Tubing pictures

Here are a few pictures from our adventures on the Brandywine River this past Sunday

Back at camp

This weekend I went to a leadership summit/running camp with my kids from Students Run Philly Style. About 100 students and leaders from all over Philadelphia drove an hour north of the city to Briarwood Day Camp. Most of the kids had never been to a camp before, much less an overnight one! Several of them were saying they had never left Philly before...so to spend a weekend in the woods was quite the change for them! Despite that, the kids responded so well to everything. The directors said that we were their best group they'd ever had! There weren't any fights and very little bickering. Everyone encouraged each other and stepped up to the expectations of leadership the counselors gave them.


Can you pick me out? (hint: front middle...the white dude with the red bandanna)


Personally, it was a little more difficult than usual. I'm used to Geneva, where there's a rock star feeling with elementary kids. At the summit this weekend, there were all middle and high schoolers. I was nervous about connecting with them, but it all ended up working out. You show kids respect, and they'll show it right back to you.


There sure is a difference between kids from Western Michigan and West Philly. For one, as soon as I had my bandanna on, I had several kids ask me if I was a blood. "A what??" I responded several times. Soon I learned that there's a gang that wears blood red bandanna just like that. Oh well...at least I'm adapting to the culture!

These are the fearless counselors. I'm excited about running in races and knowing several other leaders and more kids. Now I can cheer for specific students instead of simply "go students!".

Seth left this morning for Indiana for a photography gig. That leaves Murphy and me here alone! So far, so good. I was able to get a bunch of random things done today and try to catch up on the e-mails and other business I missed while away. You know, it's good to be missed, but sometimes........

I managed to snag 35 cents on the sidewalk last night while walking around town with John, Seth, Kallie, Jeremy, Casey, Melanie, and Christian. They made dinner and let me join them after I finished my final Walden paper for my third class (only 14 months left now!). I made cwaffles a la mode with ice cream, and we had to take a walk to get the calories burning again. John and Seth were in prime picture taking mode, as shown here by this creative picture:


With Sarah on vacation with her sisters, I find myself missing her more than usual when she's simply across town. It looks like we'll have to survive two weeks without seeing each other; good thing we had practice all last year! God has ways of reminding us how good we have it.

Me vs. pollen

That's what today felt like. For whatever reason, all of Philadelphia's trees, grass, molds, spores, dust mites, animal dander, and other allergetic forms of Satan invaded my entire sinus system today. It was rough. I had taken an Allegra D in the morning, but it was no match for the devil's demoralizing attacks. Fortunately, my nose was mostly cleared up for the afternoon, which included a 4 mile run with my kids that felt like 8 miles (all in 88 degree weather...it's amazing what a harming effect heat can have on a runner!).

Despite today's pollen ambush, Philly has TONS of beautiful blooming trees all over the city. Here's a picture of a few of us pretending the petals are pink snow:




This past week was filled with runs. I ran 5 miles Mon, Tues, Wed, and Thurs. Then to top it off, my kids and I ran down to the Skuykill River from school and back--my approximate distance: 7-8 miles. For those of you who are counting, that's the longest I've ever ran in my life! The most encouraging part was seeing my students go so far and be excited about their accomplishments. We needed to go pretty far since our 10 miles race (Philly's finest Broad Street Run) is this coming Sunday morning.

My roommate Seth was asked to give his testimony in church Sunday. He did an awesome job of glorifying God and humbly sharing how God has moved in his life. God really has been at work in Seth, and I've felt tremendously blessed to have been privileged to observe so much as his roommate.

Yesterday some Liberti folk and I spent another GORGEOUS Sunday afternoon in a park. We grabbed lunch to go and headed to Liberty's Lands, a nice green playground/park a mile from Fishtown. What a blast! We played a frisbee game called hot box that one of our church's pastors taught us. I even indulged in the ice cream truck's wares for the first time. Not exactly Franklin Fountain quality, but it sure hit the spot.

God has recently brought some really neat people into my life here in Fishtown. John, Kallie, Nate, Melanie, Kristin, Jeremy, Seth, Sarah, and I have had some really fun times together. I feel so comfortable hanging out with each one of them, and I enjoy life so much with them, too!

Here are a few pictures from last week's adventures: