silver

We took our annual Silver Lake Memorial Day Camping Trip once again. It was a bit chilly but we still managed to have a good time. Charlie was not such a happy camper. He has allergies so being in a tent for 3 days was kind of miserable for him; he just wasn't himself. Heidi, Jena, and myself enjoyed a Sara Evens concert on Saturday (love her!) and our friends all had a good time on the go-karts that night, maybe a little too much fun which is also a tradition! On Sunday, the sun finally broke through the clouds and instantly warmed the place up. We were able to take the boat across the lake to enjoy the dunes which we were so thankful for. We were only there for a couple hours, though, before we checked the radar and saw a storm coming in an hour. We packed up our tents as fast as we could. Jordan and I were cramming everything into our bags, baskets, and van when we looked over to see that Aaron and Heidi filled their pack-n-play and just threw it in their truck bed (which had a cap)! We packed up just before the rain hit. The girls had a great time. They rode their bikes all weekend and had a blast going to the public restrooms MULTIPLE times a day. They also climbed up the dunes TWICE and enjoyed a couple of boat rides! Maybe Charlie will enjoy camping a little more next year!

Check out all of our crap! Not included in this picture: 2 kayaks, 4 bikes, bike trailer, camping chairs, tarp. Jordan said, "there's gotta be something we can eliminate from this pile," so he removed the hot-dog fork that you see standing in the back.....

....though you can't see it, later I noticed that Jordan had added Ruby's baby's stroller to the pile that was 'too big' to begin with!

baby's getting a tan....

Charlie wasn't so sure at first about this new texture....

....but he decided he loved it!

The awesome pictures are courtesy of Lucas Sweet! Love this one!!

This one reminds me of Lloyd Christmas from Dumb and Dumber :)

Alec and Charlie!

Lucky us: we didn't have to wade through the (shallow) cold water to get into Brad's boat to cross over to the dunes!

Another great weekend with dear friends!

john ball

zoo.

My mom took the whole fam to the zoo on a perfect Sunday in May. It was a 'mystery trip' that she had been planning for awhile. We had a great time, too. We were impressed with the zoo as well, it was much better than any of us had remembered it being! There were kangaroos to pet and sting-rays, the kids fed birds and took a camel ride. Mom topped it all off with ice cream (after having cake upon arriving) and a trip to the gift store. The kids were exhausted after walking in the heat but we all had such a great time. Thanks, mom!

ice cream

charlie at nine months

My baby.

Nine months.

Unbelievable.

I'm not even going to mention it again that time goes way too fast. Charlie has 6 teeth now and the top 4 look like vampire teeth! Charlie is just such a happy little guy! He can pull himself up really well and walk slowly around furniture but doesn't walk yet (which is a relief!) He loves to eat! He has been sleeping through the night for awhile now and that is great although cuddling in the middle of the night is just priceless! (I say that now that I'm getting sleep every night!) Charlie is in the 25th percentile for height, weight, and head circumference. He's 19 pounds and 27 and three-quarter inches. He is cuddly but active, laid-back yet determined! He doesn't say much yet but he did start to say 'mama' now! I usually only hear it when he's upset, though! He's been saying 'dada' for a lot longer. He LOVES bathtime! He gets so hyper and he can about pull himself up and over into the tub! And, of course, he's still in love with his sisters and Gary! We just love our little man so much and it's so fun to see his personality come out more everyday!

annual dandelion festival

This was Jordan and my 6th year going to the Borculo Dandelion Festival (minus one year for me due to being a bridesmaid!) The girls loved it! Jordan and I were a little bummed that there wasn't a family fun run this year. We thought maybe we'd try to take over for next year and make it a bigger deal...? We'll see!

