Thanks, Karen and Jim!

Henry, Seth and Caroline spent this week at Grandma and Grandpa Nosek's. They went to Vacation Bible School and were able to play, play, play with their cousins, Anabel and Nadia.

Dave spent a few days at home working on some projects and enjoying a little peace and quiet.

And Evan and I spent a few days at my sister and brother-in-law's house, where Evan was able to play, play, play with his 1 1/2 year old cousin, Robbie. They totally spoiled us, cooking the most delicious dishes (and fabulous mojitos) and taught me how to make them. My sister and I were even able to steal away to a lunch together when her mother and father-in-law watched the boys. We watched movies, talked and relaxed. It was very special to me to spend that time with my sister and her family. I love you guys!

I'm excited to see Dave tonight, and the kids tomorrow, and to have everyone together in our house again. Its only for a few days though. My mom and I are driving to Texas on Tuesday to visit my other sister, Lisa and her family. (UGH--14 hours in a car with 4 kids!!) Poor Dave's on his own again. :(

I like Robbie's house!

Evan and Robbie have been having a fabulous time together for their cousin sleepover. We've been at my sister and brother-in-law's house since Monday morning, and have been playing non-stop, except for the occasional naps. We've been doing most of our playing inside, as it has been unbearably hot outside. The temperature reached at least 100 yesterday. Ugh.

Most of the time when my sister and I get together, we don't get to really talk much, as there's always so much going on with the kids. Its been wonderful to have this time to hang out, talk, and enjoy our babies together. The kids have even gone to bed early both nights, so we've had the entire evening to relax and laugh with my brother-in-law, Jim.

We took the kids to an indoor pool today. Robbie was a little hesitant at first, but by the end he was loving it! Evan was jumping in the water, blowing bubbles and put his face underwater a few times. He was having a ball.

Here's a few pictures:

Robbie enjoying some milk, and Evan enjoying his new favorite, water with ice.

Robbie lounging poolside, playing with his belly button.

Evan lounging in their backyard, where he proclaimed, "I like Robbie's house!"

Evan, living it up at the mall :)

Happy Father's Day!

First of all...I love you, Dad, Dave and Denny!

After a fabulously fun Father's Day full of boat rides...
trampoline jumping...
sliding...
aiming...

and shooting...
we sent Henry,
Seth and Caroline off to spend the week at Grandma and Grandpa Noseks' house for a week full of Vacation Bible School with their cousins.
It was odd just bringing one child home tonight. He was sad to see them go, and asked about them for the first ten minutes of the drive home. Then, the action-packed day, the Berenstain Bears and the quiet of the car lulled him to sleep......with him probably dreaming of his "vacation" with his cousin. See you tomorrow, Robbie! (and Karen and Jim!)

Friends

When Dave left for the camping trip, I gave him our camera and told him to take as many pictures as he could. I was thinking that he might come home with 30 or 40 pictures. He came home with 5. Ok, so he had a few other things to deal with other than my picture cravings, I'll give him that. :)

Fortunately, my friend Kathy sent me a few more today. (Thanks, Kathy!) I love this one...these 3 boys have been friends since Kindergarten.

They're back, safe and sound!

Henry and Dave arrived home around 5:30, and wow, were we glad to see them (especially Evan as he's been wondering where they were)! I gave them both a great big hug, and then we all plopped down on the couches where we debriefed them. :)

Henry was talking about a mile a minute, describing, as he called it, "the scariest night of my life." (That being said, he did NOT want to come home early today. He actually wanted to stay another night!) Henry was very brave. After the lightning struck, Dave went out and helped with the 2 men and 1 boy that were hurt. (The mens' legs were temporarily numb and paralyzed, and the boy was unresponsive.) Henry stayed in a tent with his good friend, Grant. A few minutes later, one of the other dads brought Grant and Henry to the shelter, where Dave soon joined them. The shelter was actually a public restroom, and after things had calmed down, some of the counselors spread blankets on the floor and the boys actually fell asleep there for a little bit. Henry said it was pretty clean and big, but he was still, as he said, "freaked out" that they slept on a bathroom floor.

When the storm stopped, they went back to their tent, and slept the rest of the night there. Actually, only Henry did, as Dave was dealing with a flooding tent, a mind racing with the possibilities of what could have happened, and an extremely noisy calling bird. Dave figured he might have only slept about 10 minutes. Poor thing!

A sweet, little story...When Dave and Henry were in the tent trying to go to sleep after the storm, Henry said to Dave, "I'm glad that I have such an awesome Dad." Dave replied, "Aww, thanks, Henry. I'm glad that I have such an awesome son!" Henry said, "Thanks, Dad!" Apparently, Dave couldn't resist...He replied, "Oh, no, I'm sorry, I was talking about Seth!" Thankfully, Henry gets his Dad's sense of humor, and they both had a good laugh. :)

Here's a link to an article about the lightning strike:
The Chronicle | Batavia youngster, two adults OK after lightning struck their campground

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Update on the lightning strike

Apparently the lightning struck a tree right by the tent, so that the people in the tent felt the surge. Other people felt the surge too. One of our friends was laying on a rubber mattress, but because he is tall, his feet hung off the end. The surge traveled from the ground up into his foot and leg. He said that his leg was numb.

Dave called me to tell me that they were heading home, that they had canceled the rest of the camp out. He also told me that they were only 3 tents away from the lightning strike. I am anxious to hear more when they get home this afternoon. Dave said that Henry has a lot to tell me.

It will be VERY good to have them home safe and sound.

Bottom line...they're all ok.

Thank God.

I got a phone call from Dave this morning. There was a big thunderstorm at their campsite last night. Lightning struck a tent about 20 yards from Dave and Henry's tent. The scout in the tent was found unresponsive, and his Dad couldn't feel his legs. (This was the same campsite where another scout was struck by lightning a couple of years ago. Looks like they need to change up their policy for severe weather.) There was one more person in the tent, and I am not sure what happened to him. But by the time the ambulance brought them to the hospital, they seemed to be ok. Everyone at their campsite was rounded up and brought into a shelter. When Dave called, Henry was still sleeping, as they obviously did not get a lot of sleep last night. Dave said he was very brave.

I'll update when I hear more news.

Taking pictures

There have been many times in my life where I haven't taken enough pictures. This would NOT be one of those times. :)

When I go through a period of time where I'm not taking pictures, I feel a lot of guilt that I'm not doing enough to capture memories, and sadness when I look through my albums and there are bare spots representing time periods that I've missed. I usually think, "Oh, I'll take some pictures later," and then I wind up not taking any for days or weeks at a time.

Since I've started this blog, I have been inspired to pick up my camera every day. I laugh at some of the things that I am taking pictures of, but I truly am so happy that I have these pictures. Everything is so fleeting, especially kids' childhoods. Along with all of the tiredness and frustrations that goes along with young children comes a lot of happy, sweet times. I just listened to Trace Adkins' song, "You're gonna miss this..." , and I know I will.

A side effect of all of the picture-taking I've been doing is that the older boys have become a bit camera shy. Although I have to say that they've been getting better as of late as they've been reading our blog and love reliving their adventures. My photographing has had the opposite effect on Caroline. When she sees me with a camera, she is CONSTANTLY asking me to take a picture or video of her. :) She's a bit of a ham.

So, tonight after dinner, we headed to the school park, and of course, I started snapping pictures. The results? Nothing too extraordinary, but I'll treasure them just the same.