Olympic Theme Activities

Joy planned Olympic events this year around the Olympics and immediately following to keep the spirit alive.  She got the kids together with Kim and her kids for some events such as straw balancing relays and egg shotputs among other things.  Later, she led a literature analysis course for the CC kids identifying five main elements of fiction.  After successful completion of the course the kids took part in Olympic events such as archery with a crossbow, frisbee toss, javelin throw, long jump, volleyball, water balloon toss, and hurdles.

I'm pretty sure I won the egg shotput, but of course I am the oldest and biggest.

How far do you think I can walk while holding this straw here?

I think the bend in the straw will be the key to my victory.

Could I win this race?

Hannah and I both have our Olympic torches.

Could this be a medal stand?

Coloring and drawing Olympic themed items.

Griffin and I (Bryce) are working hard at the bottom left.

Mommy leads the literature analysis class.

We are all listening intently.

We answered questions that we put together to form 5 rings, the Olympic rings.

Accuracy was at a premium when it came to the egg toss.

Joy Softball

Joy played softball on a womens' team this summer.  She figured she wanted to play and wasn't going to wait around for us to find another coed team.  Well the biggest benefit of this other than getting some pictures of her playing was that we got invited to play on a coed team this fall which has started up.  She was happy to get to play her favorite position first base.

We're all set up to do some work and watch Mommy play softball.

Mommy is up to bat, come look!

Mommy flies around the bases on her way to scoring another run.

Mommy is on second base and ready to run.

August 2012

August has been a fun month with a few things wrapping up and of course new things beginning.  We finished the summer, enjoyed a week of family camp,  and started school and soccer.  Brett took the boys camping with Eric and his kids (the 2 old enough to go).  We also placed our Star Wars stickers on our car to depict our family in order of age.  Everyone got to pick out their favorite choice.  We went to a Giants game as a family.  Brett and Joy completed their second sprint triathalon of the year.

Fun at the Beach

After we finished our week of family camp, we figured we were so close to Santa Cruz that we just had to take a trip to the beach.  So we drove the 30 minutes to the beach at the boardwalk and set up on the beach close to the crashing waves.  The boys built sand cities and fought with swords and played baseball in the sand.  We were hoping for a day of sunshine, but experienced a little bit of rain, mostly sprinkles to satisfy our craving for beaches and waves for the year.

I've built Mt. Boardwalk, or at least that is what I will call it.

It may be raining at the beach, but I'm still having fun.

Shall we play chicken with the waves?

Run away...

I'm gonna get you.

Attack position now.

Griff takes on Daddy, look out for his unpredictably hard swing.

Bryce prepares to charge at Daddy.

I've got my Obi-Wan pose, come and get me!

I can't get the sword back out of the ground?

Redwood Christian Park Family Camp

We returned to Redwood Christian Park in the Santa Cruz Mountains for our second year of enjoying a "land cruise."  Now if I must explain further, that means an all-expense paid camp that includes activities, childcare, and food (which is quite good).  We were joined this year by three families from our church which included Scott and Melissa (with Hudson, Taylor, and Rose), Darren and Jen (with Maddie and Luke), and Dave and Erica (with Jared and Rachel).  We were blessed with the old testament teaching on archeology and epigraphy which showed the evidence for the truth written in the Bible about Joseph, the Exodus, David, and Hezekiah.  Thank you Sandra Richter.  There was an Olympic theme this year and so we participated in a bunch of different events.  The three boys and Brett participated in diving board competitions which included cannonball, freestyle, and frisbee catching.  Brett was joined by Dave and Mike (and Kyle as a fill-in) for a gold medal winning 3-on-3 basketball tournament win over two of the starting frontcourt for the Truckee HS varsity team.  Joy anchored team yellow in the amazing race and took home the prize for our team competition there.  We all achieved gold medals in the area of Bible memorization with a verse each day

I am proud and excited to have a top bunk in our cabin.

Maybe I will get to sleep on a top bunk next year, I can play up here for now.

I'm up on a top bunk for the second year, I love my window ledge.

Daddy shows off his bottom bunk that he shares with Mommy.

Daddy shows his archery form.

I got one bullseye and totaled 30 points during archery.

I had my first year of eligibility in archery, it was fun.

Daddy dressed up as a sumo wrestler for his battle against Dave.

Ice cream sundaes during Olympic Village night.

Paint like a madman...whatever that looks like.

Daddy, can I jump off the diving board too?

Daddy takes a jump shot in warm ups.

Daddy's Rustoleum Team which included Mike and Dave.

Daddy controlled a loose ball.

We are the victorious yellow team, so we enjoyed some ice cream together to celebrate.

My new buddy Chase paused for a picture with me.

We both have older brothers and similar crazy streaks.

Daddy was a silver medalist in the diving board competitions

My favorite teacher, Maria, a sophomore at Boston College.

My new buddy, Eli, he likes Star Wars too!

We met our first banana slug.

We wanted to have a picture in Jesus' lap.

My buddy Luke and I had a good time playing together.