1st Day of Kindergarten

 

Today was Lilia's first day of school. There was no nervousness, only excitement on her part and mine. God has brought every piece of this school together in such a perfect way. He brought in all the finances to pay for the year. We used to go to church (City Church) at Spruce Hill before we rented space from the church we are at now (47th & Cedar). Lilia remembered the Kindergarten room as the Sunday school classroom.
God also brought in a friend for Lilia. It's a girl named Maggie. They live in the neighborhood and they are an incredible family that I can see us being friends with for a long time.
Today the first half of the alphabet went, tomorrow the second half will go, and Friday the whole class will go. Each day is for 2 hours. Next week they start their schedule of 8:15-3:15.
During the two hour window today, the principal did an orientation for the parents. I am SOOOO impressed with this school and the administration. It's such a nurturing environment where they truly care for the students. I'm really excited for Lilia's school year. She already can't wait to go back on Friday!

At the playground

Lilia's quote of the day

Lilia was telling me how much she loves gardening. We were outside gardening when she told me, "I'm gonna get you the best mother's day present. A jar of worms."
"What would I do with the jar of worms, I replied."
"You would add compost to it and then it would make really good soil and you would add it to your garden."
(I did teach her about this process before and she said she also learned about it form Sid the Science Kid. TV is incredibly beneficial my studies have proven.)

Camden Aquarium

The last time we went to the aquarium it was for Lilia's 1st birthday, four and a half years ago.
Friends of ours from church have a pass so we set up a play date, we only had to pay for parking.
We got to watch Ginny the hippo dance as well as the hippo feeding.

Lilia's favorite part was touching the manta rays. We even went back a second time because she loved it so much.

Philly

 The view from Camden.

Family

 My brother and sister-in-law bought a new home in Audubon. It's beautiful! We got to go when Dave was in Chicago. It was a little chilly to swim; the sun wasn't out. Lilia did get in the pool because there isn't much that would stop her.
I don't know who loves the pool more, Ellie or Lilia. My mom was holding Ellie and as she was splashing, giggling and jumping with excitement on the steps of the pool. Ellie is so sweet and such a blast!

Alex helping Matt clean the pool.

Future couple?

Jack Hudzina, Daniel Hudzina & Lilia

We went to the zoo with the Hudzina's last week. At one point during our trip, Daniel leans in towards Lilia and says, "I'm gonna marry you."

Good thing he's only 3 years old.

Grange Fair

 So Dave was in Chicago for a full week. He had the incredible opportunity to give a few of the talks to STINTers; students who just graduated and who have committed to going over seas for 1 year as missionaries with CRU. 360 students were at the conference! Out of that number, 115 were headed to East Asia!
So while Dave was away we headed to the country to enjoy the outdoors and a little help from my parents.

 The Grange Fair is basically a farm show with carnival rides. They had every farm animal you can imagine. They were even sheering sheep and Lilia got to take home a piece of the wool.
Alex got to sit in tons of farm/construction equipment. He was having the BEST time!

Cowgirl

 We had such a fun-filled, packed week while Dave was in Chicago. Apart from Lilia having to get a baby root canal done, we played outside, went swimming, and visited my brother and niece and saw he and AnnMarie's beautiful new house.

I was out visiting my childhood best friend's new daughter. The kids stayed back with my mom since her baby is not even 2 months old yet. I came home to Lilia in a cowgirl get up. She came out of the house talking to my mom in a southern accent, saying she was from Texas.
She walked out to the sidewalk and tipped her hat at anyone who drove or walked past the house.

Carousel Lavender Farm

I truly love Philadelphia and all it has to offer, but Bucks County ranks up there. One of our favorite places to visit (and shop) is the Carousel Lavender Farm. It's a farm dedicated to growing lavender, quality lavender from France. Their gift shop is wonderful with bushels of dried lavender, lavender essential oil (great for falling asleep), soaps, and even cookies. You can explore the grounds, within limits and enjoy the wonderful views and fragrances of the fields. It's definitely worth going!

Perkasie Car show

 Alex's intense love of cars is something he hasn't grown out of yet. We took him to a car show on Saturday night. One after another he literally "Ooohed and aaahed." "Let's look under here (the hood), oooh. Let's look inside (in the car), wow. Let's see the next one."

