Fall in July

We had plans to go to the Meijer Gardens today with some friends, and we decided to go ahead with it despite the cool, fall-like weather forecast. We ended up having a great time and enjoyed walking around there without sweating like we did last week in the 90-degree weather!

7 of our 10 kids

(2 were in strollers and 1 was home with Dad)

The Moms (photo by Esther)

Jordan and Peter ringing the bell at the farm

Peter and Nathan playing a game in the log cabin

Shifting the Blame

I don't typically like to write too much about this type of stuff, but this cracked me up today.

As we were playing a game this afternoon, one of the kids was passing some pretty smelly gas, but neither one would admit to it. Peter was also pretending to be a train while we were playing the game and making various train noises and doing motions.

At one point I commented, "Seriously, who has those stinky toots?"
Peter replied, "No, that's just the smoke from the train!"

Hmmm... pretty sure I know who the guilty party was.

Grammar Geeks

Being a former language arts teacher, I want my children to learn to spell, write, and speak well. I'm sure my sister had this in mind when she picked out one of Esther's birthday presents: The Very Silly Sentences Game. We've been having a lot of fun playing this game that teaches kids about the parts of speech while they build sentences (which are of course very silly)!

Little Scrapbooker

Esther got a really cute Hello Kitty scrapbook kit for her birthday from some friends who know her very well. Since it was a rainy and cool day today, she decided to get started. She picked out some pictures from the photo album and got to work! She probably spent 2 hours over the course of the day working on the first 4 pages, and it's so cute to see her creativity and ideas about how to put things together.

Esther's Day with Grandma

For her birthday, my mom gave Esther a coupon to redeem for going out for lunch and ice cream and going to pick out a birthday present (something to add to her Barbie collection for the doll house). Today was the day, and they had a lot of fun going to Mc Donald's, Jersey Junction, and shopping. Esther picked out a Cinderella polly pockets set and the pool set for her Barbies. After she opened the pool set, she realized that she doesn't have swimsuits for her Barbies, so they had to swim naked today. I guess that will be the next Barbie purchase...

Pretty in Pink

Tonight we went to visit some friends in Zeeland. It was a beautiful night, so we spent much of it outside with the kids riding bikes and scooters in their driveway. We did not bring our kids' helmets or bikes along, so they had to share and borrow our friends' stuff. They have 2 girls, so everything is pink, purple, princess, Hannah Montana... you get the picture. Of course Peter didn't care, and at one point he was riding down the sidewalk with a pink Disney princess helmet on, riding a pink bike. I'm pretty sure Casey is going to require that we take Peter's own helmet and bike along any time we visit friends who have girls in the future.

This shot doesn't really give the full picture of how "girly" this helmet is because of the sun, but the roller skates are nice, aren't they? I also love how Miriam is trying to wear a helmet. She wants to do everything the big kids do!

Then and Now

My mom saved some of her favorite outfits that my sister and I wore when we were little. She has had them tucked away in her cedar chest all these years, and recently decided to look through them. We thought it would be fun to have Esther and Miriam wear a few things, so here are some pictures from the 1970's and 80's and today!

Karen, age 5-1/2

Esther, age 5

Me, age 1-1/2

Miriam, age 1-1/2

Fun Saturday

Today was one of those nice Saturdays... get some things done, play outside, relax, grill burgers for dinner, ice cream... ahhh summer! Here are a few random pictures from today...

Peter slept over at my parents' house last night and

went to Sam's Club with my mom and sister this morning.

Esther and Daddy showing off the doll house progress

Checking out the snake in our front landscaping

Esther helped wash our van at my parents' house

Such concentration!

Miriam reading a book with her buddy Grandpa W.

London Friends

Our friends from London were in town this week and we were able to get together with them a couple times. Their older daughter is a few months younger than Esther and they have a lot of fun together. We had pizza and ice cream one evening, went to the Meijer Gardens together, and then spent a very hot afternoon cooling off in their parents' pool. We always enjoy seeing them and catching up, and look forward to their next visit!

Peter is inspecting a ladybug on his thumb.

He played with it and let it crawl all over him

for quite a while. When he finally decided to

free it, he set it on the pavement and Miriam

promptly squashed it. Poor little ladybug!

Swimming Lessons

Esther and Peter are taking swimming lessons at the MAC (Michigan Athletic Club) this summer. Esther took them there last summer and we were very happy with their program. We were able to sign them up in a class together this year, and although they are both somewhat timid in the water during class, they are doing very well overall. Aunt Karen was able to come watch this week, so they thought that was pretty cool!