Since Timothy and Katelyn are about to leave for college, we decided to take one last family vacation together. We went to Tennessee and camped for a week (primative tent camping!) on the banks of the Ocoee River right near the Tanasi trail system. We had so much fun. I thought that by the end of the week, we'd all be more than ready to go home, but other than the fact that we had completely run out of clean clothes, we totally weren't. We went biking, hiking, floating down the river, and rafting. We came home filled up on s'mores and precious memories. Here's the photo dump (The pictures are posted in gallery form, so you can click on them to expand them): The mountain biking trails were great. There were lots of places the littles could bike around. And more challenging trails for the big kids. The first time the big kids and I went out, we were on the Tanasi trails. They were pretty tough, especially going up. It was a 1000ft. elevation gain in a little over three miles and the trails were rooty and rocky with some shelf trail that you just don't look down. haha... We had to get off a few times to push our bikes through, but most of it was doable and the down hill was great fun. The second major ride we did was less elevation gain, but most of it was a narrow shelf trail. It was faster and very flowy though, so it was pretty fun. The only hitch was that the kids didn't hear me say that it was an out and back, so when we were nearing the turn around, and I said that we were almost to the end of the trail, they were happy until I said, "So now we turn around and go back!" mwahaha! One day we did a hike to Benton Falls. It was such a beautiful day and a beautiful trail. We also had fun climbing up the rocks to the top falls and playing in the water. Perhaps my favorite thing from the week was being right next to the river. I hung my hammock over the edge and spent quite a few hours reading and thinking and praying there. It was peaceful and refreshing. We also had great fun floating down the river. We could walk to one end of the campground, jump in and float down to the other end. It was great fun as long as we made sure to swim to the side in time...lol... I'm so blessed by these kids and was so happy to get to spend a week with them! (and a week with no cell service...bonus!) God has been so gracious to us!
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I think it's becoming a new tradition for us to go to North Carolina for the fourth of July. The little town of Belhaven is just the happening place to be on the fourth! Despite Covid, the celebrations continued on as normal, but maybe with a few less people. My youngest third culture kids were considerably more confident in their ability to navigate the celebrations this year than last. They came prepared to enjoy it all and scoop up lots of candy. They were not disappointed. We travel in style (Tuininga style that is!): The first night we spent with the cousins: The next day we went to the beach with the cousins and friends from Uganda. Afterwards we hung out at their church and ate pizza and danced and celebrated Matthew's birthday: On July 4, we went with grandparents and cousins to watch the parade. In the afternoon, some of us biked to the river, swam, and biked back. Later at night the kids and I went to the water to watch the fireworks: We left with full hearts! What a blessing to have family so close!
At the beginning of July I took the 5 youngest camping for a couple nights at the beach. We had so much fun! Here's the massive photo dump! We took our sweet Louisa May with us. She's a little crazy and hyper on the beach though. She let it be known to everyone far and wide that she was there. haha!
We had cousins (and Auntie and Uncle) come to visit for the week. It was so much fun! They have 8 kids, so together there were 17 kids running around here. To say it was a happy state of chaos is an understatement. Rebecca delighted the little girls with a ballet lesson. Lots of book reading time with little cousins! The big girls attempted to temporarily dye their hair (on the roof?). It ended up being a huge mess! haha! Then they cooked up a crazy idea to have the boys do their make up. They put everything on the counter and didn't give them any directions. It was fairly hilarious...and a bit hideous. We spent a bit of time at the lake... And at the river... And we only had one trip to urgent care for five stitches. Benaiah's head happened to colide with a rock as it flew through the air. He's doing just fine now though.
Whew...has a whole month passed since I've posted? This past month I've been enjoying time with the kids and getting things done around the house and still pushing on with my grad school work. God has blessed us with many moments of joy and hope this past month. Here is a smattering of pictures. The kids loved me enough to dress up for Easter still this year. I am so blessed by this crew. We are really enjoying the warmer weather. No need for heating or airconditioning and we eat supper outside almost every night. We've also planted flowers and a garden. It's been refreshing. Talitha got another hamster. Sadly, her other one managed to escape. This is Hamlet. He's pretty cute! My parents have been kind to let us come hang out at the lake. The water is just starting to get warm enough for me, but the little boys have been in for a while. We got Louisa May a life jacket and have been slowly coaxing her into swimming. The kids have a goal of getting her to jump off the dock wth them. Yesterday was our last day of school for the 2019-2020 school year. It's been a CRAZY year, but I am so thankful that I can honestly say we had a strong finish of the year and after our rough start and our "real school" detour things got so much better. While I know we'll enjoy our summer break, I'm really looking forward to next year and am already mentally planning and getting excited about the future. When I think about where I was when we started this past year, I consider the fact that I can say that to be nothing short of the grace of God. Thank you to everyone who continues to pray for us...particularly as we move through a month of difficult anniversaries. We really do see God wrapping us up in his arms and we would covet your continued prayers to that end.
Yesterday we enjoyed springtime and sunny weather! Talitha said to her sisters, "Lets go outside and smell ALL the flowers...we can't leave a single one unsmelled!" It's been many years since we've experienced spring and many years longer since I've had spring in the south. It truly is glorious.
Timothy, who is working towards a degree in Robotic Engineering, recently helped Talitha to make a robot. She was SO thrilled. She got to attach the wires and help to program it. And she had us all in stitches because she played with her robot (That she named Zobo) as if it was another one of her pets. All day we heard things like, "oh Zobo, you are just so cute!" and "Come on Zobo, let's go play in the kitchen!" and when she ran Zobo into our feet? "Aww....Zobo wants to give you a hug!! Isn't he just so sweet?"
Timothy was pretty thrilled that his little sister wanted to do some STEM with him. Katelyn, my future English or History major, may have been overheard at dinner that night saying, "Talitha, instead of building a robot, why don't I teach you how to write a story?" And so the friendly sibling rivalry goes on... |
Behold, I am doing a new thing;
now it springs forth, do you not perceive it? I will make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert. Isaiah 43:19 Archives
August 2020
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