April 2012 - Easter, A Visit to the Farm, Holland Tulips, Auntie Jaime's Visit

I am quite behind on posts here... so here's a quick effort to catch up a little... all the way back to Easter.  :)

Easter this year fell on April 8th.  We went to church at Resurrection Reformed where we met up with Kevin's family.  Uncle Justin, Aunt Mary, Rebecca, and Abram even made the trip for it.  This was the first time we'd all been together since Christmas!  So it was long overdue and so good to see everyone.  After church, we went back to Grandma's and Grandpa's house for lunch and some playtime and visiting.  All of the cousins were very excited to be together, I think.  They just have so much fun playing together.  As a parent, it is so fun to watch them play and interact, watching their relationships grow.  Since we hadn't had them all together since Christmas, we tried to snap some pictures with all of the cousins.  This is quite a difficult task with so many little ones.  :) 

We left Grandma's and Grandpa's house and headed over to Nana's and Papa's house for a family party with Sara's extended family.  Unfortunately, we were late, so we missed seeing Mackenzey and Brooklynn, and missed participating in the easter egg hunt.  But Papa went out and hid some eggs for Carson to find for his own private easter egg hunt.  We spent time catching up with family and enjoyed another nice meal.  It was a long day, but it was great to see everyone and celebrate our risen Lord. 

The weekend after Easter, we decided to make a trip out to Hudsonville to visit Kevin's grandparents.  Kevin's parents and Uncle Danny had the same idea, so we met up with them at the farm.  We all had a wonderful visit with Great Grandma and Great Grandpa.  We were there for a few hours, but it really only felt like we were there 30 minutes.  We spent some good time inside visiting and catching up.  Then we all headed outside to check out Grandpa's progress on the camper, see how Uncle Danny's car is doing in the barn, and explore the barn and yard.  It was really fun to hear Great Grandpa, Great Grandma, and Grandma reminiscing about life on the farm when it was still a full working farm.  We caught some of the stories on video and Kevin video taped a nice tour of the farm.  It was such a wonderful visit.

Carson actually took this picture - he's quite good at the age of 4!  :)   

We left the farm and headed to Holland to check out the tulips.  Uncle Danny decided to join us to check out his old stomping grounds.  With the early warm spring we've had this year, the tulips were at their peak the weekend of Easter, actually... a full month before the annual Tulip Time festival even would start.  Some of the tulips were already past their prime when we were there, but most of them were still quite beautiful.  We walked around Centennial Park and took some pictures with the tulips.  Then we drove around Holland a bit to check out some of Uncle Danny's favorite places from his years at Hope College.  Then we headed into Grand Rapids to have dinner at Brewery Vivant.  We had to wait quite awhile to get in, but it was so worth it!  The food was amazing and the boys liked the beer quite a lot, too.  I am anxious to go back there after baby girl is born so I can enjoy the beer, too.  ;)  Kevin and I always enjoy visiting local microbreweries. 

It was a great day trip to the west side.  Another long, full day, but it was worth it!  :)

We did some other fun things in April, but didn't really take many pictures. 

We got to spend some time with Sara's best friend from high school, Auntie Jaime, and her son, Grant, when they were home for a week in April, but I forgot to take my camera every time we saw them!  I think Jaime got some pictures, but I haven't seen them on her Shutterfly site yet.  (Ok, so I just saw this one posted on her blog... so I borrowed it for here, too.)  :)  It still seems so crazy that we are both moms and how fast our kids are growing up!  Life sure has changed over the years!  But in a fantastic way!  :)

We also spent some time working on getting the nursery set up for the baby.  Slowly but surely we're getting ready for this baby girl's arrival.

Summer Bucket List 2012

With a new baby joining us very soon, we won't likely be doing as much traveling as we normally would do in the summer time.  So I figured I'd jump on the bandwagon and make a Summer 2012 Bucket List in honor of today being the unofficial kick-off for summer.  Hopefully we'll actually get to do most of these things, but obviously much will depend on the new baby and her personality and flexibility.  Some items will be much more easily accomplished than others and some will be accomplished many times over, but we'll try our best to make it through the list.  So here is our family bucket list for this summer... numbered, but in no particular order whatsoever...


1.  Meet up with friends at a local park.

2.  Meet up with friends at the Bicentennial Park Splash Pad.

3.  Go on a family hike on the Dauner-Martin trails in Fenton

4.  Camp in a tent in the backyard... we'd actually really like to go camping at a campground, but I'm thinking that is pretty unlikely this summer, so we'll do some backyard camping instead.

5.  Father-son camping trip... the backyard camping will be fun for all of us, but Kevin and Carson both really want to do a father-son camping trip for one night at a campground within an hour or two of our house, as well. 

