This year's PVNBC Sparks-a-rama team included 3 Caruvanas again. The only difference was we traded a Jon Sr. for a Jon Jr. Since Jon is taking a class each Saturday preparing to take his Fundamentals of Engineering exam he was unable to coach with Sylvia this year. And since our Sparks club is short on boys, we borrowed 2 Cubbies (Junior and his friend Caleb) in order to have a full team.
The kids always enjoy getting to shake hands with Sparky and Cubbie Bear.
The first event is always the Sparky Crawl. It doesn't look too bad in this picture, but just ahead the kids will encounter 30 other Sparkies crawling in opposition to them. Syndi is in the upper left (with blue pants) and Junior is on the right (with red pants). 
Syndi did well again this year in the Sparky Safari; running around the circle with a beanbag on her head. It's hard to believe that 2 years ago, we couldn't even put her in this event because she wouldn't go around the circle by herself.
The girls took the 2nd place points with the Sparky Train. Here they are lined up ready to run around the circle.
The boy's train took a detour as Caleb lost his shoe and led his team in circles trying to get it back.
We were in last place for most of the afternoon. Coming into the last game, the Balloon Pop, we were tied for 3rd (out of 4 teams). Syndi had begged to be the girl balloon-popper, and since this is the last year she is eligible to be on the team, I decided to let her do it. She did an awesome job and we took the first place points for the game.
We had to play the game one more time with a boy popping the balloon. You have to understand that in years past this has always been our worst event. But, this year, the balloon sailed through everyone's legs and our boy was able to pop it quickly to take the first place points again.
Our whole team was thrilled when they called out our name as the 2nd place winners!
The day was a lot of fun and a huge success! Stephen even enjoyed watching all the activity.
Junior's been doing some artwork of his own lately. Above you can see Mommy caught in the rain (all coming straight down, as Junior pointed out) and lightning (in yellow below the clouds).
Here we are inside the house during a storm. We are sitting around the dinner table enjoying a salad. The green is the lettuce; the red is the tomatoes; the orange is the carrots. Junior said we had to stay inside, because the rain would get us wet, or the wind might blow us away, or the lightning could hit us.
Um, we're not quite sure what this was. But I guarantee it came with a good story, because Junior's artwork always comes with a lengthy narrative.
Ah, Junior the Master Artist. "Voila!"
And just as any good artwork carries with it a telling story, any good artist carries with him a unique signature. We hereby give you Junior, punctuated by a football!
Since February is considered winter even in Georgia, the girls stayed in a cabin. They slept in bunkbeds and had a kitchen in which they could make meals.
They tried their hands at tie-dying a t-shirt. Syndi's turned out pretty cool looking.
They each brought fabric with them and worked on making their own blanket. Syndi loves hers and can be found cuddling up in it often.
Syndi said they tried to make them throw away the scraps, but she snuck some home. (Her Grandma has taught her to NEVER throw away fabric no matter how miniscule.)
There was definitely some time for goofing off and playing games. Coming from a die-hard game-playing family, this was her one frustration, as many games were started, but none were seen through to completion.
Definitely the highlight of the trip for Syndi was the opportunity to ride a horse. Syndi has developed a love for horses, but has never had an opportunity to ride a real one. (Unless riding a pony at the fair counts.) 
All in all, it was a good experience for Syndi.
