A Wonderful Weekend

We had the best Memorial Day weekend! Alan has vacation time he needs to use up, and we were ready for a little getaway. So, we packed up and left Friday to visit some friends in Kansas City before our weekend of Bible study with the church. They made us feel so welcome and we really enjoyed the relaxing escape from responsibilities.

Alan and John had the kids in the backyard and Alan heard a tinny song. "Is that an ice cream truck?!" he asked, surprised. John tried to warn him they are overpriced, but Alan was too excited about the experience to listen. He stuck to the dollar row, and all the kids were tickled at the treat. I think John and Amber think we need to get out of the country a little more often! chuckle
The kids had great fun playing with their friends, enjoying new toys (Easton went straight for the train tracks and trains--surprise, surprise), and their various pets. Easton and Kiana were so happy to discover their friends also have a "hop toad"!!
Our next bit of fun involved all thirteen of us piling into their van and going to Krispy Kreme donuts, hoping to catch them making donuts so we could eat them hot off the belt. (Should I mention this was after supper, the ice cream treats, and it was bedtime for the kiddos? No. . .let's not mention that!)
It's funny to me, because I have talked several times about getting another family or two together to go to Des Moines to the science center and Living History farms for a field trip day, and topping it off with a trip to Krispy Kreme to see them make donuts. I've never been able to convince anyone to join me on this great homeschool idea. But the workers were very patient and generous with us.
They explained every step of the process, how the equipment worked, and how they make different types of donuts. They gave us special demonstrations on how to fill different kinds of donuts.
They also gave us free hot donuts!!! Oh, they were so good! They were so hot and sweet they practically dissolved in the mouth and slid right down. My sweet-toothed little Easton dove right in!Kiana wasn't shy either, and of course got all sticky.Look at all these donuts!!! He must have thought it was his birthday all over again.

Sweets aren't really Alan's thing, but no one can resist a hot donut. He enjoyed the process and the kids' excitement. He also really enjoyed time just relaxing and hanging out with his friend--one of those "iron sharpening iron" friends.They also treated all our kids with hats and balloons. We left a very happy (sugared-up) bunch and took the kids straight home and put them to bed! chuckle
Saturday we enjoyed more time playing and building relationships before we headed out to the Bible study at 2:30. We were so blessed by the men who shared their studies with the group. There were great lessons all the way around, my favorites involved practical ways to love our brethren, training children for the Lord, turning the other cheek, the place of grace, and setting goals for eternity. The lessons were rich with Scripture and application. I learned a lot and there is so much I want to remember and apply--I thought my head would explode by Sunday evening! I am looking forward to listening to these five again in my personal Bible study these next couple weeks. This was just what I needed!

In between study sessions, the children ran and played and adults visited. This was my favorite picture of Kiana from the weekend!
This is how the dads watch their children, in case you wondered! chuckle Seriously, I love seeing men who share the bond of Christ enjoy talking to one another, sharing burdens, and building one another up.
After the Bible study was all over, we went roller skating from 8-10 pm. (yeah, bedtimes, schedules, etc. are just out the window on a weekend like this--the kids did great though) It was the first time skating for both Easton and Kiana.
They thought it was pretty fun, and Alan thought it was quite a workout skating hunched over half the night!
Part of the time Easton enjoyed watching Daddy, big brother, and big sister skate around, and then getting singled out for Daddy to skate over and talk to him.
He really got to rolling when Daddy and Rick each held a hand for a couple trips around the rink.
Typical kids, the little ones found the video games too.
They were awfully cute "pretending" to play. Easton and his little friend Tirzah really giggled at the silly-looking guys on the screen. It was definitely the end of a big weekend and past bedtime, but I prefer giggles to tired crying any day of the week!
We feel refreshed and recharged to get back into the world this week!