More Michigan Adventures!

After our overnight with Nick and Amy, we next drove down to my sister Heather's house to spend some time with her and my cousin Anna.  Our whole trip to the Midwest was centered around the few days we'd be able to spend with both Anna and Heather together, since time spent in this group is always a blast!

While we waited for Anna to arrive, we got to revisit the blue footbridge in Grand Rapids where Dave proposed to me during our junior year of college.  Since this day was also our 14 year wedding anniversary, we thought it was perfect!  The kids have heard the story, but never seen the bridge, so it was fun to walk them across and listen to their funny comments.  Delia said, "Daddy, you need to get down on your knees and thank Mommy for marrying you!"  Ella said, "The bridge is nice, but if I were going to propose to someone, I'd do it in Yosemite!"  

Our best outing was to the Frederick Meijer Sculpture Garden.  Here the kids enjoyed a fantastic play area, which included things like a giant tree house, a 5 senses garden, mazes and a water table shaped like the Great Lakes.

After the kids played, we spent a long time just roaming around and admiring the interesting sculptures.  Some were strange, some were really fun!  This place is known for its giant replica of the DaVinci Horse.

Delia found a pile of fallen blossoms to play in.

Though it looks like "FU", Auntie Heather and Ella actually point out the word "FUN" on the guy made of alphabet letters sculpture.

The girls thought this sculpture was hilarious, it was called "Mad Mom."  Don't you love their impersonation?

The sculpture garden also has extensive green houses to walk around.  The flowers were gorgeous.  We all especially enjoyed the carnivorous plants room, full of Venus Flytraps and Pitcher Plants.

Though my hockey-loving husband would have rather had the Blackhawks NOT go to Game 7, the timing did work out perfectly to watch this super exciting game with the most enthusiastic Chicago fan we know-- Anna.  Ella made us the above signs to help cheer on our favorite team.  Another favorite memory of the whole trip is watching Anna and Dave watch the game.  There was yelling and jumping and hugging and a little swearing and neither one of them sat for the whole time!  Thank goodness the Hawks won and advanced in the series.  Heather and I may have found another place to sleep for the night if they didn't! :)

  

Heather has some new members in her family, so we also took pleasure in meeting Cooper, her new puppy, and Jeff, her boyfriend.

On our last day, Auntie Heather took us for a long drive in her Mustang.  The girls are in the habit of pointing out every convertible we pass and reminding me that Auntie Heather drives one too.  They were really looking forward to a ride!

Our time in Michigan seemed to go fast, but we're so thankful for the days we got to spend reconnecting with Heather and Anna.  Counting down to our next reunion already, Ladies!

Nick and Amy

After our relaxing time at Kris and Eric's, we hopped in the car they graciously let us borrow and made the trek up to Michigan.  Our first stop here was an overnight with good friends Nick and Amy and their 3 kiddos.  Nick and Amy have been dear friends for years and we loved the time we got to spend catching up with them.  

Our friends were generous hosts!  I think these sleeping arrangements were the best the girls had for the whole trip!  Amy set up the infamous 2 person tent that Nick and Dave shared with two other guys when they hiked to the bottom of the Grand Canyon in college.  One of my favorite memories of the trip was cramming our two families inside and laughing again over Nick and Dave's stories of this crazy camping trip.

We stayed up way too late talking and laughing.  We played Trains and Just Dance.  The kids had fun playing outside together.

The next day Nick and Amy showed us their hometown a little bit with a drive around the lake and a hike to the top of a lighthouse.

The lighthouse was also a museum.  Above, Delia rings an old ship's bell.  Below, Ella points out the, now three, Michigan lighthouses she's seen in person. 

And then we ran around on the beach a little bit.  Most of our days in Michigan and Chicago were pretty chilly, but as we read about the triple digits our friends were enjoying back at home we didn't mind getting to wear sweatshirts or hear thunder at night.  And no matter what crazy weather this area has to endure, they do have one of my favorite things in the whole world-- lilacs!

Our time with Nick and Amy and their three kids was really great.  God put these wonderful people into our lives during Dave's college and seminary years-- a very formative time.  We have been long blessed by their influence and friendship!

The First Day

We did something a little crazy this year and decided to take our BIG summer vacation just a few days after school let out.  We are just returning from a wonderful 2 weeks spent with loved ones in Michigan and Chicago and are excited that we still have an entire summer vacation still in front of us!

Our long family vacation was kicked off with a Sunday picnic at Kristen and Eric's house two weeks ago.  Some have been able to visit us in CA, but for many of these family members it was the first time we have seen them in years!

Many, many, many new cousin memories were made on this trip and this day was the start of the fun!  We went to church, ate brats, blew bubbles, had races, played a little wiffleball, climbed on Uncle Chris' bright yellow truck, laughed and saw lots of smiles.

