This Weeks' Doings

Today is Will's birthday; however, I will wait to post about that until his birthday is over and I have all the stuff put together.
So, this is what we have been doing:
Ben was at Arrowhead (a Boy Scout camp) for a week. He had tons of fun. We went there on Friday for family night. The weather turned out to be pretty nasty- thunderstorms. The family campsite was kind of lame- in full view of both the lodge and the parking lot... but the rest of the camp was great. I was (and am) so jealous. Archery, BB guns, swimming, canoeing, stuff like basketry and first aid...
So we got back on Saturday. Dad said we made record time in packing up camp. We reached Rolla (from Arrowhead which is right next to Springfield) by ten o'clock in the morning.
That same day we went blackberry picking at the Strongs'. Well, we only berry picked for twenty minutes because Ben's allergies were bothering him, Dad was having some sort of reaction, and Marcus was a bit crabby. We got half a bucketful of berry and I am going to make blackberry crumble pie sometime this week.
We played in the Strongs' creek for quite a while, and I got tons of pictures. I wish we lived by a creek (well, we do live near the one next to the second-busiest street around... but I don't think that counts). It is so calm and peaceful...

Rocks

Nick trying to get onto a hammock

So peaceful and uplifting...

Wading

Searching for crawdads

Another nature scene. I bet this creek gets really bad flash flooding, though.

Going back

Um... this picture is of the fence that our new neighbors are setting up. One thing good about it that I can see- the boys won't be climbing up those pine trees again. Our next door neighbors planted a little garden with three or four saplings right up against the side of the hill and the guys who are building the fence just plowed right through their garden. You can't really see it properly from this picture.

Will set up some dominoes the other day. Watch the movie to see them fall |
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Ohh... I just watched that. Sorry that you only get to see half of it fall. My camera has a bit of a delay.
Yesterday Erin Hamacher had her piano concert. Wow. She really knows how to play! She will be majoring in music in collage, and no wonder. She is great. It was neat to see so many of our friends from the play there.
Today was Vacation Bible School. I was crew leader. It was good. We are learning about the Luminous Mysteries of the Rosary this year, and today was about the first one, The Baptism of Jesus in the Jordon. Will didn't go to VBS today. He said he didn't want to on his birthday.