Our Last Day

Another very hot day... Malikas did some fishing in the morning off the dock and lost the BIG ONE!!! She had it almost to the dock when the line broke. She said it was the biggest rainbow trout she had ever seen. Fish story? Nah, she wouldn't tease like that... not about fishing. :-)

We went to Branson Landing in the late afternoon and evening. It was hot so some fresh-squeezed lemonade was in order. Shopping included a "shammy", jelly beans and other assorted candies, stone coasters for the car, a gift for Charlie... really big shoppers, eh? Dinner was at Joe's Crab Shack. Both Malikas and I are big seafood lovers and it is so good there.

We're almost packed and will head back early Saturday morning so as to make it back to St. Louis in time for a Cardinal game. It's been a relaxing, fun week but reality is calling.

Springfield Cardinals

A night at the ballpark was HOT... but fun. Masha and I met Chris at his apartment and headed to Hammons Stadium for the AA affiliate of the St. Louis Cardinals. It always great to go to a game where the birds are on the bats... like being at home. Chris' boss got us some tickets and they were great. Of course, it took us a while to figure out what name he had put them under but we finally got them. Chris gave his regular commentary on things such as... "Hank? He doesn't look like a Hank? He looks like a Honk..." Hank was the catcher for the Arkansas team and was Asian. So he was Honk the rest of the night. Chris' friend, Chief, was there too so they made quite a duo for entertaining us.

Vacation... ahhhhhh!!

The Boomerang Express made its last stop on Thursday evening with a great Family Night. The Music Camp kids did a wonderful job of sharing the VBS music. It was a terrific week but always room for improvement. My directors and I will be looking at how that can be done in the coming weeks. We enrolled 266 workers and kids, with an average attendance of 240. Eleven children indicated that they had made a decision to follow Christ. We collected canned goods and non-perishables for Sunshine Ministry. The girls won with a final count of 243 items; boys had 188 for a total of 431 items.

There are way too many pictures to post here but soon you can find them on my Facebook page or on the Parkway Baptist website.

Sunday afternoon came and we headed to Springfield to spend some time with Chris before going to Branson on Monday. Sara spent some time with her friend from SBU, Kara. the other 4 of use headed to Bass Pro. Thankfully, they could not walk my legs off because they close earlier on Sunday. We all went to dinner at Cheddar's and topped off dinner with a Cookie Monster.

We headed to Lilley's Landing in Branson on Lake Taneycomo. I caught the first fish off the dock on Monday afternoon while Sara and Masha went to White Water - a water park. On Tuesday, we went fishing with our favorite guide... Bob. We've been using him for several years and always come home with our limit. I caught some of the biggest although I think Charlie caught one a bit bigger. After some more fishing on Wednesday morning, we headed to one of our favorite breakfast places, The Farmhouse Restaurant, and then Charlie and Sara headed back to St. Louis. Masha and I are here until early Saturday morning. More blogging after tonights Springfield Cardinal game with Chris.

ARE YOU A LARRIKIN?

Larrikin... another new word I learned that is used in Australia. We certainly have a few at VBS this week. And I'll bet you have some at your VBS and in your family. Larrikin: a person given to comical or outlandish behavior. Who is your favorite larrikin? Here's mine...

Tonight was when our staff presented the gospel to the 1st-6th graders. Several decisions were made. We've already started on follow-up. After conversation with one little girl, she prayed to receive Christ. Woo-hoo!!!
Here's our "name the koala" winner... Wallie and Esten...

Sara spoke at our Mission Rotation. Isn't she pretty? :-)

Two more nights to say "Yeh-Yeh-Yeh-Yeh Yes to Vuh-Vuh-Vuh VBS!"

Onya, Mate

If you were at VBS last night or are doing Boomerang Express anywhere in the world, you know what that means. We're still chugging down the track and having a great time. No mice or flying boomerangs... and only a little bit of blood when one of our volunteers fell in the kitchen. She's OK, though.

Our "name the koala" contest was well received. 112 names were suggested. The directors and my assistant poured over the names trying to decide which one would be the best for a koala. We narrowed it down to 4 names and they voted again. But we still needed a tie-breaker so I "hired" Sara to do that. No one but me knew who had submitted the different names. And the winner was "Wallie", submitted by Esten Ronning. We'll try to get a picture tonight and post it later. I forgot to have Sara do that last night. Sara is our official photographer for Boomerang Express.

Here are a few pics of our hard-working volunteers from Track 1...

ALL ABOARD!!

Boomerang Express left the station... with all the craziness that comes with the first night of VBS. We're going down under with a reminder that "it all comes back to Jesus." No injuries, no lost kids, no BIG surprises... However we did have one very small surprise... a mouse. Yep, one of God's furry little creatures paid a visit... right outside fellowship hall. He/she was finally captured and sent to "mouse heaven".

Everything went well for the first night. As you can see, Sara and I had a great time!!

On Friday, the doctor released me. Woo-hoo!! Having energy is still a problem but he said to expect that for a bit longer. Of course, with VBS this week, there's not much chance of having any energy anyway by the time it's over. But that's OK... vacation next week!!!!

Malikas comes Thursday... can't wait... 3 days... 16 hours... and counting!!!!!

NEW CAR

No, not me. I'm still crazy about my little SUV. But Sara made her first BIG decision since coming home and bought a car. It's a 2008 Chevy Cobalt. Her brother, Chris, gave her his advice and thoughts and then her dad took her shopping. Sara liked the idea of a 5-speed but with her bad knee it didn't seem like a wise idea so she chose the automatic. I think she likes the sun roof the most. Doesn't she look proud?

Busy day on Friday - doctor's appointment (please, release me, let me go!!), work at church, lunch with Patti and Sara, trip to Lifeway, party in the evening.