The Kassel Family Project Life 365

We are off to the Lake of the Ozarks to spend tonight and tomorrow with the Van Hoves.  Looking forward to some fun!

John had an impromptu sleepover tonight with Jaxon, our neighbor.  It started out that we were just going to watch a movie and ended with Jaxon spending the night.

Another skit night, another sleepover…  Well, at least the evening started out that way…  Upon Andy and I arriving at camp, Laura came running up to us to give us hugs.  Of course, I had to take a picture because this is what an afternoon of swimming at camp does to her hair.  Perhaps I should really encourage her to use her hair brush after swimming.

When Laura came running up to us, she seemed off.  She wasn’t her usual fun camp self.  I chalked it up to being just a bit tired and we let it go at that.

The skits this week were pretty funny, and John was very proud because his group skit got a lot of laughter.

After skit night was over, we got the kids’ sleepover things out of the truck.  As we were walking around camp, Laura said that she did not want to spend the night.  After much back and forth, we finally returned Laura’s things to the truck and took her home with us.  John wanted to stay at camp.  He was not going to miss a sleepover.  As it turns out, Laura was more tired than we originally thought and she needs the rest.  She made the right decision even though it changed Andy’s and my plans.  No night out for us.  Oh well.  On the flip side, I am very proud of John for staying without Big Sister.

Due to the late evening yesterday, our plans for Andy’s birthday changed.  The kids were simply too tired.  When we told them that we were going to skip the Boone County Fair, we didn’t get an argument and that is really saying something.  Instead, we had a tasty steak dinner and relaxed.  It was not our original plans, but it worked.  Happy Birthday Andy!

The days and years may pass, but when you see “those friends,” time has not gone by.  We spent an amazing evening with Mark and Jessica Hendrickson and their two kids, Roger and Lauren.  Mark is one of Andy’s oldest college friends and was the Best Man in our wedding.  To feed Mark’s craving, we went to Shakespeare’s Pizza for dinner.  He was amazed to find out that Columbia now has three locations.  We were joined by another couple and laughed a lot over pizza and drinks.

We spent the rest of the evening hanging out by the pool at the Stoney Creek Inn.  What was supposed to be just an hour quickly turned into three hours of fun.  The adults chatted while the kids had a great time playing with the water cannons and chasing each other around.  Lauren and Laura are fast friends and made plans to begin using Skype to stay in touch.  I think two girls have begun a friendship made to last.  Just like their dads…

I was so great to see them even if it was just for an evening.  They are definitely “those friends.”  It doesn’t matter how much time has gone by because when you see them again, absolutely nothing has changed.  Thanks for a great evening Hendricksons!  We love and miss you all lots!

Fresh Basil from our herb garden for homemade Pesto Sauce and the first three tomatoes of the year from our garden.  Yay!

I took Laura over to Shelter Gardens today to complete Step 1 (a landscape) and Step 2 (a mood) of her Brownie Painting badge.  She began the landscape painting the beginning of June and chose to paint the waterfall area.  She ran out of time that day, so I bought some paints for her and took her back today to finish.  It was beautiful weather and she had a great time.

I very much enjoyed watching Laura paint and it still amazes me just how good she is.  Several people stopped to compliment Laura on her landscape painting and most were surprised that she is only 8.  It was a great way to spend a couple of hours on a Sunday.