Camping at Yankee Springs

We went camping this last weekend with the new camper for the first time. Let me just say I cannot get over how much easier it is to take that than it is to take the tent. The plan was for me to get the camper hooked up and meet Matt south of GR. However, once I got it hooked up we had no lights. Jason and I worked on it until we got them working but they were dim...after several phone calls to dads, we figured out the problem and fixed it temporarily. We had no problems getting there/driving with the camper. The weather was beautiful. We camp at Yankee Springs in the rustic campground. We love it there because the campground is huge, we can make reservations for what we want and it is only 45 minutes from home. Saturday we went hiking and if I remember right from last year, the trail we did was about 2.5 miles. The kids BOTH walked and loved it. They climbed some trees and had a blast. We went over to the beach on Gun Lake and swam in the afternoon. I tried to take pictures there but it was so windy that even our chair would blow over when I was not sitting in it. So needless to say I sat and held down the fort while the rest swam. I read a little and then decided to deflate the toys so I could swim too! Sunday we packed up after breakfast and came home. We worked on the bathroom a little, cleaned the cars and then Dad and Phyllis came over for dinner. We have not had such a relaxing weekend in a long time. The only thing we thought was missing was the sailboat. We need to get a new car so we can pull two things at once! :)

Here are some photos from the weekend. I tried to narrow it down!

We made omelets in a bag for breakfast the first day and this is us making them.




Our hike and some tree climbing.

A week without Riley

This week has been so quiet without our Riley around. She has been really busy though and she is having a blast at Papa Ron and Grandma Phyllis' house. They have been to Michigan Adventure, out to eat, the beach, miniature golfing and much more. She is in heaven. I miss her though. Carter is so different without Riley around too. It is fun to watch him as he acts so much older and he is just so entertaining. We are always laughing. Last night we took him for ice cream and when we got home he got in the tub. He was really excited to take a bath without Riley. The picture of him in the tub is us saying hi to each other through the little silver thing in the tub. If you look you can see him looking at his reflection in the tub. The other picture if him with his rain coat the other day when it was raining. Riley will be home tomorrow and then we are off for the weekend camping in our new camper! We are all very excited.

Ooops...I never posted these

These are just some pictures that I took when Riley turned 7 and I just realized I never posted them. They are nothing special but I think they really capture Riley. Enjoy!

Carter's Three Year Pictures

Carter's pictures have been posted on Abby's photography blog if you want to check them out. Thanks again Aunt Abby.

www.wierengaphotography.blogspot.com

Painting, Painting and More Painting!

So, since the middle of May we have been remodeling our bathroom. The project we thought would take a couple weekends has taken too long. We basically ended up gutting and re-plumbing the whole thing. Definitely not what we had bargained for. But we finally got to the painting and it seems like I have been painting for three weeks straight. Everything needed a couple coats and trim took three coats. Then once I finished with bathroom stuff I decided that I would paint the hallway since I painted the ceiling in the hallway over a year ago and never did the walls. Then that led to the doors to all the bedrooms. I wanted to update hardware on everything as well. Even that project has had slow-downs such as the holes in the door are drilled wrong and blah, blah, blah. I am excited to have the garage back because it is full of doors and trim. I hope to have everything painted by this weekend. I realize I just babbled on about paint for too long and sorry about that. Riley is at my dad and Phyllis' house for a few days because her cousin Lucy is here from Chicago. They went to the fair last night and today I think they might have gone swimming. I am sure she is having a blast. Carter is hanging out with UNcle Jason and mommy because Daddy is in Chicago for a couple days. Carter was such a good boy today when Aunt Abby was taking his pictures. She got some great shots and I will post them soon for you to see(I posted a couple unedited pics today). Other than that it has been all about the painting!

Riley's busy week

Wednesday night we had a Girl Scout Family Picnic at a park in Zeeland. We were able to eat and start the activities before the storms came rolling through. The kids left with Matt before the rain and I stayed to help clean up (leader duties). Here is a picture of Riley's centerpiece that she made for our table which had to be a camping theme. The food was great but only about half the people showed up.



Yesterday Riley finished up her gymnastics camp. She is so fun to watch. I think she really likes it but is not confident enough. I know she can jump because I have seen her do it on the tramp at Grandma's. However, when she tried at gymnastics it was like her legs would stiffen up and she couldn't do it. Here are some pics from that.








Here is one more that I got permission to post from Riley. This is her GRACEFUL attempt at the vault... or not.



Last night Grandma Jennifer and I took Riley and her friend to see High School Musical On Stage. It was at Forest Hills Performing Arts Center. I tutor a girl that was in the show. It was great and we had a good time with just us girls. Riley also had her first sleepover. It went really well and they even fell asleep reading books.

Our Anniversary

Matt and I went out without the kiddos tonight to celebrate our 8th anniversary. We had a nice dinner and then drove around looking for a place to put the sailboat in the water. Nothing too special but we spent the evening together. It was nice since Matt is out of town so much. Oh yeah, we went to Kohl's too to return all of the bathroom stuff we don't like now that we have the tile in. We chose some new stuff but couldn't buy it because I have a 30% off that starts tomorrow. I am sure Matt thought I was crazy when we found what we wanted and they had it but I wouldn't buy it until tomorrow. Oh well. We came home and I have been playing with my new computer since. I love it. I got a MacBook and I have really missed my Mac that I had when I was teaching so I am very happy to have another one. Anyway, off to bed.