Isaac's 5th Birthday

Birthday cupcake for the actual birthday

Cars 2 characters

Caleb gave Isaac a Beyblade toy

Doc Hudson car and whoopie cushion from G&G Jongsma

Cool Cars cake from the local grocery store

Isaac turned 5 on August 15, can you believe it?!  He thought his birthday was anti-climatic during the day, where is the cake and candles and presents?  But, we opened presents and had birthday cupcakes after Nate woke up in the afternoon.  We also went swimming at the outdoor pool for the first time, which Isaac said, "made it the best birthday ever!"  The nice scab on his face is from the pool.  For his birthday supper he requested pancakes, eggs and bacon.  Today we celebrated Isaac's birthday with Tim and Jenny and my Dad.  My Mom is sick right now.  I didn't have time to make a birthday cake so Isaac picked one out from the grocery store.  Caleb desperately wanted to buy a birthday present for Isaac, it was very sweet how much he wanted to give his brother a gift.  The one present Isaac said he wanted for his birthday was a whoopie cushion and he got one from Grandpa/Grandma and one from Tim/Jenny.  Which is good because I think one will break quickly.  You can't help but laugh at how much joy Isaac gets from the whoopie cushion.  His belly laugh is just contagious. 

Isaac is starting Young 5's next week and he met his teacher the other day.  He liked seeing the classroom and meeting the teacher, but he did not want to meet the other kids.  He will like school, but he is pretty quiet in group situations.  There are only 11 kids in his class so I think he will become comfortable quickly. 

At some point I will blog about the move and share pictures of the new house!

Road Trip

Guest Blogger - Nate (because frankly Stacy is finding it hard enough to keep up with our schedule, much less finding the time to write about it.)

July has been a busy month.  We decided to top it off with a bang and go on a nine-day road trip through Pennsylvania.  Here's a rundown of our itinerary: The first night was spent at Mike and Colleen's in Washington, PA.  The next three nights were in downtown Philadelphia while Nate attended a conference and Stacy explored a new city, pregnant, with three kids in tow (what a super-mom).  We spent the next night in Camden, NJ, to meet some friends from our NY days.  Then it was on to Reuben and Tessa's farm for two nights.  We stayed the last night with Mike and Colleen again on our way home.

Along the way we went to three museums, swam in two hotel pools, did a walking tour of historic Philadelphia, went to a Catholic mass, ate out at countless restaurants, hiked a section of the Appalachian Trail, saw a copperhead snake in the wild, petted a shark and a sting-ray (not in the wild), counted license plates from 29 different states, played with nine cousins and three friends, watched lots of videos in the car, drove under four mountains (twice), went on a hayride, and attended a minor league baseball game.  Whew, it made me tired just typing all that!  Suffice to say, we were all longing for the comforts of home by the end of the trip. 


 

Too much fun on the trampoline

Jack showed the boys a few tricks

All the kids liked the sprinkler on a hot day

At the Franklin Institute

Please Touch Museum - great pose

bi-bim-bop straight from the bowl

Adventure Aquarium with our friends

What a cutie

The great hammerhead shark was the main attraction at the aquarium.

One step above a grimace.  We were all pretty tired by this point

On the Appalachian Trail

Hayride with Uncle Reuben

We have countless stories to remember our trip.  Stacy and the kids nearly melting in the Philadelphia heat as they walked to the Franklin Institute.  Eating bi-bim-bop in a cute little Korean restaurant in Philadelphia.  Walking through the Reading Terminal Market.  Seeing the hippos/sharks/penguins/stingrays/etc at Adventure Aquarium in Camden.  Watching all of our kids get along so naturally with cousins and friends they rarely see.

But life moves ever forward, allowing no rest for the weary.  Moving day is August 6 and Caleb starts school already August 22.  There's plenty of work ahead of us before summer is officially over.

Cottage 2012

Love hanging with my sister

Almost the whole Jongsma family

Careful, the pregnant lady might bust the tube

S'mores over the grill b/c of the campfire ban

They still taste good

Taking the ferry to Slacks

Chuckles the Beaver at the Tommy Bartlett Show, not sure what he has to do with the show

One of the waterski acts

Caleb learning to kayak, he only ran into one pier

Caleb and Isaac loved tubing

The famous fingers dance move

Jumping off the back of Aunt Beth's pontoon boat

Going for a cruise around the lake

Aren't they cute?

