

Afterwards, we walked over to the Science Center. The boys went last time we came, but this was my first time. It's a really nice museum and lots to see and do. The kids built an arch out of blocks. It definitely required tall adults help and was hard to do. They had equally as much fun knocking it down afterwards :).

These machines are always a hit...we had to drag them away.

The museum has a discovery room that you get tickets to visit for an hour, with all kinds of hands-on exhibits for kids.

They even got to build their own straw propelled rockets.

Caleb was happy to get a scorpion necklace, since that is the mascot for their school in Jordan.

It was a really fun day together.

And ended with dinner at chick-fil-a...always a winner!