Camping

Aunt Steph helping with marshmallows
Silly kids
Caleb learned how to roast marshmallows- from very far away :)
Yum!
The sand mountain
Eating s'mores with Grandma
Say "cheese!"

We took the kids camping for two nights at Yankee Springs State Park on Gun Lake. We borrowed a bigger tent from some friends, ours is too small now for 4 plus a pack and play! We had beautiful weather for the first part. We played in the lake and took some walks. My parents and sister came out in the evenings which was fun. The kids stayed up really late, but I tried to not stress about it. They did alot of giggling in the tent at night. The one down point is we locked our keys in the van and had to call a locksmith. The morning that we left, it rained. So we left the kids in the van and took down the campsite in the rain. We then ate breakfast at McDonalds on the way home. A good trip overall!

Happy 3rd Birthday!

Tractor Cake
The birthday boy and his pig cookie

Julia enjoying her cookie
Daddy being silly
Present time!
Isaac received a rocket launcher that you stomp on
Such a handsome 3 year old!

Today is Isaac's 3rd birthday! We celebrated last weekend with Aunt Steph, Grandpa and Grandma Jongsma. I made a tractor cake for him which was a big hit. I started decorating the cake when the kids went to bed one night and finished around midnight. I preferred staying up late and not having any interruptions. :) Today we celebrated with just our family. He requested pizza for his birthday meal. Since we already had a cake, we did birthday cookies instead. Caleb had made pig cookies somewhere else and we thought Isaac would enjoy making them. Frosting, marshmallows, and cookies are a winning combination of course! We gave Isaac a stomp rocket that I believe said for kids 8 and older. He's 3, that is close enough, right? Don't worry he will always be supervised. :) We also gave him a Curious George DVD. The boys need some new DVDs. We're a little tired of always hearing Blues Clues or Boz. Caleb picked out a soccer ball for Isaac which was thoughtful.

We are so proud of Isaac. He is a silly, affectionate boy. He has alot of energy and throws himself into activities, literally! He hurts himself often and gives me gray hair. His vocabulary has taken off this year, but he still says funny words. He says, "I have a g'dea!" for I have a good idea. He likes to make up nonsense words and ask what they mean. He often makes us laugh by pulling his pants past his stomach and walking around funny. Isaac adds so much joy to our family. We thank God for the gift of this little boy!

R & R

We went for a 3 hour canoe trip on the Muskegon River
The flower beds at the place we stayed- (insert eye roll)
The Bed and Breakfast we stayed at
Not much of a group picture!
Julia, Heidi, Lisa and Hannah
Caleb at the bottom of the sand dune
Here comes, Isaac!
Handsome boys

Nate and I have been married for 9 years now! We celebrated by going to a Bed and Breakfast for two nights. My sister, Mom and some babysitters took turns watching the kids- thanks to you all! We went to a place called The Shack near White Cloud, MI. We bought a certificate at Caleb's school auction. The place is a mix between a hotel and B&B. We had a hot tub room which was really nice. However, the place itself wasn't our favorite ever. The decorating scheme was a little outdated and the whole place had a campy/cutesy feel to it. We weren't super impressed with the breakfast either. There were signs around the place such as, "Eat what you take," and "Go to bed, lights out at 11." I guess we felt like someone was watching over our shoulder to make sure we made good decisions. The place does give guests a banana split every night which is a perk, but I don't think we'll stay at the Shack again. :) We did have fun canoeing down the Muskegon River for a couple hours. It was a beautiful day. We ate at some small town restaurants and just enjoyed a laid back schedule. Nate gave me a wonderful present. He had my blog made into a hard cover book! I've always worried that blogger would lose my blog history or something, but now we have our family journal in print. Such a great gift!

This weekend we had our annual college friends get together. On Friday night the adults went out to dinner without children. We also went mini-golfing and were eaten by mosquitoes, but had a great time! Today, the families met at Tunnel Park in Holland for a beach day. It was overcast and there were huge waves, but that made it more fun. I am grateful my kids aren't afraid of the lake, but Julia makes me nervous! She is always running for the water. We had a smaller get together this year, but we still enjoy catching up and watching our kids play together. Tomorrow we will celebrate Isaac's 3rd birthday!

New York and Wisconsin

Box, Smith and DeMaster families
Ready to play in the water
Sam Box and Nate watching kids in the sprayground
Brayden, Isaac, Riley and Caleb
Olivia, Talia, Julia and Hannah enjoying the sand
Julia was a sandy, muddy mess!
Nice action shot of Caleb
Isaac's 3rd birthday quilt from Grandma DeMaster
Fishing at my grandparent's cottage in WI
Peeling corn at the cottage, some things don't change :)
Julia loves chewing on corn on the cob
Having fun in Lake WI


Last month we visited Nate's parents in Rochester, NY for a week. We had beautiful weather. We went to a couple of parks and took some nice walks. We went to the Children's Museum as well. We met some of our NY friends at Seneca Lake State Park for a day. There is a really nice sprayground and the kids played in it all day. Seneca Lake/beach itself was not very nice, but the kids didn't mind. :) We had a fun day catching up with our friends. Julia came down with an ear infection so we visited an urgent care in Rochester. I'm thankful for antibiotics! Isaac had a fever for about 2 days, but then he was fine. While in NY, Isaac opened his birthday presents from Grandpa and Grandma DeMaster. For the grandchildren's 3rd birthday, Nate's Mom makes a quilt. Isaac received a truck quilt that matches the boys' bedroom great! Isaac was also excited to receive a sprinkler from them. He refers to his presents as "my birthday party" and asks when he can have more birthday party? :) His birthday is on the 15th, so it will be soon! The day we left Rochester, Nate's parents got their moving truck. They moved to Ft. Myers, FL. Nate's Dad took a new Christian school principal job. It's a long way to FL from here, but hopefully we can fly down once a year- in the winter of course! :) We're excited for them and their new opportunities.

This past weekend my sister and I took the kids to my grandparent's cottage. We had great weather and the water was nice too! Unfortunately there weren't enough other adults around to do watersports, but we still had fun. Thankfully my sister took pictures during the weekend because I didn't. I just don't remember to take pictures. Don't even ask me how far behind I am on our photo books!

We're travelling alot this summer and it's great! The kids do pretty well in the car and Nate has been using vacation time. Next week Nate and I are going away for 2 nights to celebrate our 9th anniversary. We're already thinking about what we want to do for our 10th anniversary next year. :)