6.  Play with bubbles in the backyard.

7.  Take a short walk to get ice cream together as a family at The Twist. 

8.  Make and eat homemade popsicles.

9.  Meet up with family from the west side of the state in the Lansing area for playtime and hanging out.

10.  Draw in the driveway with sidewalk chalk.

11.  Fly a kite.

12.  Take a day trip to Lake Michigan (either to Grand Haven or South Haven... we seem to always migrate towards Holland, so we figure we should change it up... we've been to Grand Haven many times before, but not in the last couple of years and we've never been to South Haven.).

13.  Take a day trip to Lake Huron (either to East Tawas or Port Austin... we've never been to either). 

14.  Walk through the forest at Hartwick Pines State Park... we'll be there to photograph a wedding in August.

15.  Visit the Grand Blanc Farmers' Market for one of their kids' days.

16.  Go fruit picking at a local farm/orchard.

17.  Visit a local park that we have never been to.

18.  Set up a playdate with Carson's friends from preschool.

19.  Catch fireflies and put them in a jar.

20.  Invite the neighbors over for a fire in the backyard, make s'mores, and have fun with sparklers.

21.  Visit a local beach - Holly State Park, Silver Lake Beach, Clover Beach.

22.  Attend a Silver Lake Ski Club ski show. 

23.  Do messy finger and feet painting in the backyard. 

24.  Swim as much as possible in our backyard pool.

25.  Attend Vacation Bible School at Faith Lutheran.

26.  Attend summer camp for a week in August at Faith Lutheran. 

27.  Visit the local library for story time and/or other activities for kids.

28.  Go play miniature golf.

29.  Go to an outdoor community concert in one of the local parks.

30.  Visit a friend or family member we have not seen in awhile. 


Ok, so that's our list for now.  I may come back and add to it as I think of more things, but it's a pretty good start.  Look for more blog updates soon... I need to catch up on some posts dating back to Easter!

Easter Preschool Party

Carson had an Easter party at his preschool on his last day of school before Spring Break, March 29th.  Sara went in for it and again got to witness all the cuteness and silliness that are preschoolers.  Carson was in rare form on this particular day.  He sure had a lot of energy!  You can tell from the pictures below how fast he was moving b/c the shutter speeds on the camera couldn't keep up.  It was quite the humorous morning!  :) 

The kids started with their normal parade through the church.  They do this for every party.  They'll go through to say hello to the pastors and other church staff and then make their way back to their classrooms where the parents are usually waiting.  You can see from Carson being caught in mid-air that he was already super excited! 

Then the parents follow the children and teachers into their classroom, where the children all sit down on their assigned squares to wait quietly until the teachers give them further instruction.

Right after this picture was taken, Carson leaped up, started pumping both his fists in the air, and chanted "Par-TY, Par-TY, Par-TY!"  All the other kids just looked at him for a split second, then most of the boys jumped up and joined in... while most of the girls sat quietly and covered their ears from all the ruckus.  Oh my word, it was SO FUNNY!!  His teacher, Mrs. Hans, started laughing before quieting the kids down and said to me "my college sons were home this week and this sounds like our house!"  Then she asks "is he a frat boy in training?"  LOL!!  Have I mentioned that I love his teachers?  :)

After the children settled down, they got to singing their songs for the parents.  Carson was quite... involved... with all of the movements they do for the songs.  While most of the other kids were quite reserved with their motions.  Like I said, he was really in rare form on this particular day.  :)

My friend, Katie, and mother of the twin girls in Carson's class had her iPhone and shot a few short videos.  You can really get the effect of Carson's energy in these.  :) 

 
After the singing, the children, parents, and teachers all walked down to the fellowship hall for an Easter egg hunt and some snacks.  The children had made their own chick baskets and they were each allowed to find three eggs each.  They had a lot of fun! 

More March Fun!

We have been doing a LOT of bike riding already this spring.  We've gone on quite a few family bike rides and this year Carson rides his own bike with us, rather than riding in the bike trailer.  I'm sure we'll use the trailer for longer rides still, but he has some pretty great stamina and keeps up really well on his own bike.  He is building up some strong little legs, too.  He'll take off riding through the yard with no problems.  Riding in grass is tough, especially with such short little legs.  Not to mention on a heavy bike.  His little 12" bike is heavier than Kevin's or Sara's mountain bikes, its kind of crazy.  But Carson rides it with no problem whatsoever.  And he loves every minute of it! 

Our magnolia trees bloomed super early this year, too.  Sadly, they didn't make it quite to full bloom before we had a hard freeze and all their flowers were killed.  We did get out to snap a couple pics in front of one of the smaller magnolias out back the night before the frost came, though.  They're not the greatest since we hadn't trimmed around the tree since last fall and there is still a metal cage on this one (we had those silly metal cages on probably 95% of the trees in our yard - and we have a LOT of trees - when we bought the house and we're STILL removing them... they're not the easiest things to remove when the trees have way outgrown the cages). 

