Beach Day!

Now that it is August and school is on the horizon, we finally made it to the beach in Ventura!  It was such a fun day I really would be surprised if we didn't make it back there later this week!  For me it turned out better than expected as I was unsure how it would go taking all three kids without Steve, and I am not a big fan of sand as it gets everywhere and in everything!  But it went smoothly on my own (it helps so much that the older two can help carry things!), and I had the kids cleaned (showers!!) and the van vacuumed and Olivia in bed for a nap all within 45 minutes of arriving home!  Not too bad!

 

Olivia was unsure of the sand at first, but after an hour she was covered from head to toe in it!

 

Our friends came too!  The kids played together so well, and my friend Julie and I sat in our chairs under the umbrella for most of the time!  What a life!

 

It was so cute to see the two little girls playing, the boys running in and out of the water, and the two older girls riding the waves on their boogie boards!

 

Faith impressed me with her skills in the ocean!  She is confident out there but not overly so!  She takes the waves well, but she doesn't go out farther than either her or my comfort zone!  Hearing that some of her friends who are a year older did junior lifeguards this summer has made her think about doing that next year!

 

Shane loves to be around his friend Miles and talk superheroes and just be little boys together!

 

Until next time Pacific...hopefully it will be soon!

Trip to the Fair!

Even though this was a bit of a busy week with Vacation Bible School at our church, we could not miss out on going to the county fair!  The only day all week that really worked for us to go was Monday, so as soon as VBS was over, we headed home, put on sunscreen, and headed over to the shuttle bus to take us to the fairgrounds!

 

A highlight each year is the giant slides!  This slide is the kids slide; Faith also went on the giant slide in the other area of the fair!  Shane wisely just went on this one!

 

We met a few of our friends from church (and of course VBS!) at the fair, which worked out really well and was very fun!  This family has two boys - one just older than Faith and one just older than Shane.  The kids of similar ages ended up going on rides together since they older two wanted to do rides the younger two did not!  And poor Olivia just took in the sights from the stroller!

 

Truck driver Shane!

 

One of the reasons we really wanted to go to the fair was to see our neighbor Kelly's pig!  She has raised a pig for the fair for the last eight years!  This is her final pig as she is leaving for college at the end of August!  The kids always enjoy being able to talk to Kelly there!

 

Something new this year - all the kids did the tractor pull activity!  It was harder than it looked, but they could all complete the task!

 

A shot from VBS!  This was my partner and close friend Melissa!  Together we were "captains" of the 5th and 6th grade class of kids.  It was a nautical theme this year - Gangway to Galilee!  It was a fun-filled week, but I'm glad it's over!

Grandma Camp!

Last week the older two kids spent a few nights at Grandma Poelstra's house!  They had a great time doing fun things, eating all of their favorite foods, and spending time with Grandma and the aunts and uncles in the area!  One day they went to the Long Beach Aquarium!  They loved seeing all the many different sea creatures!

Another day they went to the beach with Aunt Renee, Uncle Joe, and Uncle Russell!

 

With the summer we have had (broken arm for Faith!), this was the kids' first time at the beach since Memorial Day!

On Saturday Steve and I drove down with Olivia as we had a birthday party to attend in Bellflower!  Grandma watched all three while we went to the party!  Olivia was thrilled to see her siblings again!  She missed them, but I think she enjoyed the extra attention she received at home more than she missed the big kids!

One Final Celebration!

After the Chuck E. Cheese party today, I think Shane's 6th birthday celebration is officially over! What a great 11 days this little guy has had!

 

Today's party was a friends party, and it was so fun that so many of Shane's friends from church, life, and school could come and celebrate with him!  Pictured above is one of Shane's best friends Miles!

 

A picture with the Mama!!

 

Shane was pretty excited that his cousin Preston was even able to make it to the party! 

 

Of course the girls had a great time too as many of their friends were there too!  Olivia LOVES Chuck E Cheese, and today was extra fun since it included pizza and a cupcake!

 

Faith was excited to be able to play the games without a cast on her arm!  Now that this party is over it's on to thinking about and getting ready for Vacation Bible School which begins on Monday!

Farm Camp 2014

Once again these two city kids ventured to the local countryside to enjoy a week of farm living!  The Painted Pony Farm in Santa Paula does a wonderful job giving kids a glimpse of what life is like living on a farm, including the work and the knowledge needed about the animals!  Faith found a new joy in pulling giant weeds as she could feed them to the goats once her wagon was full!

 

A highlight each day is sitting in the bunny bin and holding all the baby bunnies!  Farm camp is a very hands on experience for these kids!

 

Each day the farmers focus on teaching the kids about a different animal.  Monday is goat day, Tuesday is about sheep, Wednesday is pigs, Thursday Ponies, and Friday is chickens.  Of course they have all of those animals living on the farm, so they are able to be up close and personal with all of them!

 

In addition to learning about the animals and farm life, the kids go swimming each day in the pool and also help make things in the kitchen!  On the day they learned about goats, they made ice cream together!  On pig day they made their own pigs in a blanket! 

 

The kids come home fully exhausted each day!  But they absolutely love going to farm camp, and they are already talking about next year!  It was a treat too to go with our friends the Fortunati's!

Random Cuteness

Just a bunch of random, adorable pictures begging to be shared with the world!

 

Little diva Olivia ready to go to a birthday party!  And yes, she took the bat to the party!

 

Shane and our new kitty, Mustache!

 

An older gentleman at our church has taken a liking to our family!  He made this stool for Olivia - he even carved her name in it!

 

Dressed alike!!

 

and again!  matching PJs!

 

Munching on bread as we shop our way through Costco!  We shopped too early that day for any samples!  It ended up being one of our best Costco shopping trips with all three kids as they were so happy and quiet!

 

Celebrating that Faith had her cast removed!  Cake and ice cream for everyone!!

 

Enjoying a treat at the car wash with daddy!  She always wants to go with him to get the cars washed!  And now I know why!

Celebrating Shane's Birthday!

This past weekend we celebrated Shane's 6th birthday with our family!  It was a fun-filled weekend with many extra fun events, eating lots of food, and just spending time together as a family.  One of the highlights is always having Grandpa Bruinsma read books!

 

Friday afternoon was spent at the Santa Barbara zoo!  Olivia discovered it was way more fun to walk at the zoo than ride in the stroller!  I think I'm in trouble next time we go if I don't have another adult to help walk with her!

 

Dinner at Padaro!  It has been a while since we have been there!  So long in fact that the last time we were there Olivia was not even walking!  Being her first time to ever play in the giant sandbox, Olivia loved it!  She hardly wanted to stop playing to eat...that is until she realized there were French fries!

 

Saturday was the birthday party!  It was such a treat to have Steve's cousins who live in Ontario, Canada visiting so once again they could come with their kids to the party!  All of the kids had so much fun playing together!  They stayed the night in Ventura and came back the next day for more fun in the sun!

 

Even though it was a Star Wars party, we had a Spiderman cake!  An all-inclusive birthday party!

 

The birthday boy!  The pjs are old, but the dino on his shoulder is from his cousin Preston!  We look forward to more celebrating on his actual birthday!