Recent Adventures

One plus to Joel being on his ER rotation is that he sometimes gets days off during the week. This week he was home with us on Monday and Tuesday. We decided to make the most of his time off and the beautiful weather and go to the beach on Monday and the zoo on Tuesday.

Port Huron is a little over an hour away, but we needed a big lake fix. So, we headed up there for the afternoon on Monday. It was fun. Although, I am disappointed in the state park up there--it wasn't open. I thought State Parks are open year round. Fortunately, there was a county park that we could go to, which was free. So, we sat on the beach and had a picnic lunch. We sat close to the shore with Kyper and he got to play in the rocks and sand. (Lake Huron has beach sand, but the shore is covered with rocks--not quite as nice as Lake Michigan but still good.) After sitting on the beach, we went to Port Huron's waterfront/boardwalk and had a nice stroll. Joel saw a freighter. It was a beautiful day and very sunny. Joel and I have some beautiful tan lines from the day--mine hurt a bit. Below are some pictures:



On Tuesday, we headed to the zoo. We love our membership! Joel wanted to go see the polar bears and seals, so that is the only exhibit we hit up. It was so crowded. But, we did get to see the polar bear swimming. Here is a picture:


Joel is now working today and tomorrow. He then has a few days off until he starts working 5 night shifts in a row. This rotation is making him a nocturnal being--he has 13 night shift and 4 day shifts for this rotation. Although, I think he may see more of Kyper awake when he has a night shift. :) He only has 8 more weeks until he can officially call himself a 4th year!! He graduates a year from this weekend. The time will fly!

A New Ingredient?

A few months ago I wrote about how I just can't get cookies right. Well, today the cookies were not flat and tasted really good. Actually, I think they are some of the best chocolate/butterscotch cookies I ever made. But as I was eating one, I feel something hard. I thought "huh, that isn't right." I proceeded to pick part of a twisty tie out of my mouth. You can laugh; I did. So, I got all the ingredients right, except it seems like I added a twisty tie. It adds to the texture. Haha. I guess this batch of cookies will keep us on our feet seeing as I am not sure if there is any more twisty tie or not.

The Descent down the Dune

Here is he video I tried posting last night. I need to preface the video with a few notes. First, I do not have a tail, rather it is Kyper's pacifer and clip that is hanging from my back pocket. Second, pardon Renee at the end--she had a little sand in her mouth.

Camping

This past weekend we were able to go camping with some college friends, Josh and Renee. This was the first time Ky went camping. It was a pretty uneventful weekend, which is nice compared to our last camping adventure with Josh and Renee when we survived a tornado in Muscatine, IA. Read that adventure here.

Here are some of the details about the weekend--
Where: Warren Dunes State Park on Lake MI.

Weather: During the day it was nice. I was comfortable in jeans and a sweatshirt. In the evenings and at night it got a chilly. I was comfortable in multiple layers.

Things we did: we had a campfire both nights--s'mores and hobo pies were cooked and consumed. Joel and Josh hiked and climbed dunes. We all played Quiddler and Pirateer. I took Kyper on several walks around the campground. We cooked a bacon and egg breakfast. We all climbed a huge dune the morning before we left. Josh and Joel went for a morning kayak ride.

How Kyper did on his first camping trip: Kyper did well, although I think it will be a lot easier and more fun for me and Kyper once he is done nursing and walking. Our site was very sandy, so I didn't really let Kyper crawl around. He also does not do too well in a new environment, so even if I did put him down he probably would have come right back to me. So, I ended up holding him or he was confined to his high chair or stroller. He slept pretty well when we put him down for the night, but both nights he woke up crying. We had him quite layered, but I still think his head and hands were cold. The first night he woke up at 3:30am. Since, Josh and Renee were in the same tent as us, I picked him up right away. He wouldn't go back in his pack-n-play, so he ended up spending the rest of the night sleeping with Joel and I. The second night he woke up at 12:30 am and we let him sleep with us again. I think he stayed warmer with us.

Pictures:

He likes his high chair.

The tent had what I like to call a doggy door...it was the perfect size for Kyper.

Josh, Renee, and Kyper all waiting for breakfast.

Josh and Joel's hike was very mucky.
But then they found dunes to climb. Joel is king of the dune!My favorite two men.
Family Picture on top of a dune

The view from the top.

I was going to post a video of our descent down the dune but it didn't work.

Hope you enjoyed our camping adventure.

Dutch Dancing--Holland Style

I decided to video tape some Dutch dancing this year. Yea, I know super touristy, but I had a purpose behind it. First, some of you have never been to Tulip Time in Holland, MI. So, here are a few clips from the dance that is done many many times over the two weeks of the Tulip Festival. Like I said--clips, I am sure if you Youtube it you may be able to find the whole thing--but make sure you put in Holland, MI. This brings me to my other reason. When we lived in IA, we went to Pella's tulip time and watched their dutch dancers. It was a different dance. So, I wanted to show my IA friends the MI dutch dance. :)

In Holland, MI the Dutch Dancers are not children like they are in Pella. You can choose to dance starting in High School. So, the clips below are of my niece's group. She is a sophomore in high school. After the high schoolers dance, the alumni dance downtown Holland. The costumes you see have been inspected and passed by a board of people...Holland costumes are super strict compared to Pella's.

And without further ado I present to you several videos of he MI dutch.



Stay tuned for stories from our recent camping trip.

Tulip Time 2010--Holland Edition

So, this year we went to Tulip Time in Holland, MI. Did you know that Holland's Tulip Time is he 3rd largest festival in the country. Both Joel and I grew up in/near Holland, so we got to experience it every year growing up. We decided that since it was only a two and half hour drive Kyper was going to experience a bit of Tulip Time too.

We got in on Friday morning and spent the afternoon at Joel's parents. We had dinner at good old Russ' with my parents and grandparents. After dinner, we headed downtown. The weather was pretty miserable, but we decided that Saturday was suppose to be even worse. So, we found where Mariah, my niece, was dancing and watched her dance. It was fun. Here are pictures:


Saturday, we went to breakfast with Joel's parents. Joel and I headed to my parents in the afternoon to take pictures of 6 of the 7 grandchildren in Dutch costumes. (Mariah was Dutch Dancing) Here are a few pictures of that event:

This is the best picture. We only had a short time to get everyone.

Sunday, we headed back to the east side of the state right after breakfast. I wanted to spend a relaxing day at our home on Mother's day. Joel ended up needing to study quite a bit, but it was a relaxing day. Joel let me take a long nap in the afternoon while watching Kyper. It was excellent. I am so blessed to be a mom. Mother's Day is a great day, but I thought a lot about friends (and women I don't know) who so badly want/wanted to be moms and it just isn't/hasn't happened or maybe they lost a child. If that is the case Mother's Day might be one of the hardest days of the year. I hope they know how special they are and that I am praying for them.

To end, here is a picture of Ky after our walk in the woods. I think he liked it. :)

Sharing

Kyper is learning how to share already. Let's hope he remembers this when it comes to a toy and another kid.