Farm Camp

Today is a day that Faith and Shane have been looking forward to for a few months - the start of Farm Camp!!  Both kids are attending the camp this week at the Painted Pony farm, which is near Ventura.  Faith had been at the farm before as she went there for a field trip last fall.

It is extra exciting to have friends going the same week!!  Shane with his buddy Miles!

 

Both kids with Miles!

 

When I left them this morning, they were with the bunnies!  Upon picking them up and hearing all about their day, I learned that today was goat day!  After feeding all the animals, they milked goats and learned about them.  Tomorrow is sheep day!  In addition to doing farm things, there is also a pool that they swim in after lunch!  What a life!  I'm sure there will be more farm pictures to post later in the week!

8 months old

The months are just flying by!  This little cutie is already 8 months old!  The quest to keep up with Faith and Shane continues!  Over the last few weeks Olivia is once again showing that she is growing by eating more and more solid food (and just since turning 8 months the other day the amount she is eating is really increasing!!).  I haven't found anything so far that she does not like!  Her favorite foods include avocados, bananas, and yogurt, but she'll eat anything! 

 

One of the more surprising developments lately is her attempts to crawl!  Now that her preferred method of playing is to sit on the ground with some toys, she scoots around on her buns and also tries to get her little legs under her!  Thankfully (for me!) she can only get one leg under, but it may not be too much longer before she figures it out!

 

This picture is a pretty accurate depiction of life right now!  Faith and Shane were playing together with the new castle, and Olivia made her way over from where she was sitting on the rug to join them!  They were surprised and not all that thrilled that she wanted to put all of their soldiers in her mouth!  Happy 8 months little lady!

Michigan Trip - part 2

Our second week in Michigan started out with a birthday!!  Shane turned five on Monday!  Grandma is so thoughtful that she bought Shane a cake!  What is really cool is that Shane had wanted a Spiderman cake for his California party, but the store was out of the toy decoration for the Spidey cake.  Without knowing that, Grandma Bruinsma ordered Shane the exact Spiderman cake he originally wanted!  This was one very happy and excited five year old!

The next week also brought much cooler and more comfortable weather!  We were then able to do more outdoor things that we avoided in the 90 degree weather!  On Tuesday we visited the John Ball Park Zoo in Grand Rapids.  Faith is showing just how large a bald eagle's wingspan is compared to what hers would be!!

Inside the zoo there was a special area to visit that was a giant bird cage.  The kids had the opportunity to feed some birds, and Faith was able to lure a bird right onto the stick that she was holding!  She was pretty excited about that!

The morning we went to the zoo Shane noticed what Grandpa was wearing.  Upon getting dressed he realized he could dress just like Grandpa - blue shirt with orange stripes and khaki shorts!  Twins for the day!

 

Even though it wasn't a necessity to go back to the pool, the kids spent their final afternoon there!  It was a great trip as the kids made many wonderful memories, we were all able to enjoy the time not only with my immediate family but also some "cousins" too!  They are already talking about the next trip at Christmas when there will be snow on the ground!

Michigan Trip - part 1

We are home and semi-recovered from our wonderful trip to Michigan!  It's hard to believe that it was just two weeks ago tonight that we were double checking that everything was packed and ready to take on our trip!

 

How cute are these two wheeling their suitcases through LAX?  The anticipation and excitement of the trip was so high that they kids were not able to fall asleep at all at home before heading to the airport.  And of course all three of them were awake at the airport, so by the time that the plane took off around 1am, all three went right to sleep! 

We were greeted in Michigan by very hot and humid weather.  So we did what was best and spent quite a few of those first few days swimming at the pool!  Now that the kids are getting older, they remember the fun things that we have done previously while in Michigan, and so they really look forward to doing those things again, like going to the pool!  Olivia really enjoyed being in the water too, which was fun to see!

 

To beat the heat one morning we took the kids to the Children's museum.  This too is a favorite spot of past trips, so they kids were excited to make a return visit!  Shane had fun buying groceries!

 

Over the weekend Aunt Betsy was able to come up from Chicago to spend time with all of us!  On Saturday she went with the kids and Grandpa and Grandma to the Meijer gardens.  Everyone came home full of Great Lakes facts!

 

Batman Shane needed a picture by the beaver!

