Summer's Last Hurrah - Up North with the Bykowskis

The Sunday after VBS ended, we escaped up North to recuperate with our friends, Tim and Joan Bykowski. They have a lovely cabin on a lake near Hackensack that we have enjoyed many times over the years. I never get tired of taking sunset pictures!

And, of course, we go on pontoon boat rides and chase the loons around the lake for good photo ops.
Ooohh - this one is coming in for a landing!

There are some fun golf courses nearby - we all four went to Black Bear on Monday. Joan is my chauffeur, as she doesn't play golf. Sometimes we get to talking so much we forget its my turn to hit!

Hmmm - cell phones on the golf course - are they allowed???

After golf and a great dinner, we have to watch the sunset again.

Isn't it beautiful?


I couldn't resist taking this reflection in the sliding glass door - how cool is that?


There is a pair of eagles that make their home around the lake. We had a breakfast cruise, and hunted for where the eagle was hanging out this year. Paul had the "eagle eye" and spotted him across the lake.

Later that morning the loons were congregated out by the dock for their morning coffee. there were six of them just hanging out right within camera range, showing off for me.


Later, Joan and I headed for Walker for some serious shopping and the guys did another nine holes of golf. We went out to eat in Longville, and explored the Wood Tic Trail on the way back to the cabin. Thankfully, we did NOT see any wood tics. However, we did have fun taking pictures of a deer family.

Mom was wiggling her ears at me in this one.

I think junior is getting ready to charge.


Back to the cabin for ANOTHER gorgeous sunset!


We sat by the lake to get the full effect.

Wednesday morning, we went for one more early morning (if you call 10:00 early) crause around the lake. I have a fun tripod for my new camera, so was able to get the four of us in the same shot while Tim put the pontoon on auto-pilot!

On the way home, Paul and I went back to Black Bear for a last round of golf. What's that I see - a BEAR?

Watch out, Paul!

What a perfect set of days! Thanks for sharing them with us, Joan and Tim. NOW, I'm ready for school to start again.

Summer Ministries - Again???

No, I have not reverted to my past and abandoned Paul to go on the road again with a summer ministries team! But I just can't seem to get away from those familiar activities - I have too much fun with the kids at Waterbrooke to quit! I spent most of July and the first two weeks of august planning, organizing, and running Wacky Wednesdays (it takes three days - Tuesday to get everything ready, Wednesday from 9:00 to 2:00, and Thursday to clean up) and Vacation Bible School. Here are a few pictures from Wacky Wednesdays to get you started:

I get 4-8 teens to help me with the puppet shows and leading small groups of kids. We meet an hour before the kids arrive to practice and go over the schedule.

The kids really enjoy the puppets, music, and gospel magic tricks.

It looks like my teen helpers are playing school and the students are really absorbing a lot!

We have a picnic outside on the beautiful grounds at Waterbrooke - but we have to keep an eye on the littlest ones so they don't go near the lake!

This summer was so hot, the kids preferred to eat in the shade on the rocks or grass instead of the picnic tables on the sunny patio .

Free time after lunch - the rolly things are a blast, but I'll need to get new ones next year. Two years of hard use brought an end to the two I bought last year.

We had a beach theme this year, and the kids enjoyed relays with all sorts of beachy items, as well as "Wet and Wild Wacky Wednesdays" the last two weeks.

They have just as much fun throwing cups of water on each other as they do sliding into the kiddy pool!

There is a hose hooked up to send water down both slides - and a long piece of plastic for a slip and slide at the bottom of the curly slide.


We had some brave two year old siblings come for the fun at the end of the day - I was really surprised when they went down the slide all by themselves!



VBS this year was called Backstage With the Bible - hosted by the Christian singing group called Go Fish. We had an awesome time for four nights the second week of August - 76 different kids, teens and adults participated this year. We even had the opportunity to go backstage at the Higher Ground Christian Music Festival and meet the Go Fish guys - I'm still humming the songs when I wake up in the morning! Check out some of the fun we had:

The kids learned about how they are all superstars - they are "fearfully and wonderfully made" by God!


They all had a chance to make a superstar poster of themselves.

These pictures crack me up.

It looks like Ethan really knows what he's doing!

Rock on!

Different kids we the group servants each night at snack time.


This snack reminded us of the ten commandments. The kids used licorice to tally all the commandments they could remember from the lesson of the day.

We decorated CD cases to hold the free Go Fish CD every kid received.


I borrowed these paint cans and sticks from school to learn a drum rap that made music time unique this year. The boys, especially, liked it.

Of course, there were games to play...


... and Bible story object lessons ...

... and very creative parents who were willing to help with decorating ...

... and teaching the missions emphasis during the Bus Tour. We helped translate the Bible into Islag with the offering we brought.

The kids were treated to a concert by Go Fish every night on the "big screen" DVD.

And ... they all have backstage passes to meet the Go Fish guys at the next concert that is nearby!


At the end of the week we were ready for a vacation! Stay tuned for pictures of beautiful northern Minnesota lake country in my next post.