June

Last day of school!

Julia loved Mrs. VanMeeteren

Isaac had a fantastic year with Mrs. Ritsema

Captain Sundae to celebrate the end of the school year

Grandpa and Isaac. Why is he dressed for winter?

Strawberry picking

Kitchen progress

Someone found lipstick

Grandpa teaching the game 'spoons'

Look at the cake she made!

Ready for backpacking

Beach days

And pool time

Happy Father's Day!

Lexi's first zoo trip

Have we mentioned she is a climber?

Korea camp at Heritage Camp

June 3 was the last day of school!  The second graders have a special send off at the last chapel as they will be moving on to Pine Ridge for 3rd-6th grade.  Isaac had some great years at South Side.  He is a little nervous about moving on to 3rd grade.  Julia is excited to be a 2nd grader next year, ruling the roost.  We are truly thankful for Holland Christian School.  The teachers are loving and passionate and our kids receive an excellent Christ-centered education.  We still struggle with the lack of diversity at HC.

Julia's Korean tutor, Hyeji went home for the summer.  We are also thankful for the time she spends with Julia and are hoping to have her return in the fall.

Grandpa DeMaster spent a week with us.  He spent time painting our kitchen cabinets and helping Nate install some pendant lights.  They may have tried to burn the house down while doing that. We went strawberry picking and Dad even helped make some jam.  He was able to see Isaac's last baseball game.  Isaac's coach was pitching and Isaac had a fantastic hit. It grazed the coach's hat and had him dropping to the ground. At first we thought he had been hit in the head, but thankfully he was fine.  Isaac enjoyed his first season of baseball.  We went to the beach, played at parks and just enjoyed having Grandpa around.

Nate took Isaac and Julia backpacking for a weekend with other Dads and kids.  This was Julia's first time.  The went to Nordhouse Dunes and had fantastic weather.  They did some hiking, but mostly played on the beach and in the water.  No one was hurt, no poison ivy and everyone was exhausted when they returned- a good trip!

Nate and the kids returned home on Father's Day. The kids filled out surveys about Nate- what he likes to do, things he says, etc.  The kids say they have a great Dad! I love how he takes time to do activities with them- backpacking, camping, teaching them piano and showing interest in what they enjoy.

Caleb did a week of basketball camp at Holland Christian. It was just 2 hours each day.  Julia went to a local church's VBS.  She chose the cake decorating class for the week, and she made an awesome cake! I haven't even used fondant on a cake yet.  Julia has no qualms about going to a church VBS where she may not know anyone, she just walks in confidently. However, my boys practically beg me to not send them to a place where they may not know anyone.  Julia also went to another local VBS the last week of June.

Isaac and Julia went to Heritage Camp for a week.  It is a week long day camp in Grand Rapids.  They participated in Korea Camp.  They learned Korean phrases, songs, games and cooked Korean food.  Julia loves Heritage Camp, being with other Korean adoptees and learning about her heritage.
While the middle two were at camp, Nate and I took Caleb, Stephen and Lexi to John Ball Zoo.  This was Lexi's first time at the zoo and she loved it.  We brought a stroller for her, but she wanted nothing to do with it.  She would rather walk/run.