Michigan x's 2

The kids and I were back in MI for 10 days, soaking up the sun and family time while Brian was 1/2 the world away in Slovakia. He was there on a mission trip with his Dad and a few others. He's planning a post about his trip, so I'll save the rest for him to share. I will say, he had a wonderful experience! Stay tuned...

Some of you may wonder, what in the world do you do in MI for 10 whole days?? Well, let me fill you in a bit! :O)

We...

1. play on the beach...as much as humanly possible and the weather permits

2. play on grandma and papa's driveway, when the beach isn't a possibility

3. visit great-grandma smith...she just cracked up at Sam's energy and talkativeness. It's always so great to see her smile and hear her laugh! (I'm bummed that we didn't get a picture of her with the kids this time...)

4. visit Uncle Matt, Aunt Stacey, Luke and Taylor up at the campground they were camping at (1 1/2 hours from Grandma and Papa's)...I took the girls up to Brower Park for the visit. They had a great time playing w/ their cousins, swimming in the Muskegon River, going for a boat ride w/ Uncle Matt and topping the evening off w/ some yummy Hudsonville Ice Cream before heading home. We also got to see the Bosch family, which is always a great treat! Sam was lucky to have Grandma all to himself for the day, back in West Olive and I heard they enjoyed some beach time and another visit with Great-Grandma!

5. go to a couple of kid's plays at Hope College...before M, S and kids left to go camping, we took the kids (minus Sam) to see Click, Clack, Moo and then later in the week, I took Hannah to Charlotte's Web...both super cute plays and highly recommended!

6. go visit great friends The Grahams and let the kiddos run around through sprinklers! So fun! Jane got some pics...I'll have to ask her for them. :O)

7. eat lunch on the deck and make silly faces for mommy.

8. go to church at Camp Geneva and come home to take cute pictures on the deck.

Okay, this one isn't on the deck, but it's still cute!

9. go blueberry picking in Holland! Took pics on my phone, I'll try to add them here...

10. last, but not least, get lovin' from Grandma and Papa 24 hours a day (sometimes literally, like when a certain little girl climbed in bed w/ them b/c of a thunder storm!). Thank you so much again, mom and dad for a wonderful time! Your hospitality and generosity are appreciated! We love you!

I mean, come on...

can these two be any sweeter?

This is Ellie's little buddy Jackson and let me tell you, they are destined to grow old together! Mar and I basically have their wedding all planned out for them and now all we have to do is sit back and wait oh, say 22 more years! Of course, I'm totally kidding about a wedding being planned, but we do joke that we have tons of great pictures to show at their rehearsal dinner some day!

These pictures were taken in Naperville today, on our lovely stroll after lunch.

Today

Today was pretty much like every other day...let's recap, shall we?

A.M.

- Ellie woke up super crabby...she needs to eat breakfast pretty much the second she steps out of bed or she is NOT a happy camper...not until her belly is full! Sam is pretty much like that too (both like their daddy!)...Hannah can hang out for at least an hour before she needs anything (like me!)

- went to the free zoo/farm with fabulous friends from college Kirstan and Krista. Kids looked at ducks, pigs, sheep, goats, etc. but favorite part was probably running around in the open grassy area (who needs animals?!)

-ate lunch at the zoo and paid $3/per nasty hotdog...oh well, at least the zoo was free

-drove to the "pool" store to become educated on algae and how to get rid of it...nice guy helped me out and I purchased the chemicals that I hope will fix the problem or pool is having

P.M.

-Ellie and Sam napped, I attempted to fix the pool problem previously mentioned

-While I'm outside, our oldest decided she didn't want to break from playing a Tinker Bell computer game to use the bathroom...later, when I went to sit on the stool at the computer, my pants became damp...lovely. Had a nice talk with that girl.

-Brian came home for dinner

-In an attempt to impress my 5 1/2 year old, I did a cartwheel outside and immediately thought I had broken my wrist and pulled a muscle in my stomach. I think she liked it, but I'll definitely think twice before attempting that feat again!

-I didn't know what to make for dinner, so I pulled out frozen tilapia filets (not my fav, but I was trying to buy more healthy options for dinners) from the freezer and Brian and I decided to make fish tacos...sounded pretty good actually. Sautéed the fish in the skillet, put it on a tortilla with some other yummy stuff, took one bite and threw the rest away. It was NASTY! It tasted like what mud smells like...does that makes sense?! Yeah, nasty! (I won't mention exactly what store I bought the fish from, but let's just say, it's known for very low prices, carts you have to put 25 cents in to to use and the place you have to bag your own groceries) Brian actually ate his...what a trooper!

-After Brian left for a meeting, I headed to the outlet mall w/ the 3 kids in town, to return a few things (thankfully we only live 5 min. away)

-1st stop - Crocs outlet...returns made successfully

-2nd stop - Gap Outlet...while I was making my return, Ellie decided to pee on the floor, thru her training undies!!!! OH, have I mentionws that I've started to potty train Ellie and I thought it was going really well? I guess she and I both forgot that we were out in public and she didn't have a pull-up on! Sorry Gap lady and thanks for cleaning up our mess!! (I did offer to help, but she said she would "get some gloves on" and take care of it!)

-Now we're home and the 3 wild ones are running off the sugar I let them have (ice cream) even after the pee incident! 2 of them are in the buff...I better be on the lookout for puddles (why do I do this to myself?!)

How was your day? Any fun stories? Do tell!!!

I hope it was great!!! Love to you all...

A day at the amusement park...sort of.

