Thursdays are turning into my favorite days of the week, or maybe the days that I look the most forward too lately. The first Thursday of July held much excitement as my mom, sister, three sister-in-laws, and their kiddos traveled out to see me. Most of them had never seen our new house, but I think the kids explored every single room within the first minute or two.
I figured with thirteen kids, an organized activity may be in order. In the picture below, here they are oldest to youngest, getting ready for an obstacle course that I created. Of course, they were all anxious to participate when they heard that there were prizes. I find that bribery can be a useful tool in certain cases.
The obstacle course actually kept them entertained longer than I thought it might. Later on, the kids slurped down some popsicles.
My two oldest nieces, Corinne and Lexie, got to spend the night with Nate and I. I love that they are in the crafting stage right now. It was enjoyable to come up with fun things to make. I hope that there are more craft days and sleepovers with Aunt Han in the future, but anyways...
we filled mason jars (see picture below) up with gumballs and decorated them. The lids are made to hold pictures, cards, ect.
We also made chapstick.....
and friendship bracelets.
We watched a movie, ate popcorn, and even went to bed at a decent hour.
The following day we went to the park for a while.
Next was the pool, which was very chilly.
Despite the cold water, Corrine still braved the water slide.
These two girls were a delight to have, and I am thankful that we could create some fun memories together. I appreciate all of my family who made the effort to visit Ohio. It always means so much.
Today I tried my obstacle course out on a more advanced group. I had eight girls over for lunch. Most of these girls are from Latty and Junction, and we are all virtually in the same stage of life.
There is not much to throwing tennis balls into buckets, pinning doilies on the clothes-line, ladder golf, or throwing frisbees into a fire ring, but when you put all of those together and throw in a stop watch, it can get serious.
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| Angie was all gung ho for my crazy obstacle course idea. She ended up being the champion! |
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| Bekah said "no pictures", well of course that made me want to take pictures even more than before. Here she is finishing up the challenge with the frisbee toss. |
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| I would hate to play Laura at this game. She has it down. |
It was refreshing to have some "girl time." Guess what? I found out that I am not the only woman on the planet that can be moody at times or who might let emotions get the best of them. Well, I actually knew that, but it was nice to hear it again as we all shared some of our "moments" around the lunch table.
I am so blessed to have such a great group of girls to go through life with. Most of us girls have married husbands from other churches, and it is nice to have that similarity, as it is not always easy to uproot and become rooted in a different area. We actually represent four different states now that I think about it. Thankful that we have each other, and I look forward to seeing how our relationships grow in the future.
I love my visitors!!!
