We just got back back from church a little while ago, Steve and I were teaching the 4 and 5 yr. olds and one little boy would choose something to do and then just stand there with his eyes on me until I was looking at him, then he would play.  If I gave him the reaction he was looking for he would continue, for example if I smiled or commented on how well he was playing his whole countenance would lift and he would keep playing with a big smile but if I did not show enough pleasure he would move to another activity, again standing very still, until I noticed and then he would become animated, always looking back at me to see if I was watching.  Some other kids caught on and it became a game "Who can please the teacher" when I would express my delight in them they would just giggle with joy.  So I am about to go to bed with that memory in mind thinking about how that relates to fearing God and the joy that comes in pleasing Him.

Psalm 84:10 Better is one day in Your courts than a thousand elsewhere.

Psalm 4:6 Let the light of your face shine upon us, O Lord.

I put some photos together to show you a little bit of our vacation, starting with the day of the wedding.

There have been a few times where I will do an out-of-state wedding and Steve will come along with the kids.  I really enjoy planning something for the kids to do the day of the wedding while I am gone.  This time, because we were in Norfolk right near the water I surprised the kids (and Steve) by booking tickets for them to sail on a local sailboat (what sold me was the dark sails that look so much like a pirate ship).  They also went to the nearby Nauticus museum.  Steve took all of the shots in this post.  I love the image below Chloe and Eti really show of the scale of the battleship Wisconsin.

Here is Coco and Eti in the sailboat below deck looking out the portholes.

I put these two side by side because I never noticed before how similar their eyes were, so much of their face is similar and I somehow totally missed it until I saw these two shots.

After weddings like this, Steve and I take turns talking about our adventures.  We usually have our respective cameras and are showing some of what we saw through the viewfinder. 

This shot above was my favorite that Steve showed me.  He has not changed in the sixteen years that I have known him.  If he hears fireworks in July he will drop what he is doing and drive around looking for them.  He is spontaneous and fun..so fun.  So he and the kids, at the end of the day, were out walking and they saw this HUGE flock of birds.  They stood there watching for sometime, observing the way they dipped and dived and folded over when making a turn.  The mass of birds all stayed together creating large shapes in the sky, and then they were gone,  they had dipped down and out of sight, but Steve and the kids  could still hear them.  So they walked a few blocks to follow them and did discover them on one street.   You should have heard the kids description of all the noise and how it felt to be there in a storm of migrating birds.  Yes, they loved the boat and the museum but the bird chasing was free and a real adventure for them.