Visiting the VanderZwaags

On Sunday we went up to visit Uncle Bern, Aunt Jan and the family up in Howard City. They are staying at the cottage all week but invited us to visit on Sunday (it was reminiscent of our Florida trips with them!). We had a great time playing in the water. The boys all went out tubing for awhile as the girls sat in the sun and talked. It was great seeing all of the kids play together. We had a fantastic time with them!

Daddy's Little Helper

Luke decided to take Monday off after our weekend away and of course he ended up working in the yard. Jackson ended up playing out there with him so I could unpack and get the house back in order after being gone so much lately. When I looked out, I saw Jackson standing in the dirt and loving every second of it! He's definitely all boy.... I'm thinking the he's definitely going to follow Dad around whenever there's a job to be done!

Our trip to Schaumburg

Last weekend we took a trip to Schaumburg with my family. We figured out that this is our 4th year of going with the family. We had started out going to downtown Chicago all together but then decided that Schaumburg was just as much fun - we all love going to IKEA there. On the way there, my dad decided that we needed to stop at The White Palace in Chicago (it was featured on Diners, Drive-ins and Dives so Luke was all for it too). After taking forever to get there we were quite impressed with the food - the drive turned out to be worth it. When we left, Jackson decided he'd rather run than walk so he took off down the street and didn't want anyone holding his hand. On Saturday we went to IKEA and Jackson stayed busy in the carts they had there and the ball pit - he LOVES throwing balls around! We went to eat at the Cheesecake Factory of course and did lots of shopping. Jackson was pretty tired as we were packing up so he took his blankie and just crashed on the floor! Poor guy! On the way back we stopped in Merrillville to give Jackson a break from riding and he went crazy over the carousel there - we could hear his screech of excitement all around the mall. Guess we'll have to start stopping at the carousel at Rivertown now!

Christmas in August

It was “Christmas at the Pines” this past weekend (sorry I don't have pictures of the Christmas stuff but they wouldn't do it justice), and Dave and Diane allowed us to spend the weekend at their place there. This was the first time that we were there for “Christmas” but we were certainly amazed at how celebrated it is there. Saturday night, we had my parents, Sara, Aunt Diane, Grandma Dozeman, Dave and Diane over to the trailer. Mom and Dad had just returned from their trip from Alaska and Jackson was happy to have them around again (I was too!)… we all had dinner and ice cream and then took a cart ride to see some of the lights that people had put up. After everyone left, Luke wanted to go and see some more of the lights so we woke Jackson up (which bit us in the butt on Sunday!) and rode around. It was amazing to see all the golf carts bumper to bumper as they toured the lights. At one point, we waited 15 minutes in a line of golf carts to see 1 trailer! Sunday we went home for a bit but then returned with Lucas and stuff for a week here. We decided to spend a couple extra days here since Lucas is staying with us for the week – it’s definitely more fun at the Pines than at our house.

Lucas the Babysitter

Last week Thursday Lucas and his mom, Lisa, came over to babysit Jackson so I could head to school and get some work done in my classroom. Jackson loved having Lucas over to play with. They must’ve been pretty busy because he took a great nap after they left.