Joe Shoong Park- Park Challenge

For family night we took the Park Challenge. We went to Joe Shoong Park, which is a small neighborhood park. It is only a few minutes drive from our house and it is the closest park with a splash pad.



The kids had a lot of fun, of course. They look forward to going back and playing at the splash pad.




Frank got to witness to someone for a long time.

Marie-Anne

Church Picnic at Lewis Family Park

This afternoon we had a church picnic at the park right down the road from our house.

Frank got to play volleyball for the first time in years! His team won!!!

I watched the kids play and eat and eat and eat! Marie-Anne

Wetlands Park

Today we went for a family nature walk at the Wetlands Park. We saw a whole lot of rabbits and ground squirrels.

The kids had a race, but I'm not sure who won.

I love the great outdoors and try to get our family out in nature as much as I can.

Marie-Anne

Outreach at Paradise Park

Our church had an outreach at Paradise Park on Saturday.

The kids and I played with bubbles while we waited for everything to be set up.

I took the kids to the play ground for a little bit. They had a good time. Sabrina made a new friend who followed her wherever she went, (the girl in the pink shirt and shorts).

Though Frank didn't lead the outreach, he did get to preach for a few minutes. There was close to two hundred people at the park! Many were able to hear the preaching and singing.

Frank also got to witness to several people. I think four people prayed for salvation. Marie-Anne

Winterwood Park

On Thursday I asked Sabrina what she wanted to do. She said she wanted to go to Wal-Mart, go to a park, go to the library, go to Mc Donalds, and go to a splash pad. We didn't make it to all of those, but we did go to a park, the library, and McDonalds.

I love this picture because Sabrina was really grumpy when we first got to the park. Alex did his best to cheer her up- and it worked. We spent about 3 hours at Winterwood Park. The kids played really well together and with the only other kid there. Marie-Anne

Ice sensory tub

We used the ice left over from our picnic as an impromptu sensory tub. I grabbed the kids tub toys and some ocean animal toys then threw them into the water table and dumped ice on top.

Sabrina only played with it for a few minutes, but Alex played for a long time. Marie-Anne

Lake Mead

Today is the first time we've been to Lake Mead in along time, (not counting a hiking trail).

We had a picnic and as you can tell Frank likes da' ribs!

Alex and Sabrina were brave explorers who explored the dense jungle.

We thought the coyotes had been removed, then this guy showed up. It was limping and scrawny, I was almost tempted to feed the poor little guy, but resisted because feeding a wild animal at a picnic area is a bad idea. (People do show up to feed the coyotes near the picnic area and he was also eating scraps that people left behind.)

After our picnic we drove to the lake and had fun wading in the water. Marie-Anne

The almost backyard camp-out

Last night we surprised the kids with an almost backyard camp-out.



We started our camp-out adventure with a bug hunt, since our backyard is only dirt and rocks we had to improvise. I bought toy bugs, lizards, and snakes from the dollar store and threw them all over the back yard for the kids to find.



Next up, the kids went "fishing" at our pond. We once again had to improvise this time using poster board, paper fish with paperclips attached, and magnetic fishing poles. The kids had a lot of fun with this and played for a long time.







We also had fun with bubbles and glowstick bracelets. (It was starting to get dark so the pictures were too blurry.)



We finished the night with the kids sleeping in the tent in the living room!

Marie-Anne

Meet, Escape, our new hamster

The kids had so much fun picking out a new "class pet," which will be kept in Alex's room. They were laughing so hard at the antics of this hamster that other customers were looking to see what was going on.

When we got home the kids "helped" Frank put the cage together. While they were doing that the hamster was trying to escape from the cardboard box. If he had a few more minutes he would have! He had already chewed through an airhole almost big enough to stick his head out. This is why Alex named him Escape.

Escape was the most active of the hamsters, which is why the kids chose him. He's a bigger hamster and he's white, (to me he looks like a lab rat without a tail).

Welcome to your new home, Escape! Marie-Anne

Maslow Park's Splash Pad

Yesterday, for family daywe took water guns and bubbles to Maslow Park's splash pad! We had a great time.

Marie-Anne

Outreach at Malasky Park

Frank was in charge of running the Saturday Night Solution, an outreach our church has. We had a free Christian concert at Malasky Family Park. Eleven people prayed for salvation and four people from the park were at church on Sunday.

The kids got to play at the play ground,which of course they loved. (Well, Sabrina would have loved it more if I let her play on the splash pad.)

Sabrina also wanted help to climb a tree. When Alex saw her do it he wanted to also. Marie-Anne