Carol Hulbert

What was Jesus offering? Super water?

Posted on September 19, 2012July 8, 2014 by Carol Hulbert

It’s obvious. The woman Jesus met at the well is clueless. Jesus has offered her living water and she’s stumped.

You don’t have a rope or a bucket and this well is very deep.
Where would you get this living water?
John 4:11

Let’s imagine what was running through her head…

Living water?
What is he talking about?
He can’t mean water out of this well. He hasn’t got a way of getting anything out of this well!
Does he mean some sort of Super water?
Water that has a special ingredient so that I’ll never need any more water?
That would mean I wouldn’t have to trek to this well every day – and in the hottest part of the day so as to avoid those other women.
Yes, please! I’ll take some of that living water!
Who wouldn’t want some of that?!

Discuss what Jesus meant by “living water. How about playing a game at the family dinner table. (Or wherever your family is gathered together.) Call it “Building answers” or “What’s inside her head?” or some other silly title.

Open a Bible to John 4:4 or have this kid-friendly copy of the story available. Tell everyone that Jesus is surprisingly radical in this story. He has offered this woman something that at first she doesn’t understand; it sounds strange to her. (And perhaps to you too!) It would be fun to pretend that we were inside the head of the woman in this story. What do you suppose she was thinking?

Pretend you are at the well and someone, whom you shouldn’t be talking to, asks you for a drink.
What one sentence comes to mind? You’ll probably need to prime the pump on this, so go ahead and start everyone off with: Whoa! Did that guy just talk to me!?
What is the next thought that comes to your mind? Build upon what has been previously thought/said.

Let’s say the progression goes like this:
First person: Who does he think that he is?
Second person: Doesn’t he know he shouldn’t talk to me?
Third response: Maybe I’ll ask him?

Don’t feel as though this has to be a scripted exchange of ideas. It may get silly! And that’s okay. Just have fun and go with what happens. Eventually turn the responses back to speculations about what they think that “living water” is. Allow all responses.

Here’s a way to finish up your game – Say a prayer:
God, who offers us living water; we accept! Fill us full up! We picture ourselves falling back into a calm pool. The living water lifting us, supporting us; we feel very close to you. We thank you that you love us no matter what! Amen.

Photo credits:
Click here for info on banner photo (not visible in readers or email).
Water Splash by Steve Garner, who licensed this photo on Flickr under a Creative Commons License.

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What’s the big deal?

Posted on September 12, 2012July 8, 2014 by Carol Hulbert

Jesus had asked the Samaritan woman for a drink. This seems like an ordinary request. Then why the incredulous response from the woman?

You are a Jew and I am a Samaritan woman. How can you ask me for a drink?
John 4:9

Why was it so unusual for a Jewish man to talk to a Samaritan woman?

First off, in Jesus’ day, it was radical for a man to be seen talking to a woman. Heck, men didn’t even speak to their wives in public. Not only that, Jews and Samaritans didn’t mingle. Jews wouldn’t even set foot in Samaria! (They traveled the long way around, to avoid passing through Samaria.) I’d say that’s extreme dislike.

A speech bubble How to help your child understand how Jews felt about Samaritans?
Ask: Is there food that you really dislike? What would you do to avoid having to eat this food? Push it away on your plate? Leave the table? Leave the house?

A bit of history is needed to understand this animosity. Around 700 years before Jesus was born, Jews were forced into exile (a long way from home) by conquering nations. But some of the people in the area of what later became Samaria, were allowed to stay. They intermarried with people from other nations who were shipped into their land. Fast-forward 70 years when the exiled Jews returned to Jerusalem, they snubbed these people as a “mixed race” and started calling them Samaritans.

And now, that radical Jesus is in Samaria, ignoring cultural restrictions; again.

Why did Jesus feel that he had to go to the avoid-it-at-all costs Samaria (John 4:4)? Because Jesus knew that this woman needed some “living water.”

Jesus knew that this woman was an outsider in her community; why else would she come to the well at noon, the hottest time of the day? Yep. To avoid running into other women. We usually assume this woman was an outcast because of her string of failed relationships (she’d had five husbands). But there is another reason she’d probably had so many husbands: inability to have children. A prime reason in those days, to not be accepted.