Surprise baby shower

The kids and I spent the week of July 7-13 at the cottage.  Nate was supposed to go for the first part, but ended up having to work.  That was disappointing.  My parents and sister spent the week with us along with my grandparents and cousin, Becky.  Almost the whole Jongsma family gathered for a 50 year celebration of the cottage.  It's hard to believe that is how long it has been in the family!  It was great to catch up with family members we don't see often and share memories of time spent at the cottage.  We all had fun with the big group, but it was nice when everyone left and the cottage was not so full!

During our week at the cottage we went to the Tommy Bartlett show.  It's in the Wisconsin Dells and is a water, sky and stage show.  I am always impressed by the waterskiing tricks.  The boys liked the super fast trick boats.  And we watched a stuntman almost fall 65 feet, it was awful.  He was on a rotating wheel 65 feet off the ground and tried jumping rope.  He tripped on the rope.  He recovered although you could tell he was shaken up.  He then put on a blindfold and tripped again.  I thought I was going to throw up watching it.  I kept thinking, my kids are going to watch someone fall to their death and be traumatized  for life.  Thankfully that didn't happen! 

We also went to Slacks which is really not that exciting, but it's a tradition.  We ride on the ferry and the kids can pick out some candy.  I also buy the awesome apple butter.  The boys picked up tubing this year.  I love seeing them get excited about water sports.  I almost convinced Caleb to try waterskiing, maybe next year! The kids kept asking, "why can't we live next to the cottage?"  I too wish it wasn't a 6 hour drive away.

After we got home, my sister threw me a surprise baby shower!  I am really impressed no one let the secret out.  It was a nice group of family and friends.  It was thoughtful of Steph to set up a low-key, celebratory shower.  Since this is our 4th child, we don't need a lot of gifts.  But, it was fun to get diapers and little things to celebrate this baby.  He is a miracle and I appreciated the opportunity to celebrate that, so thanks Steph!

The Big Reveal

It's a Boy!

Chugging Gatorade

Fun Night at the Whitecaps game

No one told Isaac to pose milking the cow, came up with that on his own

Had fun at the zoo with Grandma

The boys fed the giraffes this time

On the bluff overlooking S. Haven beach

Waiting for fireworks with Caedmon and Xavier

Ice cream at Captain Sundae's with the Slots

I had my ultrasound and we are having a boy!  We are happy and the boys were especially happy!  Julia said she wanted a girl, but she's not disappointed.  We took the kids to the ultrasound.  They were pretty bored, but enjoyed hearing the heartbeat and finding out the gender.  The baby looks healthy and is measuring big, go figure!  I made gender reveal cupcakes as a way to tell my family.  They were good sports and played along.  The kids couldn't believe they have to wait 20 weeks until the baby is born.  

Time to catch up!  At the end of June we went to an evening Whitecaps baseball game in Grand Rapids.  We got some free tickets from Bethany, score!  It was also 10 cent hotdog night, dinner anyone?  Caleb really enjoyed the game, the younger two weren't interested.  They kept asking for whatever the food vendors were selling around us.  We lasted until the top of the 7th and it was late by the time we got home.  I think Caleb is old enough to appreciate a major league game sometime. 

We also received free tickets to Binder Park Zoo from Bethany, so Mom and I took the kids.  It was hot and humid, but there is alot of shade at the zoo.  The monkeys were Caleb's favorite.  Ask him sometime the difference between apes and monkeys, he knows more than me!  After the zoo we went back to my parent's house and had supper with Cardale's family. 

For the 4th of July we went to the South Haven fireworks.  That was a first for us.  In the past the kids were too young or we were out of town.  We parked at our friend's house in town and walked to the bluff.  They had staked out a spot earlier in the day.  I have never seen so many people in South Haven.  The show started at 10:30 and lasted a long time.  Our kids all stayed awake.  Isaac fell asleep in the wagon on the walk back to the car.  It took forever to drive from our friend's house back home.  We got home at 12:15 am, traffic was awful.  Not something you expect in small town South Haven.  This was our first and last South Haven fireworks. 

We had our first dinner guests at our new house.  We haven't moved in yet, but the Slots wanted to see the house.  We had a picnic supper at the house and then walked to Captain Sundae's for dessert.  Kind of awesome we can walk to the ice cream store.  

