full circle

It seemed strange to be back in Grand Rapids visiting my sister at their new house this past weekend. Although we have visited GR many times since moving away in 2005, this time it just felt different. It doesn't seem that long ago that my parents were the ones visiting us and now its our turn to visit my sister, life seems to have gone full circle for the Woolleys'.
I do enjoy going back to GR, seeing old friends, and hitting old favorite restaurants and spots. Now with my sis there it will allow us to make more frequent trips. The challenge now will be balancing out all the people I like to see and things I like to do. A nice challenge to have I guess!

My weekend masterpiece; painting Dayna's bedroom




Kiera & Zach playing dress up

Leys' daycare - back in business

Its official... summer is over! And let me just go on the record and say, that this was one of the FASTEST summers ever. Does anyone else feel that way? I feel like it flew by. I know its not technically over since its not even Labor Day yet and (hopefully) we have many warm days left, but for us its back to business and structure.

I started back with babysitting Hailey today as her mom, Megan, headed back to the classroom. No tears yet, as Hailey has been as good as gold. She has grown up quite a bit over the summer but fits right in with the busyness of the boys.

Taking a dip in the front lawn.

Zach, Hailey and our neighbor girl Alex.

short & sweet

Mark likes to raze me about the fact that I hardly ever give him props on the blog for being a great husband, dad, handyman, etc... compared to certain blogging friends (you know who you are without me mentioning any names :-).

Anyhow, today my #1 Dad/Hubby turned 33 and nothing makes him happier then swimming in Lake Michigan all day with his two boys.
So honey, this blog is for you and without trying to be too cheesy/sappy... you are a wonderful father and husband, we all love you very much and hope you enjoyed your day/weekend at the beach!

(p.s. no wise cracks allowed from certain WM friends)

the pains and joys of summer

Zach had a run in with some hungry mosquitoes




Backyard pool parties (well, our version of a pool party)

Sprinkler parks (Zach shooting Cam)

Picnics with friends (Zach, Max, Lauren & Chloe)

8 years

Our anniversary (July 29th) came and went this year without much fan fare (but still blog worthy), as it was it was the last day of our Leys' family vacation (still working on that blog too)

We enjoyed a nice dinner out with Marks whole family (minus children) on the eve of our anniversary, so technically I feel like we did make it out.

I went out and bought a new camera to surprise Mark. Our old camera was from 2003 and the delay on it was dinosaur slow, I was usually taking about 15 pictures of the same shot with hopes of getting a good one. Buying a new camera was just one of those things we kept putting off, but I am thrilled with my purchase (and thanks to camera guru Brenda... with all of her tips and recommendations), as its really more of a gift to myself then him!