Even Dave's grandma and great aunt were able to join us, which is always a special treat!  Though we were gone for a full 14 days, each of those days was packed with plans and activities (as you'll read about in the coming days).  This day was the perfect time to just reconnect and play with those we love and miss most.

"I'm Gonna Celebrate and Graduate!"

As we ended what has probably been our best school year ever, we did so with a lot of joy and celebration.  This week has had one special activity and class party after the next.  And since my own school year is done, I went ahead and signed up to help with everything.  I guess spending large chunks of every day at school has been great practice for next year when I'm teaching (or so Ella says..), but it has left me feeling pretty exhausted.

One of the week's first activities was a practice for Delia's graduation program.  I helped walk kids over to the church and then got to see a sneak peek.  These pics are from the practice.

After the practice we took all the kindergarten classes to the nearby water park for an afternoon of field games and play.  I enjoyed running the relay race station and getting to know Delia's classmates a little better.  Kids this age are just great.  They are nothing but enthusiasm and energy!  The next day I got to help host Ella's whole 2nd grade end of the year party too.  

And today was the big LAST DAY OF SCHOOL.  The kindergarten celebrates all their progress and marks this important day with a Kindergarten Celebration program.  It's a graduation of sorts, only not really.  There is no solemnity or sense of quiet respect.  When the first kindergartner appears at the back ready to march in, this year all the family members started loudly clapping and cheering.  This excited the kids and caused them to run down the aisle, high-fiving people on the ends.  It was so great-- like a pumped up sports team entering their stadium.  I couldn't have smiled wider or felt less like crying.  The joy was contagious and the whole place was full of it. 

The awesome songs also contribute to the feeling that this is one giant party.   Our wacky and talented kindergarten teachers take fun songs we all know, like "Summer Lovin'" or "Dynamite", and change the words to make them appropriate for the day.  ("I put my hands up in the air some time singin' ay-oh, come on, let's go.  I'm gonna celebrate and graduate, sayin' ay-oh... Cause we're gonna rock this school, we're gonna do it right, we're gonna graduate cause we're dynamite!")  I'll have to share a video, it's SO stinkin' cute.

 In the final song, our graduates don crazy glasses and declare, "I'm on my way...to the first grade!"

 After the program we mingle with friends and take pictures that we'll pull out again at their 2025 high school graduation!

On Monday it hit me that this week was it.  Delia's wonderful teacher, who made her year so awesome, has been on maternity leave this past month.  When she filled our inbox with beautiful letters for her students and parents, the tears flowed.  Back at school, we watched Ella's teacher give each of her students a long hug goodbye, while whispering personal blessings and encouragement to each.  The lump in my throat came back when I saw the tears running down Mrs. VM's face as she did this.  I can't say enough how blessed we've been by our daughters' teachers this year.  We saw evidence every single day that our teachers loved our kids and worked hard to creatively instruct them to the very best of their abilities.  What more can you really ask for when you surrender your child to the care of someone else for the majority of the hours in a day?  It's definitely something to celebrate!

Forever Friends

On Thursday Dave drove down south to attend a conference for pastors.  On Friday, I picked the girls up from school and we drove down to meet him.  We couldn't miss the opportunity to spend time with two of our favorite families who live in the same area as the conference. 

On Saturday morning and through lunch we caught up with Beth, Allie, Nathan and their parents Phil and Teri.  Teri and I walked the kids to the park and chatted about the teaching we're excited to do in the upcoming school year (she was just hired to teach 2nd grade full time).  Phil and Dave got to watch the hockey game-- fun since Phil is a Detroit fan, but not so fun since the Blackhawks lost.  Teri's kids are so fantastic, though there's an age difference with our girls, they play hard with Ella and Delia and keep them well entertained.  Time with these dear friends always revives our souls.

  

The afternoon and dinner hour were spend with Dorina, Ericlee and their family.  These friends were amazing to squeeze a few hours of visiting with us into a weekend that included a 100 mile bike race for Ericlee and a half marathon run for both of them!  Both were efforts by Team Remember Haiti to continue raising money for their ministry.  We enjoyed a fantastic dinner at Whole Foods and some great conversation.  Our goofy, charades-playing daughters provided us with plenty of laughter too!  Can you tell they're having just a little bit of fun?  :)

How these friends bless us and enrich our lives!  Thank you, Lord, for the gift of lasting friendships. 

The Week's Best Clicks

One week ago I wrote about the fancy, new camera my family gave me for Mother's Day.  It's probably about time I start showing off what it can do!

Last Sunday we took the girls, Lily and my new toy for a walk around Knight's Ferry.  It was a hot day and the hike is nothing you haven't seen already.  But, it was the perfect place to go to play with all these fun camera settings.  Above and below are two pictures I kinda liked.

We experienced perfection again this week when a just-right early birthday present arrived for Ella from Anna.  It's a book called "Artist to Artist, 23 Major Illustrators Talk to Children about their Art".  I think it's safe to say this gift was a hit.