 One guy saw Alex eyeing this one and picked him right up and put Alex in the driver's seat!

Alex particularly loves jeeps, blue jeeps that is. However, he didn't blink an eye when the man said he could sit in his 1984 Jeep Renegade.

Lilia's Quote of the day

So we were driving in the car today to get Lilia's school uniform when she said to me,
"Mom when you were young were there stores?"

Lilia's vacation quotes

There really is no context here. She just said this out of the blue one night:

"Aunt Karen, you look young." 


So most nights on vacation in the mountains, Lilia wanted to have a party. She planned things, chose helpers and we all had fun. One night, Julie was working on something she wanted to make off of Pinterest and Marilyn was making bean bags when Lilia said,

"This party isn't any fun with everybody sewing and everything!"

Explorer

Lilia's foot next to a fawn's print.

 One morning we went out for a walk. We ended up at North Beach on the lake. As we approached the water we saw lots of tracks in the sand.
One of the books I got Lilia for Christmas was all about detecting animal tracks. We saw, doe, fawn, and duck prints in the sand. It was the coolest to follow their tracks from the woods, down to the water. Lilia loved it!

Lilia, Alex & Dave in the lake.

Thanks mom & dad

 Thanks mom & dad for a wonderful vacation! You guys are amazing and wonderful in-laws. I couldn't be more blessed. 

Mom-you never stop giving generously to others. 

Dad-you love with a selfless Christ-like love.

Thank you both for who you are. Praise be to God!

Brother & Sister

Beach/Lake Day

 We discovered a great beach fit with a clubhouse and lots of other great amenities. We built a huge sand castle with a huge group of kids helping and swam in the lake - despite the lifeguards bringing people out of the water for a non-poisonous water snake.

Taking pictures with Grandpop.

 The kids were hard at work building sand castles with other kids; gathering sand and water and creating.

Gorgeous Lake House

 If I ever could afford a lake house, this is what I would love for it to look like!
I love the natural elements and the barn-likeness to it. I wish I could have seen the inside. Wow, I can only imagine that every room would be straight off of Pinterest or the best of the best from Country Living Magazine.

Lake Naomi

 We are staying at Lake Naomi for our vacation. This place is SO beautiful. These pictures do it no justice, but this is the view from the olympic size pool, fit with a large water slide, two diving boards, and a baby pool the size a large living room.
One of the parts I loved was lounge chairs along the lake. We would bring our lunch down and eat looking out over the lake.

Dave's parents gave us a chance to head out for a couple of hours to go paddle boarding (pictured below). It was our first time. I've seen it for years, in magazines and out on the water and have wanted to try it out for a while.
It was just as easy, peaceful, and fun as I imagined. It's my new favorite sport; sadly they cost around $1,000.
Dave and I paddled around the lake, explored an island, then laid on our boards and let the gentle rolling of the lake totally relax us. It was so AWESOME!!!!!!!!

Random guy on a paddle board.

Hawk Falls Hike

 My family and I came to the mountains for about 10 years as I was growing up. One hike we loved was Hawk Falls, not far from Hickory Run state park. We took the kids as well as Julie and Karen to this spot.

This is the famous creek crossing. I was slightly disappointed to see a full out bridge to cross. There are also beams to walk across instead of wobbling rocks.

At the top of the falls.

FACT: Bears eat beets.

The cross beams you see signify the top of the trash can holder. 

We're on a wonderful mountain vacation with Dave's family. Well last night we had a visitor...a bear!
It's not uncommon for bears to be found in this area. Neighbors have talked about bears being found in the area, one neighbor even said that a bear cub hibernated under her deck through the winter.
Some time last night a bear knocked over the trash holder, ironically known as a bear box.
Check out this comedian's link about bears. I promise you will laugh. Click here.
Bears. Beets. Battlestar Glactica.

The bear pulled this trash can through the side of the holder. We're not sure if this piece was missing or if the bear broke it.

The bear was scratching at the wood to get it open.

Teeth or claw holes.

Fresh scratches.