This first picture was during the parade. Notice all of the kids are bothered by the loud noises of the fire trucks except Ruby! And Ruby is such a foghorn that now I wonder if she doesn't have the best hearing and that is why she doesn't listen to us....?! Just a thought!

first 25k

We did it! We crossed the finish line at 2:38:03, the same time. We held hands as we crossed and raised them in the air so that hopefully we only have to purchase one picture! Our race started at 8:20 and we parked the car at 8:10. We had stopped to get some ponchos and an armband for Jordan's ipod. It made us much later than what we planned for! We ran to the start of the race and got there just in time to hear the horn signaling the beginning of the race. So we got a couple minutes break before we had to run again! We were lucky that the rain held off for us. On our way to the race, it was downpouring. The 5k and 10k racers were drenched and we only had a little drizzle. We maybe could have shaved 10 minutes off of our time if we didn't stop to go to the bathroom 3 times between the 2 of us. But then maybe we wouldn't have been able to run the whole thing. For not training much for the past month, I think we did pretty well. We felt great until the last mile. Jordan's calves both locked up so he couldn't really use them without feeling pain. He was running like Forrest Gump when he's still in his leg braces. Then, just as we saw the finish line, he said he had to throw up. I prayed so hard that we would make it to the finish! And we did! Jordan was leaning on me as soon as we crossed and some medic came to his side right away and led us to a tent full of runners that were laying down or getting massaged. Jordan didn't think that that was quite necessary though. I'm writing this post 2 days after the race and Jordan and I are still sore! We are very happy to be done with the training for it but now we are considering a marathon in the fall. We're this close so I feel like we better just keep going. But for the first week in 9 months and one week, I don't think I'm going to run a single day!

april....

...where did it go? We had a great month! I just looked back in my planner and there are only 5 days out of the 30 that don't have anything written on them.

We started out the month with a trip to the Frederick Meijer Gardens to see the butterfly exhibit. We enjoyed it and so did the girls but we don't think it's quite worth all of the hype. The butterflies don't exactly flock over to you if you're wearing a bright color! But we're still glad we tried it out!

We celebrated Easter in there, too. The girls and I enjoyed making some different spring treats. It's so much fun to let the girls get in on the fun. We did some nests and they thought that was pretty awesome and cake pops which were cute and delicious!

The kids were healthy for about three weeks and then Natalie got pink eye. And then Charlie. And then Ruby. They all got over it right away but Charlie seemed miserable and got a fever so I brought him in and he had an ear infection as well. He was on amoxicillin for almost a week and then broke out in hives all over his body. He's allergic, probably, to penicillin. At that same appointment, I had Ruby checked out as well because she hadn't been acting herself and she had an ear infection as well! She has a very high pain tolerance, I think, because I'd been asking her about her ears all week and she said that they didn't hurt. All of the kids are back on their feet again. Now we just have to get Jordan better (allergies?)

We had some great weather this month! I think the kids and I spent more time outside than in which is awesome! We have tans and sunburns already! The midwest states have had record-breaking tornadoes in the month of April and now in May. My heart just breaks for those people. There are so many stories of children getting sucked out of their parents arms and one spouse being left alive while the other right next to them disappears. Can you imagine? It is heart-wrenching! We have so much to be grateful for!

Jordan's been working up in St. Ignace a lot lately and we miss him so much when he's gone! We make up for his absence on the weekends where I feel like the girls and I can't get enough of him! We think he's done up there now. Hats off to all the single mothers out there! I wouldn't be able to manage my home without Jordan and I pray that I never have to! We sent him some pictures when he was gone....

And last but not least, we attended the royal wedding of Will and Kate! I woke up early to watch it and Ruby (who was in bed with me at the time) watched the first hour or so with me. Ruby never lets me watch a program without her approval (so I never get the remote when she's in the room!) but she didn't make me turn this off (which is lucky for her because I wouldn't have given in!) And then Natalie joined us and couldn't believe that princesses were for real. So there I lay in bed with my very own princesses watching this historical event! A little later, I was holding Charlie while standing inches away from the tv, waiting for the royal kiss and I looked down at him and he was leaning in to kiss me! It was an enjoyable morning until everyone got crabby from how early we had all gotten up!

So there's our month in review :)