Then we had a short period with some cold and rainy weather.  So we got the arts and crafts back out.  Carson really loved painting this little wooden racecar and assembling it.  He was so careful with his painting and really takes great pride in it.  I'll have to up date the post later on when I upload some more pics from my camera with the finished car. 

That is one muddy boy!

So much for my boy who wasn't a fan of getting his hands filthy... :)  We've been blessed with a beautiful early Spring this year and we've been taking full advantage of it around our place.  We've worked outside whenever possible - so far, we've cut down (and cleaned up) 3 large trees in the backyard, cleaned up several debris piles in the backyard, pruned several trees, cleaned out the raspberry bed, done lots of weeding and mulching, mowed the grass a couple of times, painted the front door, and just have done a lot of miscellaneous clean up around the yard and property.  Its been very nice to get a head start on all of the normal spring clean up chores, especially this year when we figure we'll have lots of company this summer.  

Of course, even though we've had warm weather, we can't get away from the spring showers... and mud.  Carson is a big fan of the mud this year.  In years past, he wasn't too crazy about getting himself all muddy - he'd want to have his hands cleaned off pretty quickly.  Not so much this year.  On this particular day, he was literally covered in mud from head to toe.  And its kind of difficult to even tell how bad it was in the pictures since most of it had dried and lightened up in color.  He has it all down his legs, inside his boots, all over his clothes, his arms are covered, and he even has some splatters all over his face and hat.  And he got even muddier after I took these pictures... I should have taken more at the end of the day, but I didn't... we just took him straight to the bath.  All I can say is... boys will be boys!  :) 

St. Patty's Day in St. Clair Shores

On St. Patrick's Day, we made plans to visit our friends, the Kozaks, down at their house in St. Clair Shores.  We always have a ton of fun with the Kozaks and St. Patty's was no exception.  Carson had so much fun playing with Seth (5) and Carter (almost 4).  We all hung out at their house for a few hours.  The weather was absolutely beautiful!  Nearly 80 degrees and not a cloud in the sky.  We brought Carson's bike with us and the boys all had tons of fun riding their bikes in the driveway and up and down the wheelchair ramp in the back.  Kevin also brought his bike so that he and Paul could go riding.  We decided to head to Metro Beach Metropark after awhile to let the kids play at the park.  So Kevin and Paul took off on their bikes to make the 7-mile ride there.  Justine and I loaded up the kids after giving them a head start and headed to the park, too.  The kids all had a ton of fun playing together and the lake was beautiful!  There was quite the breeze off the lake and there were quite a few people out flying kites, which were fun to watch, too.  After the park, we all headed out to dinner at an Irish restaurant for a yummy St. Patrick's Day meal.  Then it was time to take off for us.  We stopped at a baby store in Utica on our way home to pick out and order a chair for the nursery, finally.  We can't wait to go pick it up soon! 

Happy 3rd Birthday, Mackenzey!

Last Saturday, we made a trip up to Essexville/Bay City for Mackenzey's 3rd birthday party.  Her theme this year was Rock 'n Roll!  Her invitations were absolutely adorable with her rocking out with her guitar.  Carson and Mac had a lot of fun playing together and Carson had fun checking out all of Mac's toys... even though most of them are pretty girly.  He still enjoyed playing with the dollhouse and other things, though.  Mackenzey does have a nice train table and some boy toys, though, which they had fun playing with.  By the end of the night, though, Carson was wearing a purple tutu, playing dress-up with Mackenzey.  :)  They had a lot of fun rocking out, too.  Carson rocked out by singing Jesus Loves Me and Jingle Bells.  Mackenzey lip-synched Born to be Wild.  It was really cute.  Carson now wants a microphone with an amplifier so he can rock out at home.  :)  The night ended with the last remaining stragglers playing Just Dance on the Xbox, which was fun, too.  We all had a great time! 

A Trip to Impression 5

Back on March 3rd, we made a trip to Lansing.  We first visited Impression 5 Science Center with Aunt Mary, Uncle Justin, Rebecca, and Abram.  Aunt Julie and her family were planning to join us, but unfortunately had to stay home due to some sickness.  We were all sad to hear that, since it's been since Christmas that all of the cousins have been together with all the sickness that has been going around this winter.  Hopefully all the cousins will have a chance to play together soon. 

Carson and Rebecca had a lot of fun together checking out all of the exhibits.  The museum has a Magic School Bus exhibit right now, which Carson was quite excited about.  The Magic School Bus books are some of his favorites since he learns about science with them.  I think Carson and Rebecca pretty much had fun at every station and exhibit.  They're both little sponges and so eager to learn.  And learning through play is so powerful. 

