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August 18, 2008 -
This month's update is going to be a short one. We're leaving on vacation tomorrow and will be gone for about two weeks. Of course, everyone knows the night before vacation is the perfect time to work on a website, right? Actually, I do know that I'm being foolish once again, but it seems like I often feel the need to do stuff like this right before we leave on a big trip. Maybe someday I'll be all caught up on all my projects and I won't have to stay up late getting something done before a trip. (Well, we can always dream, can't we?)
The summer has just flown by - it hardly seems possible that it's almost over. We took a week of vacation around the first of June - turned out to be quite rainy and we forgot quite a few things as we took the camper out for the first time of the summer. It sure made things interesting when we had to light pieces of paper on the stove in the camper and carry it out to the firepit to start our campfire. :-) The one day it was nice enough to go boating, we got the boat in the water, only to figure out that we had left the boat key at home on top of the fridge! We went home and got it the next day and managed to get one day in on the lake - it was cloudy and the water was freezing, but we still had fun. While it rained we spent lots of time in the camper watching videos together, playing games (cribbage is one of our favorites), and reading some good books.
In June I went to a Handbell Festival up in Sioux Falls with three friends from bell choir. We had a great time and learned so much that will hopefully help us play even better this year in bell choir. It was funny to see how many people back in Chandler knew that we had gone out for supper at Texas Roadhouse one night while we were there. :-) Small towns...you gotta love 'em! The day after we got back from the festival, the four of us loaded up the car again and road tripped down to Lincoln, Nebraska to see a concert by the Raleigh Ringers from North Carolina. They were so awesome! If you ever have a chance to see them play, don't pass it up. They play extremely difficult songs (including rock and roll songs) and make it look almost easy. They were fun to watch and so friendly - after the concert they invite the audience to go up and try playing the many different types of bells they use.
A couple of weeks after those trips, I made a trip to Sanford Hospital in Sioux Falls - I spent a week there and had my gall bladder out. I'll save the gory details for an article in September (don't worry, they won't be too gory). All of the kids spent at least a week at Lost Timber Bible Camp (just a mile outside of town) and had a great time. Erin had the most fun - she spent almost a straight month there, just coming home for about a day on the weekends. She had a blast and learned so much as she helped with the two camps for 3rd through 6th graders.
I'd better get on to a little about each of the kids before I close this month:
Erin (15) - As I just said, she spent lots of time at Lost Timber. She enjoys spending time with her friends and is also a big help around the house. We missed her while she was at camp - I actually had to mow the lawn once and had to take a little time to figure out how to run the mower again. She'll be in 10th grade this year - still homeschooling. She's taken lots and lots of pictures this summer with her digital camera. In July she went to Rocky Mountain High in Colorado with our youth group - they had a great time and came back spiritually stronger, too.
Allison (14) - Allie had a fun week at Lost Timber in June. She still loves writing, reading, and drawing (not necessarily in that order). She wrote a story and entered it in our county fair and it won a champion ribbon and plaque! So fun to see that accomplishment! She'll be heading off to 9th grade at Edgerton Public School the day after Labor Day.
Blake (11) - Blake's been having lots of problems with sore feet lately, so we finally took him in to the doctor about it. Turns out he has "Sever's Disease" - not too serious, basically it's when kids are growing faster than their joints or muscles can keep up and they get pretty sore. Also, he needs shoes with better arch support and maybe some orthotics so that he can walk with his feet turned in more (right now he tends to walk with his toes pointed out too much). So, we'll have to get some new shoes soon. Other than that, he's been having a good summer - lots of fun at camp. He'll be in 6th grade as we homeschool this year.
Dylan (8) - He's going into 3rd grade as we homeschool this year. He's reading more on his own - I love seeing that happen! We're going to Valley Fair by Minneapolis tomorrow and Erin is reading me a list of all of the rides he can finally go on because he's tall enough. Boy, he's going to have fun! He still has a hard time controlling his emotions, but I see him doing better and better at that.
Well, I guess I'd better stop writing now and get to bed. My eyes are feeling sore and we have to get up pretty early tomorrow and head up to the amusement park. We want to get in right when they open at 10:00. We're hoping for a couple of weeks of great weather as we camp after that - first at a nearby lake and then at the LifeLight Music Festival in Sioux Falls over Labor Day weekend. We had a good time last year and are looking forward to seeing some great bands again this year. I pray that each of you reading this has had a good summer and that you'll be prepared for the beginning of a new school year very soon.
~Robyn
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