Water boys

My little boy turned 5 and all of the sudden is so much more daring in the water.


I even got him to run right through.


What fun it is to have a water brother.

Summer Catch Up 9

We had one more vacation to head out on this summer and that was a week at the DeJong cottage with all 8 cousins together.

The week was suppose to run from a Wed to Wed.  At the beginning of the week my Uncle was going to be installing new and bigger windows overlooking the lake.  I was to call and check on the status that week before going up.  As is usually the case we found out that there was unforeseen trouble and the project was taking longer than planned.  We were told that we could still be up there but the when I talked with my sisters we decided that keeping the kids away from construction was not the way we wanted to spend our vacation, so we delayed the start a few days.  It turned out that we were there for the very end of the project, but then we got to take full advantage of the magnificent view the new windows provided which was perfect!

Going into the week we were also unsure as to how relaxing of a vacation it would be with 8 children in the cottage age 1 month through 6 years.  It sounded a bit daunting.  However, I think my siblings would agree that it went much smoother than we feared it might.  First, the two babies are such laid back and easy things. They were content to lay around and watch things most of the time and when there was some fussing, there were anywhere from 6-9 adults each day to take turns holding them.  (Of course I say this as one of the moms who didn't have to nurse 8 times a day or get up with them in the middle of the night.)  Second, the older kids got along great together.  They each had their day to be grouchy, but for the most part they entertained each other more than they fought.  And we didn't have any child in the crawling or just learning to walk phase which meant we didn't need an eye on them every second to make sure they were safe.  Third, even though we had 8 kids we had a bunch of adults too.  This meant that we could play tag team parenting. We each got a day, evening, or hour here and there to go off without the kids while someone else was watching them.

So here are some pictures.  Water was by far the favorite thing to do and Sam brought out his family's boat for the week.  Here are the kids all ready to go on the boat:

Michael was the first to want to go in the tube.  The others had a blast watching.


Becca had a turn too.  While she seemed to have fun she was content with just once and didn't want to go again any other day.


Jon actually became the star tuber and asked to go again and again.  He loved that he could control the speed by signaling the boat driver.


The cousins got in the action too - driving the boat,


hanging out,


and tubing also.


In addition to the boat, the water was fun to just play in.  The turtle was a favorite.  Since the water was so shallow and we had life jackets for the 2 year olds it was a pretty relaxing time for the adults to cool off too.  Oh, and you can't see Michael here because he is running and jumping off the end of the dock which was his favorite water activity.



We also took the kids out on some excursions.  We found out the Fremont library has a great children's section and that Fremont has a wonderful air conditioned McDonald's with a fabulous play place.  We also found a fun park at one of the local elementary schools.

This car was made perfect for our group:


Ever since we had three of us pregnant together people have been commenting on how much fun these three will have growing up as same age cousins.  I think that they are finally getting old enough to really begin to see that happening.


Meals for the kids became a bit of an assembly line process to put together.  It was a good thing they all like eating the same types of food.


The six of them really did just about everything together that week.  In fact when poor Luke had to spend some time on the potty and his mom set up a movie on the computer to keep him sitting to do his business, none of the cousins wanted to be left out.


Oh, and like I said there were 8 cousins there.  I think this is the first time I have way more picture of the big kids and not the babies, but they were there.  Micheal especially took on his roll of big cousin by helping to play with them and attend to them when they fussed.

Summer Catch Up 8

We came back home to find our yard almost entirely brown.  The temperatures in Holland had been steadily in the 90s and without rain while we were gone.  This picture shows it much improved already after a couple days of watering but still lacking in much green.


Jon is still resolutely avoiding sprinklers so he chose to play in the pool more and race boats up and down the new slide we got.


As temperatures were still boiling, the kids couldn't be outside too much so they resorted to games inside to blow off energy.  A favorite is chase each other in circles through our house.  Unfortunately for Becca she misjudged a turn and ran into the corner of a doorway.  Ouch!

Summer Catch Up 7

Our East Coast tip next took us to Boston for time at Grandma and Grandpa's house.  The backyard was a favorite play place where Becca worked hard to master the rope swing.


We also went out one day to meet Great Grandma at a playground followed by a yummy lunch at Friendly's.




And of course we went down town to take a ride on the swam boats.

Summer Catch Up 6

So are you ready for some more pictures?

One of the great almost daily adventures at the cape was to take the boat out for some water and beach play.

Jon and Becca all ready to go.


Not everyone could go in the big boat, so some people road in kayaks.  The kids LOVED this and we had to make sure to rotate turns evenly.  Usually they would share a kayak with an aunt or uncle.  However one time Aunt Anne gave the kayak over to Michael with the intent that she would swim along side him to help him out.  Turns out Michael had four fabulous first strokes with the paddle and I turned to see him taking off across the lake himself with Aunt Anne left far behind.  Too bad I don't have a picture of that.


Becca, our little water rat was in absolute heaven.  We had to make sure she kept her life jacket on at all times because she would just take off into the water.




Jon found a fun game with Uncle Andrew were he got pulled along for a fun ride.  He laid on the board yelling out commands for slower, faster, and medium!  Mom and Dad were happy to have Uncle Andrew around to supply the adult energy needed for this game.


Michael was in heaven when Grandpa went out and bought a tube.


But it was Uncle Andrew that really did the stunt work.


The kids had a great time on the boat and water playing with family.

Summer Catch Up 2

This summer has been hot.  In between vacations we have spent a lot of time outside with water play.  We got a new pool witch all three kids love.


In fact, they love it so much (and I don't want to have them tracking wet feet and suits through the house) that we have often reverted to picnic lunches or dinners outside.

Memorial Day Water Fun

Yesterday was to top off at 90, so we started the day by heading to WalMart to pick up some water toys.

First up we got a slip and slide.  Michael was so excited about it.  He helped set it up and then tried it out right away.


Becca was intrigued by it too.  After watching Michael a few times she wanted to jump in also.


Jon on the other hand decided he would rather just watch.


However, when we got out the new water shooters he finally joined in the fun!