Mt. Hermon Is...

-Our favorite place in the whole wide world!

-Powerful worship and challenging speakers (this year we were honored to be in the audience of Luis Palau for the week!)

-No meal planning, cooking or dishes as we eat around big round tables with our families in the dining hall.

-Listening to the brook bubble under our little cabin in the woods during rest and night times.

-The heavenly scent of pine trees that rolls in your car windows as soon as you start climbing those hills.

-The brightest stars and moon seen anywhere.

-Getting all cuddly in a sweatshirt in each morning and evening's brisk air (and knowing it's about 90 degrees back home!)

-Campfires and goofy sing-a-longs.

-An emotional end-of-the-week outdoor communion service.

-Crazy counselors and a day camp sooo fun, my girls couldn't wait to get rid of me!

-Just enough down time to sink into a fabulous book.  This year I read this one, mostly on a bench in the sun.  It was lovely (the book and the sunbath!).

-Beach Day, Train Day, Redwood Canopy Tour Day and the End of Day Camp Program (stories coming soon!)

-Getting to see and spend a bit of time with Daddy, who is just up the hill at high school Hi-Camp.

-FELLOWSHIP WITH FRIENDS that is so rejuvenating it has us hugging in tears in the parking lot when the week is over (even though we'll all see each other at church tomorrow.)

-Time with good friends, Beth, Allie, Nathan, Phil and Teri.

-Watching my girls enchant everyone and get majorly loved on.

-Sleeping all together in the big bed with our legs twisted up like noodles.

-Roasted marshmallows and s'mores!

-Late nights playing in the field house and then group night caps at The Fountain Ice Cream Shop.  New for us with older kiddos this year!

-Hiking to the waterfall then wading and throwing rocks in the creech.

-Ponderossa Pines, Coastal Redwoods, King Squirrels, and Banana Slugs!  Things God created just for Mt. Hermon that can be found in abundance on any nature hike.

The VM Family Shadows

Gonna take a little blogging break, but I'll leave you with one of my new favorite family photos. Cool, huh? See ya next week!

Tinkering

Pardon me while I attempt a blog make-over. I've been noticing that new advanced design options and template choices are now available right through Blogger. It seems these new templates might take a step forward in terms of word processing too, so I'm gonna give it a try. Not sure about this new look, but it's midnight...time to log off and go to bed! Opinions anyone? Keep it? Change it back? Try something else? (You name the background and they probably have it-- even windmills and tulips!)

The Graduate

Tonight Ella put on her first cap and gown and collected her first tassel! The Kid's Praise preschool program was as adorable as always. Ella did a lovely job with her "Amen, Praise the Lord!" solo and performed each of her "Behold What Manner of Love the Father" dance steps with precision (her favorites being the finger twirls!). She marched across the stage to the announcement of all three of her names to accept her preschool diploma and shake her teachers' hands. And Delia accomplished something worth mentioning too-- sitting still and quietly watching the kids for over an hour! She was absorbed in the singing and clapped enthusiastically. It's hard to imagine Delia in these programs next year and Ella in the audience with us!

These achievements called for nothing less than some celebratory milkshakes at the local ice cream shop. We're proud parents yet again!

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HAAAWKS!!!

He grew up going to games with his dad, so Dave was beyond pumped when his favorite team of all time, the Chicago Blackhawks, won the Stanley Cup tonight-- a hockey victory he's never seen in his lifetime. We made a special night of it with a pizza picnic and a later bedtime. When that last overtime goal was scored, insanity broke out in our house. There was the usual cheering, high-fiving and dancing...and then of course the perfectly normal "reenacting of the cup hoisting." Ella and Delia wanted to star in the role of the Stanley Cup (aka "the big fancy trophy") and had to put on their own performance of being carried out by the guys in gloves, lifted, kissed and passed. Dave's been having fun teaching his girls about hockey through this playoff series. With the help of You Tube, Ella and Delia and I can also sing two new songs, the "Here Come the Hawks" old team introduction song and the "Da, Da, Da, Da" Chicago goal scoring song.

Here they are celebrating that second goal:

Ella was even lamenting the fact that she can't technically say she's from Chicago, as her parents can. Or perhaps being awesome because you hail from Chicago is genetic? :)

"One Last Fun Day"

This week Ella will attend her final 2 days of preschool. One special thing the Star (5 year old) Class gets to do is take an end of the year outing together. I liked getting to go along as a parent helper. Miss Jenny reminded us parents that over the past 2 years friendships have formed among our children. Now each child is headed in a different direction to a variety of different kindergartens. We were told to give our kids the freedom to have "one last fun day with their friends" and enjoy watching them interact. This advice to observe was in fact the best part of my day-- seeing Ella skip around holding hands with her girlfriends, sit cuddled up with them on a train ride bench, shriek with buddies on the slides and playground and listening to her converse and tell goofy jokes with the other kids in our van.

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Ahhh, Summer

fountain park * watermelon * swim days * Mt. Hermon * popsicles * veggies from the garden * the smell of sunscreen and chlorine * family vacation * Dave home at night * flip-flops * the hydrangea blooming * walks to get ice cream * campfires * later bedtimes and lazy mornings * birthdays * boat rides * corn on the cob *

Cherry Pickin'

What a strange May we've had, weather-wise! The fact that it was cold and rainy all the way into Ella's birthday is pretty unheard of. Unfortunately for the farmers, it really messed with their cherry crop. Fortunately for us, cherries are at rock-bottom prices and practically being given away. Today we went to a local U-Pick and came home with several pounds.

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Is your mouth watering? Yep, they are just as juicy and delicious as they look!

The girls love love love cherries. We actually paid the farmer extra than what we weighed in because Ella and Delia may have very well consumed a whole pound themselves in the orchard!

I'm a fan of these white rainier cherries-- sweet and less stains on the kids' clothes. Ella heard us talking about them and said, "Where?! Where are the reindeer in the orchard?" No reindeer, but Dave did see a 6 ft. long gopher snake!
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We're gearing up for some serious cherry eating in our house over the next few days!

Spreading the Lego Love

A few weeks ago we got to take care of Jonathan. Because I know he will be otherwise roped into playing his un-favorite "Prince and Princess" or "Bride and Groom" when he comes to our house and because I know he loooves them, I pulled out a 10 year old tub of Legos from a box of my old 5th grade classroom stuff. The few hours he spent with us were filled entirely with Lego creating. And Ella was hooked. The following days were spent making houses and cars with this exciting new toy. I asked Amy why I never thought to unpack the Legos? It just didn't occur to me that my girls would also looove this toy!

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So, it was a thoughtful treat when Jonathan, Grace and Amy stopped by to drop off Ella's birthday present today and stayed to play a bit. Pink Legos! Ella immediately snapped together an ice cream restaurant and an ice cream truck. She is currently cuddled up in her princess tent playing "People Buying Ice Cream" with her new Lego creations.

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What a great toy with so many enriching lessons built into it. (Spacial reasoning! Math! Following directions!) What a great new way for Jonathan and the girls to bond! Thanks, Friends!

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Now, THAT'S a Tutu!

Birthday = all new favorite toys and dress-up!