Spring Break, Days 6-7

Yesterday was rainy and gloomy.  Peter got to go to his friend Simon's house for most of the day and he had a ball playing with him.  The girls and I played at home, and went to the mall to ride the carousel and have a treat.  It was a nice, relaxing day. 

Miriam loves to play school.  She is always "Abby" when we play, and then I usually have the name of one of Esther or Peter's teachers.  She likes to go through the whole routine of the school day.  She packs her backpack and then we have to do writing, math, singing, gym class, lunch and recess.  Here is "Abby" doing her schoolwork while dressed as a princess.  You can tell she takes her work very seriously.

Today was sunny and warmer (relatively speaking).  Esther had her friend Alexis over, so they played and had lunch, and then we headed to the park for a while. 

This picture cracked me up. 

It made me think about how in about 10 years,

Esther will have her friends over and

Peter will be trying to hit on them.  Yikes!

Move Over Chris Tomlin...

here comes Peter!

Most people that know Peter know that he is very into music, especially Christian praise/worship music and what's playing on the local Christian radio station.  He's a huge fan of Toby Mac and Chris Tomlin and he has loved to sing since he first started talking (actually, I think he was born talking...)

He learned the motions to Step By Step by Rich Mullins in school, so he did a little performance for me the other day (in his firefighter pj's no less!)... maybe we have a future church worship leader in the house!

Spring Break Day 5

This morning we went to the Frederik Meijer Gardens with our friends who live in our neighborhood.  Our kids have grown up together and we often play outside together in the summer.  During the school year we carpool to school, but it's been a long time since our kids have actually all had the chance to just play together. 

We got there right when they opened, and it was a good thing we did!  We went in to see the butterflies and then went outside to play.  The kids just ran around playing on the tree house for probably an hour, happily chasing each other and playing games.  When we left, there were long lines both to see the butterflies and to get into the actual building, so we were very glad that we had been early birds!

When we left there, the kids and I went to Casey's office to pick him up and go out for lunch to Steak n Shake!

Checking out some newly released monarchs

Hope and Miriam

Hope (2), Miriam (3), Mary Kate (4), Esther (6),
Micah (7), Samuel (6), Peter (5)

Esther took the camera for a while and took these shots:

Steak n Shake for lunch--yum!



Spring Break, Days 1-4

Well today was the first day I remembered to take any pictures since spring break started.  Last Friday we went to the library to load up on books to read in anticipation of the dreary forecast for this week.  We also spent a few hours at Playworld burning off some energy.  Saturday and Sunday were low-key days and we just did a few errands, and hung out at home. 

Today we went to the Children's Museum.  We met Renee and Tyler there (thanks to Grandpa and Grandma K. for watching Cassie so that Renee didn't have to chase her around amongst the crowds of people!)  Tyler's Grandpa and Grandma M. also came with their other 2 granddaughters who are close to Esther and Miriam's ages, so it was fun to play with them too.  Here are some pictures from our morning at the museum:

Everyone in the bug car

Tyler loved the train table!

Esther and Elise

Little Dentists

Spin Table!

Craft time



Meijer Gardens

This morning we made a family trip to the Meijer Gardens to see the butterflies.  We saw a lot of different types and Esther kept using the guide book to tell us the names.  It was a beautiful, sunny day so we ventured out to the big horse and the children's garden for a while too.  It feels like spring is finally really coming!

Father - Daughter Banquet

Every year one of the local Christian radio stations (WCSG) hosts a Father Daughter Banquet. It's grown to be quite the event over the years, selling out two nights in a row at the Pinnacle Center.

This year I thought it would be fun to take Esther. We invited our friends, Rob and Ally to join us as well. (I mean, Dad is cool, but it's still nice to have a friend along.)

Last weekend Esther and I went shopping for a new dress for the occassion.....a first for Daddy. Esther and I stood in the little girl dress area at Kohls for quite a while, having a discussion over what color shirts I have and what would match with a dress. It was quite the planning event for a guy that stands in his closet every morning and simply chooses the least wrinkled shirt and tie he can find. I am also hoping that Esther's fine conservative taste carries over well into her teens and twenties.....I'm sure they will, right?

We had a great time at the dinner, this was Esther's first formal dinner. Esther was quite impressed with the fact that she had three forks to use and that the wait staff kept taking her empty plates. When Don Michael (the MC and radio DJ) took the stage, Esther whispered to me "He sounds just like the guy on the radio!"

The last part of the evening included a concert by Heather Williams. It was wonderful.

The evening ended with one tired little girl falling asleep in the car on the ride home.....we'll be putting it on our calendar again for next year!

Butterflies!

Today I took Peter, Miriam, and Peter's friend Simon to see the butterflies at the Meijer Gardens.  Despite the gloomy, rainy weather, there were a lot of very active butterflies flying around.  We also walked out to the children's garden to do some of the indoor activities that they had.  The kids built butterflies out of wooden pieces, dressed up as butterflies, and heard a story about monarchs.  Hopefully we'll get a chance to go back a couple times in the next 2 months!