Another great week!

We enjoyed the first official week of summer, and the first week of HOT temperatures!! The kids had an amazing time at Vacation Bible School this week, and I enjoyed having a few hours each morning to get things done :) Monday we braved the hot temps and picked strawberries. We met our friends the Robbins and the patch, and Tom even got home from a day of fishing in time to join us (the kids idea...not his!). I spent the next few days frantically making jam, pies, and even muffins YUMMY!! We even spent a little time at the beach, unfortunately we were not able to swim because of ecoli...ewww! We did do a lot of swimming at weekend two of the cottage!! Even I did a cannon ball :) When's the last time you did a cannon ball? Noah was amazed!!! We had an amazing time with the family and were so excited to spend time with Laura, Ben and darling baby Amelia! It was a priceless weekend. It is the 50th summer that Joan's family has been at the cottage. It is such a treasure to think of the history, as well as watch my kids amazingly perfect joy as they experience the 'magic' of that place.

The cottage!

Even with the messes at our house, we enjoyed a relaxing weekend at the cottage. My parents were even able to join us for the weekend. The kids had the time of their lives playing in the water ALL weekend!! It was amazing. We can't wait to head back next weekend when Laura, Ben, and Amelia will be there!!

The storm

Friday night brought our area a terrible thunder storm complete with lightning, 60-70 mile an hour winds, and RAIN! It was the worst storm I can remember. I was off running errands and had to drive home in it. It took forever because of so much water in the roads, trees down, and power lines hanging. It was a mess. For the second time in 5-6 years we had a large part of a tree fall on our patio. It's much bigger this time, but seems to have destroyed less of the patio (we hope). It did manage to scare my already terrified of storms son to pieces! He and Tom were waiting out the storm in the family room when it came down. Needless to say he doesn't believe us that storm are not scary now! We also lost power for 24 hours, and came home from the cottage Sunday night (me, with the kids Tom was out of town) to find a portion of our basement with very wet carpet. This was sad and frustrating. I am so thankful for my uncle who came over to help me pull up pad and carpet at 10:30pm on Father's Day. He is amazing. Even with the small disasters around here, we are thankful that we are all safe, it certainly could have been a lot worse.

Park Hopping

This summer we have been trying 'turn off Tuesday' where we are using little or no electricity the entire day. No lights, no TV, no computer, no oven, etc. It's been an adventure to say the least!! Last week we decided to go park hopping to have some fun outside. We visited 5 parks that spanned from South Shore Dr. in Holland to Grandville!! We visited Great-Grandma while in Grandville. It was the best kind of exhausting summer fun!!

No more thumb suckers!! The girls decided a couple of weeks ago that they were done sucking their thumbs. I was skeptical, but supportive! They did it!! After 14 days of sleeping (or not in Abby's case....she had trouble falling asleep poor girl) in a sock/glove they got to pick out a toy!! Yeah!!!

We love summer!!

Field Trip Fridays! A couple of girlfriends and I are planning field trips for our kids every Friday morning. We've learned about recycling, visited a waste water treatment plant, and toured the library! It's been so much fun!!

Let the games begin!

This week the kids started t-ball games! The first two games are behind us, and they were so fun! Ok, the girls game was only fun for 20 minutes because I went to the wrong field (where they practiced), then home because I assumed it was cancelled due to pending thunderstorms, then back downtown to the RIGHT field in time for a couple of innings! Well, I'm new at this, cut me some slack! They did great! Tonight we got everything right and got to Noah's game on time! He had a blast as well. T-ball games are good for a laugh, just look closely at the pictures....why did both of my girls end up tagging home at the same time? Why is Noah running to second and the kid on second facing first? Why is the kid playing first squatting in the sand??? I love it!! It's crazy, 4 games a week, but boy is it fun!! Let summer begin!!!

What have we been up to/ Where have we been!!??

Where have we been....wait until you see all we've been up to these past few weeks!!!!!!

Noah ready for his first t-ball practice!
The girls are ready too!

The kids in DC during our trip to Annapolis to see friends the Falkowski's.

Our visit to see "real live heroes"

The kids had a blast playing in the beautiful yard together! They miss their friends!

The kids love the Air and Space Museum in DC

Boating in Annapolis!

I miss my friend! Tonia and I before the adult night out.

Preschool Graduation. Ok, it brought a tear to my eye. Where does time go?

Last Day of Preschool at the park!

Weekend in Livonia while Tom golfed up north. The kids had a blast at my mom's school farm!

Kids spring play at preschool! Attended by grandma B and "UB" and Aunt Melanie!