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Alright! So VBS is over. It was an extreemly busy week! I was a leader for Blue Group #2 and we had 10 kids between three of us, plus the other ten kids that were in the first blue group. It was a great experience though!

The week before was really busy after Canada Day with preparations for VBS. We had to paint another banner and on the Sunday before, I ended up helping out until nearly midnight with getting all the tshirts made for the volunteers! It was crazy. The Tuesday we had a VBS meeting and then on the Wednesday, I went cherry-picking with the Peters family and then we all went swimming afterwards, so that was fun! On Thursday, I went swimming with Brendan, so I've pretty much been swimming nonstop since the Wednesday.

SO! Monday the 9th was the first day of VBS at the bottom of the hill (so I walked down) and then all the kids arrived. Our group was ages four and five, mostly. The first day was pretty hectic since we were all trying to figure out what station was where, but the second day was much easier. I went swimming with Darby afterwards, everyday and Brendan would usually join us, since he had to watch a kid named Joey. On the Wednesday, we all went over to Pam Friedell's house (which is right on the lake) and swam there, which was fun. The Tuesday, we literally swam for four hours. It was crazy! Thursday, Ty actually joined us but not for long and then on Friday, we had a major waterfight in the park since that's where the last day of VBS was held. I'm not sure why but most of the kids were ganging up on me. Like I was the easy target or something...but we were all COMPLETELY soaked by the end of it!

Sunday was the church's tenth anniversary, so I went to that. There was a big barbecue afterwards. On Saturday night, one of my second cousins, Tim (from Ontario, who I've never met before) showed up at Grandma's with two friends. They're biking across Canada and started in Vancouver. So Tim, Andrew and Aryan came to church and then we (plus Carolynn) all went to White Lake afterwards. I've never been swimming there and it was really nice! Darryl and Lona (from our church) brought their new boat and we got to go tubing! We were there for nearly six hours! Darby and I had originally planned to go swimming at the bottom of the hill with the Peterseseseses...but they decided to go boating instead so we hitched a ride with Auntie Sue up to White Lake.

Anyways! VBS was a really cool experience and I got to know some really interesting kids! There was another kid named Preston, who was really really cute and funny! I think he ended up being my favourite. But yeah! Each kid had their own story and their own way of dealing with each activity we did at Vacation Bible School. So it was interesting to see how they would react.

And now? I'm really bored. I got to go to Darby's for a bit yesterday but I'm not sure what the rest of the week will bring. I want to go swimming...
-Kristen

The Past Few Days...

Alrighty! So! My report card: all A's except for a B in Science (which is a very high B). I don't know my mark for my English exam yet though. So I'll let you know what I got when I know what I got.
So yesterday, I hung out with the Peters family (and the Reutlingers to a lesser extent) and we hung out for a bit and then went cherry picking (which was hot and buggy) and then we went to De Mille's farm/market thing and I bought Boylan (the best pop EVER) for the four of us (me, Jade, Ty and Brett) and then we went back to the Peters's house (throwing banana peels on the way) and then we had lunch and pitted the cherries with this cool little device thing and then Brendan got off work so we all hung out on the computer doing "The Impossible Quiz" (see addictinggames.com) and then we all went swimming for like...2 hours! YAY! It was really fun :) And...um...yeah!
VBS starts on Monday so we've been pretty busy helping prepare for that. I'm a group leader :)
Alrighty then! All for now!
-Kristen
P.S.- two Louder Than Words videos are up on YouTube. Search Louder Than Words or Eight Days A Week or Down On The Corner...or all three and eventually you'll find the little mini clips. They're the same ones that are on Facebook so if you've already seen them, there's not really a point to searching.
Also: one new site to add to my list... http://www.monstergig.com/kristen_mcneilly

More pics!

Preston, Travis and Brendan R painting the water on the waves. They got the fun jobs!
Sandi washing out a paint tray with the hose, Kirby's one obsession.
Me adding glitter to the waves. I got my hair cut *professionally*. Not that you can actually tell in this picture though.
The Talonz again. Ty, Travis, Brendan O, Brendan R, Preston.
Um...a firework late at night. Of course, it doesn't get this dark until at least 11 now.
YEAH! So that's about it for Canada day. Last Monday, Darby and I helped with Zack's (he turned 4) birthday party. It was Cars themed and was insane but um...it was fun... :)

Anyways! ALL FOR NOW!
-Kristen

LATELY!!!

Walking in the Canada Day Parade in Blind Bay! I'm the one in entirely red.

The Talonz playing at the huge celebration thing afterwards.