Even Abram had a lot of fun.  He seemed to really enjoy the new First Impression room.  He's started taking a few steps, so it was neat to see him take a step or two.  It will be extra fun to see him the next time, too... he'll be running by then, I bet!  :)  I think he just can't wait to keep up with the big kids! 

After our trip to Impression 5, we met up with Grandma and Grandpa to celebrate Grandma's birthday by having dinner at Cheddar's.  We had a nice time chatting and visiting and had a nice dinner.  We had given Grandma most of her gift from already (her actual birthday is Feb. 22nd), but she opened a nice gift from Poiriers, Voogts, and us at dinner.  She was quite surprised by it and seemed to really love it.  We're all excited to see her new hair cut and style at some point!  After a little more chatting and getting kids in jammies, it was time to head home.  It had started to snow while we were at dinner, but our drive wasn't bad.  Justin, Mary, and the kids had an entirely different experience, unfortuntely.  It sounds like it was a white knuckle drive home for them.  We are very glad everyone made it home safely, though.  And we all had a fun afternoon and evening in Lansing! 

Carson and his Skeleton

Carson asked me to blog about the skeleton that he put together and loves to learn with.  :)  He has always loved learning about the human body and just soaks so much right in as he's reading or learning.  That kind of stuff always interested Sara, too... and some days she wishes she'd have gone into the medical field afterall.  Maybe Carson will go into the medical field some day.  Only time will tell. 

Carson picked this skeleton from his last book order from school.  Remember those Scholastic book orders we used to get in elementary?  They still do them!  So we ordered it for him.  He put it together correctly on the first try.  And has since loved learning the names of different bones in the body.  He can point out the skull, scapulas, ribs, backbone and vertebrae, femur, tibia, fibula, pelvis, and the clavicle.  We've still got a lot to learn, but we think that's a pretty good start for a 4-year old! 

Our First Parent-Teacher Conference for Carson

Last week, Sara went to our first parent-teacher conference for Carson.  It feels crazy to have a child old enough for conferences already!  While we didn't expect to hear anything bad, per se, the anticipation of a parent-teacher conference is kind of nerve-racking!  LOL. 

Mrs. Hans had lots of wonderful things to say about Carson and did not really say anything that was a surprise to us.  He is doing extremely well in preschool - socially, academically, and physically.  She said several times that she wishes she could have a classroom full of kids like Carson.  :)  A couple weeks back, she had mentioned that Carson was one of the smartest kids in class, if not the smartest.  She mentioned that again during the conference.  She is so impressed with his maturity level and his knowledge and skill, as well as with his eagerness to learn even more.  She said she can always count on Carson and that he is very mature for his age.  The kids all have different jobs in class and she says she always gives Carson the most difficult task because she knows he'll get it done correctly and quickly. 

Mrs. Hans is quite impressed with his logical way of thinking and playing.  She said he'll definitely have a future in the science or math field if he keeps it up and she asked if there were engineers in the family.  :)  She mentioned that he really excels when they learn about patterns, math, science, and anything with order - like the calendar.  And she is quite impressed with his handwriting and recognition of letters and numbers.

One thing Kevin and I have wondered about is how Carson was doing socially.  He has what I'd call a sensitive personality at times and can be a little reserved in some situations.  Although he usually gets comfortable quickly nowadays and is much quicker to become very social, we still wondered how he was in school.  Carson always looks forward to going to school and is never sad when we leave, but he does get a little down at times when we're saying goodbye.  Mrs. Hans has noticed this, too, and she believes he's playing us... which is what we suspected, as well.  :)  She said its worse with Kevin, which I can also believe.  But as soon as we are gone, he's just a normal kid that loves school.  He interacts very well with all of the other kids and has formed quite a few good friendships among his classmates, moreso than most other kids in his class from what she can tell.  Carson plays very well, gets involved, and shares extremely well.  Mrs. Hans said he is probably one of the best sharers in the class, which she found surprising since he's been an only-child up to this point.

Mrs. Hans confirmed that Carson is very much a rule-follower, he definitely knows right from wrong and what is expected of him, and he is eager to please and do well.  But he also is influenced by other kids that may be having a little too much fun at times.  This was no surprise to us at all, as we've noticed this time and time again.  He has a hard time resisting joining in when other kids are getting a little wild.  And it can be a little challenging to get him to calm down once he gets going. 

It was a great parent-teacher conference.  As parents, we know we can be a little biased about Carson's abilities, so it was so nice to hear confirmation of things that we already have thought for awhile.  :)  Mrs. Hans recommended Carson for the 4-year old class next year.  She believes he'd do well in either the 3-day or 5-day class - that he's definitely mature enough for the 5-day class at this point if we choose that route.  We haven't made a decision yet - a lot will depend on our work situations post-baby #2.  For now, we'll just enjoy the remainder of this school year, be thankful for having such a smart little guy, and we believe the right path forward will be made clear to us.