we joyfully headed to st. louis for the week to attend the annual vacation bible school adventure (this year, "crocodile dock") as we have for the past eight years since moving to kansas! austin, emily and brett were all "leaders," assisting some of the preschool groups, while coleman, abby, hannah & hampton (yeah...she got to go this year) soaked up new songs and bible knowledge! woo hoo! we enjoyed intermittent pool time and friend time, in addition to some sick time...yes, apparently hampton transported a highly contagious bug (from kids day out i am guessing) to our dear friends, the behlmann's home. eek! oops! sorry! we operated at roughly 50 percent all week, as one by one, each child was infected with the illness, which included severe nausea, headache, sore throat, fever, and rash. oh the joys of motherhood! motrin, sprite, salt rinses and hand sanitizer were consumed in large quantities throughout the week! every year, the kids and i trek the ground linking kansas and missouri to enjoy good old friend time, and every year, there is at least one catastrophic incident! crazy as it sounds, we keep on going back! during lapses of the illness, the kids enjoyed singing, dancing, swimming, kona ice, wii, crafts, car washing, s'mores and funnel cakes...all traditions, and god forbid we decide to cancel any of those! we visit the behlmann family in the summer, they visit us in the fall...like clock work! it is crazy to think that i have been friends with kim, who i met in graduate school, for over sixteen years! we celebrated the births of each of our seven children, who remain great friends to this day! i feel so blessed to be able to share the time, despite the fact that some years tend to be a little bit on the crazy side! watching the kids sing the songs at the end of the week with actions is priceless! what a joy it is to their true love of god shining through! thanks for the memories, behlmann fam!
