New Sparkles

All I can say is that my husband is awesome.




JVG

Blueberry/Strawberry picking

Earlier this year we went strawberry picking with the Mins and the kids LOVED it.  We had a day where we had nothing going on and the weather was beautiful so we thought we would see what fruit was in season and go pick that.  Turns out, it was blueberries!  Jane suggested that we go to Brookside and pick so we went in the afternoon.  :)  It was much more labor intensive to get the same amount of strawberries but it was a lot of fun.  The kids liked having their own bucket and picking blueberries, and, of course, sampling.  We did get a couple of pounds worth because everybody decided that they were hot.  I personally don't like eating them plain, but I think that they are yummy in things.  I made this blueberry coffee cake with Justus later that weekend, which was fun to do together and a great way to use up some of the blueberries!  Holly's kids seem to love them so that helped put a dent in it too.  :)












Ava wanted to pick some strawberries, which they had a few of, but since they weren't in season they weren't the best.  Strawberries this year weren't that sweet to begin with, but they had a lot of fun picking regardless.  I'm glad my kids enjoy being in nature so much!

JVG

Oma Oma visit 1

Lieve made the trek over to visit again this summer and we got a chance to visit with her!  It was a nice little visit because we had things planned through the entire visit so there wasn't a lot left to mess up.  I thought that I was going to have to teach but my lesson cancelled last minute so I got a chance to go to BARK with Dude.  I thought it would be nice to have her see what the kids are into and how awesome our community is, but she seemed bored.  Oh well.  We did get a chance to go get food at Food Dance which was a big treat me us.  I just love how they have things for the kids to do while they wait and how laid back everyone seems to be.  The girls really hit it off with Lieve and they had a good time.  :)  It's always so nice to see her and I'm glad that she is still able to come and visit.

My delicious burger...

The kids thought that they were hot stuff sitting at the bar

The Lieves together

The girlies were loving hanging out with Oma Oma

We got a foldable wagon

Waving good bye!

JVG

Good bye Brian and Heather!

There was a going away party/roda for Brian and Heather.  Brian is joining the air force and Heather got into a PhD program in Florida.  They held it at Fort Custer where there are a lot of trails and they have a beach and picnic areas.  It was a nice turnout and the weather was beautiful!  The kids weren't that interested in the roda part so we walked down to the beach where they had a good time.  :)  The actual park and beach were nice, but the people who went left a little to be desired.  I'm so used to everything being smoke free (even public places) so when almost everybody there smoked it was a bit of a turn off.  It was nice to be able to see people I haven't seen in awhile and to wish both Brian and Heather good bye and good luck on their future endeavors!

JVG

Happy birthday GRCM!

We made it to the Children's Museums birthday bash this year!  Their theme was beach/ocean and they had a lot of fun free things to do outside.  All the stuff outside was free, which was nice, but afterwards we went inside and played until we had to go home.  Ever since Dude was little (and G was working at CC) we had a membership there which was great... but now that we don't live around there anymore we decided to not renew our membership.  Its such a great deal if you go there even twice a year, but we really don't anymore.  We love love love the CM and we are so very excited that they have been blessing children for these many years!


































JVG

B.A.R.K.

Another fun program that the library does is called BARK.  People bring in old service dogs and have kids read to them.  For us it's a great way for our kids to get used to animals in a safe environment and then they also get to practice their reading skills!  Of course, all the librarians love the kids so they recommended Sam, an older golden retriever, who they said was perfect, and he was.  Lucy wasn't so sure of Sam at first, but the owner tried to get them used to Sam by letting them give him treats and water.  When I checked in on them they were doing great!  Dude was reading and Sam was laying on his back just listening and loving it.  I'm so glad that they suggested this to us because it was wonderful!  Hoping to be able to do it again soon!  Just another reason why we love our library.  :)

Dude holding the picture of the dog he was going to be able to read too.  This was one of the great danes that kids read too... he was MASSIVE

Dog just lounging, listening to the stories

Duder being brave and petting him!

They got to feed the dog treats and give him water to get more used to him.  :)

JVG