Whirlwind

These past few weeks have been just a whirlwind of activity.  For starters, Chad and Kathi were home from PA, so we spent some time at the beach (not nearly as much as I would have liked given everything else that was going on in our lives).  We were able to squeeze in our annual "throw together and ask someone to take our" family pictures, so here are some of the better ones (difficult to get pictures with four little ones needing to cooperate!).  Thanks for your help Doug and Jan!

This one made me laugh, because Brielle has this "enough already" expression and Brooke didn't really want to cooperate, as we tried to snap some of the kiddos at the end (and Bryce was crying, so he was already removed from the picture).

Given the hecticness of our summer, we decided to do a mini get-away to the Chicago area to visit Legoland Discovery Center and the Brookfield Zoo.  It was just what we needed, and we all had a great time.  We spent two nights at a hotel.  I had originally booked the same Holiday Inn in Schaumburg for both nights, but before our first night was even complete, I transferred our registration to another hotel close to the zoo, as the one in Schaumburg came, I swear, directly from a bad 70's movie set in the tropics.  It was old and ugly.  There was bamboo everywhere for decor, the pool was gross, the hot tub was the same temperature as the pool, there was a dirty bandaid in the hot tub area, and an extension cord that was plugged in and providing power to the lights on the trees around the pool ran through an area by the pool with standing water.  The list could go on.  What got me is the fact that this place got good reviews online!  Anyway...our 2nd night was in a much nicer Holiday Inn, and Eric absolutely loved it because we had an all you could eat breakfast bar!
We spent the first day at Legoland Discovery Center, and Grant was on Cloud 9.  It was rather pricey for the amount of time you can really spend there (about 3 hours), but in the end, we felt worth it because the kids definitely were not bored.  I was most amazed by the Lego city that replicated downtown Chicago.  Wow!  It not only was a huge display that was to scale of the major attractions downtown, it also cycled through a day, and thus, at night, buildings lit up, people riding the sightseeing boats took "pictures" and cameras flashed, etc, etc, etc.  Amazing.

G and B posing in front of part of the city (can it be - normal smiles from both of them?)

The background is a bit dark, but this was in the Lego jungle (there is a hippo to Brooke's right, monkey behind Grant's left shoulder, and the lily pads are all made out of Legos).  There were many other animals and scenery made of our Legos as well.

The kids could build their own Lego cars and then race them against others down the track.  Brooke's car smoked all the other boys!

 Riding one of the rides.

I didn't get too many pictures at the zoo.  It was a beautiful day, though, and it was a really nice zoo.  Older but clean and lots of great animals.  The highlight from that day was at the hippo exhibit.  As we approached, there was a group of about 20 Amish people.  Nothing against the Amish, but Grant had never seen Amish people before, and frankly, I was quite nervous what question(s) I would be asked and if those questions would come at an inappropriate time.  We viewed the hippo without any issues, and as we were walking away G turned to me and said "Mom, what are Dutch dancers doing at the zoo?"  Good thing our backs were turned and we were walking away because I busted a gut right there - laughed so hard I was crying.  Oh the innocence of a 5 year old!  Here's a picture of some of the "Dutch dancers" at the zoo -

Swimming in the hotel was a hit with both kids, and the great part about the pool on the 2nd night was that the children's pool (there was also an olympic size swimming pool) was shallow enough for Brooke to actually touch, which meant she wasn't confined to the stairs or me having to hold her the entire time (because the girl refuses to wear swimmies or think that she might actually be okay in a life jacket).

Last week Eric's whole family was privileged to be invited up to Allison's (Brian's girlfriend) parent's cottage up at West Lake.  It was just a gorgeous day, and we had a riot.  Brooke loved riding in the boat and actually enjoyed tubing with Eric, and the boys all loved riding the ski board.  It was just too cute watching the littler ones (Grant and Aaron) riding around the lake like they were skiing.  I think it was Grant's favorite part of the day.  Some of the adults skiied as well (here is where being pregnant puts a bit of a crimp into things, as I couldn't do any of the water activities!).  We got to meet Allison's parents, ate a delicious lunch, and just enjoyed everyone's company.  It was so nice of them to invite us out.

The following day we ventured out to Green Lake in Caledonia to hang out with friends at Nate and Heather's parent's cottage.  Unfortunately, the dreary weather kept us away during the day, but things cleared up in the evening, and we had a great dinner and enjoyed some time on the lake.  Grant experienced his first kneeboard ride.  He wasn't so sure of it at first - he fell on his first try, and then refused to try again.  However, Isaac was a pro at it, and after he went around the lake once, Grant was willing to try again.  He didn't fall this time; however, he wasn't too sure of himself either and cried for the first part of the ride, asking us to turn around and bring him back to the cottage.  It was rather comical, as those of us in the boat just kept cheering him on.  Finally, he because more at ease and at the end said it was awesome!  Again, just love seeing little dudes doing water sports!

Eric and Ted had to test their manhood with tube rides as well.  I must say, Nate was rather nice to them and there were no injuries and only a few tumbles to be had.

This past Monday we ventured out to the Hudsonville Fair to watch Eric's dad participate in the tractor pull.  He pulled in two different weight classes, and it was fun to watch the action.  Because of the large number of participants in each division, the kids didn't quite have the attention span to sit through it all, so we made our way through the animal barns and ate some yummy treats (thanks Grandma!).  I don't know exactly how Dad finished in each division, but he did quite well!

Lastly (and probably most time consuming of all), the house continues to progress.  There have been lots of changes these past few weeks with framing taking place, so we've tried to make it point to head out their every night or every other night.  This has meant for double the number of baths that the kids normally get because they come home just filthy after playing in the sand.
We have been very fortunate to have just awesome weather, so things have been coming along nicely.  It's also nice to have parents that live merely a half mile down the road monitoring the progress for us on nights that we can't get out there!