Sandy Pines

We bought a day at Sandy Pines at our friend's auction this spring.  We were glad to finally find a chance to go and spend some time with the Gritters at Sandy Pines.  The kids always love going there, and we had an awesome day full of tons of great food and fun.  They were quite spoiled with lots of fun snacks and goodies!  We spent some time on the beach, tubing, at the waterpark and we enjoyed ice cream before leaving, too.  As usual the kids fell right asleep as soon as we got in the car.  Thanks for a full day of fun, Gritters! :)

Kaden enjoyed being pulled by the paddleboat

Maya thought she would be a pretty good driver of the golf cart

I'm so proud of Kaden for trying to waterski.  He tried about 3 times and got up almost every time, but then fell back down again.  Not bad for the first time!

Maya became buddies with "Mr. Gwitter" for the day.  It was pretty cute to watch her pull him on the waterslide with her :)

Family tube ride.  The kids weren't quite sure what to make of their first tubing experience.  At different times they both said they loved it, and then that they didn't like it.

Andy and I took a slightly more wild tube ride after our family one.  He managed to elbow me in the face on one of the bumps so I have a nice bruise now on my face.  Fun times :)

Friends, Family, Farm & Fires

Clearly we've had a lot of "F" activities this summer.  Fun, family, friends, farm and fires.  We've had lots of real bonfires, which are a perfect ending to a summer day, and also pretend fires in Kaden's room :)

Fun at the pool with our twin friends Lola and Lily!

I love this picture for so many reasons.  First, it shows the love our family has for each other.  Mostly, it gives me joy.  My grandma and my aunt recently moved out to MI by us, and it's been wonderful having them so close and being able to spend time with them.  On this particular Saturday we took a girls' only trip to Home Goods.  Grandma and Anne Marie got quite a kick out of the girls and the girls loved the extra attention this morning.  Looking forward to many more moments like this.

Enjoying some ice cream after a belated birthday dinner with Grandma Rysdam to celebrate my birthday

I wish with all of my heart that I could bottle up Kaden's creativity.  He did all of this completely on his own, unprompted.  He make roasting sticks with pretend marshmallows on them and set up a campfire on his bed.  He did such a great job of playing with his sisters while I tried to clean the house for a bit.  He set up a flashlight under the red pillow so the reflection looked like an actual fire.  They played camping all day and kept coming back to roast marshmallows.  These are the childhood moments that I want to record.  The ones that make me smile, make me thankful for my blessings, and overwhelmed with love. 

We've been out to Aunt Kelly's parent's farm a few times this summer and the kids love it.  They love picking corn, feeding the cows, picking vegetables, roaming around, and riding on the gator.  Sometimes I think I really could live on a working farm.  

Summer fun, cnt'd...

A few more highlights from our crazy fun summer!

Taking a quick photo before church

Yup, that's Andy riding in the cart at Meijer

I love our snuggle time in the morning

The girls showing off the purses we brought back for them from Jamaica

Tired kids from tons of fun.  It wasn't unusual for them to fall asleep in the car or on the couch at random times of the day.

Kaden decided to make a menu for his pretend restaurant.  This cracks me up!!!  Notice what is available:  Food- hamburger, hot dog, fries, sandwich, chicken, fried sushi, and corn dogs.  Wine- barefoot moscato fruit wine.  Drinks- lemonade, juice, blue gatorade.

I had to take a picture of this menu so I wouldn't forget it.  I laughed so hard when I saw the menu.  You can tell what wine this mama likes to drink- hahaha!!!  And blue gatorade?  He KNOWS that we don't drink that junk in our house.  Actually we don't eat most of the stuff on the menu in our house.  I'm amazed he actually know it exists- ha!

Surprise!  Look what I found hiding out in the back of the van! :)

Boys will be boys.  Kaden and the neighbor boys have had so much fun exploring in the creek and finding frogs and turtles.  I love that they get dirty and explore.  Such a true summer treat!

And if you're bored with nothing to do on a rainy day, you can always dress up and pretend to be a snowboarder! :)

It's always tons of fun visiting daddy at work on Weenie Wednesday :)

I love how well they play together.  Best buds for life

Makenna just chillin' at the pool

Summer Fun- For the Kidz Gymnastics

We met our small group friends at For the Kidz Gymnastics for one of their open gym sessions.  It was fun to let the kids run around and burn off some energy, even though it was quite hot in there.  Kaden will miss being able to go to open gym when he's in school, so I think I may have to keep it a secret if I take the girls during the day.  He loves jumping on the trampolines, running around, and climbing.  Actually, they all do! :)

Boulder Ridge Wild Animal Park

The weather this week has been absolutely beautiful, so we've been trying to take advantage of it and cross some things off of our summer bucket list.  Today we took a trip to Boulder Ridge Wild Animal Park with our neighbors/friends.  I'm so thankful that God has blessed us with amazing neighbors.  Our kids are similar ages and they all get along so well.  It is such a blessing to share life together with another Christian family!  The kids loved spending time at the zoo.  This was a perfect little zoo for our kids.  Everything was close together and they got to see so many different animals- including giraffes!  They even got to pet and hold little chicks and baby rabbits! We enjoyed a ride on the "safari" and enjoyed another picnic lunch.  They all conked out on the way home from all the excitement :)