Thursday, August 26, 2010

Hudsonville Fair 2010!

Tuesday night we ventured to my old stomping grounds and took the kids to the Hudsonville Fair, as we've done every year since Kailyn was a baby! The kids had a great time looking at all the animals and choosing a couple of rides to go on. Will didn't really remember what the fair all entailed, so he asked lots of questions on the way there...it was precious! Kailyn on the other hand totally remembered and helped us tell Will all about it:)One of the kids' favorite was the train ride....it was slow and didn't go up or down.Watching the kids show and participating with the other kids!
About half way through the show Will spotted the John Deere's, so he and daddy took off to go sit on every one:)The kids got their faces painted....Kailyn chose a rainbow and Will chose a tiger....so cute!

The kids chose this elephant ride as the last ride......they had a blast going up and down and around at a pretty good clip!We ended the night in the barns before riding on more tractors. The kids thought it was great to pet the baby dairy cows.

Wednesday, August 25, 2010

Millenium Park!!!

Last week we are able to visit Millenium Park for the first time and LOVED it!!!! The splashpad was super fun and an "extra" for my kids when at the beach. The beach was clean and the water waveless and shallow....perfect! We met my cousin and her kids and it was nice to go along with someone who had been there before to show us the ropes....and the rope course:)
The splashpad water wasn't very warm so the splashpad was short-lived but thoroughly enjoyed by my little people.

Monday, August 16, 2010

Summertime Wednesdays!

Each Wednesday this summer we were priveledged enough to go to my Aunt Kim's house and swim in the afternoons! This is the first year that we have really been able to go consistently and skip naps, which made for a very fun summer! My kids are seriously part fish and would swim every day, all day if given the opportunity. Will also learned to jump in by himself with just swimmies!!! We are so proud of how much the kids have learned and are able to do this year and hope that their love for water continues:)A rare mother/daughter moment....it's usually all about a cousin or grandma, so this was nice for a change!
Kailyn's favorite new game with Haley! Kailyn would sit on the raft and Haley would go under the water and make her wait and then.......she'd push up the raft and in Kailyn would go with a little screaming and lots of laughter!!!!! Thanks Aunt Kim for allowing us to have such a fun summer by hosting us every Wednesday....Love you!

Little Painters:)

This past week we really started working on the room that is to be our classroom downstairs!! I really wanted the kids to be part of it and have some ownership over it too, so we doned our paint shirts (a.k.a. daddy's shirts) and headed downstairs to do a little priming on the paneling! As you can see Will was totally sporadic and Kailyn did a pretty good job....I have to say that after a half hour, when they were sick of it and I was left to finish, it went a lot slower than with my little helpers! Thanks for your help Kailyn and Will....I love you guys!

Order!

I walked in the living room one day to all Will's trucks, tractors, loaders and gators lined up from biggest to smallest!!! Nice job buddy:)

Watering Trees

One of the joys of being part of a tree farm during a hot, dry summer is keeping the trees watered and alive!!!! Ryan is usually gone at least 2 nights a week plus Saturdays watering but on this particular night Ryan didn't need to water everything, so he took us with him and let the kids take turns riding with him on the tractor. What a fun night!!! I wish we lived in the country and were able to let the kids run free like we were able to that night.....so much adventure to be had!!!!!

Hot Summer Days!

One of the ways we have kept cool this summer, besides the beach, is the fun water fountains downtown Holland!!!! This particular day we met the Mangum's and the Moore's to have a water playdate.....fun was had for all!!!!The girls waiting to be surprised when the fountain they are on goes off!!!Gotcha!After awhile the kids decided to start laying out their towels on the concrete ledge and lay in the sun to warm up and dry off!

Thursday, August 5, 2010

Summer Fun!!!

One of our favorite past times in the summer is going to the beach. And seeing that we live so close we usually keep the car packed and ready to go whenever we simply "feel" like it:) Well, today was one of those days and man was it absolutely beautiful!!!!! Kailyn loves to swim and Will loves to dig in the sand......which means this mommy has gotten more time in the sun this year! Today, however, when we arrived it was yellow flag and then was changed mid-morning to red flag. So out came the life jacket and an adult was required for my water rat to swim.....and seeing that we met a few friends out there it worked out pretty well and she was still able to swim to her hearts content. Will tried the water for a little while but wasn't too big on all the huge waves!If only summer could last forever.....I really don't want it to end this year, but here it is already August! What a memorable summer it has been....our first stitches, swimming without any help, jumping in without anyone to catch and many other things I'm sure I'm forgetting.....God is so good!

Din-o-mite Birthday Bash!

On Sunday night we celebrated Will's birthday some more....but this time with his requested guests: Gavin, Kooper and Kolter, along with their families and sisters (who just happen to be Kailyn's age)! We also invited Uncle Chad and Aunt Libby and Uncle Aaron to join us for a roaring good time! As our little guests arrived, they followed the dino footprints into the house and to the slider where they picked out a dino mask, tatoo and a party hat! Then it was off to the deck and then a yummy dinner which included many of William's favs.After our first game....the dino walk. What a fun time!Happy to be opening more gifts:)A gator that looks like it is full of mud......my friend Katie said she tried to find a clean one because she knows how I am, but I'm glad she picked out this one because Will loves it!
He also got a cute triceratops that roars and moves and an awesome book of Tonka puzzles!
Following me up front to play our Dino egg hunt game. They found all the eggs in no time and then headed back to the deck to open them up and see what was inside!Handing out goody bags so they could put their treasures in them and take them home:)
I had such a fun time planning this party that I was a little sad to have it over with........Thank you to all our special guests who made turning 3 so much fun!