The Kitten

Jackson and his buddy Snowflake (named after the guinea pig that died earlier this year).  I love his outfit too - the tie dyed shirt, striped shorts and sideways hat .... I did not pick that out:)  

 

Right before we left for vacation, Luke came across some stray kittens while working.  Of course he thought the boys would love a kitten (and I have to admit he was right in thinking that) but it was the last thing that I wanted at our house as I'm not much of an animal person.  Regardless, we let it stay in the garage and the boys loved playing outside with Snowflake.  Jackson would walk him through the trail in the woods, give him rides in the gator and carry him all around.  After realizing that the kitten was peeing all in the garage and it was starting to really smell, Luke decided to bring it back to where he found it.  Jackson thinks that he wanted to go back to his mommy so he was okay with it.  It kind of helped that we are now dog sitting Bailey (a dog that Jackson absolutely adores) so his mind is off the kitten and now onto Bailey.  It was fun while it lasted and one good thing came out of the kitten - Luke scrubbed the floors in the garage after it left! 

Freezer Meals

Jackson wanted to help label all the meals so he put post-its on the tin foil to let us know who got each meal.

All 12 meals completed!  Each of us took home 6 good sized meals so in actuality we get 12 meals each.

Brendan and Isaac - best buds!

Last week Thursday, my friend Lori and I got together to make some freezer meals for when school starts.  We started cooking around 5pm and had made 12 meals made by 7:30pm.  It was a great feeling to know that we had all that work done!  And of course the conversations we had while making them made it go even quicker.  We've decided this might have to become a ritual now especially since Luke and Scott did such a great job taking care of all the boys while we were working (although we reminded them that they were benefiting from the meals!). 

Camping Again

We spent last week camping at Sandy Pines with my sister (although we didn't get any pictures of her with the boys!).  Luke would come out at night to hang out with us but it was pretty much sister time and kid time.  My mom came out one of the days with Cohen and Easton and it was fun watching the boys all play together (and they were ALL exhausted that night too!).  We had beautiful weather - cool in the morning, warm at the beach and then sweatshirt weather at night.  Unfortunately Brendan decided that 6:30am was a great time to wake up so we were pretty exhausted while we were there.  There's not too much you can do at 6:30 in the morning at a campground - everything was wet with dew.  We didn't have neighbors camping next to us until the last night so the boys had plenty of room for playing baseball and they were able to ride their bikes.  The best part though was just being able to spend time with my sister and catch up.  She's busy working and going to get her masters so any time we get with her is special. 

Camping with VanDerKolks

Lucas and Jackson had fun going down the slide at the water park.  Last year Jackson was more hesitant with the slide but this year he loved it and kept wanting to go down it again and again and again.

I love this little guy!  The pajamas that he's wearing are his favorite outfit and he'll often wear them all day long (a battle that I would rather not fight when we stay home).  He can't get enough of camping and I think if it was possible he would live at the campground all summer.  

Brendan thought he was big stuff sitting by the fire at night.  Notice he's wearing a sweatshirt because it actually cooled down a bit at night - I love nights like that while camping!

Luke loves fires and both his boys are just like him.  They had fun putting the wood in so Luke could start it and then had to side by him with the peanuts so they could throw the shells in the fire when they were done with them.

Last weekend we finally were able to go camping with the VanDerKolks.  We had talked about it all last summer but it just never worked out so we finally got a date on the calendar for this year.  After our last camping trip, we were unsure that we ever wanted to camp again because so many things went wrong with the trailer and Brendan didn't do much sleeping. This time however was completely different.  Things went great with the trailer and Brendan took his nap everyday and slept well each night (not saying he slept long in the morning but it wasn't too bad).  We had a wonderful lot - lots of shade, close to the bathroom, room for the boys to play and in an area where Jackson could easily ride his bike while we watched him.  And we had great friends there as well.  It was interesting because I used to go along on vacation with Jon and Lisa to watch their kids and now this time they were such a bit help to us.  They are certainly a blessing in our lives!  Lots of memories made and lots of laughs!

Swimming Lessons

 Cameron, Trey and Jackson - after their last day of swimming.

 Jill was such a good mom and got pictures and video of Trey swimming (Jill I told Brooke that I had to put this one on the blog!)

Jackson's favorite part - jumping off the diving board!

For the last two weeks, Jackson and his buddies Trey and Cameron had swimming lessons every day for about 45 minutes.  Thankfully for him it was some super hot days but not so great for us Moms and other kids!  It was amazingly hot (but I know that I will look back at this heat with longing come February).  It was so fun to see the boys improve on their swimming skills over the 8 days.  Jackson loved going to his lessons which was a relief for me.  When I was younger I absolutely dreaded swimming lessons and would often cry the entire time.  My favorite part of watching him though was when he would do something and then look at me and give me a thumbs up.  He was so proud of himself and all that he learned (which came in perfect for our camping weekend - to be posted soon!).

Ottawa County Fair

 Best Buddies - these two are inseperable when they're together!

 I love that face - he's so happy to see all the animals!

 Grandpa and his boys

 How hilarious is this picture?!  Easton is so comfortable with animals - I think that farming is definitely in his future.

Yesterday we took our annual trip to the fair.  My dad has always liked to go but it wasn't until I had Jackson that I actually went with him (and now I know why as my allergies totally flared up while I was there! - guess I'm not meant to be around all that hay!).  This year we took my mom and Luke along with us and the 2 youngest grandsons.  It was amazing to see how the boys interactions have changed since that first time at the fair.  When we first went, Jackson was very hesitant and just kind of watched the animals, this year he and Cohen were leading the way to see all of the animals.  Of course Brendan absolutely LOVED seeing the animals and kept pointing at them and he made sure to look at each and every one (he really is so much like my dad!).  Afterwards we took the boys to the rides and again they had a blast.  It was a wonderful afternoon.  Jackson was exhausted as he had swimming lessons in the morning, then the fair and then at night had VBS at Haven Reformed.  He was one busy boy but definitely enjoys all the fun stuff too!

Big Boy Bed

We finally did it - we got Brendan into his race car bed!  About a month ago we bought the bed and tried it for one nap time but discovered he thought it was a toy and not a bed.  We decided that since we were staying around for the weekend we would attempt it again.  The first day was super easy because he was exhausted by the time we put him to bed so he fell right asleep.  Day 2 wasn't as easy but after putting the gate in his doorway he discovered he had to stay in bed and eventually fell asleep.  So far it hasn't affected his nap length or length of time he sleeps at night so we are keeping our fingers crossed that he continues being out good little sleeper but at least now I can kiss him goodnight when he's fast asleep (the low mattress in the crib was killing me!) and my little guy looks like such a big boy now!