another mermaid in the family.

meg LOVES the water... and had a lot of fun with Maddie and Henry at the beach yesterday.

just call him Hank.

So, T-ball has begun.

Granted, this is a class for 3-5 year olds, but Henry is taking it very seriously. He's excited to finally be on a "team". Have a real coach who's a cool, college guy and not just a lady like his mom. He's learning how to throw a baseball, field & catch with his glove and run the bases and bat while wearing a helmet.

And he's lovin' every minute of it.

You never know, maybe someday he'll earn the name "Hank", the name of all great ball players. But he can just be our Henry too, and that's just fine by me.

some summer pics

after her school's Field Day...

Kids in the sprinkler...


Maddie at camp...


S.S. Badger - Big Ship. More Fun.

June. Where did it go?

Yeah, I don't know where June went, but it flew by pretty flippin' fast.
Here's the short list:
- Maddie finished 3rd grade.
- we made the trans-Lake Michigan passage via the S.S. Badger from Ludington, MI to Manitowoc, WI (http://www.ssbadger.com/newhome.aspx) Big ship, more fun.
- Cousin Dan tied the knot with his squeeze Stacey
- Gran turned 60.
- Maddie was deposited in South Bend for Notre Dame girls Basketball Camp
- We bought a new '08 Dodge Caravan (my dream of further mini-van ownership has been fulfilled)
- Maddie experienced a 3-day overnight bible camp. Ned Flanders was the camp director there.
- Meg started day care in the Wobbler's room (since my workload picked up tremendously)
- Saw the Whitecaps play after an hour rain delay. Kids had fun though.
- Greg logged 90+ miles on his bike (go G!)
- I officially became a Girl Scout leader for Maddie's 4th grade troop
- more stuff happened... but I can't type forever here.

July? a blur thus far.

Tour de Leelanau

Greg and I always wondered why everyone goes "up North"... and now we know. Our Memorial Day weekend was driven by curiosity, more specifically a European-style bike road race, The Tour de Leelanau.

Being the cycling enthusiast, Greg always wanted to see a real road race, and I thought it was just a good idea for everybody to get out of town. So we got ourselves a hotel room at Great Wolf Lodge in Traverse City for two nights and took a mini-vacation. (we surprised the kids when we got there) Of course, the kids loved Great Wolf (their camp-style bunk bed room with their own TV and the water park just down the hall) and we all had fun driving around Leelanau county watching the bike race at various points, cheering them along. We also got a taste of the countryside mixed with the maritime feel of the Lake Michigan shore.

In fact, we liked the area so much, we booked a cabin for a week in August on Lake Leelanau. Score!

We also discovered that Henry could spend all day on the beach throwing rocks into Lake Michigan, and Madeleine doesn't like to watch bike races in the rain. Meg is easy, she likes everything. Most especially the little fountains at the water park, where she would crawl up to and get drenched head to toe. Another mermaid in the family, like her sister who also could spend all day in the water. (The best thing about the water park is that it made all the kids dog-tired. They were passed-out by 8pm.)

Tour de Leelanau... a pretty great way to begin the summer.

spring it on.

an amazing variety of tulips at Meijer Gardens

Grandpa Ken showing Meg around the Gardens

Henry with his many band-aids...

happy sisters in Holland, MI

Maddie's troop bridging to Junior Girl Scouts

sugar reconnaissance.

Let's just say when the Ice Cream truck visits our neighborbood, those kids are on it.

All the neighbor kids go into recon-mode when they HEAR the truck entering our subdivision a mile away. It plays the insane, repetitive music of "Popeye the Sailor Man" (and as the song plays over and over and over and over... it hypes them up for their sugar buzz. Like Pavlov's little dogs.) They don't always know which direction the truck is going to come from, so they send out the older kids on their bikes, as scouts. Somehow gaining an organizational force of a small infantry unit, they comb the surrounding streets, hunting down their source of sugar.

