The Adventures of Frog and Toad

It was a warm September evening, yes we have them every once in a while in Michigan, and the kids were all sleeping in their beds. Beth went out to water the plants and who did she find? She found long lost "frog." You see, frog has been living in our pond since we moved in, he even wintered somewhere in the pond and surprised us all when after the pond came back to life so did he.

Frog could often be found sitting, sunning himself on a rock and would just watch those watching him. But, several weeks ago it seemed that he had been replaced by a smaller version who didn't care much for being watched. So, imagine Beth's surprise when she spotted him sitting atop a rock this evening. Now, if we only knew where he had been...maybe looking for toad.

Toad.....he must have been away with frog. Toad was found near the back of the house and had been missing for ever so long. Beth spotted him as she was watering other flowers. She didn't expect to see anything as the lighting was poor, but all of a sudden, there he was. Now, as we all know, frog and toad usually travel together. So, perhaps frog went to look for toad and was working on coaxing him back to the pond.

Who really knows where frog and toad went for this adventure...we are just glad to have them back in our pond eating bugs!

The pond....although we don't have the fountain...that was just used when the pump broke. There are 7 fish in there to keep toad and from company. One, lovingly named "fat albert."

Cubs "looking at the fish."

Cheddar taking his turn "looking."

Thanks for hearing about frog and toad adventure....hope there is no more chapters to this one!

Engelwright Lake on Labor Day

For Labor Day this year we didn't go camping...as is our usual practice. The three older kids did go camping for 2 nights with Grandma and Grandpa Feenstra and had a wonderful time. Even went tubing which they report was lots of fun. Kendra says, "we even went really fast." Ian had to sing in a church service on Sunday afternoon with his fellow spanish speaking friends so we did that then headed to Matt's parents cottage on Engelwright Lake. It was the first time we had been there so there was much to explore and do. The kids report that it was their favorite thing to do and we all had a wonderful time!

Ian, the serious fisherman. Didn't catch anything but stuck to it anyway. Matt caught two bluegill, one with a worm, the other with a piece of mushroom:)

Kendra splashing in the water.... I think she is part mermaid as she loves to stay in the water and is almost impossible to get out!

Lucas was on the prowl for frogs. He and Ian caught many...scaring their mom as often as possible!

There were some really big snails that we saw on the bottom of the lake. Kendra collected them and Gavin enjoyed looking at them and taking them in and out of the bucket.

Four really cute, wet kids sitting on the dock! Thanks grandma and grandpa for inviting us!

Back to School

The big 2nd Grader!

Can you believe that it is time for school already? Well it is. This morning I brought Ian to school for his first day of second grade.....amazing. What I found even more amazing was what happened when we went to visit his classroom yesterday. For those of you who don't know our kids are in a Spanish immersion program at Zeeland Christian. This means that they are taught all of their subject in Spanish by native speakers. Ian had a great year last year and excelled greatly in not only his general subjects, reading...spanish and english, but also math, science and every other thing you learn in 1st grade. Anyway, we have not heard much if any Spanish out of him all summer, except for one conversation he had with a guy at Walmart about fireworks. But, when he walked into his classroom yesterday he started speaking in Spanish...it was truely amazing and to tell you the truth I got a little teary-eyed. What an amazing thing...he also did an entire room scavenger hunt, in spanish, without my help....I don't know any more than about three words! So....on to another year of Spanish for Ian and WOW what an amazing thing. He will be considered bilingual when he is done with the 5th grade!!!!



Ready for school with a new backpack and shoes...didn't want to wear any new clothes!!



And......Kendra started Kindergarten at 12:30 this afternoon! Wow...she is getting so old! Kendra is just starting the Spanish immersion program so we will see how it goes. The first month or two is always a little interesting because the teacher speaks all Spanish and the kids no none. Kendra is so excited to be a big kid and go every day!

Love the short hair....how about you?

On really hot days we....

Lay on the floor and read books.

Vacuum!

Make space ships out of boxes and fly away to outer space in the kitchen!

Make rings with magnetic marbles.

And do what ever Ian and Lucas happen to be doing:)

Anything just to stay cool! It was 98 degrees outside with about 89% humidity!! It was hot!

3 wheels are better than 2

Gavin is now 2 1/2 and learned to ride his bike. For quite some time he only rode backward, but now rides quite quickly frontward. He loves to ride up and down the driveway...trying to keep up with his big brothers and sister.


Riding around in a circle.

Watching the pedals.

"Cheese"

Who said you needed water?

Here are some new pictures of the four cute Wiersma's captured by grandma Feenstra's camera. We ate supper with them and then the kids went to explore the barn. They tired of that after some time and took to the water....actually just he seadoo which should be in the water. They all took turns "driving."

Ian, Kendra, Lucas and Gavin....do you think they trust Gavin to drive?

Look mom, no hands!

PE Exam Update!

I thought I would put up a quick post to let everyone know that I passed the PE Exam! The letter was dated June 12, which was a little less than 2 months after I took the test. This is a huge thing for me in my professional life and I'm happy to not have to retake the test. Sorry I don't have any pictures to go with my post, Beth does that better than me!