:)

I feel better now that I've completed Lauri's trip down memory lane. I'm sure Michelle appreciates it too! :)

Kinda like this...

Lauri? Is this the haircut you were talking about?
I found these in a box in the basement yesterday and they were to good to pass up!

Lucas

So after that terribly disappointing loss by the Seahawks yesterday we had to get Eric out of the house for some fresh air. We decided to go for a walk and feed the ducks. As we were getting ready to leave Lucas tells me he has a toy and a magazine along in his backpack "just in case, Mom." I tried to ask "just in case of what?" but he didn't really give me an answer and I still didn't know what was in the backpack. We hadn't gotten very far down the path and Lucas is trailing far behind and already looking through the catalog. He really didn't think it was a big deal. Then I hear what toy he brought since his backpack keeps saying "to infinity and beyond". Yup, Buzz Lighyear came along and he talked the whole way! Lucas, with his nose in the catalog, and Buzz pulled up the rear the whole time!

Maybe now I know why when he was saying the Lords Prayer the other night he prayed "lead us not into transportation" :)

A little side note here...The "magazine" that he had packed along was the #1 catalog at our house right now is Costume Express and the #1 page is Star Wars costumes. (I know mom..we're on our own this year!) :)

Delicious AND Nutritious

Last year, one of our favorite fall treats were making pretzel hugs. This year in an effort to be a little more health conscience I decided to switch up the recipe just a little bit.
Instead of pretzels, Hershey Hugs and Milk Chocolate M&M's this year we are using pretzels, Candy Corn Hershey Kisses (if you haven't tried them you MUST!!) and Dark Chocolate M&M's (this is the nutritious part, isn't dark chocolate supposed to be good for your heart!) :) Here's the complete recipe if you interested.

1 bag pretzels (waffle pretzels work the best)
1 pkg. M&Ms
1 pkg. Hershey Hugs or Kisses (if using Kisses they look better with a lighter colored chocolate)

Place pretzels on baking stone or sheet. Place a Hug on each pretzel and bake at 200 degrees for about 6-8 minutes. Remove from oven and promptly place a couple of M&Ms on each pretzel, pressing into the melted chocolate. Allow to cool before serving, either at room temperature (this takes SEVERAL hours) or in the refrigerator if you want to speed up the process.

Oh yeah, the Hawks are on today! If any of you are checking this blog :) please make every effort to win so the rest of our week is a little more enjoyable!

Hmmmm....

So, what do you think today was at school?

And Joey's really good question for the day.
"Does God live in a castle because He's a King?"

Exploring

These two pictures crack me up. The top one is Lucas, drowning out the mole that took over our front yard. (Do you think he saw someone else doing this?!?) And the next one is Joey at Grandma and Grandpas house looking for grasshoppers. He kept telling us to be very quiet and we could hear them hop. Needless to say the adults (mostly Michelle and I) kept getting shushed for not being quiet! :)

We hung out and G & G's on Sunday. The kids got to pick apples, a favorite yearly tradition. Now my dehydrator is going non-stop! We attempted a gigantic pile'o kids but throwing the boys on next with a Lily on top looked like it could spell disaster so decided to go with 2.

Our Day of Labor

The boys have been asking for something "fun " in their room for a while now. They wanted space and dogs and preferably some robots, too. Well, we've started on part of that....space, and when I get around to it, may add some dogs into space, then we have to find a way to add the robots, too. Thanks to Traci for some help on Monday, she not only had some great paints for us to borrow, also had a mobile that was "just sitting in a box in the attic", and best of all she took the boys for several hours so the girls could paint in peace! :) Thanks, Traci, it was so very helpful of you! :)

For the peanut gallery

The boys FINALLY got a hair cut...a MAJOR hair cut! They could have had some pretty sweet mullets but they didn't think it was as funny as I did. Tyler and Lucas were happy to see it go, but Joey wants his long hair back.

Can you hear it?

