{the Orchard}

We headed to Cadron Crest Orchard Tuesday morning to pick peaches and blackberries after we dropped the girls off at strings camp at UCA. We arrived to find that the black berries were gone but there were plenty of peaches to be had! This is the same orchard where we picked strawberries when we were visiting the Choates back in May.

 It didn't take long for our bags to be filled and we were headed home!

 The rest of the week we enjoyed the fruits of our labor... peach pie, fresh peach slices... yummy!

Joanna has some great pictures of our adventure on her blog as well!

{Headed to Arkansas...}

The combined swim meet finished and we found 4 of the kids and myself on our way to Arkansas! Eli & Nate stayed at home with Shawn so they could attend swim practice and then head to District Swim the end of the week!

 Lenna and Abigayl had the opportunity to attend Strings camp at the University of Central Arkansas thanks to the hospitality of our friends, the Choates. Little did we know what adventures would be ahead for us!

 Our week was filled with art...

 quiet moments on the front porch...

fun times learning together.. 

 home improvement options...

and late night music among friends!

{The WKSC Combined Meet}

Swim team has been awesome for our kids this summer! They have enjoyed swimming and practicing and loved competing at meets. In our area, there is about 14 teams, each weekend there have been 2 meets with 7 of the teams at each. Through the regular season, the kids have had the chance to qualify for the "combined" meet where all 14 teams come together. All 4 of the kids qualified in at least 2 events for the combined meet.

The meet was held 2 weeks ago. It was a hot weekend but the kids swam well and they did a great job helping out with the meet. 

This meet was also their last chance to qualify for districts. We knew the girls couldn't go on because they were headed to strings camp, but the boys were close on times in a few events and both really hoped they could qualify to go on!

Eli headed in for his 50 free... the week before his missed a district qualifying time by .2 of a sec! 

this time he made it!!!! Yeah, headed to Districts!

 Nate was close on a couple of events too, one being his 50 back...

 His event came up and once he was out of the pool we waited...

 then we had a little party because he qualified to go on to districts!

Lenna has been recovering this summer from her ankle injury and a procedure the end of May. Each week she has been getting faster and in her backstroke you could really see that she is improving!

 The "littles" endure swim meets and they are troopers!

Wesley found a shading spot and took a LONG summer afternoon nap!

 Swimming isn't Abigayl's favorite sport but she knows it  makes her stronger which helps her out in other things she loves! So she swims each weekend. Her times have steadily improved this season too...

 Eli didn't qualify in the breast stroke but it has gotten better all season!

 Our weekend ended with the boys qualified to head on to Districts, so proud of their hard work this summer with early morning swim practices and working to improve on all levels.

Nate qualified in breast stroke and the backstroke and was able to bonus in his 50 free.

Eli qualified in the free style, he was able to bonus in 100 free and the backstroke for districts. 

{The Wind Farm Tour}

The landscape has changed a lot over the last 2 years with wind towers dotting the skyline. 

The kids had the opportunity to tour a wind farm recently with our 4-H club. The club has been going through the 4-H Project, The Power of Wind, as a club this spring.

We started in the office and learned about the construction of the farm project and the towers themselves. One of the techs came in and told the kids about his job, training and equipment he uses. They got to try on a safety harness...

Then we headed out to see learn about the transmission lines, power grid and then to a tower.

It was interesting to hear how the towers adjust to the wind speed, the ability of the blades to move to maximize efficiency, etc. 

 A huge thanks to the Farm staff for spending the morning with us!

{Saturday's Swim meet}

Saturday morning started bright and early again pool side for our last regular season meet...

Nate was up first and ready to go!

My niece spent the week with us and she and the girls played a lot of cards in between events!

Nate ready to roll. He swam 3 individual events and a relay on Saturday.

He was excited that Grandma (and Grandpa) came to watch!

Meanwhile... a few more rounds of cards, we lowered the tent and tilted it to keep the sun out. It was a hot day with very little breeze!

After lunch, the 3 older kids were ready to go. Eli had a great afternoon, his 50 free time less than a second away from qualifying for our district meet, hopefully at combined meet this weekend he can qualify!

Abigayl has really improved this season. Swimming for her is more about strength and conditioning than competition but she does well!

Her backstroke has really improved!

Thanks again grandpa & grandma for spending the day with us!

Lenna has been healing from her ankle injury and was excited to swim a couple more events Saturday. She qualified for combined meet in all 3 events she swam!

It was a great day! Looking forward to watching them all swim this coming weekend for combined meet!

Moments from the last week...

Life has been busy but good.

The boys finished their baseball season Thursday night.

Wheat harvest is in full swing here still, we love watching the combines roll as we head to practice in the evenings. There is something about harvest time that stirs my soul, not just for a good harvest of grain for farmers around us, but it is the reminder of the greater harvest...

'And he said to them, “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few. Therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest.' Luke 10:2

On our evenings drives back from practice, we slow down to look for the little duck families out at the Playa Lake north of town. We have counted a total of 8 mama ducks for little ones.

We've watched this little one as it is learning to fly in our backyard, it's baby feathers almost gone...

 Zinnias are such a simple flower but they grow easily and in withstand the dirty, hot land we live in. I love it that the kids plant them at the edge of the garden each year and we are enjoying the little details that make the each unique...

The dill is blooming and I am dreaming of refrigerator pickles... we also like to take moments and watch the variety of pollinators that stop to enjoy the blooms!

 Lots of summer smiles going on here too!

 And for me, the reality of another school year starting.

 Lesson planning is rolling along.

 Reports from Lenna is that the mission team in Macedonia is having a great week!

I can't wait to share stories and pictures when she gets home!