The Story Continues...

We are officially on summer vacation and loving every minute!!! We headed back to St. Jo this past weekend where we enjoyed hours of fun on Lake Michigan. We are so blessed to have our own private beach at Aron's Uncle Dave's house. What make it even more special is that while we are running along the sand, collecting rocks, jumping waves, and soaking up the sun, we are also thinking of Auntie Karen. Every memory of her is surrounded by memories of the beach...her favorite place. She most definitely was looking down upon us this weekend laughing at all the fun we were having! A great BIG thank you to Uncle Dave for sharing his treasured spot with us!!! On another note...today is Aron and my 7-year anniversary!!! What a wonderful and exciting 7 years it has been!!! We will be heading to Mackinac Island on June 30th for a mini-vacation to celebrate!

The kids have become quite confident water bugs in the great lake! Sloane began by holding my hand while she swam, but by the end of the weekend she was an independent water adventurer!

Russell could not get enough of the waves! He swam for hours!!!
Mac is definitely our watch dog...never letting an eye off of his family!

We're not ready to stop...5 more minutes...PLEASE!

Check out the awesome kite Aron's dad gave us!

Russell took a turn trying to manage the kite.

Sloane took in a lot of time walking the beach, just like her mommy.

Time for a break!

And a snack!

Rock collecting!

Riding Aunt Karen's kayak.

After our busy day on the beach we put on pajamas and took a stroll downtown St. Jo to enjoy the "hot diggity dog" statues and ice cream!

Russell decided to begin a career as a "blue moon" ice cream model.

Sun, Sand, and Surf in St. Joe!

We spent last weekend on Lake Michigan while visiting Aron's family in St. Joseph. Our pictures show our weekend full of fun. Our last day of school is tomorrow so we are heading back to St. Joesph for another weekend on the beach. We are already enjoying every bit of summer vacation (and school's not even out yet)!!! I am definitely looking forward to relaxing days in the sun, nighttime strolls, and mornings of sleeping in!!!

The kids were in a hurry to dig and build in the sand.

Mac is our water dog! He LOVES the beach!!! Saturday evening we had a BBQ and ran through sprinklers.

We visited the water fountain and playground on Silver Beach Sunday morning.

Check out these blasts of water that shoot out every 15 minutes!

We spent Sunday afternoon at the Carlson cottage on the St. Joe channel. The kids helped Bevie clean the bird bath.

FUN! FUN! FUN! We love Lake Michigan!!!

Graduation Season

It's that time of year... the school year is coming to an end! For Russell this ending is extra special. He graduated today!!! He is now a graduate from pre-K! Due to a fall birthday, he had the opportunity to be in the pre-k classroom at our daycare this year and will be attending their kindergarten classroom in the fall. Don't worry he will be attending kindergarten again at our local public school the following year, but with the December 1st cut-off date we are taking every opportunity to give Russell all the wonderful school preparation we can without sending him off too early to public school! We are so blessed to have a daycare that offers these enriching programs!!! So, Russell and his pre-k classmates entertained the parents this evening with songs, a slide show, and snacks! The slide show brought tears to my eyes thinking back to the first day I dropped him off at daycare over 4 years ago. I cried the entire way to work and fought tears back all day long. Now I have become so attached to our daycare that I have to fight tears back thinking about someday saying goodbye to these women who have loved, nurtured, and taught my children so much. Thankfully we have a couple more years before this goodbye is upon us. What a fun night! We are all whipped and wishing it was the weekend already.

"Jesus, Our Super Hero"

Russell's best friend, William is right next to him.

"The Lord's House"
All smiles in his cap and tie-dyed shirt!

Sloane gives two thumbs up to the graduates! Here she was having fun with her best buddy, Ellie! Ellie's brother is in Russell's class. Yep, Aron and I aren't the only ones crazy enough to have kids only 17 months apart :-)

Memorial Weekend

Our Memorial weekend has definitely been memorable! We spent two days at my brother's home near West Branch. A lot of family came to enjoy fun in the sun while eating, playing, and relaxing. We ended our long weekend at home in Royal Oak enjoying the annual Memorial Day parade with our neighbors. I know it's not technically summer yet, but it sure does feel like it!!! I thought about signing the kids up for swim lessons this summer, but I think at this rate they might be ready to TEACH the lessons!!! They are turning into fish!!! We sure are excited about our summer plans...trips to Lake Michigan + travels to the Upper Peninsula = FUN! FUN! FUN!!!

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Picture Perfect Week

Here are a few pictures from the last week. The weather has just been MARVELOUS!

Some of our friends came over for a backyard barbecue Sunday. All the kids had fun playing in the sprinklers as well as the kiddie pool. It is always fun to watch them play.

Hot dogs, chips, and watermelon! Mmmmm...can we have more?!?!

Russell and Sloane were outside everyday from the time they got home from daycare until it was time for bed! We had the sprinklers and pool continuously in use.

They enjoyed bedtime snacks outside on the front porch.

After receiving the "save the date" card for our annual family reunion, the kids decided they better get practicing at the bean bag toss game in order to become the next CHAMPIONS!!!

I think they are ready?!?!

We are ready to head north tomorrow for a long weekend of fun with my family!

Are you ready for some SOCCER?!?!

The spring soccer season began on Wednesday. This was Sloane's first time playing and she loved every minute! Russell has been playing indoor soccer all year so he was excited to finally be outdoors. Sloane plays at 6:00 and Russell follows at 7:00. Sloane was shy for about 2 minutes and then never looked back. However, she did look up to shout "clap Mom!" Russell was an awesome sideline coach yelling, "Concentrate on the ball Sloanie!" and "Good job! I knew you could do it!" By the time he played, he was tired and ready to be heading home instead of onto the soccer field. Typically at 7:00 both kids are in the bathtub and getting settled in for a good night sleep. This spring schedule will take some getting used to.

Mother's Day

We had a beautiful Mother's Day at my grandparents' house in Middleville. It was so nice to see family and spend time relaxing, catching up, and eating delicious food! Aron's mom joined us as well so we were lucky and thankful to have both of our moms with us. The kids of course loved all the extra attention being paid to them by all of the adults. