David and Emma have completed their swimming lessons for this summer! The last couple of weeks have been busy taking them to and from swim classes. Emma had her first year of swim class. It was similar to David’s first year in that we had to get her over the hurdle of putting her head in the water. After the first day of swim class Andrew and I practiced with her in the bath tub. After several minutes of severe protest and tears, we finally coaxed her into sticking her head in the water. They call it “catching a bubble” in swim class. Honestly, I had to force her to lay on her stomach, counted to three, and then pushed her head under. Leading her to think she did it on her own, after a couple of times she was ready to show her swim teacher what she could do. After that first terrible evening, she did great, and had fun. She doesn’t really “swim” yet, but I’m confident that she will by next year if David is any proof.

David had a great year of swim lessons, completely different from last year. It’s amazing how kids change in a years time! He did so good the first day of swim class that I got a call saying they were going to move him up to the next class! What?!?! He now swims just about as good as myself.

David also turned seven on Thursday!!! WHAT?!?! Sniffle, Sniffle, How did my baby get so big?!?! We spent his birthDay swimming. A friend of ours has invited us to use their pool whenever this summer, and we are very grateful for their generosity and happy to oblige! 🙂 The kids had fun swimming, and a McDonald’s picnic lunch was a special treat!

We had David’s birthday party Saturday. David wanted a Pokemon party.  Surprise, surprise! I did my best to throw him a memorable Pokemon birthday party! 🙂

Here are a few pictures of our Pokemon party! We had Jigglypuff Puffs, Bulbasaur beans, Tehpig berries, Charmander Chips, Pikachu pizza (not pictured, sorry), and Squirtle Punch for our menu. I also made a Pokemon Birthday cake! David requested a confetti cake, and so I went searching for a confetti cake recipe. I ended up using Sally’s Baking Addiction recipe for confetti cake.It turned out really good!! Super easy to make, just remember if you want a double layer cake to double the recipe! A few weeks back I ordered the Pokemon applique, and applied it to the top of the cake after frosting. It was the first time for me to use one of these, and I loved how easy it was to use and it looked great!

We had two party games that I prepared. Pin the pokeball on the chart, and a scavenger hunt. The pokeball game was easy enough! 🙂 The scavenger hunt took a little Pinterest research, and putting together, but totally worth it! It was a hit and everyone had a great time! We made a Pokedex card, and then hid the poke characters around the yard. The kids then marked off the characters on their chart as they found them! So Fun!!

We had a family party with grandparents, cousins, and Aunts and Uncles, and Chris and Laura our adopted family.😉 We had a great time visiting with everyone! Here are a few pictures!

We decided to have a drive in service at church today! This is a big deal!! We have really missed physically going to church. While this is still not as good as gathering in the sanctuary, it felt a little more normal in that it made us get around and out the door this morning. I stole this picture from a friend on facebook, but I couldn’t help it. I love this picture, this man! He did such a great job this morning, and I’m very proud of him and all his hard work. This social distancing has been especially hard for him. Not being able to hold worship, visit the sick, etc. has been very tough on him. He sure is good looking! I’m allowed to say that about the preacher. 😉 His birthday is this Wednesday! I look forward to making another cake! 🙂

Our garden is doing fantastic! We have cucumbers everywhere! Our peppers and tomatoes are also doing great!  We had these with our lunch today! Nothing says summer like fresh tomatoes and cucumbers!

Happy summer!

Love,

PK