The silence....it's almost deafening! The boys and I walked to school today, I signed them in, we found their coat hooks and that was it, they were off. All these other moms had their kids hanging out with them as they looked around the room but I couldn't find even one of them to give me a hug and they barely had time to say good-bye. Each time we've gone to school this week they kept asking when I would leave them there. Well, boys, today was your day. (And yes, Mother, I realize they do need haircuts) :)So you're probably wondering what I'm doing with my whole 3 hours alone. Actually, I made dinner and then went running. I still can't believe that's what I decided to do but I did. I think after my brother called me to tell me someone from his office was going to call and harass me every 20 minutes I thought I wouldn't stay around to find out if he was kidding. Thanks, Dave! Now, I better go bake some cookies so they all know how much I missed them today...

2 down, 3 to go

The girls had a great 1st day back to school, getting to know their new teachers and classes and being with their friends again! Here's to tomorrow.... :)

Big kids need birthday parties, too

Janelle is turning 30 (so she's finally in the same decade as most of us at least!) :) and is one of the worlds greatest and most faithful Mariner fans. All she wanted was to go to a game with some of her friends.

A couple of little ones snuck along. We never heard a peep out of them. We had a GREAT time hanging out, chatting, eating, and I do think some of us watched the game (they did lose but that wasn't what mattered) a little bit. Happy Birthday, Janelle! And thanks guys for a great night.

One Hundred and Fourty Six

That's how many hours I have until I will be home ALONE!

Not that I'm counting down or anything, I just thought you'd all like to know that's when PRESCHOOL STARTS!

Back in the swing of things

We're slowly getting back to "normal" life at home. The neighborhood is definitely a little louder again. One evening, after witnessing some disastrous behavior from our kids, one of our neighbors labeled our kids as "vacation brats." I would have to say I agreed with her! It's been HOT the last few days. Kinda like Michigan hot but definitely not Arkansas HOT! :) So yesterday we headed to the bay for a little cooling off. It was a great night with a threat of thunderstorms looming in the distance but it never came and we enjoyed a great night collecting rocks, playing football, playing with one of our very favorite babies and roasting marshmallows.

Home Sweet Home!

38 days ago we started this great summer adventure together and tonight we've come full circle (all 7,000+ miles)!!! A few days ago after leaving Rehoboth we visited the Grand Canyon. It's an amazing site to behold to say the least! The boys loved the condors and weren't as impressed with "the big hole".

We then headed into Utah to Bryce Canyon. What an awesome spot. This was our favorite National Park this trip. We hiked into the canyon one day and it was amazing to see the size of the Hoodoo's from down below...WOW!
The last 2 days brought LOTS and LOTS of driving but we made it home this afternoon. We did a group shot in the back of the Suburban today but I'm noticing that Alexa is missing...so sorry, Alexa, not sure where you were hiding out. Alexa, Adrianna and Emmalee thanks for the sign that we were warmly greeted home by! Everyone loved it. We've missed you all and can't wait to see everyone soon. And the picture of Mia with the bead....that's the last bead of the trip. We kept track of hours driving in the car. It was the last one of 119!!! Oh, yeah...we're glad to be home.Thanks for stickin' with us this summer. It's been so much fun. We've made many memories along the way and saw so many amazing sites and had a great time hanging out with so much family and friends. And to our dear Flat Friends....thanks for joining us on this journey. You traveled well and we were honored to have you along!

Rehoboth, New Mexico

After a couple of good days of driving we arrived in Gallup, New Mexico yesterday afternoon...more specifically, Rehoboth. There we found our dear friends, Ron and Colleen. We've been enjoying just relaxing and seeing some of the major changes going on here. One of the major changes since I was last here was the addition of a beautiful new sports complex including a turf soccer field (where we found Flat Jude hanging out). We also took Flat Libby and Flat Emma over to the Rehoboth sign at the entrance. They had been here before with us a few years ago. The kids have loved just hanging out of the playground and trying to spot lizards wherever we go. There's just something about this place that makes you slow down. Amy, you should have been along for the ride. I don't think you'd recognize half of it!

