June 29, 2013

Today was a blast! We were going to have a play date with our friends at 1 o'clock in the after noon. The first girl to arrive was my friend Ella [ she is the girl to the left]. And about 5 minuets later our other friend Anna came [ she is the girl to the right]. Oh , Sophie and I  are in the middle. At first we just played in our room and then I suggested that we make some things out of clay, after the clay is baked and cooled, it will be a eraser. I made a owl , Ella made a monster, Sophie made a monster and Anna made a monster, too.I was the only one who made an owl! Next we played the in the basement for like, oh I do not  know, 20 minuets?  After that we went up stairs to paint. I decided to paint a owl, when I told Ella and Anna, they said : " Well, duh!" because I love owls. Ella painted an apple, Sophie painted a flower and Anna painted  a very detailed design, I mean , very detailed! Then we had a snack, it was like a strawberry bar thing my mom made from scratch. After that we played in the basement until they had to leave at 5 o'clock. We did not want them to go home!
Written by Abby

June 28, 2013

To be honest this picture was taken on Wednesday but we got it on Friday. I did a fishing camp and I caught a catfish.  It fought hard and I had a few others on my line (two were even bigger) but they got free at the surface.  The camp was sponsored by the YMCA in Grand Haven.  They provided tackle and the worms to go fishing.  We walked to the pier two days and went to Government Pond and the channel the other days.  I caught another fish on Friday, a small Drum (Sheephead).  I got to ride to work with dad everyday and we had lunch with him 3 days out of 5.  I got to play on his phone on the drive up.
Photo taken by Russ (fishing instructor).  Written by Noah Bonnema. 

June 27, 2013

     We ( Abby and I) went to grandma and grandpas house at 9 a.m When Mom was at work and Noah was at fishing camp in Grand haven. We suggested doing 'American Girl doll' clothes for our dolls. I am making a coat with a hood with pants. Abby is making a pink dress. I have sewed the hood and half of the coat. Abby has sewed the bottom of the dress.We are not done yet and we will finish next week.
      That is not all that we did though. We also played Wii and read a little.Grandpa went to get Noah.Then they came home and Noah came and started to play some Wii.our Mom came to pick us up and brought us home.

June 26, 2013

Ahhh, this is summer!  Today after Noah's fishing camp we ate lunch at Butch's Beach Burrito with Tom and then met our friends at a pool in Spring Lake.  The kids loved swimming, splashing, and jumping in the sunshine!  I loved watching them and chatting with my friend.  Eventually the kids talked me in to getting in the pool....just in time for the sky to cloud over and the temp to drop 15 degrees.  Burrr!  The next thing we knew the sky opened up and it began to rain!  We packed up, thankful for almost 2 hours of sunshine!  Strangely, at the end of the girls softball game tonight the sky opened up again and we got soaked!  Making memories!

June 25, 2013

When the kids were ~4 1/2 we toured the Holland Rescue Mission downtown Holland.  After the tour one of the things that stuck with the kids was that the kids in the daycare center very rarely, if ever, received fresh fruit and vegetables.  Most of what they got was donated cans, which of course they were thankful for.  So much of our diet is composed of fresh fruits and vegetables, so this was a concern to them.  After that, "Fruit for Friends" was born.  Every week since that fall we have arranged a wonderful group of our friends a family (and the friends and family of other participants!) to drop off fresh fruit and vegetables to the children staying there.  It has been wonderful for our kids and the kids staying at the Mission.  A couple of years ago we worked with the group and built 4 raised garden beds in the playground at the Mission.  The awesome 'Fruit for Friends' group donated everything down to the plants so the kids could not only sample fresh fruits and veggies, but they could see them grow, tend them, nurture them.  It was our honor to plant these gardens again this year. 

June 24, 2013

Today after picking up Noah up from fishing camp, we headed to Butch's Beach Burrito for lunch and I had one and a half tacos,yum! We then went treasure hunting for a little while and to one of our favorite parks before we headed home . When we got home my mom got a great idea to make bubbles. We made it by puting 4 teaspoons of sugar into boiling water, then we added 4 tablespons of dish soap into the water once the sugar disolved , then we put it in our bubble wand contaner things that you use to blow bubbles. They worked pretty well except the fact that they droped to the ground like a stone 5 seconds after we blew them. We played in the trees and then we wached Food Network Star.
Written by Abby
PS Happy Birthday Auntie Laura M.

