Phoenix, PJ, and Ariel's trip to the Lake

The morning after completing week two of serving at Harlow.  I think Phineas and Ferb were definitely not ready to take on the day.  

However, the time for sleep and slumber quickly came to an end as it was time to take the three ladies most instrumental to our girls' successful Harlow week on the boat with us.   Tess (aka PJ), Kimmie (aka Phoenix), and Micaela (aka Ariel).

Mikayla was all smiles having these three ladies on board with her.

A classic shot of Brayden singing while boarding.  We had to get a new board as the other one literally fell apart.  This one's a little more "squirrely" but helpful in pulling off more tricks.

Like this - an actual jump over the wake.  WAY TO GO BRAYDEN!!!

Nice wipe-out, buddy!

Traig's turn.  The water was so JUNKY!  Because an toxic algae alert has been issued on the nearest lake to where we go, so our little Cottage Grove Lake became very crowded on this particular Saturday.  A bunch of crazy drivers, white-cap water....not the best conditions for sure.  But, the company couldn't be beat.

Micaela has had lots of experience wakeboarding.  She's a natural.

Kimmie is the boarder who refuses to go down.  She has a lot of experience snowboarding and you can tell by her tenacity on these waves.

Tess' turn.  Unfortunately, she never quite got to the point of gliding along the water.  We would have let her try endlessly, but she eventually just ran out of grip strength to keep going.

Tess has a huge issue with seaweed...wouldn't you know that it would be on her run that it would wrap itself over the rope.

Tubing time.  Definitely the better option with water this cruddy.

The kids' turn.  Look at Brayden and Traig's expressions.  They were kind of like that all day, with rare moments of smiles mixed in.  They weren't grumpy, just out of it.  We called it "Harlow Hangover".

They asked for the opportunity to flip off the back....which then turned into wrestling and then trying to ride it in different positions.

Back to the ladies.  

It was such a fun day with these gals on the boat with us.  They were so happy and delightful together...it just felt great to be around their joyful spirits.

  
We capped the day off with a trip to DQ, eating our ice cream treats in the boat in the parking lot (another new tradition).  A GREAT DAY!

Hangin' in Dallas

I'm really not in the mood to blog right now, not really feeling the inspiration - but upon looking that it's been since Saturday that I've put a post up, I feel obligated.

Plus, sometimes my absence means I'm in bed with headaches, and I just want to assure any family I haven't chatted with lately that might be avid readers that that is not the case.  Just lazy. =)

Brayden and Traig are both serving at Camp Harlow for their second of three weeks as Counselor Apprentices.  These boys were made for this role....though it is tiring for them and stretches them, they are so happy at Harlow.  Just awesome.  Tonight they get to spend the night out there after staying for a staff-only worship-filled campfire evening.  It will probably be one of their favorite nights of the summer.

Meanwhile, I'm hanging with the girls up at Michele's house.  Michael does come home in the evenings, and Baxter the puggle is constantly at my side, so we do have a little bit of testosterone mixed in.  I drove up with Mikayla early yesterday and it is just such a welcome retreat for me.

 It obviously hasn't been such a drag for the girls either.  This afternoon we took a bike ride to pick blackberries (just had my second helping of the resulting blackberry cobbler....so good!) - and then ended up at aLimeberry - a franchise Fro Yo store that just opened in Dallas.

The girls have also spent a lot of time doing this.... Anyone out there remember these?  The original "Fisher Price Little People"?  Michele and I ADORED these toys as kids.  Of this collection you see in the picture, about half are ones we played with and the other half acquired through Ebay.  They will never be gotten rid of!

The other project during our stay was creating Ombre Tie Dye Infinity Scarves.  The idea came from this Pinterest pin.  I'm really excited about the end result.  The girls enjoyed the project as well.

Finally, I have a question for any readers wanting to respond.  Lately I've been presented with a lot of scenarios in which a person is grieving.  Whether it is for a loved one that has passed away, a child who is suffering, a life that will never be what it could have been, or a very broken heart from a relationship being severed - plenty of folks shedding lots of tears over their loss.   I feel like I'm able to share my own rough times and how I've gotten through, can offer tangible options for day-by-day coping, and have plenty of resources to suggest - but wonder if there's more (beyond praying for the individual) that I might be missing that could be essential to helping others move through their grieving.  I'd love to hear any thoughts any of you have on this.