A speech bubble Make sure your child understands the way this woman feels.
Ask: Have you ever felt left out?
(Adult: share a time in your life when you felt like an outcast.)

So… what can this story teach your child?

Sometimes you have to be radical like Jesus.

Talk to the person no one will sit with at lunch.
Include the loner in your games at recess.
Stand up to actions or words that bully another.
Offer support to your fellow classmates.
Realize that your actions can make you an outsider.
Make a plan for how you will deal with rejection.

Encourage your child to go for the living water – the “artesian spring within, gushing fountains of endless life” (John 4:13-14).

Photo credits:
Click here for info on banner photo (not visible in readers or email).
Painting by Carl Heinrich Bloch in the public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.
Speech bubbles from public domain via WPClipart.com.

Cool Disciples Schedule: September 2012

Posted on September 6, 2012September 14, 2016 by Carol Hulbert

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For kids, repetition is good. This is one of the primary reasons why we use the Workshop Rotation Model for Christian education on Saturday nights and on Sunday mornings at FUMC in Ann Arbor, MI. The kids hear about the same Bible story all month long. It’s not boring because each week they explore the story using a different style of learning – visual, auditory, or kinesthetic – to name a few.

In September, we are studying “The Woman at the Well.” Read about our story in the New Testament Gospel of John at John 4:4-42. For those of you with younger children, don’t look too hard for this story in your children’s story Bible. It likely won’t be there! Instead, tell the story; tell it multiple times. (Repetition!) Download a story version suitable for younger kids. (<–Click on those words to access the file on a Google doc.) Perhaps older kids would enjoy it as well!

For Saturdays at the Green Wood location, here is the schedule for September:

Date	Workshop	Activity
9/1	No workshop this Saturday	Enjoy worship with your family.
9/8	Games Workshop	Play an interesting game or two.
9/15	Art Workshop	Create water color paintings.
9/22	Video Workshop	Watch the live-action video The Gospel of John.
9/29	Storytelling Workshop	Hear the story as told by the woman who met Jesus at a well.

For Sundays at the downtown location, here is the schedule of workshops…

Date	Cooking	Art 2	Video	Games	Storytelling	Art 1
	Social Hall	Pine Room	Room 215	Room 211	Room 204	Room 212
9/9	2nd grade	5th grade	3rd grade	6th grade	4th grade	1st grade
9/16	1st grade	4th grade	2nd grade	5th grade	6th grade	3rd grade
9/23	3rd grade	6th grade	1st grade	4th grade	5th grade	2nd grade

9/30	This week we’ll start our October workshops. Stay tuned for that schedule.

What’s happening in each workshop?

In the Art Workshop students will explore art works that depict this story and then create a watercolor painting. We’ll have two Art Workshops so that all of the grades will visit Art this month.
In the Cooking Workshop students will discuss changes that occur – both that we can see and those we can’t see. Change ordinary ingredients into a tasty snack
In the Games Workshop students will play a game that illustrates compassion and learn story details about the Woman at the Well.
In the Storytelling Workshop students will hear the story from the woman who was at the well.
In the Video Workshop students will watch portions of the live-action video The Gospel of John.(can’t have a movie without popcorn!)

If you are in the area please join us for the fun learning at First United Methodist Church in Ann Arbor, MI

Photo credits:
Click here for info on banner photo (not visible in readers or email).
Jesus and the Samaritan Woman by tribalicious, who licensed this photo on Flickr under a Creative Commons License.

What is an “Offering?”

Posted on August 2, 2012July 9, 2014 by Carol Hulbert

A quick quiz:

Which of the following pictures show people making an “offering” to God?

working in the greenhouse on the Appalachia mission trip

kids digging a drainage trench on the Appalachia Mission Trip

Bravo if you answered, “all of the above.” That’s right, all of the photos show someone who is (or could be in the case of the last picture) making an offering to God.

An offering is when we give something to God. It may be showing love to someone, serving or helping someone, or giving money. Discuss around the family dinner table (or wherever your family is gathered together): What are other ways we give offerings?

Photo credits:
Click here for info on banner photo (not visible in readers or email).
Money photo from public domain clip art.
Other photos from my archives or used by permission from church members.

