Saturday, June 29, 2013

Ludington State Park Camping June 2013

We had a great time camping this year. We left Luke home with the Grandparents so that we could enjoy some time with Levi and Maci and with past experience we knew that taking him along would equal alot more work and stress. We camped for two nights and ended our trip a little early due to forecasted rain. But the two days that we did have we so much fun. The best part was seeing how much the kids just enjoyed being dirty, outside, how they played with each other and experienced the little joys of the camping trip.  We started out and stopped in New Era to County Dairy Farm. It broke up the ride a little for us and the farm tour was fun. We got to see the whole milk process right to where they bottle the milk. The highlight was the endless samples of fresh chocolate milk to try.We had Levi pack his bag himself and we usually check it but did not and he only packed one orange t shirt. They were also were scared of going in the shower with us so no baths for a few days for them. I did tried to wipe them down at night.:) We set up our tents and Levi was more than helpful to help Daddy with that part. We had a campfire both nights and Levi probably asked 50 times each day when we would start the fire. He loved doing this and now claims that he is the best smore maker. He would get so upset when I would get the stick too close to the fire with the marshmellows on the end. The first night they went to bed around 10pm because it was so light out and so much noise around us. The second night we all had to take cover in the tent around 845pm because of rain and stayed there till morning. We colored, played games and told stories to past the time and they were so content doing this.They went to sleep easy that night. We stayed mostly dry but everything else around us was wet. They were not scared of the rain  Levi and Maci both loved riding their bikes and we took longer bike rides with them in bike trailers. I pulled Maci in her " princess carriage" and Ryan pulled Levi. We saw racoons and deer on our rides. Levi and Ryan bought some worms to attempt to fish but no luck. We saw a ton of fish but no bites. We also went to the lake to swim and Maci was so tired afterward she fell asleep in the bike trailer and took a  two hour nap in the tent. We went out for supper and breakfast to make meal planning easier and ate lunch at the camp with  alot of snacks in between. On the way home, we stopped in Silver Lake for a dune ride a sort of compromise for leaving early..Levi was so upset but there was no way we were going to spend another night in the rain. It was beautiful day there and the dune ride was fun for everyone. Levi and Maci both were tired after this and slept in the car all the way home.
Levi will you marry me? Levi: Mace will you come talk with me by the fire. Maci also holding her "tiny" . Here "she is drinking me" as Maci would say. Maci was really listening at the dairy farm

 

 So scared of the cows


Me and Maci by the fire

 Silver Lake

 Fun day by the beach

 Loved camp fires and smores

 Getting ready to cast..into the woods, weeds and sticks. Levi got better at it and finally moved to the bridge where he could just drop the line in.

 Levi wanted to take a picture of Mom and Dad. Good memories made!

Sunday, June 23, 2013

Luke's First Haircut

Luke was blessed with an awesome amount of hair from the day he was born. Dark black hair that lightened up and never fell out just kept getting thicker and longer...fast. Last week, I took Luke over to my neighbors to get his first cut.He needed it. Luke was scared at first but I held him during it and he was fine.  He was so relaxed that he closed his eyes a few times during the cut. He looks so big and grown up now.
 Looking Like Bozo..ready for a trim, scared that I left him in the chair

 All done! Big Boy!

 Stop taking pictures..I want lunch

Met Dad and Kids at Park afterward..then home for lunch

Ice cream

It is not s summer night until you have ice cream. It seems like we have ice cream alot in the summer.
We love ice cream and I love these pictures of the kids.

 
 

 
 

The Best Dadda!

Love this One!
 


 
We SCREAM for ice cream!



Luke Ryan One Year Old June 6, 2013


It is so hard to imagine that Lukie is one already! What a fast and enjoyable year it has been watching Levi and Maci turn into such a great big brother and sister and also as we transitioned into a family of five. Not saying it has not been crazy, messy and loud at times but once the craziness passes we then  then realize how blessed we really are. Luke is loving being one. He claps all the time, waves by by, makes a monkey face, loves ice cream, is moving along furniture, wants to be outside all time, gets into the cupboards, loves doggies and hits his sister and brother to stand up for himself. He makes all sorts of babbling noises and says, hot, ut oh. We had a birthday brownie and ice cream on his birthday night with hot dogs for supper, one of his favorite meals which he has been know to eat 2 hot dog at a time. He got a Duplo block set from us which all the kids really like playing. Luke likes the truck parts and will push that around and also the dog piece.



 Happy Birthday to You!