From left to right: Ty, Travis, Brendan O, Brendan R, Preston

The float in the Reutlingers' driveway, all finished and ready to go.
Our giant banner! I drew most of it out and Darby, Sandi and I painted it. This is the theme for Vaction Bible School this year.
BAHAHAHA! Yeah, so this is Travis during "Float Painting Day" with um...chalk in his mouth...
Okay...SO! My mom was elected as float designer, so she...designed the float. Last Wednesday, Travis, Preston, Darby, Brendan R and Sandi all came over to help paint the giant pieces of plywood we were using for waves on the side of the float and to create a giant banner for the back.

That evening the guys threw together plans for a movie and then Travis, Preston, Darby, me, Brendan and Carolynn (I'll tell you about her in a minute), all went to see the late show of Evan Almighty. We were out pretty late.

K, so Carolynn is a girl from Germany who came for the summer to be like a nanny for a family from our church. She's eighteen and she's really nice! So yeah, we've been hanging out with her a lot lately. And since it's Canada Day she got to see fireworks that would be banned in Germany, so it was cool! She's getting some new experiences and she's been staying out late with us for like, a week now! whoo hoo!

Anyways, the next day, Sandi and Darby came over to finish the giant banner and paint letters on the waves. Everything turned out great :)

Friday night, I'm laying in bed with my PJs on and I was talking to my mom when the phone rings. And it's like 10 o'clock. No one calls anyone after like, 9 around here. So we pick it up and it's Travis and he asks me if I wanted to go over to his little "class party" thing because only four people ended up being able to make it and "Darby want's to know if you could also spend the night". So I got dressed again and went over to Travis's little late night gettogether. Four of his friends from his class were there plus Darby and Preston, and then he invited Carolynn and Brendan and Ty (because you can't invite one and not the other). So then, we had a bonfire and had s'mores and such and then we had a little fireworks show (which intrigued Carolynn). Darby brought her new goat (Ringo) over and Ty was sooo happy. It was funny :P Then, Travis and Preston got the strobelight out and we were all like "moshing" in the rim of the trampoline! IT WAS SOOOO FUN! :P We were like running around and you'd be standing there and suddenly someone would be in your face...it was insane. And Brendan R and Ty were doing like giant jumps off the rim of the trampoline into the circle of people and it was awesome! And then at like, midnight, the four guests and Carolynn went home and the four guys slept in the basement and Darby and I slept in the Lair of the Darbbins. So that was fun! Then, the next morning, I got dropped off back home and spent the day doing nothing in particular.

So then, at 4 on the Saturday, my family went over the the Reutlingers' for Float Assembly Day. Which, in itself, wasn't all that fun because Darby couldn't make it since she sprained her ankle while moshing in the strobe light (odd way to injure yourself). SO! When the stuff I had to do was done, I went over and watched the Talonz practice for a bit (which is Travis, Preston, Brendan, Brendan and Ty) and then Brendan R got me a guitar and I got to play with them a bit, which was cool. :) I discovered that Ty can sing and play drums and bass (as well as guitar) and that Brendan R enjoys jumping around during practices but he won't actually do it on stage... So yeah! That was a fun day :)

SUNDAY! The day we've all been waiting for! So I went to the early church service and then I got dropped off at the float and then I walked behind the float with Darbbins and a bunch of children that COULD NOT ration the candy to throw to the kids. So we ended up running out of candy before the end of the parade so the kids at the end were left with nothing. :( Then, I worked a few shifts on one of the games and watched the Talonz play their first set (which they did great on). Then, Darby got me lunch and we ate at like 2 and we were STARVING! Ugh. Then I took a shift at facepainting and then Darby and I went back to the "green room" (when the games were closing up) where there was free pop for volunteers and where the bands hang out. So we hung out with The Talonz and drank 7Up and whatnot. Then we had to go to the lesser green room and hang out but Travis, Preston and Brendan R went off and did something else. So it was just me, Darby, Carolynn, Brendan O and Ty (plus four chairs and a big table). So THEN! we realized that one end of the table was slightly sunken into the ground! so Ty squished all four corners in and then he decided to sink a chair...a flimsy plastic chair. Which he jumped on. and it cracked. And then he sat on it anyways and we laughed for like ten minutes! :P And then Darby and I realized that the back of my legs were fairly sunburnt (little did I know that I would hardly be able to walk later!). Anyways, then a guy dressed like Elvis walked into the tent and we all tried incredibly hard not to laugh. So we all laughed like mad for ten minutes when he left.

Okay, so then the Talonz played their second set (which was awesome because they played Holiday by Green Day and Ty sang really well!) and then I went home...

So then at like, 9, like a LOT of people went over to the Reutlingers' and we all watched the HUGE fireworks show from their deck! YAY! And now, I'm recovering from a bit of sunstroke and the fact that it hurts to bend my legs. Yay.

Alright, so reading that probably kept you occupied for a while! I'll post more pictures in a moment so you can see some of the other stuff we did...

-Kristen