Happy Campers!

The campsite

Happy campers

Joel set up the tent in the backyard.  It took a few days, but he finally got a day off, so he and Kyper camped in our backyard.  We even had a campfire.  Kyper was so excited!  He actually went to bed super well in the tent--maybe we should set it up in his room and it will solve all our bedtime drama?  ha.

Recent Happenings

Joel has been rotating through the Neuro ICU.  Most months when Joel has short call during the week, which means that wen he is on-call on Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, or Thursday, he is only at work until 9:00pm and then can come home.  If he is on-call Friday or Saturday, he is on-call overnight.  That is super nice, because it means I will get to see him every week day even on call days.  The reason they do this, is due to how they organize nights.  Joel will have to do four weeks (2-2 week blocks) on night-shift this coming year.  All that to say, Neuro ICU is a little different--he is on-call overnight every 4 to 5 days.  I have to day, I don't like not having him home to help with bedtime, but it is pretty nice to have him around early afternoon.  He is normally able to sleep at the hospital for a few hours when he is on-call, so he only sleeps a few hours in the morning/early afternoon.  Since, this means he has been around some weekday afternoons we have had the opportunity to do some fun things with the kids.

First up, the zoo.  This trip we took Kyper' best friend, Frank, along.  The kids had a lot of fun.

Frank and Kyper popping up in the Prairie Dog exhibit.

Kyper talking to a prairie dog

Posing with the turtle statue after seeing all the reptiles.

Watching the gorillas

The polar bear swam while we were there!

Second up, the village.  There isn't to much to say about the Village.  We rode the train and the carousal.  We also watched the glass blowers make a glass bowl.

Anja and I

Kyper and Daddy

 Another fun thing we did was go to Eastern Market.  We did this on a Saturday when Joel had off and my parents came out to visit for the weekend.  We have lived in Detroit for a total of 6 years and just did this.  I think we will go back; it was fun.

Kyper and the big pumpkin

Kyper and Grandpa Herk

Clean House and Cuteness

I had a huge work project at the end of August, so I was at the project site for 5 days straight for about 11-12 hours the majority of those days.  And, well Joel is a 2nd year neuro resident, so he has crazy hours too.  Needless to say, our house was a disaster.  I was home this past week, so I motivated myself (and Joel helped when he was home) to clean!  Our entire house from basement up is now clean.  I know it won't stay that way with two little ones in the house, but man it feels so good.  Kyper helped us clean too--he helped spray the windex on the windows, he loves to help put the "bubbles" in the dishwasher and washing machine, and he loves to wash the table.

As we were cleaning our upstairs, I realized I had never posted pictures to show my readers our office space and bedroom.  (I know--only over a year late.)  So, here you go:

Office Area--we love the built in shelving. The door leads to some attic space (we have a little attic on each side of the room).

Bedroom--the verse above our bed is "He will quiet you with his love" Zeph. 3:17

Dresser

Closet

To end, I just needed to post this...isn't she the cutest?!

Playing

Labor Day Swim

We found something cool at the lake today.  Listen to the narrative as we let "Snapper" go.

PS: Aren and JP, "I caught a turtle once."