Lake with the Bolings

We went to the lake with the Bolings this past weekend, and had an absolute blast! BJ is an old friend of ours, and if I weren't prone to believe that God is sovereign, I would give him credit for my marriage to Ryan.  He and Katie have been married for 3 years, and sometimes I get freaked out by how similarly she and I shop for groceries and think of...well, lots of things! She is so fun to hang out with!

On Sunday we ended up going to Clemson for a bit, and eating lunch at the Pot Belly Deli. Even though it was really hot (hot as in why are we-dragging-our-young-children-around-outside-BJ-crying-for-someone-to-carry-him kind of hot) we had fun reminiscing and dreaming of, at the very least, bringing our girls to games.

Ever since we were 16, BJ has been an old man. He asked this weekend, "What makes me old?" Because, BJ, you say things like "nuttier than squirrel poop" and bring fuzzy slippers to an overnight at the lake.  But both BJ and Katie had a way with the girls, and within a few hours Kate was helping BJ steer the boat and calling him "Uncle Beej".  At dinner, BJ told Kate about an ancient Indian map that supposedly led to buried treasure...and that night after bed, he proceeded to distress a sheet of parchment with tea, fire, and crumpling and drew a map for the treasure hunt. And Kate did find the treasure: An old jelly jar rim. Bravo, Old Man.

BJ taught Kate 2 new tricks. Magic hats for treasure hunting.

 Thanks for the cookies, Katie!

Chunky Legs and Fanny Cheeks...

Camping with the Osborns

Our friends, Philly and Elizabeth Osborn, are in Greenville for the summer. They have been studying for 2 years at New Tribes Mission in Roach, Missouri. God has given them a heart to teach unreached people groups, and they have been pursuing this road since we met 4 years ago. They are anticipating serving in the highlands of Papua New Guinea. We LOVE having them come to Greenville on breaks, and always look forward to chances to hang out.

So, Ryan got this crazy idea (and I did confirm, it was Ryan's and not Philly's) to take our families camping to spend some time together. I had to overcome my trepidation about the heat and sleeping conditions for the girls, and once I did I was excited to try and be adventurous. We camped at Paris Mountain, figuring that was the most likely place to set ourselves up for success, and if anything were to go wrong (ie. inconsolable child) then home was no further than a 30 minute drive. It did take Nancy over 3 hours to go to sleep, even with Benedryl. Belle was asleep in 30 minutes, with minimal amount of crying. Bravo.

Our neighbors were all in giant campers with names like "Intruder", and most of them had tiny dogs and tvs inside. We, on the other hand, roughed it with tents large enough for pack and plays, hangers for roasting marshmallows, a water filter, and French press. I was expecting Elizabeth to bake bread from scratch over the open flames, which is what I was under the impression they were learning to do at school. She told me I was mistaken. 

Like most men, Philly and Ryan love fire, so we ate an exorbitant amount of breakfast just to give Philly the chance to play with the fire longer. Then we went for a hike with the kids, where Kate fell at least 3 times. She was so tired of it herself, the last time she fell she yelled "OH NO!!! Not again!!! I am so tired of falling down!!" 

The Burns family, ready for naptime.

Belle, creating her own naptime.

Philly showing Kate how to filter water.

Dinner's on the table.

"That's right. Asleep at 11pm, up at dawn. Who's really in control?"

Summer 2008 Playgroup

This summer was our first time in a playgroup, and I don't know who enjoyed it more - Kate or myself! Five moms and 13 kids....it is surprisingly calm most of the time, and no blood (yet, we still have a few more before school gears up).

These are some pictures from a few weeks ago when we rode George the Train at the Pavilion. Missing are the Keevers (at the beach) and the Taylors (under the weather). 

 Thanks for the tickets, Ashley!

Hannah

Elijah

Joanna Espinosa and Sender

The group

guess....

Ashley Mozingo and Evan

Clara Mozingo

Carson Mozingo (twins!)

Smoothies for All!

It's a hot day...and we ran out of peanut butter. What do you eat for lunch if it's not PB&J?! So in an attempt to get some dairy and fruit (and fiber, thanks to flaxseed) into ourselves, I mixed up some smoothies. Strawberry-Banana, of course.

"Mmm. Nummy!"

Mommy was hungry about 30 minutes later...

A New Era

It is the dawn of a new era for the Burns Household. We have joined the rest of what seems to be the entire world and have gotten a new computer and DSL. I saved my hard-earned money from calligraphy jobs to buy our computer. What should we name it?

Within one week, Nancy has discovered the fascinating visualizer on iTunes. She gets very sad when her viewing time is cut short. Kate prefers to spend most of her time on the My Little Pony website, watching webisodes of DVDs we already own. And I have horrible Pony songs in my head when I wake up in the mornings.

Now for all of you, far and near, who have never laid eyes on our children, here they are:

Kate will be 5 in August.

Nancy is 17 months old.

More to come.....