N and J were super excited about all of the adventure that came with sleeping on a boat. I, on the other hand, was super surprised when I saw how SMALL our cabin was. At first glance, I was really worried about how in the world we would get everyone to sleep. But it really wasn’t a problem at all. Everyone was always tired from the days activities and welcomed the rest! N and J’s beds folded out of the wall, on top of ours. SK’s pack and play sandwiched in a corner.

We loved our excursion days to the beach. N especially loved discovering the underwater kingdom of snorkeling for the first time.

J and I had taken a picture in this same hammock a year and a half ago when SK was in my tummy. It was fun to be back with her again, and to celebrate the gift of her life by taking a picture in the same swing. Oh, much has changed in our lives in this short amount of time!

There was also much fun to be had aboard the ship as well.

There was lots of dancing, each night at dinner. Some moves, I wish  my kids hadn’t learned…ha ha…namely the ones that go with the song “how low can you go” ahem. Lots of booty shaking goin on! As you can see in this picture, N and J dancing and a booty!

The 40th Anniversary couple!

My favorite picture from the trip:

What an all round fun time we had. Thanks Nane and Dede for being married for 40 years and for inviting us to celebrate with you!

We all had tons of fun.

J and A’s nonstop action was a force to be reckoned with!

N had a blast as well but I must say that, hands down, SK had more fun than anybody! She was ‘one of the big kids’ and was proud to do everything they did. She even sat at the kids table and wore a mask with her best bud.

By the end of the party, she was absolutely loopy with sugar and the sheer fun she had experienced.

They were so ‘PUMPED UP’ after the party, that they came home and re-arranged the furniture to make their own PUMP IT UP in the living room! They jumped around chanting “The cake tastes better if you yell PUMP IT UP” which was what the girl who ran the party told them and they wholeheartedly believed her.

Actually, two parties on the day before daylight savings was a beautiful thing. The kids were so exhausted that they all slept in, accounting for the extra hour the next morning. So, of course, we were early for church again and took our usual Sunday morning picture.

If anyone wants to plan their child’s party on the day before daylight savings next year, count us in!

I know, I know, who dresses their 16 month old as a belly dancer? I was shopping in Turkey 2 weeks ago and couldn’t resist. Actually, I was gonna resist but the friend who I was shopping with talked me in to the purchase. She even contributed a little toward the cause. Peer pressure. I’m thankful for friends who push me to live a little instead of being practical all the time. SK looked so cute and seeing how proud she was of her outfit made it SO worth it!!

Of course, the Ninja’s favorite part of the night was getting to scale a wall to save a princess while alligators slowly swam in the moat below, waiting for one slip to end his act of heroism….Well, not actually.

If you asked Rapunzel what her favorite part of the night was, she’d say “playing with friends” Such relational beings, we girls! With friends like these, who could go wrong?

Where else do you get free cotton candy! N and J began counting down the minutes until Halloween from the moment they got out of school that day. And, the fun of the evening didn’t disappoint!

My favorite part? The friendships they’re making along the way.

The next morning, as I got ready for the day, I began to think of ways the Lord could provide and pray about them. It went something like this, “Lord, could you allow my sister’s husband’s brother-in-law’s uncle to loan us his condo in Florida this summer?” Fat chance.  Then, my amazing encourager friend Staci’s face popped in my head. Just the day before she had signed an email with “isn’t it just like God to do abundantly more than we ask?”  I immediately prayed, “Ok Lord, I’m giving this vacation thing to you. Surprise me. I’ll stop trying to plan out how you can provide.  I’m asking for abundantly  more! I wait with excited expectation to see how you’ll provide.”

I went to the kitchen to make breakfast for the sleepy heads that were beginning to emerge from bedrooms. As I was waiting for the kettle to boil, I noticed the mail, unopened on the counter, from the day before. I absent mindedly flipped threw it and made a trash pile and an open pile. There was a nondescript envelop with my  name typed on it. Trash pile. Probably junk.  Just before I threw the pile away, I thought twice about that envelop and pulled it back out to open.

It was from an unclaimed funds service. They were writing to say that they had found a significant sum of money from my previous employer in my name that I hadn’t claimed. The letter stated that if I allowed them to recover the money, they would take %10 and I could keep the rest. My first thought was that it had to be a scam. After many phone calls, research and prayer, we decided to send my information to this company and wait to see what happened.

In the mean time, we realized that this check would be the  amount we would need for a vacation. Would God really be so generous as to have the money waiting on the kitchen counter, even BEFORE I asked? We began to dream of what we could do the following summer, if the money came through. We found ourselves on the Pine Cove website and I cried when I saw the video trailer of a family sitting around a table for a meal and the counselors setting fully served plates in front of everyone.  At that moment, I knew this was the vacation for us. (And a side note to say that the counselors also cut up our kids food, cleaned them up after the meal and took them outside to play as soon as they were done. This in itself  made this the most relaxing week of the past 6 years!  Well, ok, that may be a bit of an exaggeration but then again, may be not!)

We applied for a Pine Cove scholarship that week and quickly found out that we were accepted, even though they had begun awarding scholarships months before. The only problem? We had to make the full Pine Cove payment before we found out if the ‘lost paycheck’ was really going to come or if someone had just scamed us over. If the check didn’t come and we had already paid for Pine Cove, we were going to have some problems. After much prayer, we took our next step of faith and sent the money to Pine Cove.

Then, we waited.

A few weeks later, the paycheck arrived! It was a jubilant day! I still can’t believe it, really. But, it wasn’t the first time that God has used my previous employer from 7 years ago to bless us long after my career was over. It just goes to show that He is the ultimate accountant. I wonder if anyone will ever look over Pfizer’s books and wonder why random X employee still received paychecks every few years. I’ll just tell them to talk to my amazing Accountant.

We loved dressing up for theme nights and participating in all kinds of creative, family fun!

The kids loved the counselors and we were blessed to see the strong positive influence they had on our kids lives.

It was the  hottest week fo the summer and we spent lots of time in the water.

I was mostly known as SK’s mom for the week. She captured the hearts of many with her generous hugs and smiles.

In my 6 years of motherhood, I have never felt as free from responsibility as I did throughout the week of family camp. There was always an attentive staff member ready to jump in and help with the kids. We were poured into as a family and left filled to the top!