end of summer pics

New PJ's for fall...

Couple weeks of Kindergarten under out belt and seems summer is quickly gone. We enjoyed one final weekend up in Wisconsin with both a visit from our friends, Megan & Nick & Hailey and also my parents who came up for a night.

Finally we had good weather & cherished all the sunny hours on the beach











Zach and Hailey heading out in the kayak(well at least in the shallow waters)














Cameron spends a lot of time playing around in the tall grass, looking for sticks and rocks to throw in the lake
















Zach & Hailey taking a ride at the Family Fun Fair in Sheboygan, a must do over Labor Day weekend.















Zach was so proud of the sand castle he had built















Checking out the train that one of the neighbors put in their back yard. I will admit it was pretty impressive and the boys would have spent hours watching it go round if we could have.













Taking a hike along the beach with Nana Woolley
















This is how Mark & Zach spend most of their time on the beach, goofing around in the water. Its way too cold for me!

1st day of kindergarten

I can't believe it, but has this day come already? And I'm still not sure if I am ready? Is Zach ready?

Sending your first born away for his first full day of school, whether it comes as early as Kindergarten or not till 1st grade, it is such a milestone in their lives and ours as parents. This is the beginning of his life as a student, hopefully from now until he graduates college.

We have been prepping him & ourselves for this and can only hope he is somewhat ready. I definitely have been more emotional about it then I expected myself to be, I keep trying to blame it on my raging pregnancy hormones, but not sure if that's the case.

I will be glad when this first day is over with!

fun summer weekend

We had a great weekend as we celebrated Mark's birthday and I had several of my high school girlfriends in town.

My friend Jessica, who now lives LA, came in for visit so my friend Beth, from Seattle, threw her a baby shower. It was great for a bunch of us to get together, as those times are few and far between.











We also celebrate Mark's birthday with throwing him a big party. Seen here at his big birthday party!
















A last minute visit by Uncle Paul, from NY, in town to celebrate Mark's birthday. My boys love him and followed him around all weekend. Poor guy didn't get a break!

Raging Waves

As we prepare for beginning of a new chapter in our life with all day kindergarten for Zach, we have been trying to packing some final fun summer activities.

Sara & I talked our Mothers into having our #2's for the day and took our older boys to the Raging Waves Park (www.ragingwaves.com) in Yorkville, Il. It was a blast! I would highly recommend it. We definitely will be going back next summer and I hope the boys will be a bit braver to try some of the "big boy" rides.






Zach & Max braving the slide together


















boys under the sprinkler












Zach coming out sideways down one of the bigger slides

Camping in Door County, Wi

We attempted our first (last minute) camping trip this past weekend. We headed up to Door County with the minivan packed to the gills, expecting a weekend with nice weather. Friday we had a great day; hiked in the state park, had a picnic, spent all afternoon setting up camp (seems like so much more stuff is required camping with little ones), went out for ice cream, had a campfire, and roasted marshmallows. Phew, we packed it in!

But as it turned out, it was good that we did, as the heavens opened up Friday night and didn't stop. We ended up heading home a day early, as the forecast looked extremely bleak to put it mildy, the power was out at the campground & all nearby towns, and there are only some many things you can do in the rain with kids. Despite all that, it was a great experience and I would do it again.
However, maybe not next summer, as hopefully all being well, we will have a new little one in the family! Oh, for those of you who are may not have heard through Facebook, we are expecting again!











Mandatory pictures after climbing the tower at the Peninsula State Park











overlook over the lake















home sweet home for as it turned out, less the 24 hours....











roasting the marshmallows


















Enjoying the smores

travels

Couple of busy weeks for us. As summer is quickly winding down and Zach starts school in a few weeks we are trying to make the most of the time we have left before heading to full time Kindergarten...First we spent a long weekend in Wisconsin with some of the Leys' cousins. We seem to only see each other every few years so we had a great time visiting with them and all the 2nd cousins had fun playing together.












Then we had just over 24 hours at home before my Mom, the boys and I headed up to Grand Rapids for a visit with some friends and my sister. We spent two days with Bradi and her two girls. We packed a lot in our time together, including a beautiful morning at Millennium Park as you can see here in these pictures. This is Raegan & Zach












Sydney, Zach & Cam eating numerous snacks of course.














Then we moved over to my Sisters for some time with her kids. We too had a great time together and enjoyed a visit to Fredrick Meijer Gardens. We also were able to watch my oldest niece perform at GR Christian's Summer production of Aristocats. She did a great job and it was fun to be able to be there to support her.



These are the few and only pictures I took of the kids together, Cam & Kiera at FM Gardens











Dirk, Dayna, Cam, Kiera & Zach

Our 4th in Wisconsin

We were up in Wisconsin for the 4th with Mark's whole family. We had a great time with his two brothers and our niece & nephew. We had some mixed weather, but we made the most of the time on the beach when the sun did warm things up, as well hitting the local parade & fireworks.














cousins
















family photo op at the fireworks


















Nana & Grandpa Leys



















Ahhhh, Camers