Tomorrow I hope to blog about our trip to Wisconsin last week!

Mackinac and Racing

                                 So glad we have a camper for rainy days

                                          Mackinac Bridge in the background

                                                        Just a cute picture

 Nate helped the kids up on this tall rock, it made me nervous

                                                   Sitting pretty

                                 Ready to ride the ferry to Mackinac Island

                                          Getting blown away on the ferry ride

                                             Biking around Mackinac Island

                              17 weeks pregnant and looking good

                                                             

 The ferry we rode to Mackinac Island- the boys loved the rooster tail

                                          Superman ice cream face

                                       At Fort Michilimackinac (try saying that fast)

                                  The boys really liked seeing the muskets and cannon firing

 We climbed Castle Rock- 170 steps, it was really hard for me- I blame the pregnancy and heat

                                   The end of our camping trip- we're all tired!


Last week we went to Mackinac for the first time.  It almost looked like we wouldn't be able to go because of the plant shutting down.  But, Nate wasn't put on the schedule so we headed out of town!  We camped at Mill Creek campground.  It has a heated pool, although my definition of heated is something a little warmer.  The kids thought the pool was great.  The campground was fairly quiet.  We had rain Monday, but it let up in the afternoon so we checked out the McGulpin Lighthouse.  It wasn't very impressive, but we enjoyed the hike down to the beach and climbing on the rocks.  On Tuesday we took our bikes on the ferry to Mackinac Island.  Seems a little crazy to me that is cost us $80 for the privilege of biking around the island.  We explored main street which didn't take too long, browsing thru stores isn't very interesting for the kids.  We tried a fudge sample and both Isaac and Caleb turned up their noses.  We ducked into a pizza restaurant at lunch time and waited out a storm that blew in.  That was a tense lunch as we didn't know how long it would storm and we didn't know what we would do with the kids if it rained all afternoon.  Thankfully the rain stopped!  We hopped on our bikes to do the 8 mile perimeter ride.  It's not a hard ride, maybe took us 1 1/2 hours?  Caleb loved it, he rode ahead of us the whole time.  Nate was super Dad.  He had Julia on the back of his bike and Isaac rode in the burley.  Nate says it was good strength training for his upcoming triathalon.  I was carting baby DeMaster, that's my reason for not pulling one of the other kids behind me, ha!  I think the horses and the horse poop all over will probably be the kids main memory of Mackinac Island.  On Wednesday we went to Fort Michilimackinac.  It was quite hot that day so we darted in and out of the shade.  The boys were slightly interested in learning about life in the fort back in the 1770's.  They really liked watching the cannon being fired and the "soldiers" firing muskets.  Grandpa DeMaster worked at the fort one summer when he was younger so we're looking forward to talking with him more about who he dressed up as.  After the fort we drove across the Mackinac Bridge.  In case you are interested it is 4 miles long.  I can now say I have been to the Upper Peninsula.  We drove thru St. Ignace and then stopped at Castle Rock.  You hike up 170 steps to the top of this rock overlook.  It is an impressive view.  However, seeing the condition of the structure supporting this overlooks makes you question your safety.  We headed back home on Thursday all very tired, but glad we explored a new part of Michigan. 

                                    Finishing up the swim portion- 500 meters

                                      Getting ready to ride 12 miles

                                                   Finishing the 5k run strong

 First triathalon and he finished in 88 minutes- so proud of him!

                                                  Getting ready to ride in a Lotus

                                                              Big grin

Nate had his triathalon this weekend.  He was very nervous, but he did great!  The swim was definitely the hardest part.  Cold Lake Michigan water with lots of other people swimming around you?  Does not sound easy to me!  His goal was to finish the race in 90 minutes and he made it in 88 minutes.  It was a beautiful morning so the kids and I had fun playing at the beach and cheering him on.  Watching all of the athletes made me think, I could do that!  But, then I thought, no I really can't.  I hate swimming, might be an issue. :)  I'm so proud of Nate and I'm sure this won't be his last race... 
Caleb went to a birthday party this weekend that was held at a local racetrack.  The kids were taken around and went about 40-50 mph.  Isaac wasn't old enough to ride in the car, but he was ok with that.  Julia wanted to go like the big kids.  Caleb wasn't nervous at all and had a great time.  Definitely a unique experience!