June 23, 2013

On the way home from church we stopped to water the garden.  We have a community garden plot about a mile from our house and love growing some of the food we share around our table.  Abby loves her opal basil, Sophie loves the grape tomatoes and Noah loves the jalapeno peppers.  We love making rainbows with the hose and 'accidentally' spraying each other (what is happening in this picture!).  Some days we drive there, others we bike.  So far this season I have used the lemon verbena in an iced mint green tea and Abby has sampled a few bites of opal basil right off the plant.  We look forward to the treasures of the season!

June 22, 2013

We had a wonderful summer Saturday that included the farmers market (for Anna and her parents), biking around the neighborhood, a birthday party for Noah's good friend, and a birthday party for Annemieke.  The fun day was capped off with a last minute date night!  My parents took the girls (Noah was at a slumber party) and Tom and I went to some parade homes followed by a trip to the beach for sunset (sunset was not pretty but the beach was amazing).  We missed the kids but savored the time together to finish a sentence or two and laugh together.  We are blessed.

June 21, 2013

Today we were blessed with some wonderful time with family.  Especially family visiting from California.  We shared some quality time by driving all 8 of us from Holland to Grandville (love my mini van!).  In Grandville we saw 'Monsters University' on its opening day.  Tori, Bill and Joan met us at the movie.  After the movie we shared dinner together, ice cream, and some wonderful play/chatting time before calling it a night.  Our California cousins (2 of the 5 who were here this time) grow so quickly, we savor every moment we get to spend with them!   

June 20, 2013

One of the activities we did at the book club Tuesday night was to design a zoo exhibit.  The kids learned about the words 'habitat' and 'enrichment' and created wonderful exhibits for their animals.  Needless to say, 2 days later, my kitchen table is still totally covered with zoo exhibits and the materials for enrichment.  We had to go buy more animals today!  If you can imagine it, we ate a family dinner tonight....around this creative mess!  The kids are having a blast coming up with creative ways to design these habitats.  I love their creativity and enthusiasm!  They can have my kitchen table as long as they are having fun!!

June 19, 2013

One reason why I love spring and summer is I get to play baseball (little league).  This picture was taken at my last game of the season.  It was a play off game and we were playing against the Tigers who had beat us twice and we had beaten them once.  If we lost we would be done, and if we won we would play the next day in the championship.  The Tigers were really good and they played hard and had some really good hits.  This photo was taken when they hit the ball down the 1st base line while I was playing 1st base.  I got to the base and got the guy out.  Thanks to my dad because he coaches me every year.  We lost the game but I had 3 RBI's, 1 walk, 2 hits, scored twice (out of 6 points for my team), and made two outs at 1st base.  I also played catcher for the first few innings.  I was sad to see the season end, but the Tigers played good and I learned a lot and had a ton of fun.
(Photo by Mom, written by Noah)

June 18, 2013

Today we hosted our very first mother-daughter book club of the summer.  You may not know this about me, but I'm a bit of a stressed entertainer, but Abby and Sophie are not.  They thought this was SOOO fun to prepare for...which in turn erased all of my stress as well.  If you have never read the 2013 Newbery winner, "The One and Only Ivan" you should.  It is a phenomenal book.  We had about 13 people at our house and we explored the book through two awesome art projects, banana cupcakes, and lively discussion.  It was so fun to hear the girls' insights about the book. 

June 17, 2013

Abby (pink hat) and Sophie (red hat) had their first softball game last night.  They have not played since t-ball and they were really excited to be back on the field!  Noah has been playing little league and loves having a catch.  Abby and Sophie have joined in often, and there have been family trips to the baseball diamond.  At the game, they both did great!  They had hits both times they were at bat and even had a pitcher (Abby) to 1st base (Sophie) play that resulted in an out!  Driving home I told the girls how well they had done and Abby said, "It's because of all the practice daddy has done with me."  Sigh. 

