vbs

i had thought that madelyn was too young for the vacation bible school at our current church, but at the last minute i saw that it wasn't 5 as the youngest, but 3 - she could go!  i signed her up the week before and couldn't believe that it was offered for free.

the theme was 'big apple adventure' and it was all done up super cute with cabs, sky scrapers and 'central park'.  they even had 'street performers' in the 'park' - there was a sketch artist two days, an acoustic guitarist singing and a teenager with an electric guitar hooked to an amp.

the check-in/out process was kind of lengthy, but very secure which is most important.  it was a little upsetting for mason because he got to see how fun everything was (including the slide that madelyn got to go down every day to get to her classroom downstairs), but didn't get to stay.  i had all of these plans to do fun one-on-one stuff with him, but we ended up just going home or running errands most of the week.  we did go to the park one day and that was a lot of fun.  we also did some browsing at toy-r-us that he really loved!  he still points to (and says) toys-r-us every time we drive by - which is a lot since we have to pass it to get to our apartment most days.

madelyn was asked to memorize a bible verse every night and she did too!  i didn't think about getting a video until wednesday though and she had no interest in doing it on thursday and friday.

on friday, all of the parents got to come in for the last half hour of the closing session.  the kids were having so much fun!  they were trying to collect money for feed my hungry children and their goal was $1500.  i think the final total was around $2200!  not bad for money brought mainly in coins (i saw the collection bins).  the pastor of the losing 'team' got a cream pie in the face which made the kids go crazy! mason was so excited to get to join the big kids to dance and 'sing'. (mason is a very enthusiastic singer!  i love his little voice because he can't say all the words but he will sing along even on his first time hearing a song.) we have been able to watch on the monitors in the lobby but this was the first time that he was able to hear everything at full volume.

a very happy mason watching the last service

i am so glad that madelyn was able to have this experience.  hopefully, we will be able to do something like this next summer near our new house!  it also reminded me how much easier my days can be when madelyn is in school.  i love having her with me, but it gives some more productive time to have my big talker entertained for a few hours each day.  she even napped a little over the week! love.