The Team!

I have stolen (yes, stolen) these pictures and plan to post them as such.  I just couldn't help it.  I totally dropped the ball and rarely picked up my camera while the Vytrak team met, so I have stooped low to share the amazing people with which we will be travelling to Africa! 

 The adults in the back are: Ryan & Josi, Don & Erin (Leaders Extraordinaire), Me & Pat, Kim & Adam!  The kiddo's are L (the artist), J (shy and sweet), K (the fish-slayer), A (the bookworm - like me!), T (singing boy), & C (the cuddler); ages 4-9!  As you can see, we are really serious about letting everyone know who we really are.  All business here, folks.

Remember those castle ruins?  We took some group photo's here as well.  I guess Pat and I are the "hat people."  This was a fun time of sightseeing and watching the guys rationalize their entry into the fenced off areas to retrieve a certain football that may not have made it through the entire ruin.  You know, regular monument watching activities.  It was a lovely day!

Family Time!

We made it safely back to Kansas and just in time to catch the last bout of triple digit heat! 

 I love the love!

 I was so excited.  Despite the oppressive heat, we made our way outside to play with family!

 Pat and Jackson spent a little while preparing our floating platform!

 It wasn't long before we all boarded our fishing pontoon and began our fishing adventure!

 Raegan had never caught a fish before, so our goal was to get a fish on her line, and with the super stinky bait we used, it didn't take long before she alerted us to the tug on her rod!  Hooray!  Raegan caught a fish!  And then she caught another, and another...

 Sydney had a pretty awesome channel cat put a big bend in her rod!  We were all excited for her and prepared to eat that monster, when just after the picture, it fought its way off the hook!

 Jackson was the complete gentleman by letting his sisters catch fish first!  Then, as the ultimate act, he refrained from catching any more to let the girls catch them!

 After 30-45 minutes, Isaiah was ready to go back inside (I didn't blame him).  I decided to keep his pole in the water.  A clarification note; a fishing rod is a typical rod with a reel whereas a pole is a literal stick with string/line on the end.  This is highly important if you fish with Pat.  Moving on, I kept Isaiah's pole in the water and was surprised to feel a little tug on the end!  I pulled out this tiny fish which we thought was appropriate for the pole!  Oh, and then Raegan kept catching fish!

 Again and again.  She decided that fishing was fun!  She ended the day with a total of 7!

 I about laughed myself off the platform when the pull on the end of my pole came up with this fish!  It was way too crazy to have been real!  We were careful with this one and brought it back to fry up and eat!

 Later we went out to see some more family and played a bit of Bocce Ball with the kiddo's.

 Pat was way more willing to jump on the trampoline than I was, but the kids had a great time playing "crack the egg!"  Then we also got to meet their new member, Lizzie!  She's a sweetie and Pat won her over, too!

Yes, it's good to be back!

In a week, we will be boarding this:

 to go out and do things like this:

 in tropical locations like this:

 Even on board we will get to see and experience this:

 And unfortunately this:

 And though this is not our room:

 We are excited to stay in this:

 We'll probably go to dinner here:

 but we have absolutely no desire to go here:

 I imagine we'll be up for exercise like this:

 and like the plague, I will avoid this:

 I can see spending some fun time here:

 and most assuredly here:

 And how fun will this be?:

But with all the activities, I'm mostly looking forward to walking along this:

 And relaxing with my amazing husband of 10 years (almost) here:

And since I don't plan on posting at all when we are gone, this is all you'll get until the mass onslaught of pictures upon our return.  That is, unless I am in them.  Then there will be substantially less.  Maybe I'll use these again...

Backing up...

Back before Marc and Katy came to visit, Pat and I took a little trip to Hidden Lake.  We headed out a bit late, on a whim, but took our chances and our canoe out.  It was rather late when we arrived.  We had a fairly long trek to canoe, so we parked the car where we thought we could (later finding a note indicating where we were supposed to park), and began our paddling.  It was a lovely evening, so our rapid paddling took us relatively quickly to the island where we hoped to camp.  We took the first campsite we came upon.  It wasn't too bad really!

The next day, we decided to hike around and take in the views.  We camped near a cliff, which we climbed, much to my protestations since I despise steep descents.  The climb did have some spectacular views, and I found myself thankful for the "encouragement" of my husband to push me beyond my comfort zones.

Our camp from above:

 Looking back from where we came.  It was a really lovely lake with rock cliffs and smooth waters (that day).

 Upon our investigation of the island, we discovered multiple other camping sites as well as this fabulous swing!  Since we both get motion sick, we didn't go too high, and we didn't feel like testing one of the lifeless branches that held the top ropes!

As the summer wanes, my flowers are in full bloom!  I'm loving the color flush!