Neighborhood Parties and Train Rides and Walks

One of the kids in the neighborhood turned 13, so we had a little birthday bash for her. These are the kids Maddie and Savannah play with every day in the cul-de-sac...we love them!

 The kids had a water balloon flight!

 Savannah's first corn dog :)

 All the kids ate in the back of a pick up truck. You'd think we lived in the sticks!

 On our family day this week we took a train from DC to Baltimore.

 Then we walked to the water and ate ice cream for lunch!!

 Um, I think she's cute.

 Today we went for a walk with the Pinkleys in DC by the Tidal Basin.

We played London Bridges Falling Down!

 My girls.

We've had lots of fun this summer with Grandma Young, and we're sad to see her go back to Macedonia next week.

VBS at Immanuel Bible Church

This is my first year to see how Immanuel Bible Church does VBS....boy, they think of everything! The theme was "Thirsty: Get to Know the Living Water".  

Here we are early Monday morning listening to the craft instructions. I was able to help out in the craft room all week. It was so much fun!

 

Here's about 350 four year old to 5th graders that came to the morning for VBS.

Another 100 older kids came for the evening VBS.

Maddie and her group.

Maddie's in the line walking to each rotation (games, snacks, crafts, Bible story). 

   Miss Penny dressed up with the ocean theme. She headed up a craft room.

  A few friends that served at VBS.

My little Maddie and me!
Thanks Neal for capturing VBS all week!

Fresh Recipes

We've been blessed with home-grown tomatoes, zucchini, basil, and cucumbers this week. Several different friends have gardens, and we've reaped the benefit of their labor!

Here's a couple recipes I've made with the veggies.

 Bruschetta: tomatoes, basil, garlic minced, olive oil, salt and pepper, and balsamic vinegar. Chop and mix to taste. Drizzle olive oil and rosemary on bread and broil. Yum!

Here's a new recipe I tried, thanks to my friend's suggestion. 

Zucchini Cakes!

There's also the tried and true...

Zucchini Bread
Makes: 2 loaves
Beat until real thick and yellow:
3 eggs
2 c. sugar
1 c. oil
1 T vanilla
Mix:
2 c. flour
1 tsp. salt
1 T cinnamon
¼ tsp. baking powder
2 tsp. baking soda
1 T nutmeg
Combine the two mixtures.
Grate 2 c. green zucchini (don’t peel).
Add ¾ c. walnuts (optional).
Pour into 2 greased loaf pans. Bake 1 hour at 350.

Enjoy!

Dress Up Sisters

Here's some fun summer dress up that the girls have done in the last couple days...

 These two girls are the best buddies! Here they are all dressed up for the pool.

 The girls decided they wanted to get ready for the rain, even though there were no clouds in the sky!

 Savannah likes to say, "Cheese" when I take her pic :)

My little princesses!

One More Trip to the Lake...

This past Monday we drove up to the Drums Lake House and spent the day with them and the Pinkleys. It sure was a fun-filled day! Bethany spoiled us with delicious food and Dave took us out for a good time on the boat.

The Pinkleys had all the kids in the front of the boat. 

 Maddie loved going out on the raft (I think Sarah did, too)!

 We got a little air! Maddie loved it. Jesse said she was all smiles! We did this several times and Jesse said it looked like I was going to do a backflip off the raft. We stayed in and kept our sunglasses on :)

 Savannah got a turn.

This is Savannah-style air!

 

Isaac and Maddie fished a bit.

 Naomi and Savannah were twins.

So thankful for my friend Sarah!!

Camp Johnson

This year we decided to give Maddie a camping-themed birthday party. We had a great time! Maddie has made quite a lot of friends (all ages) since we moved here! Thanks to Laura Leach, we have photos from the evening...

I can't believe she's 4!!

Here are the kids decorating their wooden birdhouses! 

They got really into crafting with glitter glue, markers, and stickers.

Maddie is really into crafts lately...can you tell?!

Next we did a scavenger hunt! The kids each received a bag with 15 items they needed to find. Things like a creek rock, a stick for roasting marshmallows, trail mix, grizzly bear (gummy bear), high five from Maddie, etc.

Jesse helped Maddie find everything on the list.

It was so fun watching everyone run a round the yard!

Savannah cheered them on!

It was a pretty warm evening, so we needed to wet our whistle :)

Thanks to GiGi some kids ate dinner at our new picnic table. We had hot dogs, BBQ pork sandwiches, watermelon, potato salad, and chips.

Maddie and Tadum :)

Others ate in the tents we set up!

Papa fed Sissy

"Happy Birthday To You..."

For dessert we had "dirt cups" and s'mores.

Here are the kids firing it up!

 

 

     

The dads enjoyed themselves, too :)

Isaac really liked his s'more!

     What a fun-filled night we had!!