Sea World here we come...again

Shamu Rocks: Night show
It's feeding time. Look, he caught a fish. Just like Bailey caught fish guts on her face.
(Sorry B, i had to put that in there)

Up close and personal



Sea Lions Tonight: Mocking the Shamu show

Dah da... dah da... dah da dah da dah da dah da

Or however you type the Jaws theme song

Beluga Wales

Blue Horizons, the brand new dolphin show

Sea Turtles

Morning Sea Lion show

Believe: Afternoon Shamu show

It's hard to believe that they can actually do that

Blue Horizons (this ones for you, Jackie)

Cali Pictures (in no particular order) :]

THE burger place of California

Bailey, Mac, Jackie, and Megan are Sea Lions!!!!!!

Mac in front of her zebras

It was panda birthday week at the zoo. I think that was somehow planned..don't you? :)

Self-explanatory

Megan and Isamar

Our completed project

Fishing game

What really goes on..? Backstage of fishing game

VBS fishing game Thursday evening

Our wonderful VBS project

Mac's lizard friend that she helped escape from the house

Thursday morning

Walking the Pier Thursday morning

Bailey's finger

Bailey, Mac, and Megan at the Youth Group Pool Party Wednesday afternoon

Lazy Days of Summer

On Friday we went to the San Diego Zoo. It was panda birthday week (yay for Megan). We walked around for 8 long hours and stopped at every penny press available (really, we did. Just ask to see Mac's and Megan's collection). We took the tour bus around the zoo and the sky tour to see a different view of the area. For dinner we stopped at In-n-Out burger joint, CA's finest. We came home and watched a movie until we began to doze off...

On Saturday we piled into the car to go to SeaWorld. We saw all of the shows first (Sea Lion and Otter; Dolphins; Pets Rule; Shamu; Circus). We split up; half went on rides and half to the other animal exhibits. Bailey was very dissapointed to see that the San Diego manatees were moved to Orlando; however, she was not deterred from buying LOTS of manatee souvenirs. After seeing the evening sea lion show, we stopped to see the sea lion feeding. It was Bailey's lucky day. She got a bunch of the fish guts in her hair...and it smelled really, really bad. We spent 12 hours there and finally got home around 11.

This morning we got up early to pack our bags and head home. See you all soon! More pictures to come!

Its Friday morning and everyone's getting ready to leave for the zoo. Of course, with six girls in the house some of us have to get ready super early: therefore, we have time to write before we leave.
Wednesday night resulted in the same number of guests. All five teens helped act out the Bible story. Mac and B demonstrated what happens when two friends aren't willing to forgive by B tripping Mac. Megan, Amelia, and Jackie acted out the parable where the king forgave a huge debt to his servant but that servant couldn't forgive a small debt to his friend.
Since we finished handing out all the fliers in the surrounding neighborhoods, we had free time Thursday morning. We first drove around Oceanside's Harbor and then walked out onto a nearby pier. On the pier we enjoyed watching surfers test the waves and a group of dolphins that swam by. After that we headed back to the Harbor to do a little tourist shopping. Then it was on to the beach. Only Pastor Flunker, Amelia, and Megan went into the freezing water but everyone still enjoyed walking the beach.
After freshening up, we headed back to Ascension for the last day of VBS. We finished our art projects and completely filled in the background to the huge paper. To end the night we set up a carnival fishing game (the one where the kids put the hook over a wall and they reel in a prize). The kids loved it, both the game and the surprise toy. All the kids were given glow sticks before they left for the night.
Well, that about sums it up for the last couple of days. Stay tuned for events from the zoo and Sea World. See you all on Sunday...

we have an angel watching over us while we sleep

Day 1- we had nine people come, a total of two families. Pastor Flunker told the story of the calling of Peter and the miracle of the great catch. We sang a song, ate, and finished the first craft.

This morning we finished handing out the rest of the flyers and prepared for tonight's lesson. Around 1:00 we are heading to the church's youth group pool party. Stay tuned for more updates.

Our house

California sunset on the way home from La Jolla Beach

Art projects we will be helping the families make- fishing pole and fishing net and soon to be tackle box

Bailey

Bailey and Mac modeling flyers

Megan

Jackie (court with scary, barking dogs at every house)

Bailey Jackie Megan Mac and Amelia enjoying a stroll at La Jolla Beach

Girls at La Jolla Beach

Girls in front of VBS sign at Ascension Lutheran Church

Ascension Lutheran Church Escondido California

Preparing crafts for VBS

Our first full day in California at Moonlight Beach

See, we are thinking of you

Ocean Drive on way to La Jolla

California Girls

Hello to everyone back in Wisconsin. We safely arrived in California late Saturday night after many exciting adventures in the airport. After we all made it through security without any beeps, we waited a short time for our flight to leave. Because of an overbooking in coach class, Mrs. Jammer, Megan, and Jackie sat in first class, while MacCartney and Bailey sat elsewhere. First class was nice with the complementary snacks, drinks, and big seats but our adventure was over 3 hours and 45 minutes later when we arrived in San Diego. Amelia arrived ealier in San Diego after a week at a heart camp in Minneapolis, Minnesota. We have a wonderful host family, with two sisters. They have a pet bird named Kiwi. In our bedroom, we have Taylor Lautner watching us sleep. Bailey, MacCartney, Jackie, and Amelia share a bedroom, while Mrs. Jammer and Megan sleep in a room across the hall. Our host family serves us breakfast every morning and sometimes we eat dinner with them in the evening. To get accustomed to the California weather, we all went to the beach to enjoy the nice sunshine. According to the locals, the only time they had seen sun for the past couple weeks was when we went. The waves were a bit too big and strong to actually swim but everyone waded in to their knees. Bailey and Megan attempted to boogie board, but they didn't go out far enough to catch the full wave because they were just too huge. Jackie got taken out by a wave and got a scraped up knee but that was the worst injury and we hope to keep it that way. Everyone enjoyed walking along the shore with just our feet in the water and our backs in the sun. Last night, once we got home, we ate a delicious meal of corn on the cob, some meat, homemade applesauce, cucumbers, salad, and green beans. We watched the movie 10 Things I hate about you. We ate ice cream sandwiches and peanut butter oreos, also! Are there any Tangy Carolina BBQ chips in WI? This morning we left at 9 to canvas some local neighborhoods. We spent an hour climbing hills, knocking on doors, and explaining what our VBS program is all about (in English and Spanish)! Afterwards, Pastor Flunker took us to Mariachi's Authentic Mexican Restaurant for lunch. We stopped at the Dollar Tree for some sunglasses and the neighborhood grocery store for some much needed sunscreen, too. Around 1:30 we came back to church to prepare the crafts for the week and to discuss the lessons. Our VBS will focus on three ideas: fishing for men, caught in the net, and tools for forgiveness. Later tonight we plan on going to the boardwalk for a nightly stroll and some souvenir shopping; then, back home to rest so we can do it all again (:

Pictures coming tomorrow!
Miss you all!
Jackie, Amelia, Megan, MacCartney, and Bailey

California, Here They Come!

God blessings to the five teens who will be serving in California this week. Prayers are following you out here! Enjoy the week.

Misc.

The Last Day

Here are the pictures from Friday camp and our afternoon trip to Mount Vernon. Chris is struggling to pull open Washington's original tomb. Can't believe the week's over already! It's going to be a short night's sleep and an EARLY morning flight tomorrow.