Doll House - Finally Complete!!

Well, after the contractor went over schedule due to customer change orders, the doll house is finally complete!

Esther has been playing with it for the past week, however, we were missing the front door. That final item was installed this weekend.

Esther says, "I've been having fun with it!"

That says it all.

Now....what project can Daddy tackle next?

Summer Fun!

We have had a fun week here... I guess we're trying to pack everything in before school starts in a couple weeks. On Tuesday I took Peter and Esther to Millennium Park to play at the beach and the splash pad. We had a great day and enjoyed spending part of the time with some good friends who happened to be there as well. Miriam enjoyed spending the day with Grandpa and Grandma W.

Wednesday we went to the Meijer Gardens again. We have been there almost weekly this summer, but this was the first time we went twice in one week! I didn't take the camera, so no "Mad Mom" pictures this time.

This morning Esther was invited to go to Playworld with a friend, so I told Peter he could pick somewhere fun to go with Miriam and me. He chose the Children's Museum, so we made our first trip there since spring. Miriam loved it and was able to do a lot more of the activities than she could last time we were there.

Tomorrow we're going to have a relaxing day at home to catch up from our busy week!

Disclaimer on pictures: Miriam is showing quite a bit of shoulder skin in these shots. This is due to the fact that she decided to take her clothes off this morning for no apparent reason and stretched her shirt out in the process.

Meijer Gardens with Daddy!

This morning we went to the Meijer Gardens and we finally got to take Daddy along! It was a beautiful day, but for some reason it wasn't busy at all. Probably getting there right at 9:00 when they open does help--sometimes having early risers isn't all bad! We had a great morning enjoying the children's garden and hanging out as a family.

Obviously the kids weren't going to walk past the Mad Mom without a picture. We got in on the action this time too... Daddy does a pretty good Mad Mom impression, don't you think?


We also explored the maze, tree house, log cabin, sand area, sensory garden and water area... lots of fun!

Fashion Statements

Model #1: If you don't have a skirt, just make one from a fleece blanket and a scarf. Those dress-up wedding shoes go with everything--even popcorn pajamas. And the more necklaces the better... now to sing some songs with my sidekick Himalayan Cat Leah!


Model #2: He's all about safety. You never know when those drumsticks might fly up in the air and hit you in the eye or head. Better to be safe than sorry!

Sleeping Beauty

Esther and I, along with my mom and sister, went to see Sleeping Beauty at the Civic Theater. It was a very good show, although Esther was somewhat scared at a few parts. She sat on Aunt Karen's lap during the show, and that helped somewhat. At the intermission, she and I were talking about the scary parts and how they were just pretend. Regarding the girl who played the mean fairy, she informed me that "when she's not pretending to be her, she's probably really nice in real life." At least she realizes these people are acting!

Here we are before we left for the show. Since we were having our picture taken, Peter wanted his picture taken with Daddy too.

Snorkeling!

One of the kids' favorite activities is to play swimming lessons. They like to take the cushions off the couch and pretend like the cushions are the water. Then they hang onto the side of the couch and pretend like they are practicing their kicking, blowing bubbles, etc...

Somehow they came up with the idea that they would like to pretend like they were snorkeling. They wanted their sunglasses and something that could be used as the air tube (or whatever it is called). We decided straws would probably be the best option. Here they are showing off their snorkeling gear... crazy kids!

Happy Birthday Dad!

Yesterday was my Dad's birthday. In the morning we baked a cake for Grandpa and while it was baking, we sang "Happy Birthday" to him on the phone. Peter then proceeded to inform him, "Your cake has to bake, Grandpa. It's a surprise!" Maybe we need to explain the meaning of "surprise" a little more clearly to Peter.

To celebrate, my parents came over for dinner last night. Esther had made him one artistic creation last week, but decided yesterday to make him another. Peter also joined in and covered 3 pieces of paper with tons of stickers as his card for Grandpa. They were so proud of their work and couldn't wait to give it to Grandpa.


Esther also drew a chalk cake for Grandpa on the driveway, but she got a little tired by the time she drew that and started writing the message. Grandma informed her that writing "GW" would be just fine. :)

Anyway, Happy Birthday Dad and Grandpa. We love you!

Random Pics

Just a few pictures from this week that don't really go together...

Another "Mad Mom" shot at the Meijer Gardens. The kids insist that I take their picture in front of the statue every time we go. Here they are with their friends Jena and Luke.

