Marion Festival

A fun summer tradition in Josh's hometown is called the Marion Festival. The festival is held for five weeks in a row on Saturday evenings in the beginning of the summer. There are games, food, live entertainment, and a few rides. One unique thing about the festival is that the people from the town run it. They make the food, take the tickets, run the rides, etc. But don't expect the typical carnival rides if you're going to the Marion Festival; from the looks of it, the few rides that sit on the fair grounds seem to have been part of the festival for quite some time.

Our tradition is to walk from Josh's parents' house down to the fair grounds. Then we eat burgers and fries (and sometimes ice cream) while we talk and listen to the live music. I always like to go on the ferris wheel too before we leave. :) Josh and I have gone almost every year since we started dating (9 1/2 years ago!), and it's always a fun thing that we look forward to in June. I was excited that Mason was tall enough to ride on the ferris wheel with me this year. He was scared at first, but by the end of the ride, he wanted to go on another ride all by himself!

Family Vacation

I'm posting this reeeaaally late. Like over a month after our vacation to the beach in NC. But I still wanted to share, because it's a fun post. Our family has gone to Carolina Beach (Kure Beach, Wilmington area), NC for many years now for vacation. We love to do some of the same things every time, but we also usually find new fun spots or things to do while we're there. I'll warn you, this is a long post, because I wanted to give an overview of the whole trip, and we did a lot. But hopefully you can feel the fun of vacation through these pictures!

Awana Sleepover

One of the longest standing traditions that my mom has kept in Awana over the past 30 or so years is an annual sleepover with the 5th-6th grade girls. The number of girls has fluctuated in this age group over the years, and recently, there have been only a few girls coming to Awana that are in 5th or 6th grade. But regardless of number, the tradition still stands.

This year we had 5 girls come to the sleepover, and the night was packed with fun for everyone! We baked cookies; practiced our archery skills with Mr. Jimmy; roasted hot dogs and marshmallows over the campfire; read God's word and discussed the importance of prayer; made special presents for our moms for Mother's Day; played some games; made homemade donuts in the morning; and ended by walking to support Comfort Care Women's Health on their yearly Stride for Life campaign. Thanks to all the parents who send your sweet kids to Awana each week and encourage them to hide God's word in their hearts and minds!