Summer Fun

 Well I have been horrible at taking pictures so I don't have a ton from the last two weeks but that doesn't mean we haven't been having fun!  Let's start off with Carter's swimming lessons.  This year we tried something different b/c I felt that he needed something more intense so we took lessons in Holland through Julie's Swim School.  Let's say I was AMAZED.  The day before lessons Carter wouldn't even jump into the shallow with his life jacket on where he could touch.  Check out the videos of his 4th (and last) day of lessons.  She is going to start doing year-round lessons this fall and we can't wait! 

 Some of his buddies from class. We didn't know any families in class but made some new friends.

 Go buddy go!

 And the test to see if he passed the class.  Always smiling!

Unfortunately Brian was in PA on my b-day so thankfully I have two wonderful friends that spoiled me. The day before my b-day my BFF Kathy took me out for dinner and on my birthday my other BFF Jen took me out to Grand Haven.  We had a lot of fun and it's always fun having girls nights with no kids! :)  Brian and I did finally get to go out and celebrate this weekend...we had a great date in Saugatuck. 

 

 We celebrated with Brian's family the Sunday before and with my family the Sunday after along with my SIL Kim's birthday.  We obviously came from the pool (looking like a ragamuffin!).

 

 On June 30 we had our 3rd Annual Amber Rose Pig Roast.  It's a party we throw with 3 of our neighbors.  We think we had about 200-250 attend.  Always a good time!

 

On our days home we often keep cool in the kiddie pool!

On July 3 we went out on mom and dad Meeuwsen's boat to watch the fireworks at the State Park.  It was Trey's first time seeing fireworks.  He didn't like how loud they were but still loved them.  Sadly this was the only picture I took!  We spent the night over night and chilled at the pool the next day.  Definitely the most relaxing holiday we have had in a long time!

And we can't forget about our little miss Jade that turned 9 months on June 23.  She is still our little peanut!  She weighed 15 lbs. 11 oz. (5th %) and was 27 inches (25th %).  I thought for sure she would have finally moved past the 5th percentile..she eats like a PIG!  I have never had a baby eat like this.  My mom even video taped it.  It's hilarious.  She still takes two great naps each day, she's almost crawling, waves bye-bye, does 'so-big' and claps.  She is a HAPPY baby and we can't get enough of her!  She is definitely a BUSY body and never sits still so I think once she's mobile we are in trouble. 

Catching Up

Wow...it's been another month already and I haven't updated.  Sorry..life is busy.  Brian and his family bought another ethanol plant, this time in Pennsylvania, so ever since the middle of March Brian has been traveling there every week.  Needless to say, when the kids go to bed I am exhausted!  So, since I uploaded my pics in reverse order we will start with this weekend:

It's always entertaining at mom and dad Meeuwsen's on Pine Creek Bay on Sunday afternoons.  Apparently these guys thought they were deep enough???  It was quite entertaining to say the least. 

 Last week Carter went to VBS at our church and loved it.  His good friends Norah (in the pink) and Alyssa (not pictured) were in his group so he had a blast even though he looks less than thrilled at the program on Sunday. :)

 Saturday and Sunday we spent at mom and dad Meeuwsen's in the pool.  We are shocked with how much Trey LOVES the water this year.  If you know him well you know that he cries 90% of the day and well...somedays...hates the world as we say. :)  Little did we know how much he would love to swim!

 Carter likes to entertain Jade as she floats.  She also does pretty good in the water. 

 On Saturday mornings Carter is doing a soccer camp with his good buddy Jace.  Like everything else...he LOVES it. 

 On my day's off we spend a lot of time outside.  I picked up this walker at a garage sale and Jade LOVES it.  She has even figured out how to coast down our driveway...it's pretty funny. 

The boys got this foam gun from Uncle Mike and Aunt Kim for their birthdays.  They love it...it's actually pretty cool.

 Smiling C-man.

 I peeked in on Jade one day and she was curled up like a ball sound asleep like this.  She even had her two first fingers in (her pacifier).  Too funny.

