Church at Camp

Traditionally, our family has camped overnight at Camp Mennoscah when our church has retreat there.  This year however, we had more important things happening on Saturday evening.  That didn't stop us from joining the fun on Sunday morning, though!  As soon as we arrived, the boys got busy with activities and Ben, my parents and I went into the kitchen to find cinnamon rolls and coffee. :-)  

Levi refused (emphatically refused) to get into a canoe.  He didn't care if the water was only two feet deep or that he'd be very safe with is parents in a canoe.  No, he wasn't going to have anything to do with being in a canoe.  He had a great time hanging out on the dock, though!

 Levi even busied himself with taking care of Delaney for a while.

 Time for church!  We had our worship service inside this year since it was pretty cool outside.  The kids had a fantastic time helping lead actions for the camp songs we sang at the beginning of our worship time.

(Thanks Megan for the three photos above!) After church we had more time to play and then it was lunch time!

Which was promptly followed by more time to play! Just as it should be when at camp for a day.  We headed down a path to get to a sandy and super-shallow part of the river.  We thought we'd play in the sand but I should have known

that the water would be too inviting to avoid!

Up the river they walked!

Levi was fearless walking in the river - I guess it's a much safer way to experience the river than a canoe....

Noah found a bottle and managed to get soaked from head to toe in the cool water.  Thank goodness the sun was warm otherwise we would have had more tears than we already had when it was time to get out of the water.

Somehow members of our family end up with barely any clothing on by the time we leave camp every year! Noah left wearing a t-shirt, underwear and tennis shoes and I don't even remember what Levi was wearing....maybe the same thing. :-)

Ring bearers for Mandy & Tony

My friend Mandy married Tony yesterday!  It was a beautiful day for a fantastic couple. It was a blessing to be a part of their wedding day.  The boys got to be ring bearers.  This marked their third time being ring bearers and thankfully it's gotten easier each time. Their first two weddings were outdoor and somewhat relaxed, but this time it was a formal church wedding.  The tuxedos certainly added an element of importance for the boys and they stepped into the role very nicely. Our friend Jenna was the flower girl - pretty handsome group, right?

 I was the wedding coordinator, so I had quite a few details I was tending to while also being the mom of the ring bearers.  Thank goodness Jenna's mom was willing to look after my boys too when I was too busy to do so.

The boys got dressed up for photos, then got back into regular clothes for a while and left to go play at Jenna's house and then came back to the church and got dressed in their tuxes again! 

 At least they like playing with the toys in the church nursery! :-)

 As the wedding got started the boys couldn't help but peek through the blinds to see what was going on in the sanctuary.

 Waiting wasn't the easiest thing to do, but they held it together pretty well.  And then suddenly it was their turn to go!

 The children stayed up at the front for a short while and then sat down with Ben and Jenna's mom Amy.  Then at the end, they walked out with the wedding party.

 Mandy and Tony left through a sea of bubbles.

 The Voth family did a family dance that was absolutely fantastic.

 The boys wanted to stay and dance but it was pretty obvious when the clock said 10pm that it was time for our family to go home.  It was a wonderful and fun day - congrats Mandy and Tony!

State Fair

Right after school on Friday Ben, the boys, my mom and I took off for the State Fair.  The boys count on going to the State Fair every year and it turns out that the older they get the easier it is.  The boys were on very good behavior the whole time this year and that made such a big difference.  

As always, we started with the animals. 

 The baby lambs in the birthing center were adorable.  We barely missed watching a calf being born.  We did watch as the newborn calf tried its very best to stand on its wobbly legs.  We also watched the mama calf get milked by hand.  I heard several women tell the cow she'd done a good job. Like Ben said, "Mom's know."

 Levi pretended to milk and found out it's harder than he thought.

 The variety of chickens and rabbits amazes me every single year.  And I think I chose a different favorite every year.

 The turkeys continue to simply astonish me.  How all of that red skin grows like that is just beyond me.

 This photo is from 2012:

This photo is from 2009: 

 After the animals, we made a beeline for the John Deere tractors.

 The train is also a highlight, and this year the boys opted to sit at the front right behind the conductor.

 We let the boys pick one ride on the midway that they wanted to ride.  It took some time to check out the options and then they both decided on this obstacle course/playground type ride.

 I love the lights on the midway.  There's something magical about it.
We also have to all ride on the Ferris wheel.

 I took blurry photos during the ride.  Noah was thrilled to be going up and then to stop at the very top, "Just like last year!!"

 My mom and I - who are both hopelessly wimpy when it comes to rides that take us up in the air (at all) or going faster than we can run (which isn't very fast).  My mom and I both had moments of feeling a little stressed while on the Ferris wheel and this photo proves it.

 However, we both quickly recovered and enjoyed the rest of the ride.

 We had a great time, ate Pronto Pups, fried cheese curds, cotton candy and ice cream.  The weather was perfect and  so were our kids.  The State Fair is full of seriously interesting people and it's a fun way for our family to put summer to rest.

Being productive with produce

We took the plunge.  We bought ourselves an applesauce maker.  Or that's what we call it.  I'm sure it has a much more technical name...but applesauce is what it makes.

 So, you cook apples and put them in the white bowl-type part, push them down with the red thing and then crank the handle.  Applesauce comes out the big slide and all the peels, core and seeds go out that tube like thing in the back.  Wow, that was an articulate explanation wasn't it?  :-)

 The applesauce maker made quick work of filling up our sixteen 1 1/2 quart freezer containers with fresh applesauce.  We thought about ordering more containers, but then decided that 16 containers of applesauce is probably enough for us for one winter.  So, we used the rest of our apples up by dehydrating some and by slicing and freezing others for later use.  A few of them may have found there way into the compost....

My washer and dryer no longer have pears ripening on top of them.  I canned (with remarkable success and very, very little stress) 8 quarts and 1 pint of pears.  I would have had 9 quarts but one jar broke in the canner.  Now my dryer just has cantelopes and sweet potatoes on it....

Fall fruit

Levi and I picked pears last week at my cousin Megan's house.  I'm still waiting on them to ripen enough to can them - even though some of them have rotten prior to ripening.  Weird.  I think dealing with fruit is much harder than I previously thought.

 We also picked apples at my aunt and uncle's house!  We filled our buckets and then got busy

 making applesauce (clothing optional).

 He proved to be an excellent helper for a whopping 5 minutes, but he was an eager helper for those 5 minutes. And the applesauce is delicious!