Beyond Sky: Using Prayer to Build Trust

Posted on July 19, 2012March 17, 2016 by Carol Hulbert

“Sky” Vacation Bible Camp (VBC) is complete. We’ve had the chance to show off our enthusiasm by singing VBC songs in the downtown church service.

Kids sing songs from VBC in church

We sang the VBC theme song “Fly,” and “You, You, You.”

children's moment in church reports on mission collection

We’ve also heard a report from some of the Grad Group members about our “Share a Smile” mission collections.

Ah, we had a great week!

So, are we there yet? Do we fully trust God?

That’s what we heard all week long, right?

No matter who you are… Trust God!

No matter how you feel… Trust God!

No matter what people do… Trust God!

No matter what happens.. Trust God!

No matter where you are… Trust God!

(Did I miss any?)

I’ll admit, it’s hard to trust God. We want to, but it means giving up control. (Yikes, is that scary!)

And then sometimes it seems like God can’t be trusted; we prayed really hard but then God didn’t answer. So how can God be trusted?

How can we teach our kids about building their trust in God,
when we (the adults) aren’t sure how?

First off, be prepared to admit to your kids that you don’t have all of the answers. Living with unanswered questions is an unavoidable aspect of being on a faith journey. If you are like me it will be easy to tell your child(ren) that you all can work together to learn to trust God. Here’s a way to start: How do we come to trust anyone? We take baby steps to build a relationship, right? So how do we work on a relationship with God?

Use prayer.

It’s appropriate that this month in Saturday and Sunday’s Cool kids are learning about prayer. Prayer is talking and listening to God. It helps us to feel closer to God, to build a relationship with God and thus, to build trust in God. There are multiple ways to talk about prayer with your kids. (Here and here are a few). Let’s focus on a technique that is reinforced this month in our workshops: using the acronym “ACTS” to keep our prayer time focused. Each one of the letters represents a different type of prayer.

A: Adoration – A great way to start by saying, “I adore you God!” or “God, you are awesome!”

C: Confession – What we are sorry for, something we did wrong, or something we should have done but didn’t do. (How about feeling like we aren’t totally trusting God?)

T: Thanksgiving – List a few things that make you feel grateful.

S: Supplication – Send in the troops! Listing some of the needs of others or for ourselves.

I’m working on building my trust. How about you?

a blue line

Photo credits:
Photos are from my archives.

Sky VBC: Day 5

Posted on July 13, 2012 by Carol Hulbert

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Sky Vacation Bible Camp (VBC): Where everything is possible with God! Here’s what your kids did today…
God Sightings, Day 5
We started our day at Up & Away Sing & Play by singing (of course!) and we got to watch a video of us from yesterday! What great memories. We also remembered where we saw God yesterday and added to our God Sightings poster.

The Bible Buddy for day 5: Rockette the Flying Squirrel One more Bible Buddy! Today it’s Rockette the Flying Squirrel! Flying Squirrels don’t really fly, they actually glide. They have a built-in flap of skin between their front and back legs which acts like a parachute that lets them glide from the tippy tops of trees. And can they cover a lot of ground! That sounds scary. Sometimes do you have to go places that are scary? I’ll bet that going places has something to do with our Bible Point for the day.

What’s the Bible verse for today?

Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or discouraged. For the Lord your God is with you wherever you go. Joshua 1:9

Flash and our leader of Up & Away Sing & Play

We wanted to see Flash one last time but she didn’t even answer her phone! Why? Graduation from flight school is coming up and she’s afraid of going out into the real world; what if she is sent flying somewhere she’s never been before? We taught her another Bible Point!

No matter where you are… trust God!

Then it was off to the stations. The preschoolers had fun at:

Games – We played a game called “Slippery Fish” and we went “fishing” for hidden fish. We learned that even if nobody knows where you are, God knows! He is always with us.

Pre-K Games, Day 5

Drama/Bible Adventures – We heard our story about Jesus helping his friends to fish and then we built a boat and went fishing! I wonder if we got wet? Then we had “breakfast” on the beach. We also heard a story that takes place in Liberia, called Koi and the Kola Nuts.

Bible Buddies – Skyler fixed his rocket! How great it was for him to be able to travel to so many places, even though Skyler was afraid of heights! No matter where he was, he could trust God.