 We celebrated Father's Day with Brian's family the weekend before Father's Day b/c they were all going to be out of town. Unfortunately I forgot my camera. On Father's day itself we had my family for lunch.  Here is our wonderful husband and daddy with his kids.  

 Then we tried to get a picture with my dad and us kids.  Apparently the grandkids all had to be in it too. :)

 On 6-6-12 we welcomed Addalynn Kae into the family to my brother Mike and his wife Kim. Carter thought it was pretty cool that Kasen now has a baby sister too. So excited for Jade and her to be buddies!

 On June 2 we took a bus with our church to Binder Park Zoo.  If Carter learned all his memory verses then they got a free trip to the zoo.  It was special to just take him for the day.  None of us had ever been and we had a great time.

 This picture made me laugh.  This is Brian yelling at the giraffe after he freaked out with how LONG his tongue was and how far he could reach to get the lettuce.  hee, hee

 On Memorial Day we went to the Zeeland parade and then hung at home and power washed the house.  At night we went to mom and dad Meeuwsen's for a cook out.

 All the kiddos hanging out watching mom and dad wash the house.

 Sunday before Memorial Day we headed out to Holland State Park for something fun. Jade loved hanging out and playing.

 The boys had fun playing by the water. I wasn't prepared with suits since the water was freezing but Carter went right in and played away!

 Me and Bri....I miss having him home each week.  We've had some rough days and are looking forward to having him home again!  I give all single parents a LOT of credit...it's hard and the kids are ready for daddy to be back.

Until next time...hopefully it's not another month before updating!

4Wheel Jamboree

This past weekend we headed down to Lima, OH for the annual 4Wheel Jamboree with Greg from ZFS, his wife, and we hung out with 4 other couples as well.  Unfortunately the Bronco is being worked on so we didn't take it along. 

 But as you can see the trailor was pretty full!

 We seen a lot of monster trucks...

 

and plenty of good 'ole redneck trucks!

  

Kids as young as 7 drive these...crazy!

 And you could go for rides in this one.  The whole weekend we kept saying how much Carter would have had a blast. 

 Friday night we went to dinner across the street from our hotel.  The owner's father was seated next to us and bought all 12 of us our first round of drinks...yum!

 The gang.

 And of course there are the crazy's that probably have more money into their trucks than their own house!

 And most kids ride around in these monster wagons...there were a ton of them!

 We watched a few of the monster trucks race.

 But mostly chilled out and socialized.  

 Had  to take a picture of Mater for Trey. :)

 Another big one!  There had to have been 1,000's there. 

 And Carter so excited about his new toy!

I wasn't sure what the weekend was going to be all about but we had a blast.  It was so nice to have no schedule and never to be in a hurry or get kids ready, eat in peace...etc!  Thank you to mom and dad Meeuwsen for taking the kids all weekend!  We met some great new friends and are already planning our trip to the next one!

Mothers Day

Mothers Day was a beautiful and busy day.  Brian quick snapped a picture of me with the kiddos after church...love you to pieces my cutie pies and so proud to be your mama!

Then we headed to Mike and Kim's for lunch.  Miss Jade with Grandpa Jim.

The best pic we could get with the mamas and the kiddos.

My mom with her kids.

After naps I woke up to find my yard full of people for a photo shoot!  Our friend from Amy Marie Photography was taking pics of the neighbors and quick snapped a few of me and Jade (we were the only ones awake yet).  :)

 For dinner we headed to mom and dad Meeuwsen.  Grandpa Cliff took the kids for a dinghy ride after dinner.  We love having our nieces back in Michigan!

 The best pic we could get of Grandma Karen with the grand kids.  Headless Carter...always full of it!

We are so blessed to have such wonderful mothers in our lives!  They do so much for us!

Meijer Gardens

My mom has a membership to Frederick Meijer Gardens so a couple of times a year we try and go with the kids.  A few weeks ago we took the boys...it was a beautiful Friday morning.  The butterflies were done which was actually nice b/c it wasn't busy.

We took a tram tour through the sculpture park.  It was cool to be able to see all of them.

Childrens Garden.

Before lunch the boys cooled off playing in the water. 

Thanks for a fun morning mom and as always, helping with the boys!