Butterflies!

Today we went with my parents to the Meijer Gardens to see the butterflies and play outside since it is such a gorgeous day. We got there right when it opened, which was definitely a good plan. We got to see the butterflies before it got too busy, and the kids had the tree house almost to themselves for a while. By the time we left, it was packed with school groups, so we were happy that we went early. Esther loved spotting all the butterflies and seeing the pretty flowers. Peter was very excited to explore the tree house and maze outside. What a great way to spend a warm spring morning!

Basement Work

I've been spending a lot of time in basements lately. Since August, I have finished/remodeled three basements, and have recently started a fourth. The last one I did (and the one that was the most fun) was Laura's parents' basement. After many years, they decided to rip out the old carpet and paneling. I did most of the work while they were gone in Florida over January and February. I have to say, they were the perfect customer......every time I called Mom with an idea to "expand" the scope of the project, she said "sure". Poor Dad, I think he just handed the phone over to Mom every time I called.

Uncle Nick

Casey's brother Nick lives in a group home and usually goes home to his parents' house on the weekends. Since they are out of town this weekend, we had Nick come to our house overnight last night. Esther and Peter really like Uncle Nick, and Esther spent quite a bit of time on the couch with him, just talking to him and playing with his cool Legos! It was very fun to watch them interact. Peter just wants to take Nick's toys, so that makes Nick a little uneasy, but I'm sure in a few years they'll be buddies too!

April 11 ?!?

April 11.
Enough said.

Snowman built by

Esther and Grandpa W.

Coffee Time

Peter and Grandpa having their morning coffee (and milk) together!

Easter Sunday

Despite the fact that Easter Sunday was colder and snowier than Christmas this year, we had a wonderful day! Esther was very excited to wear her new dress, sweater, and sandals to church.

After a very nice church service, we headed over to my parents' house for dinner along with my sister, my aunt, Casey's parents, and Casey's brother, sister and brother-in-law. We had a delicious dinner and spent time playing games, visiting, and relaxing. We are very blessed to have two families that enjoy spending time together, because it is nice to celebrate some holidays with both sides instead of having to split our time!

They're off to Orlando...

Saturday night we had a gathering to say good bye to our friends Tom and Tricia who are moving to Orlando, Florida. We had an evening of good food, wonderful fellowship, and lots of laughs while playing a group game (against most of the guys' wishes). We're sad to see them go, but excited about the prospect of a place to stay if we ever want to go to Disney World! We wish them God's blessings as they embark on their new adventure!

Easter Bunny

The Easter Bunny came a few days early to our house. We've gotten to know our neighbor Dore quite well over the last couple years. She has a sweet dog and they are outside a lot, so we talk to her often during the warmer months. Esther is always really excited to see Dore and LuLu when they are out. Yesterday Dore went and bought plastic eggs, filled them with candy, and hid them in our yard for the kids. Esther took her basket outside and got really excited every time she found another egg. Peter found one egg and was content to just keep shaking it the whole time Esther searched for the other eggs. It was a nice, warm afternoon yesterday, probably in the upper 60's. It's a good thing Dore decided to do it then, because this is what it looked like outside our house today. Only in Michigan!

Buddies

Sometimes it's hard to tell if Esther and Peter are friends or enemies. I guess like most siblings they can be either, depending on the situation. Here are a few pictures to remind me of the fact that they really do love each other, even when they fight!

Cutlerville or Bust!

During Spring Break in 2003 we went to Traverse City for a couple days with our very good friends Jeff and Erin. We kept using the phrase "Traverse City or Bust!" because we thought it was pretty funny that while most of Grand Rapids was heading to Florida or Gulf Shores, we were instead heading North.

This year we thought it would be fun to take the kids somewhere for a night so they could swim and we could just get away for a short time. We heard about the Holiday Inn Express which is right here in town. They have an indoor water park with a 3-story water slide, and most importantly, a toddler pool area. We thought a 10 minute drive sounded great, so we made the reservations.

Jeff, Erin and Anna (their 19 month old daughter) arrived at the hotel before we did, and when we arrived, we were greeted by signs like these on their car and all over our hotel room (click on the pictures to enlarge them):



We spent some time at the water park and then when we were all hungry, we got ready to go get some dinner. Even though there was a McDonald's Playland right around the corner, we figured that we were on vacation, and we really wanted to live it up, so we went to Russ'.



After hanging out for a while, we decided that we would attempt to put all 3 kids to sleep in our room so that the adults could hang out and play cards in Jeff and Erin's adjoining room.



Amazingly, it only took about an hour for Esther to sing Peter and Anna to sleep and fall asleep herself. We were thinking this was going quite well as we played cards and watched TV.

Unfortunately, the rest of the night didn't go so well. Anna went back to her own room and kept her parents up for much of the night, and Esther was also awake from about 1:30-3:30. It wasn't as if she was upset the whole time; she was just awake! After allowing her to get in our king sized bed and having her pretty much take it over, she lay there saying things like, "I can spell my name all by myself. E-T-H-E-R" (Apparently she was tired enough to forget the "S" but not tired enough to sleep). She eventually did fall asleep, but then both kids were awake before 7:00. Another favorite quote of the weekend was in the morning when we brought Peter into the bed after he woke up. He was jabbering and making noises, and Esther said, "Peter, please be quiet. I'm trying to sleep!" What did she think we were trying to do all night?!

After some breakfast and another swim, we packed up and headed to Grandpa and Grandma Kuperus' house for a birthday dinner for Uncle Jeff. Both kids took long naps there and then went to bed early and actually slept in this morning (until 7:30)! This is truly a miraculous event in our household. Hopefully they're somewhat caught up on their sleep now, and we can enjoy the rest of spring break!