Weekend at Camp

Well it's the weekend and transition between two camp weeks.  We had a chill night last night with assigned team celebrating the first week of camp finishing wonderfully.  It has been totally blessed (have I said that a couple times already?).  And tonight it was perfect to catch a few pics of the kiddos tonight...


Today is Father's Day and it's hard not to reflect on the men in my life who mean the world to me...my dad and my husband.  I honestly don't know where I'd be without my pops.  He is such a model in life to me...and we may have had our differences while I was growing up but I've come to know his firm hand and direction just made me a better woman.  My heart SWELLS that my son has such a connection with him and the farm life. . .and I'm so proud to be born the daughter of a farmer.  There is a song I hear on the radio that ALWAYS makes me think of pops...I think it will every time I hear it and sometimes I insert, small town Iowa man when I sing it. . .here are the verses that remind me of him the most:

Born the middle son of a farmer
And a small town Southern (Iowa) man
Like his daddy's daddy before him
Brought up workin' on the land
Fell in love with a small town woman
And they married up and settled down
Natural way of life if you're lucky
For a small town Southern man

And he bowed his head to Jesus
And he stood for Uncle Sam
And he only loved one woman
(He) was always proud of what he had
He said his greatest contribution
Is the ones you leave behind
Raised on the ways and gentle kindness
Of a small town Southern man
(Raised on the ways and gentle kindness)
(Of a small town Southern man)

Callous hands told the story
For this small town Southern man
He gave it all to keep it all together
And keep his family on his land
Like his daddy, years wore out his body
Made it hard just to walk and stand
You can break the back
But you can't break the spirit
Of a small town Southern man

And then there is my wonderful husband.  Seriously I hear way too many stories in my life of people who have had dad's who didn't care, didn't commit or weren't even around.  Watching Michael with our kids just makes me realize how blessed I am to have a man like him by my side to parent these kiddos. . .and one who helps me to instill things in them I couldn't do myself.  It doesn't take much of a google search to find statistics on the advantage of having a father's influence in your life in terms of security, confidence, drive, and the list goes on and on.  I am so thankful to have such an awesome man in these kiddos life.

 Happy Father's Day to all the men out there!  Enjoy!