Chadder & Orly watch the lift off of Skyler's rocket

Crafts – We decorated picture frames for our crew photos.

Meanwhile elementary kids visited the following stations:

All-Star Games – Today we played “Take the Treasure” and a couple of tag games. I think we got rather wet. I wonder how that happened?
Wild Blue Bible Adventures – We started off reviewing all that we’d done this week. Wow what a busy week. We’re tired! We decided to go fishing! But we didn’t catch anything! And that’s just what happened in our Bible story, in John 21:1-14. Jesus’ friends didn’t catch any fish until Jesus showed up. He helped them catch a lot of fish! Yep, wherever Jesus is, amazing things happen.
Sky High Movie & Missions – We watched the finale of our video. Who won the contest? Then we spent time making thank you cards for all of the volunteers at VBC! (There were a lot of them!)

Bible Adventures & Missions, Day 5

Imagination Station – Today we mixed up a special formula for bubbles. We talked about how no one can know where a bubble will float. No matter where they go…

Grad group heads off to deliver school kits The Grad Group went on another field trip today. They delivered school supply kits to the Bryant Community Center. On the way back they stopped for some fun at Burns Park. (They’ve been working so hard all week, they deserved a break!)

What was our snack today at Sky Dive Diner? It was called “Barbell Bites.” Ask your child how this snack tied into our Bible point of the day. Snack Day 5

Finally we gathered one last time at Fly Away Finale for singing and dancing. (Who has the tune to our theme song stuck in their head?)

We had a visit from Pastor Doug. And we got a report on our collection for Camp RAWANA – we’ve provided funds for 35 kids to go to camp! (Ask your kids how we demonstrated this.) AND we provided 93 school supply kits to our local mission. All ways to share smiles with those around us! What a great week we’ve had!

Today’s Links of interest (click on the highlighted words):

Slide show of photos from Friday.
Info about our regular education programs for kids on Saturday evenings and Sunday mornings. (Continue the fun learning!)
Other posts about our week at VBC.

And, some conversation starters on our global mission project: Camp RAWANA Youth Camp in Liberia:

What was the name of that country again, that you were raising money for a camp?
Why do you suppose we should be helping people in such a far off country?
What was the most interesting thing you learned this week about the people of Liberia and the RAWANA Youth Camp?
What was your favorite part of Sky VBC?
Can you imagine someone in Liberia finding out that they get to spend time at Camp RAWANA? How do you think they’d feel?

Thanks for joining us at VBC!
~~Carol (on behalf of the VBC Team)

Join us at 9:30 this coming Sunday at FUMC. Put on your VBC t-shirt and be ready to sing! We’ll be singing our theme song (hear it in this post) and “You, You, You.” (Hear it here.)

Photo credits: Click here for info on banner photo (not visible in readers or email).
Bible Buddy image used by permission of Group Publishing.
Rest of photos courtesy of Griffin, Wendy, and Carol.

Sky VBC: Day 4

Posted on July 12, 2012 by Carol Hulbert

Day four of Sky Vacation Bible Camp (VBC): Where we are learning that everything is possible with God! Here’s what we did today…
Donating to Liberia
I liked seeing kids remembering to bring in offerings for our mission projects. Our “Share a Smile” offerings can help ensure that there is enough funds to buy supplies, food and transportation for the campers in Liberia. So far, $136.36 has been donated to Camp RAWANA! And every one can relate to the need for school supplies, our local mission project. (See the needs list down below.)

opening Day 4
At Up & Away Sing & Play we started off singing songs. (This is routine now, isn’t it? But still fun!) Did you know that this coming Sunday, we’ll be singing in the church service at FUMC? Put on your VBC t-shirt and please do join us at 9:30!

Let’s see, who was our Bible Buddy for the day? The Bible Buddy for day 4: Apollo the Caterpillar Apollo the caterpillar.
Wait a minute. Caterpillars don’t have wings. What is a creeping caterpillar doing as the Bible Buddy for a VBC about SOARING through the sky?
Oh, that’s right. I guess they do eventually become butterflies.

That reminds me of the way Jesus died yet came to life again (Matthew 27:32-28:20). When things seem hopeless, if it seems like you’re stuck crawling rather than soaring, there is hope! Our Bible Point for today is:

No matter what happens… trust God!

