SonWorld Adventure Park

It has been a busy week, to say the least. But a good kind of busy. There are many things in the summer that the Little Nguyens look forward to...going to Grandma's, the 4th of July, visiting Ong and Ba, and trips to the beach. But there is one thing that we have become involved in as a family during the past few years that has really become quintessential "summer" for us- Vacation Bible School!

This year's theme, SonWorld Adventure Park, used the amusement park concept as a backdrop for the week's teachings. In the morning as they entered the park, each child received a "punch" on his "ticket" (nametag). A Bible story was used to give life to each day's concept, and they illustrated how choosing to follow the ways of Jesus helps us make the right choices in life: Choose Jesus, Choose to Believe, Choose to Obey, Choose to Forgive, and Choose to Act. The First Little Nguyen especially loved the music this year....the songs were really catchy! On Friday evening, at the VBS closing ceremony, we had a chance to see him perform I Can Choose to Obey. It was so cute! And so were the twin girls from his class, who he seemed to take quite a liking to. Who wouldn't love twin redheads!? The acoustics in the church are normally quite good, but with 300 other kids singing, it's kind of hard to hear one's own! It's not the greatest video, and there was so much going on around us...but, oh, well!

The Second Little Nguyen spent his last year in the nursery at VBS. He really fit in more with the Pre-K kids, but his birthdate, of course, prevented him from joining that class. Next year....Little Nguyen...next year. The teachers did some fun crafts with his class, they had Water Day, and a few of his friends from Mother's Morning Out were there as well. He was eager to get there every morning! He learned the story of Lazarus and remembered his name, learned about Zaccheus in the tree (and called him Zachary!), and heard about Jesus restoring sight to the blind man. He brought home a little storybook at the end of each day, and we read them over and over. The Second Little Nguyen knows the VBS songs about as well as the First Little Nguyen and was singing in his seat while the big kids performed at the closing ceremony.

I spent my second year as the supply and craft coordinator for VBS. My good friend, Angela, whose youngest son is the First Little Nguyen's best buddy, is the coordinator for VBS. I taught the two boys together in Faith Formation this year, and she will be the Second Little Nguyen's preschool teacher next year. Angela recruited me a few years ago to become involved in the VBS program, saying, "You seem like the kind of person who wouldn't be intimidated by 4,000 pony beads!" Right on! Actually, I do kind of like helping teachers prepare for the week, but what does it really say about me that I like to organize things?! I guess we all use our time and talent in different ways....and this is me using mine. The hard part is wading through the sea of the leftovers after VBS ends. That's not fun. Knowing how much I was dreading that, Chi surprised me by taking the afternoon off on Friday to help me get through all of it. So it was a family effort!