July Fun

July is almost over and school starts back up in about 3 more weeks.  Why is summer flying by so fast??

We all enjoyed a fun, crazy, tiring week of VBS as we traveled "Into the Wild" at our church.

We loved having my best friend, Christie, and her girls in town for week of playdates and best friend fun.

We've made lots and lots of trips to State Farm pool.

We've gone on our own, with cousins, and with friends.

And our swimming fun typically ends with ice cream treats.

Staley spent a fun day with Uma watching her cousin play softball, going shopping, and eating out.

Adelie's fun day with Uma and Papa involved some school shopping for charity, eating out, and a fun museum.  While she had her special day, Staley and Zach enjoyed a Daddy date day to the Riverfront Museum.  And Briggs requested a swimming date with Mommy at State Farm pool with his cousin, Caroline.  Everyone had so much fun!!

We had a fun day at Bicycle Safety Town with a friend followed by...

lunch at Culver's followed by...

a trip to the zoo.

Always good when you can check 3 things off the summer bucket list in one day!

We've also spent plenty of time playing at home, reading, putting on original plays and performances, playing outside, eating ice cream treats, walking to the library, and enjoying our lazy summer days.

I love summer!  I love that we've marked most of our favorites off our summer bucket list and still enjoyed nice, relaxing days at home.  I love spending these days with my kids and am already feeling sad about the impending start of the school year.  Why must time insist on always slipping by so quickly?!

Riding High

Adelie is my child that resists things that she thinks are going to be hard.  I'm not sure if it's a fear of failure or a preference to stay inside her comfort zone, but she has a distinct lack of desire to try certain things.  Reading is one of those activities.  Another is riding her bike without training wheels.  She learned to ride her training wheel-less bike last fall, but has been very resistant to starting back up again this year.  If I insist, there are usually tears and a very short-lived effort.

Last week I took the kids to Bicycle Safety Town.  Adelie cried about going.  She informed me that she was NOT going to ride her bike and was only going to ride her scooter.  When I insisted that she practice her bike for a little bit before she could ride her scooter, there were tears.  There was an insistence that I walk right next to her with my hand on her the entire time.  There were multiple ride-three-feet-and-then-brake efforts.  And then...

she started riding.

And riding...and riding...and riding.  She started out with little laps around one small loop.  Then she branched out to a bigger loop.  Then she started riding all over Safety Town, going up and down the hills and around the entire park.  She was starting by herself.  She was riding multiple loops without stopping.  She was having a blast.  And then she cried when it was time to leave.

Now Adelie can't get enough.  She's riding in the driveway and down the sidewalk and begging to go back to Safety Town.  We went on a bike ride down at the lower lake and she did lap after lap after lap.  She is so proud!!

And so am I!

Money Worries

Papa always pretends to pull quarters out of the kids' ears.  The girls always love it and ask Papa to pull a quarter out of their ear.  Last night Papa did his trick to Briggs.  Briggs's eyes got really wide (even more than usual) and Papa teased him about Mommy putting money in his ear.  After Papa left, Briggs said to me, "When you put money in my ear when I sleep, you're really gentle, right?"  I said, "Buddy, do you really think I put money in your ears when you sleep?"  He thought for a second and then replied, "No.  Maybe Daddy does it."

We don't really need another reason for this little guy to be scared to go to bed at night.

Speaking the Truth

Zach and I stained the deck and our porches this past week-end.  The first coat of stain on the front porch came out pretty spotty.  Zach and Staley were in the front yard looking at the porch and they had this conversation:

Zach:  "That just didn't turn out very good, did it?"
Staley:  "Actually, it's pretty terrible, but it's not like we're having a porch staining contest so it will be okay."

You can always count on your kids to tell you the truth...and to put things in perspective.

Progress

We've found our way to State Farm pool several times over the past few weeks.  It's so fun to see the progress in swimming skills and water confidence in all 3 of my kids since last summer.

Briggs is now going down the water slides all by himself AND jumping off the sides of the pool all by himself...over and over and over again.

Adelie is going off the diving board without her puddle jumper and can swim to the side all by herself.

Staley is now diving off the diving board.

