Sprinkler Fun, Pennsylvania, Memorial Day, and Rural Rush

Yep - lots going on these past few weeks! First off, I cannot believe that our daughter has been on this earth for almost six months now! Where has the time gone?! Eric and I have been so incredibly blessed with two healthy and wonderful children who sleep great, eat well, and are just plain old content kids (does this mean we're in for it when they hit their teens???). Anyway, Brooke has been a dream. She's rolling all over the place and starting to sit up a bit with support. She likes to eat rice cereal and oatmeal (although her tongue still gets in the way quite a bit!). I had hoped that I would be able to make it through the summer without her being mobile, but I am fearful that I may not be so lucky! She's just a happy kid and is so loved by us all.

I love this picture - the dimple is so pronounced!

With the string of warm days about a week and a half ago, Grant was begging to get out the kiddie pool and sprinkler. So....we hauled both out and he just had a great time. Here's a video clip of his fun in (or should I say around) the sprinkler-

As I mentioned in the previous post, I was anxiously anticipating a trip out to Pennsylvania over Memorial Day weekend to meet my brand new niece. Brooke and I traveled with my parents Friday night, while Eric and Grant stayed home (it was easier to travel with four people versus six, Kathi and Chad have very limited space in their apartment, and Eric and Grant could still be in the Memorial Day parade back home - pictures to follow :)). What a great trip - Brielle is beautiful and oh so teeny! Brooke used to seem so small to me, but she's a giant compared to Brielle. Here are a bunch of pictures from the weekend.

Oh how fun to hold a newborn again - but, sorry Kath, I don't envy not sleeping through the night :)
Mom and Dad on baby duty while Kathi and I went to Giant (the local supermarket) to load up on some GREAT deals; this grocery store doubles coupons up to $1! I got $60 worth of groceries for $12.50. They need one of these in Michigan, but they're probably smart to stay away - all of us Dutch people would push them right out of business with all our our coupon clipping!

A few attempts at getting some cousin pictures together.

"Hey Brielle, what's the deal? No need to cry. I don't bite."
(Do you like the Carl Levin/Donald Trump comb over she's sporting?? Arghh...so uncontrollable! Not sure what to do with it half the time, but I don't know if I'm ready to cut it yet either!)

While we were having fun in PA, Eric and Grant were making their own fun. For the third year in a row Eric drove one of his dad's restored Farmall tractors in the Memorial Day parade, and for the second year, Grant joined him. Thank you Joy for sending these pictures to me so I could stay connected with the happenings back home.

My two boys!
Luke, Tim, and Grant waiting for the parade to get under way.

The Tuesday morning following the long holiday weekend, Grant woke up exceptionally early for some reason. I love that the days are longer, but with that comes little boys who see sunlight filtering through their blinds at 5:45 a.m. and think "it's time to get up!" I don't work Tuesdays and Eric doesn't have to get up until 6:45, so we told Grant that if he was going to be up, he had to play quietly on his own in the living room. When it came time for us to get up, this is what we saw -
How cute is that!? He played for a bit and then realized that he was still tired so took it upon himself to drift off to sleep again on the couch- yellow deedee (the stuffed animal blanket that is attached to his hip at night) in tow; why he calls it deedee is beyond me!

This past Friday night some friends and I decided to run the 5K Rural Rush for a Cure in my old stomping grounds of the booming metropolis of downtown Overisel! It was a lot of fun! It's sponsored by the Hamilton Football team as a way to help out a great cause (cancer research). It was a beautiful night for a race, and it was nice to see a lot of familiar faces.

Me, Heather, and Marcy (Amy ran it as well, but unfortunately, she had already left by the time I realized I had my camera!)