Ella decided that Cutie the hamster had to benefit from the new camera too and set up her own little photo shoot.  I'll spare you the dozen poses Ella took with her and show you just this adorable shot of Lily and Cutie giving each other the sniff down. They are sort of friends...under careful supervision.

On Thursday I got to help chaperon a field trip Ella's class took to a state-of-the-art dairy farm.  We've been living in the land of Happy Cows for almost 10 years and I thought I was pretty informed about how the dairy business worked, but I still learned quite a bit and was super impressed with our tour.  A highlight was having Ella and her friends school me in the ways of hand clapping games on the long bus ride back to the classroom.  Man, did this bring back memories!

This past week was pretty normal, but this coming week we conclude our school year and immediately dive into one summer adventure after the next.  I have my camera ready, so stay tuned!

Farewell Old Fuji

A week before Delia was born, we bought a really nice digital camera.  Anyone who knows me even a little bit knows what a picture nut I am-- obsessed with getting great pictures of our family and our adventures and often treating this Fuji camera as an actual extension of my body.

Here's a fun story I was remembering with Dave, appropriate for Mother's Day.  When I was in heavy labor with Delia, relying intensely on Dave to breathe and get through each contraction, he told me with concern, "Um, Jen, I think I left the camera in the car."  Though I couldn't spare him for even a second of Ella's labor (he sat holding my hand, breathing with me and not going to the bathroom for over 6 hours!), when I learned about this missing camera, I quickly dismissed him to run and get it.  I love my camera.

And as you would expect with any item that goes everywhere with you for 6 years straight, old Fuji has been showing some wear and tear over the years.  There is sand in every crack of the camera, sometimes preventing the flash from popping up.  Water from Maui's Seven Sacred Pools killed the camera's ability to take movies with sound.  A sled ride down a sand dune at the coast a few summers ago broke the lens cap right off.  And a permanent smudge resides on the lens.  

The time has come to retire this old camera.  It has taken every picture you've enjoyed on this blog for the past 6 years.  Births and birthdays, vacations and day trips, milestones like learning to walk, lost teeth, first days of school, programs, and graduations...this old camera has given me a priceless gift: a record of our family's most precious memories.

However, even having lamented the old camera for 4 paragraphs, I'm not sad because today Dave and the girls gave me an AWESOME new camera!  It's got tons of cool new features and a monster zoom.  I've been having fun with it all day and can't wait to start showing you the crisp and bright new images it catches!  Since one of my favorite jobs as Mom is "Family Memory Preserver", I can't think of a more perfect Mother's Day gift!

Blame it on Birth Order?

This afternoon and evening Ella had her best friend Chloe over for play and dinner.  This happens often enough that I don't usually post about it.  However, this was too good to not share.  Apparently Chloe and Ella have been using their recesses this week to make plans for this afternoon together.  They each had a copy of this list of things they wanted to be sure to do and play together.  Incidentally, Chloe is also a firstborn.  Confession from another firstborn: the desk I sit and type this at is covered in my own Post-It note to-do lists.

Chloe's mom and I were cracking up over our daughters' big plans.  Apparently it was important that they did not forget to "get in the car."  When we tried to explain the time restraints to them, they said, "Hmmm...maybe we'll have to just think about and pick our top five."  Sure made for an easy play date!  They even recorded what snack ("snake") they planned on eating!

Makeover!

Today I enjoyed my favorite day and what I believe to be the best part of having a child in kindergarten-- Muffins and Makeovers with Mom.  On this morning all the 5/6 year olds invite us moms to the classroom to treat us to a morning of pampering.  Combine Delia's natural enthusiasm for life with her love of all things girly with her gift for serving people and you have one little girl appearing at my bedside an hour before the alarm goes off excitedly whispering, "Mom!  Today's the day for Muffins and Makeovers!!!"

 After we pray and sing the "Hello Song", we fill our plates with delicious goodies like muffins and fresh fruit.

Then we are showered with gifts.  I got a hand decorated plate and a cook book featuring a compliation of favorite recipes the kindgartners dictated to their teacher.  Delia's submission was "Favorite Soup", aka Chicken Corn Tortilla Soup.  Even though I've taught her and Ella how to make it, Delia's memory for the ingredients and process cracked me up.  I loved the kid who submitted a recipe for cereal.

Then it's time for beautification!  Delia gave me a foot massage with lotion, then painted my fingers and my toes two different colors.  As she applied abundant blush and smeared blue eye shadow all over my lids, I tried to teach her the "With makeup, a little goes a long way" lesson.  I'm not sure she bought it.

(Don't you love the way she "displays" her work in these pictures.  Like I'm her masterpiece!)

It was a morning of great quality time with my sweet girl.  I got a new look and I sure had a lot of laughs with the mom friends I shared this experience with.  I already feel so blessed this Mother's Day!