Meijer Gardens

We spent a couple hours at the Meijer Gardens enjoying a beautiful fall day.  The weather was perfect and it was so nice to be outside.  We always enjoy seeing the gigantic pumpkins and exploring the children's garden!

Walking out to the farm

Junior photographer at work

While checking out some gourds,  Peter says, "Hey, this reminds me of a character on Veggie Tales!"  Um, yup, that would probably be Jimmy Gourd!

Peter playing with the "Do-Nothin' Machine" in the log cabin.  In case you're wondering what it does, it truly does nothin'.

Peter spent quite some time digging for dinosaur bones in the sand area.  He told me he thinks he wants to be  a paleontologist when he grows up.  I think he's been watching a little too much Dinosaur Train!

Happy Birthday Grandma K!

Tonight we celebrated Grandma K's birthday!  I won't give away how old she is, but here is a picture of the awesome cake Casey made.  Didn't he do a great job decorating it?  He definitely got his mom's baking skill genes.

We attempted some pictures of Grandma with her grand kids.  We kept adding more of them as we went along...

Peter showing Grandma the card he made for her.  Why is he wearing a giraffe costume?  I have no idea.

Well, we finally got all the Kuperus grand kids in this shot...

Eventually we got one with all 5 of them!  What a cute crew.  They love their Grandma!

Lessons from Coaching

For those of you who saw Laura's earlier post, yes, it is true.....I am coaching Peter's soccer team this year. I've tried to figure out my qualifications, due to the fact that my entire athletic career contains the following highlights:

1. Elementary school soccer: I don't remember much other than that I never "headed" the ball right and usually got knocked over (or I possibly may have just tripped over the ball).

2. Elementary school basketball. For some reason, my Mom must have thought it was a good idea for me to try my hand on the Sussex-Wantage basketball league. This is the only sport I played where I actually scored some points.....for the other team.

3. Little League. I remember two highlights here. I once forgot to run to second base after the batter hit the ball and was on the losing end of a very simple game of pickle. I also remember having a slow ground ball roll past me while playing third base. Hey, it wasn't my fault it was time for the Sussex Air Show and I was facing the outfield watching an airplane go through its stunts.

4. Church Softball. At least here I always contributed. I was always good for showing up with a six pack of beverages for the post game fellowship.

So, after thinking about it, I realized my qualification was that I am breathing and can blow a whistle.

So, here is what I learned after the first day of coaching a team consisting of 6 four and five year olds.

1. Most four and five year olds apparently do not know right and left yet.

2. Blowing a whistle does not automatically make children stop moving. (Despite what you have seen in the Sound of Music.)

3. They do not yet know all the rules of soccer....but hey, neither do I.

4. Crying does happen in soccer if you were out WAY too late the night before.

5. Even though you tell the kids we aren't keeping score, they fully understand the fact that the other team just made six goals on you and you haven't scored any yet.

6. It is possible for a 5 year old to fall over even though they haven't started moving yet.

7. If you put on an official looking t-shirt and hang a whistle from your neck, everyone assumes you know what you are doing.

8. I am looking forward to a fun and entertaining 8 weeks of soccer!

Fall Soccer Begins!

Today we began a new era in soccer for our family.  Casey is coaching!  Many people chuckled when they heard the news, but I have to say that I was very impressed.  He totally seemed like he knew what he was doing, was very patient and encouraging with the kids, and they had a great time.  He did rope our buddy Mr. Jake into coaching with him, so that makes it fun too.

Of course Peter had his usual fan club... both sets of Grandparents, Uncle Nick, the McCaul family, and our neighbor Mr. Tony were all there to cheer him on.  It was a beautiful day, so it was nice to be out there on the field!

Coach Kuperus running some drills

Cute little soccer fans!

Rockford

Today Miriam and I enjoyed a wonderful day with my parents.  We drove up to Rockford and rode on the White Pine Trail.  It was a gorgeous day weather and temperature wise, just right for biking.  Miriam rode on the tag-along with Grandpa, and her little legs pedaled most of the 9 miles we rode!  We made a couple stops in between biking parts of the trail... Corner Bar hot dogs for lunch, a little time at the playground, and ice cream!  What a fun day!

Weekend Fun!

Even though the kids and I both had a few days of school last week, we're trying to enjoy this Labor Day weekend as though it's still summer vacation!  Friday afternoon we went to the pool for the last time, and since it was really hot, it was a great day for it.

Saturday morning we had some friends over for brunch.  We really enjoyed hanging out the Aupperlees and the VanArragons.  Peter and the 6 girls had a great time together!

Launching the pop bottle water rocket

Saturday afternoon we rewarded the kids with a trip to Craig's Cruisers.  They have been working hard all summer to earn tokens for various things at home, so this was their end of the summer prize.  We had a great time riding go-karts and playing games.   We ended the day by going out for pizza so the kids could use their Pizza Hut reward coupons from the library reading program.

Today we're having a low-key day, and tomorrow we're looking forward to celebrating Cassie's 2nd birthday!  Then it's back to reality on Tuesday...  it has sure been a great summer!

Toys R Us

Aunt Karen and Uncle Juan gave the kids Toys R Us gift cards for being in the wedding.  Today we went to cash them in!  It was fun watching the kids walk through the store, asking how much things cost as they tried to figure out what they could afford.  I think they all made great choices that will make them very happy and will give them lots of hours of fun.

Miriam:  Barbie jeep w/ Barbie and Ken

Peter:  Moon Sand construction set

Esther:  pink guitar



Thanks Aunt Karen and Uncle Juan!