Little League Begins!

This past Saturday Shane had the opening ceremonies for little league and his very first game.  He is on the Diamondbacks this year.  With a practice and two games a week, we will be spending many hours at the ball fields for the next two months!

Shane's very first at bat!  He was able to get a hit on the very first pitch!  In his league, a pitching machine pitches to the kids.  If they are unable to hit the ball after 4 pitches, the coach brings out a T for the hitter to use.

The coach is very good about having the kids on the team all play the different positions.  After playing third base and right field, Shane was able to put on all the catcher gear and spending an inning behind the plate!  There is (thankfully) an hour and a half time limit on the games, so they only played three innings for their first game.  Hopefully as the season goes on and the kids are better able to hit the ball, they can finish more innings!  For now, they sure are having fun and learning!

Grandma's visit!

A few weekends ago, Grandma Bruinsma needed a break from the cold and snow and came to visit us!  We did some fun things while she was here!  None of us had been to the quaint little town of Solvang before, so we thought it was a great time to go there!  It's a Danish town about an hour north of us.  Faith was excited to see a giant wooden shoe!

We also spent an afternoon at the zoo!  It was a perfect day for it, and we were able to see many of the animals moving about, even the usually sleepy lions!

Strolling with Grandma!

A highlight for the kids was going miniature golfing for the very first time!  

Shane had some pretty lucky shots!

Olivia would have me help with her first shot, then she would place her ball right next to the hole and hit it in!  It was pretty cute!

It was so nice to have Grandma with us for a long weekend!  We were sad to see her go, but look forward to her April visit!

Desert Camping Trip!

We are back home from our camping adventure, and we are finally recovered from not only the trip but also the nasty stomach bug that took down our family!  Since no one wants the details of how terrible the bug truly was, here is a bit about our trip!

On Friday, February 12, we began what would be our longest desert camping trip!  We were going to stay for three nights instead of our usual two nights!  Each year we are learning more, discovering ways to make things easier, and basically how to enjoy the trip more and more!  We picked up a motor home along the way, which was our home for the next three nights!

We camped in the same spot as usual, and also as usual, the kids wanted to go for a hike about as soon as we arrived!

One new addition to the trip this year was Shane's dirt bike!  Here he is wearing all of his riding gear and ready for his first ride!

While I was very nervous about the whole thing, Shane proved to be a quick learner, as well as a very cautious driver!

Another picture of the rider!  Steve was never too far behind, and he taught Shane well!

Olivia had fun playing with sand toys and just running around!  The outfit in the picture is what she wore the ENTIRE weekend!  She kept telling us it was her desert style!  I just wished she had told me she was going to wear what she picked out that Friday morning the entire weekend as I wouldn't have packed her anything else!

Faith also decided she needed a turn on the dirt bike!  She also did well and had fun!

In preparing to go camping, one of the biggest questions I wrestle with is "what are we going to eat????"  This is definitely one of the areas in which we have really learned!  Pictured is one of our breakfasts!  Having the bbq is a major help in the meal prep!  Another highlight was grilling carne asada one of the nights!

The other families who camp with us have desert riding toys as well.  One family let Steve borrow their Rhino to take the kids to the place where we used to camp that is no longer accessible with the trailers. 

More of the crew heading to the Cliffs!

Shane is excited to get back out and ride his new bike again!

Swim Lessons

Today was an exciting day as Olivia had her very first swim lesson!  Now that she is over three years old, she can do a lesson in the pool alone (meaning I don't have to get in too - because I have no desire to do that!!), so it was time we get this girl some lessons! She was very excited about her new suit and new goggles!

 

Faith and Shane also started up with lessons again to refine and improve their stroke skills before the summer!

 

They have graduated to the lap pool, and it was nice for Olivia to be able to watch them for 30 minutes before her own lesson!

 

While Olivia loves water, she is afraid to leave the steps unless she is being held, so I wondered how the lesson would go!  From the start, she really enjoyed it and had fun! 

 

By the end of the lesson she was using the kickboard, with her teacher just holding the board!  The kids and I had so much fun watching her, and we were so proud of how well she did!  After the lesson Olivia claimed that "swim lessons are amazing!"  Let's hope it continues so well!

Knott's Berry Farm!

Last Friday we made our annual trip to Knott's Berry Farm!  The kids were excited to ride all their favorite rides again, and maybe even try some new rides!

After seeing the Peanuts movie on Christmas day, Olivia was extremely excited to see many of the Peanuts characters!  She was still nervous about getting close to the masked characters, so I had to be in the picture too!

 

The two oldest have no fear of Linus!

 

They were also great ride buddies as they are tall enough where they don't need an adult to ride with them anymore on the Camp Snoopy rides!

 

Here they are again on the swing!

 

Olivia quickly discovered that she does not like rides that leave the ground...at all!  So she and I went on the train a few times, and she also really liked this huff and puff ride!

 

Slow and steady wins the race!

 

Olivia also liked the truck ride, but she needed a parent to ride with her! 

 

Shane's first time on the big swings!  He loved it!!!!

 

We thought Olivia might like the Mexican Hat Dance as it doesn't leave the ground, but apparently it went too fast for her liking!

 

The two older kids, especially Faith, discovered how much she loves thrill rides!  Thankfully Steve loves them too, so the two of them (and sometimes Shane!) went on many crazy rides!!  She even went on her first roller coaster that goes upside down with me!

 

Shane joined them on this ride too, which was the most crazy spinning ride I have ever seen!  Since I cannot handle spinning at all, it's a really good thing that Steve likes it just like the kids!  Now that the two oldest know how much they love the thrill rides, they are planning a trip to Magic Mountain this spring or summer!

Michigan Christmas!

On the night of the 26th, the kids and traveled to Michigan to celebrate Christmas with my family!  I'm so thankful the kids are such good travelers!  Both girls were asleep before the plane even took off from LA!

 

Arrival in Grand Rapids!  Olivia was so excited to put on her vest and hat! 

 

Posing in front of Grandpa and Grandma's tree before opening gifts there on Monday!  Olivia has a similar expression no matter the occasion! 

 

Shane spent most of the next day in Grandma's "secret room" putting together all of his Legos by the fire!  It's always his most favorite place in the entire house!

 

When we first arrived, there was no snow, much to the kids' disappointment!  But a few days later, snow appeared!  They were beyond excited!  They all tried to catch a snowflake on their tongue! 

 

Here's Faith trying to catch a snowflake!  My favorite part is how the snow stayed on the trees!  It truly looked like a winter wonderland!  And yes, the kids are wearing their crocs, but they weren't out to play!  We were heading to lunch at Yesterdog!

 

Shane had fun chasing his sisters with snowballs!

 

Shane decided that shoveling, a task I always viewed as undesirable work!, to be fun!  He would go out on his own to shovel!

 

We played many games over the course of the week.  The kids learned how to play Clue, which became their favorite!  I was thankful for a little break from our usual Monopoly marathons!

 

On New Year's Day Olivia was very happy to be cheering on Michigan!  And we were all thrilled about the outcome of the game!

 

Faith enjoyed helping Grandma make homemade pizza on New Year's Day! 

 

While it's always nice to be back home again, we had such a nice visit spending time with family and friends!