June 16, 2013

Happy Father's Day Dad.  My dad is my hero and one of my very best friends.  Having him 3 miles away (when he and my mom aren't travelling the country) has been a dream come true.  I love saying, "see you tomorrow dad" and a long running joke, "You should just stay (in Holland vs returning 'home' to Livonia for the past 14 years....well mostly 9 years since we had kiddos and my parents hated to leave each Sunday night).  Watching my dad play with my kids fills my heart with joy.  My eyes were filled with tears last week when Noah was giving my dad 'signs' as my dad pitched the ball to him in the front yard.  The kids love to curl up on grandpa's lap almost as much as I do....still.  Thank you dad, I love you. 

June 15, 2013

We enjoyed another weekend at the cottage.  This time the entire 'Bonnema' family was there at one point.  Including all of the cousins, nieces, nephews, aunts and uncles!  It was amazing to see the kids playing with cousins they had not seen in months, and cousins from just down the road.  It was fun to catch up and laugh together.  I love this picture because as Noah and Joan come in from the dock you can see the wonderful evidence of a big family having fun in the sun (and clouds):  life jackets, towels, water shoes, shirts....  "We must be at the cottage...."

June 14, 2013

Today we started out by riding our bikes to a  garage sale somewhere on our block. Noah biked home afterward we looked around at the garage sale so we had to go and pick him up before going to the farmer's market. We biked there too by the way. We got snap peas and sadly we did not get any strawberries because there were none left!:(  We biked back to our house to get in the car to go to a park. On the way to the park we stopped at a garage sale and I said,"Do we havvvvveeee to stop?!" We stoped at another garage sale and this time I got out of the car. Luckily we got a globe. When we got to the park we played for a few minutes and then out of the blue came my friend Anna. We played with her for a few more minutes and then went to the other park across the field that separated the two parks. We played there until we had to leave. What a day!
Photo selected, edited, and written by Abby

June 13, 2013

          I chose this photo because I love hanging out with Grandma and Grandpa Mosher. In this photo we are at the baseball diamond by the fire station. Noah plays baseball and Abby and I play softball so we wanted to go to the baseball diamond to practice with Grandma and Grandpa. We practiced catching and practiced hitting the ball. After we finished we went to play for, like, 10 min. After that we went to Orange Leaf for frozen yogurt. We carried our fro yo downtown to see street performers. We saw acrobats and people playing guitar and violin. I dropped my spoon and I used Abby's when she was done. I love hanging out with Grandma and Grandpa!!!!!      -Photograph and paragraph by Sophie Bonnema

June 12, 2013

There is nothing that says summer like warm from the sun Michigan strawberries.  Today we were thrilled to find this treasure at our first Wednesday farmers market of summer vacation.  We snatched two baskets and proceeded to eat several before getting back to the car.  The smell is the sweetest on earth.  After the market we went to the library and met my parents in the parking lot (love having them in Holland!), they came to the car and took a strawberry or two from the basket.  After dinner we savored the first strawberry shortcake of the summer.  Now summer can begin!

June 11, 2013

One of our goals for summer vacation is to do our best to capture a photo a day.  We will miss some days (in fact, we already missed the 'first day' June 10) but we will do our best.  Our hope is to capture a picture that represents something special about each day of our vacation.  It will help us "look" for blessings, capture the "wonder", and "be present" everyday. 
I chose this picture because it was a busy day, we were taking care of a dear little one year old and spent the morning at the zoo.  This picture was taken while the little one napped.  We moved to the back patio (so as to not wake the baby!) to enjoy the ice cream that Abby was ecstatic to find again after a few years 'off' (Hudsonville Orange Cream Swirl...amazing).  We were all wearing socks and no shoes so we sat down right on the steps and the best part about this picture is that we did not squeeze together to take the shot, we were actually sitting this close together.  Abby was actually sitting on my lap, and the other two were very close at my side.  Early in summer vacation we are treasuring the togetherness, loving the fact that at 2 in the afternoon we were able to sit and savor an ice cream cone...just because. 

In the blink of an eye

I have 4th graders!

1st day of 3rd Grade.

Last day of 3rd Grade.

It has been a wonderful year full of excitement, new experiences, and fun.  The kids learned a lot, and I learned a lot as well.  It was a busy year full of activities and homework.  We are so thankful for the teacher, the school and the friends that the kids have.  We are so very ready for summer.  We have started our summer list.  We are packed and ready for a weekend at the cottage.  We can't wait to slow down and play.  Summer vacation, here we come!