Port Discovery

Thanks to our awesome friends, Chris and Missy, we had some free tickets to Port Discovery, a kids' museum in Baltimore.  We took our friends, the Fixes (also known as Mr. Fix, Mrs. Fix, Rock, and Louisa).  What a blast!

After karaoke (sorry, no pix), we went to explore the land of Paul Bunyan, where we...

...built a log cabin,

and stood in his footprints.

Princess Camille (aka "Cindawella")

The kids loved painting...

Nathaniel was just taking it all in...

 ...except when he was sleeping.

 One of our favorite activities was the gas station/convenience store.

Who needs a cart?

Louisa (one going on 16), "driving" the car at the gas station.

Our attempt at a picture of all the kids in the train...

Giant light bright....SO COOL!

 You can't tell from the picture just how fun this was, BUT, a projector reflected pictures of leaves, water, etc.  When the kids would walk or jump in the oval, the leaves would scatter, water would ripple, or lilly pads would move.

 Time for a little quiet time to read and build.

This is my best attempt at taking a picture to show you the inside of the museum.  The center is just a giant, three story play area to climb and slide.  Adeline went through this tunnel with her daddy.

Another super fun room was the "water room."  No, that is not Adeline standing with her daddy.  It was too scary for her.  This is a random younger girl who wanted to try it...

This hoop rests in a trough of bubbles.  When you pull the rope, you are enclosed in a giant bubble.  So cool!!!  If you look behind Patrick, you can see the bubble coming up from the ground.

This display showed the water cycle.

Our last stop was the diner.  The girls had such fun taking our orders, making the food, and checking us out at the register.  So well done.

Adeline was not shy about letting this boy know she needed a piece of bread for her mommy's sandwich.

What a great day!!!

Nolt Picnic

I know I haven't blogged much lately.  I'm going to try to spend a bit of time updating today.  Patrick's contract position fell through, so if you could keep us in your prayers as we figure out where to go, what job to pursue, etc, we would appreciate it.  The unknown is so scary and uncomfortable sometimes, but we're also just really excited about what God has for us next.  We'll keep you posted (pun intended).

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In June, we had a Nolt family gathering at my Uncle Clair and Aunt June's house (also known as the farm where my dad grew up).  Here is a picture of my grandmother (my dad's mom) with her 15 great grandchildren.

 June had lots of fun activities for the kids including sidewalk chalk, play dough...

 a pedal tractor...

...and a piñata!

Of course the food was amazing.

 ...as was the fellowship.  I love my family.

What I've been reading...

If you read Kristen's blog, then you will have seen all of these books before.  Based on her recommendations, I've been doing some summer reading......




Loving Frank is a novel based on the love affair between Frank Lloyd Wright and Mamah Cheney.  Nancy Horan does quite a bit of research into their lives and weaves fact with fiction (her perceptions of their feelings, motives, etc).  I liked this one....didn't love it.  It isn't graphic, but my moral red flag goes up whenever I read about an affair.  As Kristen suggests, do not google anything about FLW if you don't know anything about his life.  It would really spoil the ending.









Sarah's Key by Tatiana de Rosnay was definitely a worthwhile read.  It is a heartbreaking but gripping story.  It is historical fiction based on the Vélodrome d'Hiver round up in Paris back in 1942 where thousands of Jew's were killed.  

I heard a lot about The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, so I decided to read this (even though thrillers are not usually a genre I migrate towards).  I read all 600 pages in a little over a week.  Truly a gripping story.  The synopsis on the back compared it to Silence of the Lambs.  I agree.  Great story, well written, has a plot (not senseless violence).  However, it is not for the faint of heart.  I haven't decided if I will read the other two books in Stieg Larsson's trilogy or not.  I think the next one deals with sex trafficking, and I'm not sure I could handle that in graphic detail.

  

It took me a while to get into Winter Garden, a novel by Kristin Hannah, but after I did, I LOVED it!  Add this one to your reading list.  There is a bit of historical fiction mixed in with a look into how complicated relationships can be and how our perceptions are not always accurate.

Reasons to love Chick Fil A...

 Last week, we went to family night at CFA.  This used to be "kids eat free" night.  Alas, they did make some changes and kids no longer eat free, but they still bring in a super talented face painter.  She turned Camille into a princess (as though she needed any help).  Adeline was insistent..."I don't want you to paint on me."  After her daddy agreed to have his ENTIRE face painted like a frog, she relented and allowed her to paint flowers on her arm.

Kudos to Pat for once again being a super cool daddy.

Then, because we love us some CFA, we dressed like cows for the annual cow appreciation day.  Yes, ALL of us participated.  Nathaniel donned a white onesie (since I only have about 328 of them) turned cow costume with a black sharpie.  I think the fumes may have made him a bit high though.  lol.  Camille pretty much stole the show in her halloween costume turned perfect outfit for the occasion.  The rest of us just wore white and printed out the costumes from their website.  We waited until we got there to tape on the "Eat Mor Chikin" signs.  Those milkshakes (especially when they're free) just make me happy.  Three cheers for Chick Fil A!!!

More Camille...

Mawy had a wittle wamb...

Slowly but surely...

Quick update...

It's been a while (as several of you have pointed out) since I've posted anything.  For those of you who don't know, Patrick separated from the air force at the beginning of June.  He had a contract position lined up, but it fell through about two weeks before his separation date.  To make a long story short, he found another contract position PTL (in flight medicine at Andrews AFB), but he's had some time off in between jobs.  We are in full summer-play-with-daddy mode!  ...except for that week when we were all sick.  Our friends here affectionately titled it, "the toddler plague."  2-3 year olds were sicker than others who were infected....and most kids (and sometimes adults) we know were down for the count.  We quarantined ourselves for about two weeks.  Anyway, back to summer...

There have been princess tea parties...

...LOTS of ice cream...

...trips to the pool...

...and Father's day.

Our garden is growing...

...as is our son.

 There's more to post, but for now I'll leave you with two of my favorite recent pictures of my favorite guys.  I think I'll have one of them made into a large canvas print like the ones I have of the girls with me.  

Hope you're loving summer as much as we are!