The fishermen return

It's opening week!  The boys headed out tonight and caught some dinner.

Girls just having fun

For Mia's birthday, we talked about having a couple friends over but never really settled on what and when.  I was at one of her friends house last week and her and I came up with a plan to surprise Mia on her birthday with a little party.  I had Grandma take Mia out for ice cream after school and Mia's friends were dropped off during that time.  Here they are killing time before Mia arrived.  (and yes, Holly has it ALL on video!)  ;)Finally, there was a knock on the door (since I locked her out) and her friends opened the door and yelled "SURPRISE!"  She wasn't exactly sure what to think. 

I had planned a little photo scavenger hunt for them to keep them busy.  Here they are fulfilling some of the necessary requirements.  (Check my Simply Enjoy blog  for full details.)  It was then time for Eric to try out his "trick", Diet Coke and Mentos combo.After we brought the girls home in the morning, Eric and the boys went clamming so we decided to take advantage of the great weather and head to the tulip fields that were in full bloom.  Grandma had sent these awesome costumes for this years Holland Days festival and we thought we'd try to get a few pictures.  

After an awesome clam feast we crashed for the night!

A Decade Old!

Happy Birthday, Mia!  It's hard to believe your a decade old already (although you have continually reminded us of that for the last several months!)   We LOVE you!!!  (if you want to see the pictures a little larger, just click on the image)

Ahhhhh, it really feels like spring

It was finally sunny and WARM!  Today it reached 70 degrees so when the kids got home from school and asked if the water could come on outside, I said "why not".  I'm still plugging away on my Project 365 and am really getting sick of inside photos. Last weeks were terrible.  So when the sun and the kids were outside enjoying each others company I took my camera out to see what they were doing.  

The worm...seriously, I didn't realize these little details about a worm.  I was snapping away and when I downloaded them on my computer I realized that you could really see right into that poor little guy.    Thanks, Joey, for torturing the poor thing just so I could learn a thing or two. Then, Mia decided to set up the swing sprinkler.  She entertained herself and a few others throughout the afternoon.  These pictures make it look nice and warm but it was pretty cold yet (or so she told me!) 

We're back!

After an incredible week in Yosemite National Park, we're home.  The sites were spectacular and the company wasn't half bad either.  :)  (we met one of my sisters and her family there)  Good times!  I just uploaded way to many pictures on Facebook so if you're my friend over there, you'll be able to see them.  If your not my friend, just ask me...I'd love a few more.  I may add a few more here but for now, the couch is calling. Everyone else over here is already enjoying an Easter afternoon nap.

Mia found a cool spot at the top of Vernal Falls.

Mirror Lake

Yes, it snowed!

At Columbia Rock with Half Dome in the background.

Can't go to CA without a stop at In-n-Out Burger!

A little entertainment

Mia told me it was time to update our blog or else...So here's some recent activity in our neighborhood last week.  It was quite entertained for a while! And anytime we can get outside right now is a good thing!  Maybe tomorrow I'll find something a little more exciting to add.  :)

A little of this, a little of that

Mia was on an organizational kick and decided to go through all our DVD's, CD's and videos.  She particularly enjoyed organizing the CD's by Artist wondering why there were so many Amy Grant, Jimmy Buffet and Van Halen CD's?  :)  Holly has been learning about wolves this week and one thing they did was learn how to make origami wolves.  One night after she "went to bed"  she was busy putting this pack together.     Just a crazy quad cousin shot! Aren't their feet just the cutest thing, Emma's match exactly.  

And then this....Show-n-Tell.  I can't tell you how many, MANY times these 3 have been their sisters Show-n-Tell.  Holly asked if they could come Friday to school and they said they wanted to.  The kids got to ask both Holly and them some questions and Holly's teacher asked some questions too.  One of the questions was what their favorite thing to eat.  Lucas said peaches, Tyler said pears and Joey said watermelon.  Another question was if they could go anywhere, where would they want to go?  Lucas wanted to go to the park, Tyler wanted to go to the zoo and Joey wanted to go to Mexico.  And in the end Holly's teacher made a point of saying even though they all look a lot a like they're all very different with different answers for each question.  

