Late Summer Fun

There is a great park in Jenison, a small town close to Grand Rapids where we try to take the kids at least once a year. The entire playground is constructed from wood in the shape of a large ship (we think it is a pirate ship!). There are tons of places throughout the structure to explore, hide or climb. Even the grownups can't resist a little play time on the pirate ship! Here are some pics of the kids finding great adventures within the ship (hidden tire swing under the hull - yes sir!!) Enjoy!

Father's Day

Happy Father's Day (here is what the kids made for Gary for his office)

Baby Birds

A little while ago the kids found a birds nest in our swing set clubhouse. After the discovery they began checking the next regularly to see if any eggs had been laid. Sure enough a few weeks after our discovery the kids found two robin blue eggs in the little nest. They were excited! The girls researched robin eggs and how long it would take for the eggs to hatch. They learned that it took about 12-14 days for the eggs to hatch then after that the baby birds would live in the nest for over 4 weeks. They decided as a "team" to leave the clubhouse (which includes climbing wall and slide) alone until the baby birds flew the coop.

One afternoon while busying myself around the house I heard an ear piercing scream from the backyard from the kids. Scared someone was hurt (aka Drew), I raced to the backyard to find all three kids with huge smiles shrieking "the eggs hatched". Kami quickly grabbed the camera and cautiously ventured into the clubhouse to record what she found. Here is a video of the findings.(1st video shows newly hatched birds - 2nd & 3rd video shows little bit older baby birds)

Our Growing Boy is 3

Drew bear turned 3 on April 30. We actually celebrated his birthday the day before with family here at our house. Here are some photos of this joyous event! The cake was made by Heather and looked (and tasted) great! Thanks to everyone who helped make this a special day for our little boy.

Soccer Chick

Since Rian took a ballet / hip hop class (see previous post) Kami chose to sign up for spring soccer. She had a great time and really improved her skills. Here she is in action on the field. She is the one with pig tails and in a lime green shirt with black shorts. I also added a second video so I didn't leave Drew out of all this blogging. The video with him shows how he occupies himself while his big sis plays soccer.

Birthday Boy!

Drew turned 2 on April 30. He has grown so much over the last year! He is all boy, loves throwing anything he can pick up, likes cars, dumping sand from the sandbox onto the patio and playing on the swing set. He is a great little brother who can't resist a big squeeze from his big sisters. Here are some pics from his birthday party. Happy Birthday Drew "Bear" - we love you!!

They Grow Up So Fast

Chip off the old block eh? True male bonding time. (I'm glad the reality of this won't actually begin for many many years....I just love having my little boy little right now).

Thanks for stopping by!

Substitute Teacher

I'm a little behind with my blog postings but this one I thought needed to be done. In early November I had a wisdom tooth pulled out which required Gary to take a day off from work and stay home with the kids as well as be the teacher for the day. Before his first day of teaching school I made sure the kids' school work was in order and easy to follow as well as some science experiments. My kids just love doing science experiments - usually because they are messy and totally hands on! This would be no different. The object of this experiment was to show how some fairly "weak" materials, uncooked spaghetti noodles and marshmallows could be used to build a stable/strong structure. Here are the results and the scientists (prior to the demolition and eating of the marshmallows). Ok, well Drew had to be bribed with a few marshmallows before construction was completed hence the sticky face.

Dishwasher in Training

Since Drew always wants to do what his big sisters do why wouldn't he want to help mommy with the dishes! I guess you can't start them too early eh? Plus not only does he rinse the dishes well but he also adequately soaks the floor allowing for a little pre-rinse soak before I bust out the mop. During this round of dish washing he was so distracted with the job at hand he didn't even notice (or squirm) when I trimmed his hair. He looks so much older with his new cut! Enjoy the pictures.

Baby Steps

Drew has been taking steps here and there but he is still quite wobbly. Just recently he has gotten a little braver and instead of scaling the perimeter of a room he is now starting to walk directly to someone/something. Here is a short video of the little guy in action!

Happy Birthday Drew!

Drew turned 1 on April 30! He enjoyed his party - especially the cake! Thanks to all who helped make his first birthday so much fun. By the way the "football" cake was decorated by Heather (aka aunt heddie) who is Gary's sister. She let the girls help and taught them how to use her decorating tools and pastry bag.

Sleepy Head

Over the last week Drew has really started getting around. He started off with crawling and ended the week pulling up to a standing position, oh and he also cut two teeth! Sometimes he accidentally finds himself sitting if he can't quite pull himself up to a full standing position. So today, after I put him down for his afternoon nap I peeked into the room to find him quietly sitting in his crib holding his duck head/blanky. Then I noticed the poor little guy was swaying a little and every so often his head would bob - He had fallen asleep sitting up! He has figured out how to sit but he hasn't figured out how to lay down again, maybe this is what he will learn next week. Here is a short clip of him head bobbing and one of him after I woke him with my laughter! (don't be fooled here - he is ASLEEP!)

Winter in Michigan

As most of you know the entire USA is experiencing a chilly blast of cold air, Michigan included! We decided to enjoy one of these cold days and head to the sledding hills. Even little Drew had a chance to sled down two of the hills with his daddy (if you look closely you can see Gary holding Drew as they whiz past the girls on the sled). It was the perfect day for sledding since the sun was out the wind was not blowing (hence no sub zero wind chill!) and fresh snow had fallen to give the hills some new natural grooming. Here are some pics of our little outing. Oh by the way we are sledding on the hills at the Walker Charter Academy School (also where we go to church on Sunday!).