After celebrating the Civic Holiday with my side of the family, Isaac began volunteering at our local community centre with the Building Youth Leadership Development Program (BYLD) offered free from the City of Kitchener. Isaac was provided with a day and a half of training in June as well as feedback and mentoring during his seven days of volunteering. Most youth volunteer for ten days but Isaac's supervisor kindly allowed him to take off two days for camping with his family. Isaac received lots of positive feedback and he enjoyed being with the children.
This is the first year that Isaac has been able to join the camping trip. He went with Graham, Kohen, Lily-Anna, two of his uncles, and two of his cousins. It used to be a Daddy-Daughter trip for Lily-Anna and my four nieces but nephews have been allowed last year and this year as some of my nieces were unable to get time off work. They rented three canoes and paddled for hours, portaging three times. They made some lifelong memories. I enjoyed meeting with three friends while they were away and I appreciated the break from cooking.
Kohen and Lily-Anna have both had lots of swimming lessons this summer. They both passed a number of levels, making lots of progress. Kohen is now a good swimmer and Lily-Anna is comfortable in the water, enjoys jumping in, and can swim 10 meters on her front and back.
One huge highlight of the month was seeing my niece get baptized in the river. I love watching any baptisms but they mean even more when someone I know and love is getting baptized.
Last week I noticed that there was some water coming from our hot water heater. Thankfully it had an 8-year warranty that ended this coming November. I emailed the company that installed it and they came and replaced it the next day. We just paid for the installation. PTL!!!
I have been to the St. Jacobs Market three times this month. The first time I went with Kohen who wanted to buy Jibbitz for his Crocs. The second time, we went as a family and enjoyed delicious cinnamon buns. None of my kids seem to remember being there before so I guess they were too little to remember. The third time, Kohen and Lily-Anna were with me after we bought Lily-Anna a pair of Crocs and she wanted to buy Jibbitz.
Lily-Anna also decided to change her hair this month. She had over ten inches cut off and she's enjoying her short hair, though she's thankful it's just long enough to pull back into a ponytail when she wants.
My two local nieces have left for university. It will be different not having them close by or seeing them on Sundays. I'm happy and excited for them but I'll miss them.
We reduced screen time this summer and it was helpful (one of my children may disagree). The kids read more and played more outside and were more creative. We also enjoyed listening to a number of audiobooks. We recently had a family meeting to come up with some ideas for a healthy schedule for screen time. We'll try it for a couple of weeks and then discuss what changes are needed. I'm hopeful.
Kohen decided that he wants to try playing lacrosse. We were able to find a program that will help him learn to play in September. It will end with a tournament in early October so it's a short season. Thankfully, we were able to find all the necessary padding on MarketPlace as well as some balls and sticks (in addition to one new stick). We now have three lacrosse sticks and Isaac and Kohen played with a friend tonight.
Isaac and I need to volunteer at church in the morning so I'll say goodnight.
I'll have to skip photos now but given that the kids go back to school next week, I will soon have a little more time. I hope everyone is having a great long weekend.
Blessings,
Elizabeth
Psalm 119:105 ESV
Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.
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