Millennium Falcon Almost Done

David has just 10 steps to go to complete this project. He is on step 123. What a good summer break rainy day activity.

Baseball Ends

Halfway thru summer break already!

Baseball season ended last week and the Baierls are happy to have a few non rush out the door evening meals.

It was a good season. David's league switched to kid pitching this year. Most of the players experienced a bean ball or two when up to bat from an inexperienced opposing team pitcher. For the most part all the kids adjusted well to the new pitching style.

David pitched the second to the last game of his season. He had an all time baseball high experience that game.  He struck out 3 kids in one inning. I could see his smile from the bleachers. 

Caleb and Nathan's last 2 games were canceled due to extreme heat.  They were ready to be committment free for a few weeks.  They didn't seem to mind. Both of them really enjoyed their coach
this year. 

We have put the cleats away till next year. Now to the BEACH!

Cherry Pickin

Not the fruit, cherry picker; this one is the machine.

John rented this machine to do some work on the house and trim a willow tree.

The boys enjoyed a "ride".

Hot Summer Days

The summer weather has finally arrived with all it's heat and humidity. 
David and I have been enjoying an indoor activity to beat the heat.

Here is the half way point on the Lego Millennium Falcon.  We work about an hour each day and have really enjoyed this project so far.

Here is a few pictures of our status:

Jenny's first 5k

Turning 40 wasn't that big of a deal. That is what I keep telling myself.  In order to prove it, I trained for a 5k.  That is 3.12 miles for those who don't know. 

Now I was never in track or anything but I decided my goal would be to run it all with no walking.  I used the couch to 5 k program and downloaded the android app to be my training guide.  In 10 weeks I went from not be able to run more than 3 min straight to running the whole 3.12 miles without stopping. 

I couldn't have done it without my buddy Cassie. Knowing I would let her down if I quit helped me keep training for the race. I may not have been the first to finish, but finish I did We ran the whole course and I enjoyed the journey. GOAL! It was the best to see my boys at the finish with their home made signs. David ran the last 250 feet with me telling me "You are going to do it mom!"

Crescent Lake Bible Camp

This is the first year all 3 boys were able to come to Bible camp. 

Since Caleb and Nathan were grades k-2 John and I were allowed to accompany them as parents.  What a great time to have the whole family at Bible camp together.

Our weather hasn't been the best, but we have enjoyed some archery, boating and a gew fun trips to the canteen.

The second night it thunderstormed and all outside camp activities were  closed.  The staff brought all age groips into the dinning hall and we had a 2 hour square dance.

When this was announced you could audibly hear all the 11-12 year old boys groan.  But in about 15 minutes we had 60 plus kids dancing the Virginia wheel.

I had the best time ever dancing with my oldest son. We totally messed up our first time as lead couple but soon got the hang of it. John got a bit of video that I hope to upload here. What a feeling to be asked to dance by your son in a room full of his peers who are "too cool" to dance. I was smiling ear to ear.

Strawberry Pickin,

Our van is really getting old and is well used.  We just got it back from the mechanic and finaly had the freedom of wheels again.  Whoot Whoot!

I have been waiting for wheels to get to the strawberry patch for some jam berry pickin.

It has been raining almost everyday for so long now. Finally our opportunity came when I had a working vehicle and it wasn't raining. So off we go and boy were we dissapointed.

I have never had a bad experience picking strawberries, until now.

The field was flooded.The berries we over ripe, waterlogged, and molding right on their vines.

It was such a disappointment. Oh well, maybe we will need to buy store bought strawberries to make our jam this year.

It helped me realize just how many good years of strawberry pickin we have enjoyed.  It never occurred to me that we would have anything but the best of the best.