Here’s a Bible verse worth committing to memory…

And I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from God’s love. Romans 8:38a

What a beautiful promise! We said our verse out-loud a few times. It sounded convincing!

Other routines of our morning? Sharing our God Sightings with our flight crew, adding more “clouds” to the chart (the more we focus on God Sightings the more joy we feel!), a visit from Flash, and a Sky High Hint. (That’s the hint on the right photo below. Ask your child about it.)

Then it was off to the stations. The preschoolers visited…

Games – We discussed what an “obstacle” is and then we went through an obstacle course!
Bible Adventures – We heard our Bible story and used a balloon to describe what happened to Jesus. Even when a balloon is deflated, it can “rise” again.
Bible Buddies – Oh no! Sklyer’s rocket for the contest didn’t work! But Skyler is okay with that. He can try again next time. He knows to trust God and not give up.
Crafts – We made caterpillars. They were covered in love.

Meanwhile elementary kids visited…

All-Star Games – Such inventive games! Today’s was called “Cloud Movers.” Ask your kids about this one.
Wild Blue Bible Adventures – We went back through the clues we found yesterday and reviewed the story about what happened to Jesus. (Kids even remembered about Pilate’s house and the fake trial of Jesus!) Then we continued the story, hearing about how criminals were killed: cruifiction. We learned that Jesus could have stopped the chain of events leading to his death, at any time! But he choose not to. He went through all that pain on purpose. Why? For reasons such as: ___enter your name here___. Ask your kids about carrying the cross, shouting crucify him, and creating an earthquake.
Sky High Movie & Missions – Today we wondered about who made each of the contests Chadder and Jayla were in, so “exciting” and why? We discussed when we had faced scary situations. Then we looked at pictures of the Cestos River in Liberia and the Huron River. There were big differences in how each of those rivers are crossed!
Imagination Station – Today was a quiet day. We decorated special picture frames for the photos of our crew. What a keeper!

Today’s focus for our “older” elementary kids in the Grad Group was to learn about our global mission to Camp RAWANA in Liberia. We also put together snack packs for L.O.V.E. Thy Neighbor, a program which packs Saturday lunches for the homeless. And we collected and counted school kits.

Mid-way through our time this morning we all gathered at Sky Dive Diner. Our snack was called “Inseparable Swirls.” I wonder if your child can tell you why it is called that? (Can the chocolate be separated from the whipping cream?) VBC Snack Day 4

At the end of our morning everyone gathered together again for Fly Away Finale. We went “flying” around the Sanctuary while singing “We Will Fly.” Our Grad Group reported on the status of school supply kits being collected for the Bryant Community Center. Our hope is to create 25 early elementary (K- 2nd), 25 late elementary (3rd-5th), 30 middle school, and 20 high school kits. Here’s our list of needs:

Items needed	Quantity needed
Back packs (the biggest need)	95
Rulers	58
Pencils	0
Packs of markers	21
Boxes of colored pencils	0
Pencil holders (bags or boxes)	70
Spiral notebooks	29
Packs of lined paper	41
Colorful folders	366

Lastly, we discussed how Apollo (today’s Bible Buddy, wanted to fly but he had to wait; to trust God’s timing. We’d like to be able to fly! Flying feels like we are connected to God. But it is hard to connect with God because of our messy sins. We helped create a dramatic illustration of this concept. Ask your child what are some of the ways we tried connecting with Jesus? Did they work? What finally did work?

Today’s Links of Interest (click on the highlighted words):

Other posts about VBC.
Slide show of photos from Thursday.
The music video for We Will Fly.
Sign Language links to some words from our key verse: Convince (use “know”), Nothing, and Love.

See you tomorrow! Our final day!
~~Carol (on behalf of the VBC Team)

Photo credits: Click here for info on banner photo (not visible in readers or email).
Bible Buddy image used by permission of Group Publishing.
Photos courtesy of Wendy, Griffin, and Carol.

Sky VBC: Day 3

Posted on July 11, 2012 by Carol Hulbert

We had another great day at Sky Vacation Bible Camp (VBC): Where everything is possible with God! Here’s what we did today…

Heading in to VBC. Thanks for allowing members of our Grad Group to escort your children into the Sanctuary. It makes our drop off extra smooth-sailing.