I included this picture so that everyone would know that Peter does actually have hair under his Calvin hat.


Until the Barbie dollhouse is finished (it's getting very close!), Esther uses our bedroom floor to set up her Barbies' living space. She played for 2 hours the other morning before getting dressed or eating breakfast or anything! Have I mentioned that I love the relaxed pace of summer?

Our adorable nephew Tyler, or "Ta-Ta" as Miriam calls him. They are the cutest little buddies and it's so fun to watch them together. Of course getting a picture of these 2 busybodies together is nearly impossible!

Camping 2009

After a one year hiatus, the Kuperus Family decided to once again try our hand at camping.

Many of you may remember my descriptions of our last camping experiences and have seemed very interested in how this camping trip was going to turn out. I'd like to think that this interest stems from genuine interest in our lives, but I'm pretty sure you are just waiting to hear how this year's experience could be even more hair raising than the last one. If that's the case you should stop reading at this point, for you will be sorely disappointed. I'm happy to report that this year's trip was a resounding success.

After the experiences of leaking tents, deflated air mattresses, and the fact that with a third child we now can't fit everything in the van, we decided to go a little "less rustic." We rented a two room cabin at Sandy Pines. This was one of our best decisions...especially since we tend to bring rain to any camping trip.

We arrived around 4:00 on Friday afternoon after making a quick pit stop at Meijer to buy a swimsuit for Daddy. We realized it was sorta sad that it was August before we realized that I didn't have a swimsuit, which either means I've been doing a lot of skinny dipping or haven't been swimming at all this summer.....you all may decide the answer for yourselves.

We set up our cabin which had two sets of bunk beds in one room, a double bed in the front room, a small table and two chairs, a small refrigerator, and an air conditioner. (Yes, I did say we went a little less rustic.)

We did a little exploring during the evening and eventually found our way over to the playground and the ice cream shop....surprise, surprise. After the ice cream, we took a little walk and found Mrs. M's (Esther's preschool teacher) trailer and stopped in to say "hi." Mrs. M invited us to come back on Saturday night for a boat ride and campfire (more on that later).

After putting the kiddos to bed 2 hours past their bedtime, we settled in for what we figured would be a short night. Remember, we haven't had a camping experience with these kids that didn't involve middle of the night car rides to coax them back to sleep! Well, other than having to make a couple of bathroom runs, it was an uneventful night. And of course, the kids were ready to go at 7 AM!!

Daddy cooked a breakfast of pancakes and bacon on the grill to start our day. We then headed over to the lake to try our hand at fishing. Peter and Esther lost a lot of worms, but Peter was the winner and landed a fish. We then headed over to the "splash pad" to play in the water fountains, pool and water slide! (Did I mention we went a little less rustic this year?) None of the kids were tall enough to ride the slide by themselves, but they were allowed to ride in Mommy and Daddy's laps. Miriam was usually squealing and signing "more" before we even hit the water at the end of the slide.

Due to the late night before, we instituted mandatory naps for everyone. This worked out well since it rained the majority of the afternoon. Mommy and Daddy enjoyed the peace and quiet and hung out on the covered porch catching up on some reading. The original plan for supper was that my parents were going to come down for dinner and then take Miriam home for the night. Due to the rain, we decided to drive up to Hudsonville and have dinner there. We said good-bye to Miriam and by the time we arrived back at the campground, the sun was out for a pleasant evening.

The highlight of the trip was our time over at Mr. and Mrs. M's that evening. Both Esther and Peter went tubing for the first time! Don't worry Grandmas and Grandpas, both kids had on life jackets, it was a double tube that Daddy also rode in, and the boat went slow :) We then headed in for a campfire. However, it rained again (did I mention we bring rain when camping?), so we waited it out inside. Once the rain let up, we decided we should get some ice cream first, then started up our campfire. The kids had a few marshmallows and we headed back.....3 hours past "bedtime."

Sunday morning we enjoyed a quiet, slow start to the day and then headed over to the chapel for church. This week at Sandy Pines has been vacation Bible school week, so we were treated to a wonderful program with all the kids from the campground. Then it was time to head out. However, on the way out of the park, we decided to try our hand at fishing one more time!

So, again, I apologize for not having any stories involving screaming children, water logged tents, or epic drives through the country at two in the morning. It does look like though, that Mommy and Daddy have sworn off tent camping.....anyone know of a great deal on a pop-up camper??