We are currently on week 5 of the school year. Our family goes on field trips and special outings every week, and once a month, I also organize a field trip for all the home educating families in our church. On average, these church-wide field trips bring a total of 100-120 people, so we are getting to be quite a large group.
The first of those church field trips was to the Legoland Discovery Center that recently opened up in Arizona. The kids and parents all had a blast.
That's some excellent cell phone quality photography with kids looking straight into the sun... Keeping it real! All the nice-looking photos in this post were not taken by me. I like this one though because it shows how the older ones help out by pairing up with a younger sibling (they pick which one, so it's always changing).
Stephen was wailing because he couldn't take the coins out of the fountain in the back. He is always wanting to make a buck by raiding fountains, which of course we don't allow. This is the same child who when I was reading Revelation 21 to the kids, got excited about the fountain of the water of life, asking if in Heaven he would finally be allowed to take money out of the fountain.
That little Boaz is stinkin' cute, and he knows it, too. I will admit to having a special soft spot for him because I am reminded of his twinnie in heaven every time I look at him. It's not that I love him more than the other kids, it's just that for the time being, I have to lavish all my love for his brother on him. We all agree that he is an extra special blessing, one we can't imagine life without.
On Labor Day, we put on a (Don't Go) Back to School party for all the school-aged kids in our church (as well as their younger siblings and parents), where we had a water balloon fight and ice cream at a park near church. Thanks to these balloons, one volunteer helper was able to fill 2,100 water balloons in about 50 minutes using just one hose. I definitely recommend these!
First round: ages 5 and down. We wanted them to have fun without getting hurt by the older kids.

Second round: ages 6-10, boys against girls. The girls clearly seemed to have the upper hand, as they were constantly taking the battle to the boys side, and invading "enemy territory."

Final round: older kids vs. parents. This one was especially fun!
Look at little Bo trailing behind me. :)
Boom! I love this picture of my husband and John, though I can't take credit for taking it.
Once the remnants of the broken balloons had been picked up, ther was ice cream for all. Such a fun night!
Making great memories with friends and family is one of the many blessings of homeschooling.