Summer Review #7 The Cottage

This was the last summer that my family will be renting the cottage on Lake Michigan (because my dad bought a cottage on an inland lake we will be using instead!!!). We were there for two whole weeks yet this summer and the kids had a fabulous blast on the beach.

Getting dirty


Cleaning off


Testing out the water


Splashing


Running


Digging

Summer Review #6 Trip East - Sesame Place

If you have toddlers then I would highly recommend Sesame Place, just north of Philadelphia. Basically it is an amusement park made with preschoolers in mind. So instead of having a toddler section of the park, the whole park is perfect for probably 1-10 year olds.

Michael could go on all the rides and loved them. Here was his favorite and he had to go on this one by himself. I can't (or my stomach can't) handle these types and Tim's back was hurting and he didn't dare risk it getting worse. This is the one that brings you up and then you free fall in - over and over and over.


And to prove that Michael was actually on it - see him in the orange:


We met some of the characters that roam the park.


And Michael got invited to come and dance with Elmo at one of the shows.



Tim and I also celebrated our 8th wedding anniversary while we were there. Not exactly the romantic weekend away, but we took this picture to show what 8 years has brought us.

Summer Review #5 Trip East - New Jersey

One of the great things about our trip out East was that Tim's parents got to join us for the stacking tournament and then spend some time with us in New Jersey at Tim's grandmother's house. This worked out especially well since we were not going to make it all the way to Boston this summer.

Here is grandma story time before bed:


And we also went to the zoo which was fun.

Summer Review #4 Trip East - Stacking

We had a week free at the beginning of the summer between Tim finishing school and me starting my masters classes so we decided to fill it up by heading out east. The first stop was Philadelphia for a cup stacking tournament.

At the hotel Michael and Jon shared a bed. While it was a bit tough to get them to fall asleep, they were so cute when they did.


Warming up in the hotel:


This tournament had a bunch of Team USA folks and other stacking friends we have made.


The best event for us was probably the parent/child doubles where Tim and Michael had their best tournament time.

Summer Review #3 Tent

Childhood would never be complete without a tent now and then. I took Becca out of the room and left the boys to play in the tent. They filled it with games, cars, and books, and then spent a while playing amazingly well together. Michael is learning how to read so I was able to snap a quick picture of him reading a book to Jon.

Summer Review #2 A Day Out

We have found a fun group here in Holland of Moms and Toddlers. This past May they put together a trip to the Hope College science center where the kids got to look at and pet all kinds of animals.





When the first brought some around to touch, Becca had no idea what to do. Michael kindly jumped in and helped her to pet the first turtle. After that she was on a roll and would reach out to touch everything. We finally had to hold her back when she started poking the snakes in their eyes.




After the animals, we went out to have a picnic lunch in the park and walked around to look at some of the tulips that were still in bloom.

Michael wanted a picture taken with each new color of tulip he could find.


The boys kept circling the fountain as the wind would blow so that they could catch the spray.


Becca found the Tulips fascinating. So many of them were as tall as she was.

Summer Review #1 Tulip Time

I guess it was really more like late spring, but we experienced our first Tulip Time as residents of Holland. For those of you who might never have been a part of this, it is a time when, true to its name, the whole city becomes abloom with Tulips and there are tons of Dutch dancing in the streets, parades, carnival stands, and crowds all around downtown.

Sarah and Katherine made it up to join in the fun which made it all the more enjoyable!




We got to see a ton of school bands in the parades, which Jon found a bit loud. I find this so strange, because at home one of Jon's favorite things to do is to bop around the house scream singing as loud as he can into a pretend microphone and banging on the drums in addition.


Everyone was a bit hot and crabby at the end of the parade, except for Becca who had napped in the shade but we did get one Aunt/Niece/Nephew (with Mom thrown in for good measure) picture before the day was up.