And although I don't have a picture of it, I can now take all 3 kids on the lazy river by myself and actually have a semi-relaxing time.  #summergoals  #progress

Baseball

Staley just finished her last game of coach pitch instructional league baseball for the summer.  It is a laid-back baseball program with one practice and about a dozen games where the kids learn as they play.  It's a minimal time commitment and the kids all improved throughout the season.  Staley loved it!

Staley made vast improvements throughout her baseball season last summer and she picked up right where she left off.  We saw consistent improvement in her throughout the season.  She was very consistent with hitting the ball and demonstrated a much improved swing thanks to her batting coach (Grandpa).

Staley also demonstrated great improvement with her throwing motion and distance.  She could catch the ball if it came right to her, but catching remains an area that could use some work.  She was thrilled, however, as during one game while playing first base she stopped a ground ball and stepped on the base to get an out.  That was one of the highlights of her season.

Staley really enjoys baseball and also really enjoyed working on her skills in the backyard with Grandpa throughout the season.  This is her last year of co-ed instructional league, so we'll have to see if she wants to take the next step in her baseball/softball playing journey next year.

At least for this year, it was another fun and successful season.

Magic

It's no secret that Adelie is by far my messiest child.  The other day Grandpa gave the kids some bite-size oreo cookies.  After eating her cookies, Grandpa looked over at Adelie to see icing on her nose and all up her arm.  He asked, "Adelie, how in the world did you get icing all over your arm from those little cookies?"  She replied, "It's magic."

If messiness is magic, this girl is the next Houdini!

Mom Life

The other day Briggs was in the bathroom.  All of a sudden I heard him say, "Uh-oh!  Oh no!"  I rushed into the bathroom and asked Briggs what had happened.  He said, "I dropped a dinosaur in the potty...and my pee is in there."

#goodbyedinosaur

#momlife

4th of July

Our 4th of July is always a fun day of festive family fun.  We dressed in red, white, and blue.  We watched the parade.  We had a huge lunch at Uma and Papa's.  The kids spent the entire day playing with cousins.  And we topped it all off with fireworks.  What could be better than that??

A full day of time with cousins can't be beat!  

The book-end boys.

The inflatable pool was the highlight of the day and provided HOURS of fun for the kids.

And Papa too.

Briggs loved the parade (although did need to cover his ears for the fire engines), getting parade candy, and eating the yummy lunch.  He didn't spend too much time in the pool, but loved playing around the pool.  He opted out of the fireworks, instead just staying with Uma and Papa at their house.

Adelie loved it all!  The parade, the candy, the pool, the cousins, the glow sticks, the festive accessories.  She did cover her ears for the fire trucks in the parade and the fireworks, but seemed to enjoy them.  However, she was very preoccupied about when the fireworks finale was coming and was consistently asking, "Is this the finale?"  I'm not sure if she was asking because she wanted the fireworks to be over or because she didn't want them to be over.  Either way, assuring her that it was not yet the finale was a big part of our fireworks viewing this year.

For my daughter that ALWAYS covered her ears for loud noises, Staley has come a long way and now enjoys parades and fireworks without difficulty.  Spending time with her cousins is always one of her favorite things!!

What a happy 4th of July!!

Ironman

When an injury sidelined Zach from running for a few months last fall, he decided to fill his workout time with some swimming and biking instead.  When he realized that with a little dedication and some helpful you-tube videos he could become an efficient swimmer, he thought that maybe he would train for a triathlon.  When his training was going well in all 3 disciplines, he thought that he might up his goal and compete in a 1/2 Ironman triathlon.  And when he realized that a 1/2 Ironman triathlon happened to be scheduled in a Michigan town directly on our way home from vacation the day after we were scheduled to leave, he determined that it was fate and signed up.

We left Pentwater on Saturday, drove the 2.5 hours to Benton Harbor, accompanied Zach to check in for the race, and then enjoyed the evening exploring Benton Harbor before heading to bed early to get ready for the big day.

Helping Daddy check in his bike for the race.

While Zach was up and on his way at 5:00 the next morning, I roused the kids out of bed at 6:30 so that we could make it down to the beach area in time to see Zach finish his swim.  The promise of donuts for breakfast IF the kids were ready quickly enough helped get everyone out of bed and moving.  Bonus points for a hotel with a Dunkin Donuts right next door.

Mission accomplished!  We made it in time to see Zach complete his 1.2 mile swim in Lake Michigan.