This afternoon was Y-U-C-K-Y! It was only about 63 degrees, cloudy, windy and there were a few sprinkles here and there. So, what did we do? We played outside of course! Our nap schedule was a bit disrupted this afternoon, so with crabby kids on my hands, I needed to get them outside (with sweatshirts on), where they are always happier. :O)

A little impromptu parade to the neighbors house (Who, by the way, are selling their house. So, if any of you miss us so much and want to move closer, there you go!)

We also turned our driveway into a roller coaster...who knew it was even possible?! Sammy loved the new ride!

Our own Great America! from Sarah Giere on Vimeo.

Beauty with one less tooth

These first two shots are from a little "photo shoot" with Hannah yesterday. I just thought the way her hair was falling next to her face made her look so sweet and pretty.

This last shot is from today...with one less tooth in her pretty little mouth! That's 3 down and a lot to go! Oh, that reminds me, I hope the tooth fairy remembers to come tonight, or there will be one disappointed little girl!

Another one from E

Just heard another great one out of that girl!!!

We just came in from a little family swim in the pool and I stripped Sammy down to his birthday suit. His hands immediately went to his favorite spot and Ellie exclaimed, "Sammy's touching his peanuts!!!"

Nice!

Out of the mouths of babes...

Poor little Ellie is sick. She started a fever Thurs. and it has only gone up and up (well, not WAY up). Long story, short, I took her in this morning about 99.9% sure she had an ear infection (yesterday she started complaining about her ear hurting...), only to find out that they weren't. Instead, the "walk-in care" doc (who I endearingly now refer to as "the yay-hoo") said he guesses she has a virus. It's such a bummer on a beautiful, warm summer day, to have a sick child. BUT, it could be worse...

And, thankfully, with a little ibuprofen in her, she's good to go for a couple of hours. It was during such a "good" time this afternoon, that she said and did just about the funniest thing I've ever heard or seen from one of my kids. She put one hand under the front of her bottom and the other hand under the back of her bottom, tried lifting her hands in her bottom and said, "Mommy, I'm carrying myself." She had to repeat if a couple of times before I actually understood what she was trying to say. And then, I just burst out laughing...I mean, laughing so hard that Hannah came sprinting from the other room to see what the commotion was about. After realizing that she had done something worthy of a lot of attention...perhaps, attention she didn't really feel like having (especially from her big sister) and, being the almost 3 year old that she is, Ellie quickly and so sweetly said, "I'm just kidding Mommy. I'm just kidding." Again, I had to laugh and give her a huge hug for just being sick and so funny at the same time. What a doll!

MICHIGAN!

Okay, bear with me, but I have a TON of pictures from our recent trip to MI (June 27 - July 5). We had a great time, as you'll see and well, I'll just let the pictures do the talking. :O)

1st up - running my first 5K in a LONG time! I had a great time with Lisa, Stacey, Jane and Kam running in the Reed's Lake (Grand Rapids, MI) run. What a great way to spend a Saturday morning with the girls!

Cousinly Love (I know, not a word, but kind of cute, right?)

Silly faces!

Our beauty

Thursday Night in Downtown Holland - getting a great dinner at 84 East and watching the street entertainers perform - here the girls are waiting patiently for their balloon animalsd

Yes, Ellie, he is your uncle and he'll be sticking around...crazy guy!

Two pink poodles coming up!

Ellie went against the crowd (well, the two big girls) and asked for a turtle. :o)

Luke got even crazier w/ a silly hat!

BEACH TIME!!! The weather didn't allow us too many days on the beach, but when we did get down there, we were sure to make the most of it!

Sammy boy is hard at work!

Our beautiful niece Taylor

Our handsome nephew Luke

Sam doesn't look too happy here, but trust me, he had a good time! :O)

He wasn't too keen on walking on the uneven sand, so crawled instead!

Ellie loved the beach, but was usually happy to

accompany someone to the house for her afternoon nap!

Ahhhh, hot sand to lay in...love it!

Cutie!

Don't they just look like they're going to be great buddies?!

The Giere Kiddos

Here's my attempt at being artistic w/ my photography...I think I'll frame this one. :O)

The new beach toy - found for a bargain at a garage sale!

Now he looks happy! (maybe it's b/c I actually let him take his hat off for a few minutes!)

HAPPY 4TH OF JULY!!!

Back to the beach on the 4th...not sure what H is doing here, but I still like the pic.

I think Brian is telling the kids to get away and not splash him w/ the freezing cold water!

Luke looks COLD!

No trip to MI is complete without at least one gorgeous sunset.

This one was on the 4th and it was breathtaking.

S'more time!

My dear friend Lisa and her family came out to enjoy the neighbors fireworks...needless to say, we had to spread the kids out a bit w/ their sparklers!

Always a good time for a pose from H!

On Sunday, after watching the marathon Federer/Roddick Wimbledon match,

we celebrated my dad's birthday. Happy B-Day Dad!

End of a great vacation - we were all getting a bit goofy by then!

Sweet little Ellie who, decided once we were home on Monday, to start being a big girl and go potty on the potty!!!! YAY for Ellie! (I've been dreaming of this day for a while now!!!)

AND, one video that I just couldn't resist sharing. One morning (probably one of the 60 degree days!) the kids gathered around Grandma to sing some tunes. I just love this and am so thrilled to have it recorded forever....what a sweet, sweet sound, praising the name of Jesus!

Singing with Grandma from Sarah Giere on Vimeo.

Okay, if you've made it this far, thanks for sticking with me. We had a great time with my family and can't wait to do it all again in a few weeks!!! Hope you all had a wonderfully safe holiday as well!