 

All three kids loved having Aunt Betsy there for the weekend and wished that she could have spent even more time with us!  And of course they loved having Uncle Dave around as he brought over his Wii!

 

One new thing this summer was basketball!  Grandma found some Michigan colored basketballs, and both kids practiced shooting baskets and dribbling!  What amazed me is that there was noticeable improvement in their skills over just a few days! 

Shane's Birthday Party!

 Before leaving for Michigan, we squeezed in a birthday party for Shane with our California family.  Shane was excited to have so many relatives there, especially Haley and Aspen who were visiting from Canada!  It's so hard to believe that this little man is already five!!

 

 Haley watching Shane open his presents near Aunt Joan and Grandma Poelstra

 

As Shane was about to open his gifts, Steve read aloud the list Shane had given to Grandpa Poelstra about what he wanted for his birthday. The list included a slinky, Olge's Castle, something cool and awesome, and Tedon.  What is completely amazing is that he received everything he asked for!!  Some who didn't even know what was on the list gave Shane gifts that were on the list!  Needless to say, Shane was one happy birthday boy!

 

Faith and Shane playing with the new castle for the Ogre!

 

An Incredible Hulk cake for our favorite five year old!  Happy Birthday sweet Shane!

Dance Camp

 The week following the Fourth of July, Faith attended Cassie's Dance Camp.  This is the second year Faith went to the camp, and once again she loved it this year!  It is a fun-filled day of dancing, eating snacks, making crafts, journaling, and making new friends.  As a mom, I too love this camp and the positive atmosphere Cassie creates as she promotes kindness among the girls!  And as a family we learned many of the songs as all the girls receive a CD of the music.  We would listen to it in the car to and from dance camp each day! 

Throughout the week, Faith and her group learned two dances, and on Friday was the big performance!  Since Grandpa and Grandma were in town for Shane's birthday party, they were able to experience a bit of dance camp and catch the performance day!  I'm sure Faith will be going again next year!

4th of July BBQ!

Our 4th of July fun did not end with the parade!  After relaxing at home for a few hours (and giving the baby a great nap), we went to our good friends' house for a BBQ.  The kids played and had a fun time while the adults were able to eat, relax, and enjoy spending a beautiful evening together!

 

Danica, Julie (the hostess) with Valentina, and me and Olivia!  We could not get a picture with the two little ones looking!

 

The TV and Wii were set up outside for the kids.  I had to force the kids to take a break to eat dinner!  They were playing a new game that we do not have, which I have been hearing all about today!

 

Eventually the boys went inside to play Legos!

 

Julie's mom, Sara, was so excited to finally meet Olivia after seeing so many pictures of her on Facebook and Instagram!

 

Olivia loved her second outfit of the day!  It was a little big, but the colors were right!

 

And lastly, this was from tonight.  Olivia was excited to be like one of the big kids and sit on the couch after baths to watch Veggie Tales!  She's growing up so quickly!

4th of July Parade!

Happy 4th of July!!  Once again we walked in Ventura's annual Pushem' Pullem' parade!  Basically, anyone who wants to walks in the parade down Main St. in Ventura.  People are encouraged to decorate their bikes or wagons or strollers.  What is amazing to me each year, is that it is just a bunch of people all walking down the street, and yet the streets are lined with people watching the sea of people!! 

 

We met our friends there, so Faith and Shane are walking with Isabella and Miles.  The massive amount of people are ahead of us as we were towards the end (aka we were late!).

 

Olivia joined in on the fun too, and was the reason why we were late!  As we drove to the parade, she had a blowout!  And it was major!!  She needed an entire change of clothing!  I wanted to just go home (especially since Steve is working!!), but the older kids of course wanted to do the parade.  So we changed her in the wagon!  Thankfully I had an extra diaper (a size too small, but it worked!) in the car along with some wipes.  And I brought a little jacket for her, so that is what she wore.  No more cute, 4th of July outfit for this girl!  And the kids and I just decided to laugh about it all (otherwise I think I might have cried!), and said how we will never forget Olivia's first Pushem' Pullem' parade!  Soon after this picture she fell asleep!

 

Shane and Miles!  These two love parade in costumes!

 

Shane getting ready to throw out some candy to the people watching!

 

And finally, a picture of Olivia from Sunday!  How cute is she??  Even if she makes us late to the parade with her untimely blowout!