The cheering squad fueled by donuts had enough early morning energy to watch Zach finish his swim and then walk quickly across the beach in order to see him start his 57 mile bike ride.

Daddy's cheering squad

Because 57 miles on a bike for Zach takes about 3 hours, we then had time to shop in the race store, watch the elite athletes finish their bike ride, shuttle back to the van to drop off sweatshirts, put on our sunscreen, eat some snacks, and then walk back to the race course to watch Zach finish his bike ride.

While we did all that, Zach enjoyed his long bike ride.

The key to a day of spectating a 6 hour event with 3 young kids is to make sure to bring plenty of snacks!

Waiting to watch Daddy finish his bike ride

We found the perfect place to watch the end of the bike that gave us time to walk down and see the beginning of the run.  Hooray for our efficient plan.

Still smiling at the beginning of his 13.1 mile run.

We found a great, spacious, shady spot to watch the runners where we hung out for an hour and half.  Shade + more snacks = happy kids.

We had plenty of time to kill but the kids enjoyed cheering for all the athletes, meeting other spectators, making up games together, and (of course) eating snacks.

We were able to cheer Zach in at the end of his run.   Zach met his goal of finishing his 70.3 mile race in less than 6 hours (5 hours, 58 minutes).  We were so proud to see Zach's hard work and months of training pay off.

And I thought this lady's shirt was pretty applicable for all the moms schlepping their kids all over the course and keeping them entertained for the 6 hour event.

So proud of our Ironman...and his cheering crew!

Pentwater

Last week was our annual trip to Pentwater.  This post doesn't need too many words as Pentwater remains mostly the same year after year.  To make up for the lack of words, I will just post lots and lots of pictures.

We are a good road tripping family.  We listened to lots of books on tape, ate lots of snacks, and traveled the 6 hours in the car like the road tripping champions we are.

This was our biggest Pentwater group yet.  My entire family (both my mom's side and dad's) were in attendance minus my one cousin who lives in El Salvador.  Although some people only came for part of the week we had one evening together where there were 58 of us (including a few in-laws and friends who are like family.)

All 23 of the cousins and second cousins, ranging in age from 3 months to 13 years.

My generation with all my siblings, cousins, and spouses.

My parents with their siblings and spouses

We had beautiful weather all week except for one (and a half) rainy days.  We used our one rainy day to go out to breakfast, shop in town, and play with cousins at our house.  The rest of our days were spent on the beach.

The best thing about the beach was playing with cousins.  There were sand creations and dune adventures.

There was water fun.  Lake Michigan was frigid (as usual), but that didn't stop the kids. However, the outlet water was much warmer and the kids played much longer in it.

There were tadpoles to catch.

There was reading time.

There is always a request for mermaid tales made out of sand.

My cousin's daughter, Nellie, was a big hit with all the younger kids.  She was like the pied piper, organizing the kids in various activities and dune adventures.  Wherever Nellie was, there were sure to be some younger kids following.

One day Nellie engaged all the littles in a game where they were baby seals and she was the mommy seal.  They played this for at least an hour.  So cute!!

She also spent some time teaching Staley how to play the harmonica.

Adelie still has a special bond with my Aunt Maggie and they spent a good portion of time playing together on the beach.

Briggs had fun playing with his cousins Caroline and Lucy...

...but he also spent lots of time with my cousin's daughter, Reese, who is 5.

And Valentina, who is just a few months younger than him.

Of course, Uncle Ethan might have been his favorite playmate.

Evenings were time spent at the house where we stayed with my brothers and their families.  We again stayed in the carriage house with Uncle Ethan while the rest of the family stayed in the main house.

The kids loved having time to play with Uncle Ethan.

Staley always hurried to get ready for bed so she'd have a little time to read with Uncle Ethan before bedtime.

We celebrated Melissa's birthday with homemade pie.

And, of course, enjoyed s'mores night with the entire extended family.  Because there were so many of us, we did not do spaghetti night as an extended family this year.  

We still enjoyed a few nights of walking into town for ice cream.

There was game playing after the kids had gone to bed.

And, of course, beautiful Michigan sunsets.

As we were packing for vacation, Staley told me, "Pentwater is the place that feels most like home that isn't our actual home."

She is so right. 

Pentwater does feel like home.