We started off the morning really dancing! A few crews had the chance to lead everyone.

We huddled up in our crews to share our God Sightings and filled in three more letters on our posters with miniature “clouds.” It helps us remember to look for God in our lives. He really is everywhere!

The Bible Buddy for day 3: Scout the Eagle
We were introduced to our Bible Buddy of the day, Scout the Bald Eagle, by watching a short video. Do you know that Bald Eagles can have a wing span of up to seven feet! That’s a big bird. There is a cool verse in the Bible about eagles:

But those who trust in the Lord will find new strength. They will soar high on wings like eagles. Isaiah 40:31a

Flash - Day 3 Flash was back again today. She was all tied up with troubles. A kid in her flight class came up with the story that Flash had cheated; but she hadn’t! Flash wanted to strike back! She wanted to tie the offender to the wings of her flight simulator! Our Up & Away Sing & Play leader reminded Flash that sometimes people aren’t always nice. We need to trust God no matter what people do to us. In fact, that’s today’s Bible Point: 

No matter what people do… trust God!

Our Sky High Hint for the day was mysterious as always. This is our clue as to what our Bible story will be about. Oh, oh. Something bad is going to happen to someone in our story. We’ll have to remember to trust God!

A note for parents/caregivers: our story was about Jesus being arrested and put on trial. Read about it in Matthew 26:36-27:31. This is a long story with dark themes, however know that it was handled in age-appropriate ways, the overall point being that people did bad things to Jesus. He was falsely arrested and beaten and mocked. Jesus understands how we feel when people do mean things to us. (Our story tomorrow will tell the happy ending.)

The preschoolers visited the following stations:

Games – We played some fun games on the playground.
Bible Adventures – We heard our Bible story while sitting around a pretend fire.

Pre-K Drama/Bible Adventures - Day 3

Bible Buddies – Skyler the squirrel was back with Chadder Chipmunk. Chadder had also entered the build-a-rocket contest, except part of his directions were missing! We think that Orly took them. How mean! Did Skyler stand up to Orly? (We also talked a bit about how to make friends since sometimes friend-making can go astray.)
Crafts – Kids made Soaring Eagles. What is written on your Soaring Eagle?

Meanwhile elementary kids visited…

All-Star Games – Today we played a tag game called “Owie, Owie, Out.” We also played “Surprising Strength.” We were… surprised!
Wild Blue Bible Adventures – We really had an adventure today. We had to hide from Roman soldiers and then we found evidence that something bad must have happened to Jesus after he’d been arrested. Ask your kids what we found.
Sky High Movie & Missions – We found Liberia on an unmarked map of Africa! We also looked at pictures from Camp RAWANA. In our video Chadder almost lost the contest today. Then the video left off on a real cliff-hanger! In reviewing our key Bible verse we learned a way to feel like we’ve got extra strength. Ask your child to show you.
Imagination Station – was a blast today. We flew Tube-A-Loons! (And a few paper airplanes.) We learned that when something happens that bugs you, you just have to let it go.

The Grad Group went on another field mission trip today. They visited Alpha House, the homeless shelter in Ann Arbor for families. The grads helped organize, clean, and re-stock. (Hopefully we’ll soon get some pictures of the Grad Group in action.)

Our mid-morning snack time at Sky Dive Diner is always enjoyable. Our snack today was “Sky Cakes.” Ask your child about the decoration on the top of the cake. Day 3 Snack: Sky Cakes!

At the end of our morning everyone gathered together again for Fly Away Finale. There was more singing and a slide show of the day’s activities. We watched a demonstration of what can happen with our sad feelings when we trust God. Members from the Grad Group gave us an update.

We ended our day with more singing and happy dancing!
soaring at finale

Today’s Links of interest (click on the highlighted words):

Slide show of photos from Wednesday.
A web site to see American Sign Language signs – a way to learn today’s Bible verse! The signs for the words: trust, Lord, and strength.
Other hints on learning Bible verses by heart.

See you tomorrow!
Carol (on behalf of the VBC Team)

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Photo credits: Click here for info on banner photo (not visible in readers or email).
Bible Buddy image used by permission of Group Publishing.
Rest of photos courtesy of Wendy, Griffin, and Carol.