It may be a super hot Louisiana summer, but that isn’t putting a damper on the fun for our boys in Mandeville! Residents and staff of our Methodist Children’s Home of Greater New Orleans have been busy making the most out of their summer break!

The kids kicked off their summer fun with a visit north to our Outdoor Wilderness Learning Center in Dubach. They rode horses, fished, rode bicycles, played games, camped at the bunkhouse, made s’mores and ate lots of great meals. They also got to participate in fun high and low ropes course activities and picked blueberries! This is a week our kids look forward to all year long and it didn’t disappoint!

Another week our kids look forward to with great anticipation is VBS week with St. Matthews UMC. Each year, gracious folks from St. Matthew’s United Methodist Church in Metairie, host a multi-day Vacation Bible School program for our youth. There are lots of fun craft activities and a great opportunity to further expose our kids to God’s love for them. Thank you to St. Matthews UMC!

The week leading up to the July 4 holiday was packed with fun excursions! A trip to the aquarium was a great way to keep the kids entertained as well as a great way to give them a break from the heat. Several of our kids had never been to an aquarium before, so you can imagine the excitement over all of the fish and especially the stingrays!

The kids and staff were also treated to a crabbing trip with members of Waldheim United Methodist Church in Covington, Louisiana. Everyone had so much fun! Whatever the kids caught, the church members cooked for them for dinner. Thank you to the members of Waldheim UMC for making this trip so fun for our kids!

We are looking forward to much more fun before school starts back in August! Thank you to all the members of our community who help us care for kids so well!