On the road home

We spent a few days in Nashville this week and had a great time with Aunt Chris, Uncle Joe and crew. We arrived to our campground Tuesday evening with Grandma and Grandpa so we had to wait until Wednesday to head over to their house. It was very loud as we set up and the boys were busy looking for the source. It was the sound of more cicada's than I'd ever heard at one time, it was pretty unbelievable (Holly decided that Sam wanted to taste one). We headed to Chris' house in the morning and once we were there the kids had a ball exploring all the new things. Especially the tree house and the pool (Mia found it cool that she and Ellie had the same colored tube to float around in). They really couldn't get enough of it so we spent a fair amount of time in it. Eric came in Wednesday night so we left their house for the airport and picked him up, all went well and we were so thankful because we drove to the campground in a major thunder and lightning storm. Thursday morning started out with a trip to the Opryland Hotel (this is where Lauri and Emily decided they had enough camping and spent a night at the hotel being pampered, and also where Libby found a horse to hang out with, also Lucas wanted to pose with Dylan in the car just because!). Then it was back to Chris' house for more time playing with the cousins. By the way, Dave, tell Butch that Matilda says "hi"! :) In the morning we had to pack up and say good by to everyone, including Grandpa and Grandma. Thanks, everyone, for a great time! We had so much fun spending so much time with all of you!!!

Now we're off on the last leg of our journey. We're sorry we couldn't meet up with the Rozeboom gang in Arkansas. We enjoyed our short stay in your wonderful state although the temps were a little hot and humid for us! We're hanging in Texas tonight with our sites set on New Mexico tomorrow. Thanks for continuing to check in on us this summer. It's been a great journey, a long one, but a great one so far!!

We've got more friends to take home!

Our week at the Conference Grounds flew by. We had lots of fun. We had a visit from some family. My Uncle Duane, Aunt Anne and Sarah stopped by. Joey had fun hanging out with Sarah and getting to know her. Uncle John and Aunt Gloria also stopped by (but I have no picture) We’ll just have to wait until their whole gang comes out to WA for a visit!! We also did the infamous TYE DYE ON FRIDAY!!! Good clean fun! And made a few last minute visits to the candy store. We headed to Holland to regroup for a couple days and then we’re off for the return trip via Nashville. Daddy comes in on Wednesday and everyone is excited to see him again! We did make a little time to pick more blueberries (26+ lbs), Mia and I headed to the cemetery where my grandma was buried in May, and Grandpa took a few of us out fishing. It was a gorgeous day, not to many fish were caught but we had a good ride (and also tried to entertain our sadly neglected Flat Boy Friends!) I thought Traci might appreciate a photo of her boys in from of the lighthouse, Jude and Dylan took a dip in the lake (which was about 72 degrees) and Dave and Butch took the wheel for a while. And we have 2 new friends coming home with us!!!! Today, Adrianna and Alexa joined us and we’re so excited to show them a good time! Thanks for coming girls!!

It's a girl day

So yesterday Mom and I, Mia and Holly and my niece, Lindsey headed to Chicago. We drove half way then jumped on the train for the second half. We had a great day as the American Girl Store was our destination. As you can see, we entertained our Flat Girl Friends for the day (sorry boys, your day will come) Courtney's up in the left corner playing in Kit's new tree house (it's adorable!), Mia and Libby are standing in front of the Elizabeth display, Delaynee and Lauri are jumping on the bed that Kit was trying to sleep on (I think Lauri was the instigator on that one!), Allison and Sadie were enjoying the huge book selection, Emma found herself baking cupcakes with the Bitty Babies, Kloe was hanging out with the cheerleaders, Mia and Ellie were posing in front of Josefina, Simone couldn't get enough of the ballet outfits, Emily loved the back to school outfits on display, and Bailey jumped right in with the dolls doing Karate. (hopefully you can see them, just double click on the picture if you want to see it bigger). We enjoyed an adventure through the city getting to the store (we weren't quite as organized as some other members of our family would have been so we did a little exploring along the way....Cindy!), had lunch in the American Girl Cafe, did some shopping, and even took one doll into the doll hospital for some cosmetic work (Taryn, Felicity will be back home in no time), we enjoyed a trolley right on the way back to the train station and headed home. Aunt Chris and Grandpa held down the fort with 5 boys and even managed to fit in a fishing trip out in the lake. Thank you!!! Just a few more days of camping then we head back to Grandpa and Grandma's to prepare for the next leg of the trip and to meet up with Daddy!

