Memorial day memories!

The memorial day parade in Zeeland...a long standing tradition! See Lucas in the great blue jacket? I wore one when I was in kindergarten too! Do you think it might be the same one?

Gavin on the three school float! He was so excited!

All four kids ready for the parade!

Lucas in his jacket!

My sister Megan wearing the same jacket way back in 1985!

I think Spring is coming!

Gavin and I worked outside in the backyard for a few hours today. Here he is taking a rest with Oscar.

Some pretty flowers in our landscaping.

Super cute helper!

We decided to cut up the pine trees so that they wouldn't hang all the way to the ground....makes the backyard look so much bigger!

A tiny little tulip...loving the sun and the warmer soil!

Michigan = Snow

It has been a really long time since I updated the blog...sorry! But, since I now have time...here is what we have been doing...playing the snow, and lots of it!

Playing on the big pile of snow in front of the house.

Gavin waiting for the "big kids" to get off of the bus.

Over Christmas break...my sisters, brother in law, kids and I went to the zoo! It was fun, cold and we had the zoo to ourselves!

Lucas posing by the Wolverine exhibit.

Fall at the Zoo!

Since the kids didn't have school last week Thursday of Friday, we decided to spend some time at the zoo. It was a beautiful fall day and we pretty much at the whole zoo to ourselves!
The kids even got to climb on John Ball without waiting!

Aren't they cute hanging all over the place?

Watching the penguins.

They are redoing "redoing" monkey island so all of the monkeys were inside. I think that they monkeys were just as interested in the kids as the kids in the monkeys.

Climbing on the wooden train. Again, no wait!
(The thing behind Ian is a mummy that they zoo put there for their "zoo goes boo" night.)

Fall Fun!

Fall fun is what the boys had after school today! The boys all wanted to play outside, Kendra didn't. So, I walked to where they were playing and this is what I found. Gavin in the pile of leaves being made by his 2 older brothers.

Lucas cleaning off his rake!

Ian raking up the leaves.

Jumping in the pile.

One less tooth!

Well, today Lucas lost a tooth....actually he had it pulled by the dentist. Lucas' front teeth have not had a very good life....he first fell on the driveway and bunged them up pretty good, then fell and hit his sisters head with them. Anyway, the left front one abscessed about a year ago and has since turned a lovely shade of brown. So, at this last dentists appointment they recommended that it be pulled. So, that is what we did this morning. Lucas was very brave and didn't even flinch...now he is the proud owner of a gap in his smile that the dentist says will probably be there for at least a year...oh well he is already thinking of all kinds of fun things that he can do without a front tooth...he is eager to try drinking with a straw! Here are the before and after pics!

Before...see that kinda brown tooth?

And the after shot....he looks pretty happy! Oh, he also got to turn the train on at the dentist. (The dentist has a train that runs around on a track near the ceiling...the hygenist said it is pretty rare for the dentist to let anyone turn it on except himself....it must be Lucas' great blue eyes!)

Apple Picking!

Last Saturday we went apple picking. We went to the Dutch Market which is just north of South Haven. We had a great time....we took grandma and grandpa Feenstra along as well as Aunt Jennie. We picked a HUGE bag of apples and now are working on eating them...maybe some apple pie too:)

4 kids ready to pick apples!

Grandpa found the tall ladders and everyone had to try!

Kendra asking if she can pick that apple!

Me and Jennie!

Lucas hiding in the apple tree.