Vacation

First up was the Meijer Gardens.  It was beautiful and the kids loved the children's area. 

No, they aren't in jail; it is just the kids entrance:

Playing at the Great Lakes water table:

Smelling the plants at the 5 senses garden:

Playing in the giant sandbox:

Next up was the zoo.  The kids loved it there too.  Here is petting the pygmy goats:

Feeding the birds:

And just letting them hang out on her head:

Finally, the Grand Rapids children's museum.  Playing some music:

Working at the kennel:

Working at the model public library:

Here is librarian Sarah:

Working as a pizza chef:

And at the bank:

Gassing up the cars:

And fixing them:

And chaffeur:

Turns out they were really indecisive about a career!

And last, the water park in the hotel:

Tennis

Emma started a tennis camp yesterday.  She says it was super fun and easy (not sure if it was really easy given she didn't hit most of the balls, but fun is great)!  Here she is actually making contact forehand:

And backhand:

Weekend fun

Over the weekend we had some fun with the kids. First up, cake baking with mom.  It was a tie dye cake (a true pain to make) and the girls then decorated.  Here is the finished product:

Then daddy built his new robot with the girls:

The robot in action (controlled by Emma):

Catching Up

We have been so bad about posting (sorry!).  So in return, you will get a few posts all at the same time!  Here is what we have been up to lately.  First up, the library activities for the summer:

Sesame street came to the library.  Here are the girls with Gordon (though they have no idea who he is):

 Posing with Aurora (don't know what she has to do with Sesame Street, but there she was):

 With the shining knight:

They also got to play a new type of drum while there:

 The library then had classroom critters.  The girls were brave and held the snake:

 And the tree frog:

Next up: Fourth of July.  We go watch the parade Aunt Christie's office is in every year.  The girls love it because they get lots of candy, not to mention free ice cream and popcorn!

We also got to see Aunt Stephanie, Kayla and baby Allison.  The girls really loved the baby, though it was impossible to get all 4 to stay still and look at the camera at the same time:

And finally, a cute picture Papa caught at the planetarium this weekend.  There was a free show about all the animal constellations that we took the girls to (and Mimi and Papa tagged along).  Papa got the girls with the world on their shoulders (well, they are so short more like world on the head, but same thing):

We will try to stay more updated from now on!

Field Day

Emma's school hosted its Field Day today (the outdoor fun and games day).  Emma had a great time.  First up was the water balloon toss.  Sadly, the kindergartners, including Emma and her partner, were terrible at it:

Next came tug of war.  Emma's class won, but it took about 2 minutes total.  Here is just a clip of her pulling as hard as she could:

Next came the water bucket races:

Then the hula hoop chain:

Next up was a rest period and then off to the scooter races:

Last it was off to the obstacle course:

Needless to say,  Emma was very tired by the end of Field Day!

Happy Actual Birthday Sarah

Happy 3rd Birthday Sarah.  And it only took 3 birthday posts to get to her actual birthday!  Anyway, the day started with a birthday lollipop (because why not):

The phone calls started early.  Mommy only caught Papa singing, but Mimi, Grandma & Grandpa, daddy, Aunt Stephanie all called.  Here is her happy face each time someone called:

 After dropping Emma off at school and Emma's class singing happy birthday ( Sarah had a huge grin for that), mommy and Sarah went off to the playground:

After the playground came lunch at the requested Olive Garden:

After dinner came the presents.  Sarah was so excited about everything, running and jumping (except when Mommy tried to get a video of that):

Here she was practicing (or cheating) with the fishing set Aunt Stephanie, Uncle Mike, Kayla and Allison got her for the pool:

And finally, the cake and the last singing of the day:

Brian and I distinctly remember her being born in a hospital and not a barn, but you couldn't prove it by this video:

What a fantastic 3rd birthday.  Next up, Grandma and Grandpa come to visit  for part 4!

Happy Birthday Part 2

We celebrated Sarah's birthday with Mimi and Papa over the weekend (mommy is just slow in posting).  Here she is opening her presents:

She really like her new sheets:

She got a big girl bike (no more pushing for mommy).  She was so excited she couldn't even wait to get it outside to try riding it:

And once she finally got outside with it, she got the hang of it pretty quick:

Next up, the birthday day!