More Camping Fun

We're having a great week over at the Christian Reformed Conference Grounds in Grand Haven. This is the camping mecca for all things Dutch and Christian Reformed! :) There is plenty to do each day and the kids love it. Some of those fun things have included......playing at the beach, a 1 1/2 mile fun run (yes, it was fun...everyone who participated got a snow cone, and yes, that's Mia kickin' it in up the hill in front of those boys!), hanging out with cousins (Holly and Parker have this thing for switching shoes for at least one picture whenever they get together, hanging out with Grandpa and Grandma, playing games, making crafts, listening to music (can anyone guess what Lindsey is listening to, any 12 year old girl should be able to help you answer that!), and talking to dad on the phone. That's just a touch of what we've been doing and I understand we've neglected our flat friends but don't worry....hopefully by tomorrow we'll have a super exciting post to show our adventures from today (girls, you especially don't want to miss out!)

It's HOT!!!!

First of all, we need to give a shout out to Emily...it's her birthday!! We celebrated by having ice cream at Captain Sundae, and it doesn't get much better than that! Tyler was a little reluctant to share his cone but he did it anyways.

We've been enjoying some warm weather here. My kids are still trying to figure out why they're so sticky! :) (almost 90 degrees and lots of humidity) Mia, Holly and I took Eric to the airport Tuesday and made a stop at Calvin College. Yes, they're both wearing long sleeves!!! Our flat friends whose parents went to Calvin posed for a picture (Jude, Simone, Emma and Libby) We would have taken a group photo there but we didn't want to step on any toes now! Everyone is having fun exploring around Grandpa and Grandma's house as well, catching grasshoppers, mowing the lawn, etc. Joey posed with the flat gang for a group photo (minus Emily...she was off celebrating her birthday, somewhere) at the beach tonight in front of Big Red. It felt good to cool off in the water. Never a dull moment around here...hope you're all having as much fun as we are!

Ridgewood Crew

On Sunday we got together for a picnic with Eric's college roomates. About 15 years ago, these 5 guys spent 2 years living together. Now, they're all married and have kids...several kids! :) 21 to be exact with the oldest being 12 and the youngest 7 months, and 2 sets of triplets! It was great to be able to get together with everyone again.

Adventures in Holland

David....this first one is for you. Flat Dave enjoyed a walk down memory lane! There is so much more I could say but I will refrain!
We've been having a ton of fun so far but unfortunately we've neglected our Flat Friends a little. I think they're pretty tired out from the trip out. However, Ellie and Kloe bummed along as we went and picked blueberries. They are sooo yummy! Dylan found himself in the wild flowers following butterflies. Dalaynee thought it was so fun to bury Lauri in the sand....REAL sand!! And Courtney thought the cat tails were pretty cool! We went on a walk today and saw some pretty cool lily pads...made us miss Flat Lily a little bit, it would have been a cute picture. :)

3,000 miles down....

We've made it into Holland....wahoo! And finally have an Internet connection so we can update all of you on our happens and those of our "Flat Friends". A few nights ago we stopped in Bemidji, MN at the Bemidji State Park. The rangers there were so friendly. They gave us a couple bird watching kits for us to use on our little hike around the lake. However, we didn't make it to far and the lure of the water drew the kids in and the bugs made us turn from the woods. Flat Sam was in HEAVEN with the bird watching kit! :) And Bailey was a little disgusted by all the bugs hanging out on the life preserver. Dalaynee, Libby and Emma built a sand castle with Mia and Holly before we headed back to the trailer for the night. And the best news from MN was as we were leaving we paid $3.86 for gas!!!! Thanks, MN, you were good to us!

Next stop was Porcupine Mtns. State Park in Michigan! Our camp site was right on Lake Superior so the rocks and the water was where we spent the evening once again. We left the windows open that night listening to the water until the thunderstorm rolled in! It's hard to tell but Lucas is hanging out with Flat Dylan on a "dinosaur bone" in the top right corner. Flat Sadie and Flat Allison stopped to pose for a picture with Joey.

Our next stop was the Straits of Mackinac and Mackinac Island. Jude and Simone had fun on the ferry ride over to the island. It was a little windy and rainy but no one seemed to mind. Flat Courtney loved the horse drawn carriage ride through downtown Mackinac. And once again we were waiting for Emily by the bathrooms! :) Lauri was doing cartwheels since she got the window seat on the ferry ride back to the main land. Kloe and Lucas enjoyed the view of the bridge and Ellie took a dip in Lake Huron. Sam, Max and Jack had s'mores to celebrate their moms birthday. HAPPY BIRTHDAY, TRACI!