 Was a proud and Happy Boy when we were singing to him


Pointing to the Doggie on the box of Blocks



Levi's 5th Birthday June 2, 2013

On Levi's real birthday morning we had cinnamon rolls at his request and opened more presents. Levi got to use the red "you are special plate" and loved that it was his special day. We were excited to give Levi his "new" big petal bike. I actually found the bike at a garage sale and Ryan spruced it up a bit, new pedals from the store and it was a perfect surprise for Levi. Levi was worried that he would need training wheels to ride it but we told him that since he had been riding his balance bike he would be good to ride this bike. He didn't want to try at first but with Daddy's help and a few pushes to get some speed he got it down within a few minutes. We were impressed and he was so proud. NO training wheels for him. What a big boy! He was tired out the first few days on it but now he is Mr. Speed. It is fun to see him go. After breakfast that morning we went downtown to the Construction Truck petting zoo. They had all sorts of trucks open for viewing, climbing and honking horns. Levi was scared to climb in any trunk but Maci was more daring. Luke just took it all in. They had snacks and activities for the kids and Levi loved that he got a free truck coloring book to take home.


New Ride

 


 
 
 
 

Checking out Garbage Truck
 
 

In the snowplow shovel
 
 A little nervous in the dozer
 
 
 
 

Birthday Celebration

We had a joint birthday celebration over Memorial Day Weekend, for Levi, Luke and Alexa this year because their birthdays are only a few days apart. We celebrated with a breakfast party at John Ball Zoo. It was supposed to be at Millennium Park but we didn't realize that there was a run going on that day. We diverted everyone over to the zoo park and it worked out really well. The Roedema's, Kramer's and Koopmans' sides were all there. It was a beautiful morning to be outside and play and celebrate and enjoy our kids. We had all sorts of breakfast treats, donuts, casseroles, cheeses, fruit and drinks for the kids and so many fun presents.
Gramps Koopmans with Luke

Grandpa Roedema with Levi
 
Me and the Birthday Boys


 Singing Happy Birthday

My 5 Year Old Monkey

One Five Year Old Ready for Presents

 One, One Year Old not so sure about the presents

Sunday, June 2, 2013

Spring Time Random Activities

                   We usually head to a few garage sales during the week. Here is a cute and dirty baby for sale.

Levi and Maci playing camping or "family" together


 A Family Super Picnic Outing To Hagar Park


 Jeep Rides After Supper..Now three times as long to wait for a ride.

Sprinklers

Hagar Park Burning off Steam

"Dancing in the Drops"..as she was singing this.


Luke enjoying the swings at Hagar Park

Ryan and Luke taking a break while I was keeping tabs on the other two monkeys at Hagar Park

Luke's Tubes 5/13/13

Luke got his tubes a few weeks ago and what a difference it has made. Ryan took the day off and we brought him in for his procedure. By the time we sat in the waiting room no more than 15 minutes and he was waiting and crying for us in recovery.  Everything went well and Dr. said that there was alot of fluid in place that was not coming out without tubes. We had the follow up appointment this week and tubes are in place and will follow up in another six months. We can already tell he can hear better, is more mobile and is all around a happier baby. No more fluid causing problems and also no more questioning if he has an ear infection or not now.


End of Preschool Highlights 2013

We ended the school year at Orchard Hill with many fun activities. We are so proud of Levi and the progress that he has made at preschool.
We had a Mother's Tea at his school where Grandma Roedema and Koopmans came. Levi sang songs and made a self portrait of me...I was holding a cookie and my hair was straight up. He also made me a tote bag that had "Mom" on it with his hand and fingerprints. Maci and Luke came too and we had cookies and punch.
 
We also had an end of year picnic at Millennium Park. Maci came with me and we played and we met some of Levi's friends and said goodbye to them and the teachers.

 Orchard Hill also had a graduation ceremony where the had a slide show of the year, sang songs, and said their Bible memory work and prayers from the year. They called each child's name individually to get their graduation badge. Levi had to be coached through the crayon arch but he made it and showed his excitement by jumping down the stairs.

 
Levi and Ms. Melanie. He always like to be "demagnetized" from me each morning by her. She would shake him off my waist or hand. They made each child a photo book from the year with accomplishment and progress from each month of school. Neat to see how his handwriting of his name has changed and how he makes his letters.

Last day. Ms. Allison , Ms Jenny and Ms Melanie. Maci had to get in too..since alot of time she would come inside and wave and wait for Levi to come or go to school. What a fun and special first year of school!