When the truck's position is located, they report back and wait.

As it turns the corner (approaching at a glacial pace), they descend upon it like locusts, shrieking and wielding their dollars, knowing that in moments their planning and waiting and excitement will have paid off.... for a frozen, sugary treat.

The Truck still delivers the tried and true: push-ups, bomb-pops, Mickey-mouse ice cream bars, ice cream sandwiches, snow-cones and sundae cups with the wooden-spoon-thingy. Nothing too fancy or special. Just fabulous in itself, because you tracked it down and bought it with the money you earned, or begged Mom for... (not that Mom doesn't have a whole box of ice cream bars in the freezer. Maybe I should just hand them out through the window of my mini-van for dramatic effect...)

And for about 10 minutes, my kids get along, and eat in jubilant-peace. Probably plotting what kind of treat they're going to choose the next time the Truck comes 'round.

lil' stinker.

Well, I thought I'd be a safety-conscious mom and install a baby gate at the bottom of our stairs, because at 8-months of age, Meg can climb to the top of the stairs if we let her. And now that the gate is up, she's still insisting on getting up on those stairs. See exhibits A and B above (on two separate occasions). And once she's kneeling on there, she yells up the staircase as if to say, "who put this here? I once was able to explore these parts freely..."

Also, when someone leaves that gate open, she's quick as anything to get over there and begin her ascent. To top that, Meg is also walking along the couch and anything she can support herself on. So I'm thinking she'll be taking some steps by herself very, very soon.

a heathen no more.

Just a quick update from this past weekend. Meg received the Sacrament of Baptism at our church on Saturday. Ray and Danielle made the trip out to be present as her godparents (even when their flight was cancelled at the last minute they figured out a way to get here, which involved driving from Chicago! ugh.) Also visiting the newly baptized babe were Gran, Poppa, Freddie, Mya, Grandpa, Amy, Brett, Brittany and Bev. (so, we had a full house)

Little miss Meg was all in white, and was quite attentive and mesmerized when Father Vu spoke to her in a gentle voice as he performed the Baptism. No crying at all, which was surprising since she fussed with all the new faces in our house to see her. Although Meg did enjoy tasting her uncle's beer (she tried to share her bottle with him too) and she warmed up to Danielle with some peek-a-boo. We all played a lot of board games with the kids, and ate a lot of food... so overall it was a great weekend.

And on a side note: Poppa bought Henry his first car. Henry is now revving around the front yard like its a golf course, driving the dog insane. Just replace the divets Hen.

Kirby vs. nature

As the dog in the family, Kirby has it in his mind that he is king of the beasts. Ruler of all the smaller, lesser creatures in his electrical-fence kingdom. Typically, he'll sense a bunny/squirrel/large bird/mole/toad, and bark to be let out, to chase it out of the yard or under the deck. He'll bark at it some more, warning them to never return or fear his wrath. (I don't think he's ever actually killed anything, but I have seen him toss a toad once...) This is what he does. He's a dog.

But today, nature came over to laugh in his furry face. (see photo) He couldn't even muster a growl. All he could do was quiver and look at me, as if to say, "This isn't right. Why must I face this humiliation? You could let me out the front door and he'll never know what hit him..."

Ahh, Kirby. So close. Yet so far.

up with the gates!

hoppy easter.

well, we had a busy and fun-filled weekend. Maddie and I saw High School Musical on Ice, it was pretty cool. We made a bunny cake and Hot Cross Buns for Easter Day. Henry had a great time coloring eggs and decorating them in his own way. Meg even had some fun crawling into the Easter baskets whenever she got the chance.



egg decorating... so artsy.



Henry's 3-eyed "monster egg"

Here's Meg tearing-up the Easter basket.

I even made Hot Cross Buns. It only took a mere 4 hours to complete, but they were pretty darn good. (It inspired Greg to play the song on his recorder, if he still had it)

mmmm. bunny cake.