Now to get caught up on laundry and other things and to just enjoy time out of the car with family and friends.

Truckin' Along

Our adventure have been great so far! We spent a couple awesome days in Glacier with one of my sisters and her family. We topped off our stay with a Red Jammer Bus tour in the evening and it was incredible. We saw so many animals...moose, big horn sheep, mountain goats, deer, pretty much everything but a bear as we rode the Jammer up the Going to the Sun Road to Logan Pass. Our driver was great and so were the other 4 people who had to ride with our crew! I had 3 sleeping boys by the end of the 4 hour tour.

Our Flat Friends have continued to enjoy the adventure as well. Jude was checking out the ranger station at Mc Donald Lake, Sadie and Allison stopped for a picture at Mc Donald Lake, Bailey tried to blend right in with the Totem Pole, Max enjoyed an evening of fishing with Joey, and Uncle Dave and Butch were so excited to hook up with Erin, Lee and Brett.
Day 4 was quite an action packed day. Miss K. watched as Ellie took on some white water rapids that most don't live to tell about. Kloe enjoyed a quiet afternoon by Avalanche Creek, Dylan got tangled in a huge root of a tree, Sam stopped to read ALL the signs about the birds in the park, Jack thought it quite funny that Mia's chicken strip was in the shape of a J, Courtney and Libby actually had a great time as they road the Jammer up the Going to the Sun Road and Simone even got to get out and play in the snow at the top of the pass!

Day 5's adventure wasn't quite as exciting...we spent 10 hours in the car. However, Lauri celebrated with Eric as we "only" paid $4.09 for gas today!!! And fellow 4 year olds Emma and Dalaynee partied while Joey and Lucas took a nap in the car. Other than that it was some beautiful views as we made our way through Montana and into North Dakota! (and pleasantly surprised to have a connection here at the state park!)

Until later....

Happy 4th!

It's been a great first couple days and we've been having a great time. We stayed last night at the Riverside State Park and after getting lost trying to find it, the rest was great!
Today, we ran into a rather large hail storm before arriving outside of Glacier, had some great huckleberry ice cream. took a quick look around Glacier before finishing off the evening with a great fireworks show right at the campground. But I can't get end this post without admitting a hard thing that happened today. We were at the National Bison Range Wildlife Refuge, enjoying a ride around looking for Bison. We saw some and thought it would be a perfect place for a photo of "Flat Emma" and "Flat Lily". I of course wanted a perfect photo so I told Eric to let go, and that's when it happened, we lost Lily...forever....down, inside our door! We are so sorry...I still got a great shot of Emma with the Bison in the background but Lily, blankie and pacifier are forever hanging out deep down inside our door.

You may have to click on the photos to get a better look at them.

Who's ready for the fun to begin?

We're packed up and ready to go and before "Flat Mia" and "Flat Holly" headed out on their adventures they showed all our "Flat Friends" around their new accomodations.

"Flat Uncle Dave" and "Flat Butch" are to excited, they are just sitting in the car waiting to go! And our friends "Flat Max", "Flat Sam", "Flat Jack" and "Flat Bailey" came fashionably late and missed the picture but they'll be in on all the fun! So our list is long and we couldn't be happier...thank you all for coming along....Allison, Sadie, Lauri, Dalaynee, Libby, Emma, Lily, Ellie, Kloe, Courtney, Simone, Jude, Dylan, Emily, Sam, Max, Jack, Bailey, Uncle Dave and Butch! WOW....I think that's everyone!

And for those of you entertaining "Flat Mia" and "Flat Holly", they're with Ellie and Kloe this week, then to Courtneys, then onto Sam, Max and Jacks, the 4th week I think they head to Libby, Marissa and Nates, then onto Emma and Lily and they'll wrap up the summer with Uncle Dave and Butch!

Thanks to everyone who's playing along. And if you're just checking in on us to see what we're up to, I hope you have fun getting to know all our friends!