Boating

The day after my sister's birthday celebration we went out on Jason's boat.  The weather wasn't super warm, but it was a good time to do it because Joshua was in town so her kids were otherwise occupied.  I really had no idea what to expect because this wasn't something I've ever done, but the kids LOVED it.  I am always such a worry wart about kids and water, but since they had their life jackets on and 2/3 of them know how to swim pretty well, my nerves were a little bit at ease.













































We started out at Lake Macatawa, which is a smaller lake that feeds into Lake Michigan.  Then, he took us out on the big lake and we boated over to this private beach.  The nice part of about this beach is that nobody can access it from the public so its only the boaters there!  There was his HUGE dune there as well that the kids of course wanted to climb up.  Dude was up the hill first because he was off the boat first.  We had to anchor a little bit off the shore and then swim in, which they thought was great!  They didn't mind that it was a bit chilly!  They just loved that they were on the beach and in the water.  Lucy and Holly made it up the hill next and then Norah and I followed.  Jason and Holly were so impressed that Norah made it up the dune, and honestly, I am too.  It was so steep that you couldn't stand up vertical!  Holly said that Eli is the only one that has been up to the top, if that gives you any indication!  The kiddos played for a little while longer and then we grilled dinner on the beach.  I think the kids really liked that.  Jason has this nice little grill that he has on his boat and then we just used his huge tube to bring everything to shore.  After our nice little beach dinner we headed back to Lake Mac to do some tubing!































Now, I have only tubed a handful of times in my life and it was very fun and stressful for me at the same time.  G seems to love doing it so he went with the kids in Big Bertha.  Norah was the first to go and she LOVED it.  She kept giving the thumbs up to go faster, but Jason is a kind man, and he only took her as fast as it was fun before it would hurt if she ever flipped out of the tube. Then, Dude went, and he was a bit reluctant about it at first, but man was he glad that he went!  He had so much fun!  Lucy went next and she had fun as well, but I think that she liked it the least.. which isn't to say that she didn't love it.





Papa even got a chance to go tubing by himself and get a little crazy.  He did really well, but he did end up flipping out.  It was impressive.  The whole day was absolutely amazing and they all passed out in the car.  A lot of fun in the sun, water and activity is the recipe for success!  :)

Thanks so much Jason for taking us out on your boat.  My kids LOVED it.

JVG

Cigars

For some reason I have always wanted to smoke a cigar... I'm not entirely sure why, but I always have.  I actually hate the smell of smoke but trying a cigar sounded so, sophisticated?  I dunno... I know that my Dad always said that it was about the flavor and that you aren't inhaling smoke or any of that, so why not give it a try.  I still haven't told my parents that I tried it, because my dad is such an advocate of not smoking anything... but... it was pretty fun! I would totally do it again.  Probably only do it once a year but definitely loved it!

I did it with a friend and we had no idea what we were doing.  So, we went into the cigar room and were just kinda overwhelmed with all the different choices!  We settled on the biggest cigar because it was ninja brand haha.  The guy at the counter was laughing at us because he could clearly tell that we had no idea what we were doing.  So... he gave us a quick lesson and then we were good to go!  He explained because it was such a huge cigar that we were gonna have to rotate it when we lit it so that it would actually burn evenly... he wasn't kidding!  It seriously took us a few minutes to get this thing to light but it was fun!




I liked the way that my fingers smelled after smoking it... we only got through about a quarter of it before I had to go, but... it was fun! :)

JVG

My sister's birthday

This year we got to celebrate with just my sister and her boyfriend for her birthday.  She had been saying for about a year the different things she wanted to have for her birthday dinner, and I kinda thought that she was joking... but she wasn't!  It was kind of an eclectic mixture of food but she loved it and that's all that matters!  I made some kimbap and she requested sweet potato pie, so I made her a personal sized one and a regular big sized pie.  It's a lot of work but I can tell she enjoyed it so it was well worth it!










After the kiddos went to bed we stayed up and played cards.  We hadn't played euchre in FOREVER so that was a lot of fun!  And, Jason is pretty good at it so that made it even more fun.  We stayed up pretty late playing cards, hanging out and laughing.




Happy birthday my sweet sister.  I truly believe that this year, you are happy.

JVG

Quebra and Dizzy visit!

Ever since we have moved into this house I really like having people over... mainly because I feel like we finally have enough space to properly entertain!  This was the first time Q and D got to see the new place and hang out, which is always a good time!  I know that the kids are always so excited to see them... so much so that they didn't go to bed!  But, it was really nice just hanging out, catching up and talking wedding stuff!  :) :)  I know that they wanted to kayak but it was a little late by the time they got there... but there will be plenty of time for that next year!

JVG

Oma Oma's good-bye dinner

After we had a fantastic day at the science museum (and we would've stayed longer if we didn't have another obligation) we met up with Oma Oma for her good-bye dinner.  It was nice to get together with them one more time and I know that the girls and Oma Oma have a really good time together.  Karl-Jan was here a few years ago when i was pregnant with Norah, so it was fun to see him too!  After dinner we went to Schuler's because it was too early to make the long drive home and have the kids fall asleep.  It was fun to read books together and have Oma Oma see the kids in their element.  Lucy even conned Ingrid into buying her a scarf haha.  It was a fantastic visit all around and they made it home safely.






















Until next year Oma Oma!  We are eagerly awaiting your next visit :)

JVG