How can it be?

How can summer be over already? I'm sure I say this every year, but summer just flew by and we still have a list of things we would like to do yet. The girls went back to school this week. They were so ready to be back and I was ready too. I don't like the waking up early part and the driving them in every day. I don't know how I have a 3rd grader and a Kindergartner already. Kenzie goes 2 1/2 days a week. This is a big change for her going the full days. Kenzie's first day was Tuesday all day and she loved it. I picked her up after school and asked how her day went she said "Awesome and I didn't eat my sandwich" oh Kenzie. Ashley was lost most of the day with her sister's gone. It was so quite in the house no fighting which has been terrible the last few weeks of summer. Brooke had a good first day too. Her favorite part was Math and the least favorite part was all the reading they did. She seems to enjoy her teacher too which is good coming from a very high dynamic classroom last year. I hope and pray that all the teacher's and student's have a great year!Kenzie looking over her room on Monday before school starts.

A New Nephew and Cousin

My Brother Brandon and his wife Kristin welcomed a baby boy into their family on August 4. They named him Jack William and he weighed 6 pounds and is as cute as ever. He was two weeks early which was a big surprise to all of us. If things couldn't get better for them that week Brandon also was hired full time by Ottawa County. I think they had a pretty good week!

Cadillac

We spent a week camping at Cadillac with the De Vries family. This year it was nice and hot, which made having air in the trailer wonderful. The older girls loved fishing this year and they went out every morning and night with Dad and Grandpa. They caught a lot of fish so it was fun for them to go and a nice little break for me :) Most mornings while they were fishing Ashley, Grandma, and I went for a bike ride around the lake. We also went swimming a few times, craft time at the host site, Nature Center, naps, walks, and boat rides. Kenzie wanted to learn to ride a two wheeler while we were gone. Corey worked with her every day, but no luck. Corey went home for one day to work so it was just us girls for the day and we kept busy the whole time. On the way home we got a flat tire on the trailer so we spent an hour on the side of the road. I was in my car waiting which has no air and three girls all sitting next to each other which = not a fun time for me. We all made it home in one piece so I guess that's good. Sorry blogger wouldn't let me move the picture's so they are all over.

Remembering Grace Olivia Tubergan

On July 23, 2010 we said hello and goodbye to our sweet niece Grace Olivia. To remember her one year later I picked up three pink balloons for the girls to color. On Saturday we went to the backyard and let them go. The girls all enjoyed doing this and it came with many questions about Grace. I had tears in my eyes seeing those balloons go up and knowing why they were doing it for their cousin.

Big Star Lake

We spent another week at Big Star Lake with the Kerkstra family. As long as I remember we have been going up to the cottage with this family. The years have gone by and no more 24 hours of non stop knee boarding, tubing, swimming, diving, boat riding. These days consist of no more relaxing for me. During the week the girls got to go tubing a few times, boat rides which they drove (thanks Greg) we were all a little dizzy after Kenzie's driving which consisted of circles the whole time. The girls well Kenzie for the most part caught dead fish, frogs, and even dead worms. Corey was only up until Sunday night which met I was on my own the rest of the week. It was fun sitting on the beach watching Brooke and Kenzie play together and have fun, but I kept my eyes peeled to the water to make sure they didn't go any where. Every year gets easier with the girls growing up and not having to help them with everything. This year I made it the whole week!!! Thanks to my mom for helping and to older cousins that love to play with my girls!! It was not all fun and games this year. One night I was getting ready for bed and seen a snake IN our cottage. For those that know me I HATE snakes. I ran to the other cottage and my uncle and grandpa went to get it. They finally got it and they said "It was a small 2 foot gardner snake" (that's not small-it's large in my book). We didn't tell the girls until we got home. If the girls weren't there I would have packed up and gone home the next day after sleeping someplace else. I was curled up on the couch crying because I didn't want to go back to the cottage. My uncles tore the cottage apart that night and found nothing else. I won the brave mom award and slept in there that night, but didn't fall asleep until 4 in the morning. Every night I slept with a blanket under the door so nothing would come in. All in all it was a good week. It's fun to see my girls enjoying the cottage like I use to when I was little.

Let the Camping Begin

We headed to Cadillac last week for a long weekend of camping. This was our first camping trip of the summer and the girl's couldn't wait. We went with three other couples from church so we had a total of 11 kids under 8 and 8 adults. Call us crazy, but we love it. All the kids get along so well and the only arguments were with their siblings. The kids did a lot of fun things this year that included riding bike, playground, fishing, nature center, bow shooting, tubing, swimming, fires, and so much more. The weather was crappy Wednesday and Thursday but was great the rest of the week. We can't wait to do it again next year!

Kenzie and Corey's catch one morning. Ashley loved swinging.Kenzie and Corey tubing. This was the first year we had a speed boat up and the kids loved tubing. For the first time Brooke went tubing without an adult :( She's growing up way to fast.Ashley enjoying her ice cream cone. She was covered with ice cream from head to toe. Kenzie was old enough this year to shoot bow.Ashley would spend hours riding her bike on the road in front of the trailer. Brooke doing what she loves to do - read.

Swimming Lessons

The girls took swimming lessons for the last two weeks. They really enjoyed swimming and never wanted to leave. Brooke did an awesome job this year, swimming on her own and jumping off the diving board. Kenzie did a good job too. I think it was more of a social time for her. By the end of the two weeks everyone knew we had kittens and that she was going camping :)