Good Morning!

Someone was having just a little to much fun with their breakfast! :)

Caution:Kids in Charge

With 3 days off of school last week we had a few days to play.  Friday, Amy and I decided we'd let the kids plan the day (some other friends of ours had done this and it sounded like a potentially great idea)  :)  When we first told the kids what we were doing,  6 out of the 8 chose going to the "Jump Fun Zone", one chose a trip to Treasury of Memories for some crafting supplies and another chose a trip to Target.  Since Ella had school until noon we had to stay around home until she was finished.   The thought of sitting at the Jump Fun Zone for a couple hours didn't appeal to me.  (see how good I am at letting my kids pick what they want!)  We then decided to just make it a day where everyone chose something different and told them little to no money could be spent.  It ended up being so much fun and way more creative(these are 2 "pictures" I'm using for my Project 365...you can check it out HERE!  You can also see what else we did with our days off.)  Here's what they chose

1. Tyler wanted to go for a bike ride.

2. Holly wanted to play Rock Band and have Hot Chocolate.

3.  Jake wanted to play football with everyone.

4.  Levi wanted to play Carcassonne. (kind of like Settlers of Catan for kids)

Lunch stop at the new Sonic...yummy!

5.  Ella wanted to go to Hovander.

6.  Joey wanted to play some basketball.

7.  Lucas wanted to play a couple rounds of Duck-Duck-Goose and Telephone.

8.  Mia wanted to go swimming.

9.  We crashed from exhaustion! :)  Thanks, guys, it was a great day!

Hey, Best Buddy!

Thanks for having us over today!  We had a great time!!  :)

Remember me!

That's what Mia and Ellie's snowboard instructor told them to do after they win their medals in the Olympics for snowboarding.  :)  It was the girls first time snowboarding and their wise Dads took advantage of the 1 1/2 hr lesson before taking them on the mountain themselves. 

 It was a great way for the 4 of them to spend their Saturday.

But they couldn't be the only ones having all the fun.  The rest of us went and visited Baby Ava, Emma, Lily and Aunt Mandy.  They're all doing great!

Baby Ava

Here is the newest addition to the VH clan.  She is just as cute as can be.  Unfortunately her first 24 hours of life have been more eventful than her parents cared to experience but things are settling down and she's doing great!  Those first several hours included an elevated heart rate that required a helicopter ride to Seattle and 2 nights at Children's Hospital.  But she is now on her way home and ready to begin enjoying life with her Mom and Dad and Sisters.  Congrats, you guys!  We are so grateful you will all soon be home together as a family of 5!

Holdin' On

This is a post especially for Gary and Michelle if you're checking in at all. :)

Holly's  basketball team played Libby's last night.  Their personalities definitely shone through!  First of all, the coach from each team gives each kid a wrist band matching another player on the other team to be matched up against.  Holly and Libby were not given matching wristbands so what do you think they did?  Yes, they switched them so they'd match!  Libby has a little bit of a competative spirit to her and Holly, well, Holly is out there for mostly social reasons (I wonder where she gets that?)   So as Libby is busy trying to get open to get the ball, Holly is doing all she can to stop it.  As you can tell by the (very bad) photos, they don't call much in this league!

Guess who called today?

ALYSSA!!!!!!!

She moved about 5 weeks ago to nanny for a family with newborn triplet girls...how lucky are they to have her!  Everyone was so excited to talk to her.  Thanks for calling, Sissa!  We all miss you but know you are doing what you do best!

What do you do with a beautiful Sunday afternoon?

You head to the mountains and go sledding!!!  NOT watch the Daytona 500!  (thanks, honey, for not even mentioning that)

Thanks, Likkels, for coming with us!  We had such a great time and even came home and roasted hot dogs and marshmallows to top off the day.   There are seriously so many pictures, you may just have to be my friend on Facebook so you can see more! :)

And, just wanted to wish Aunt Joan a happy birthday (yesterday!)  She had yummy cupcakes waiting to be eaten and Mia even got in a couple rounds of TROUBLE with her.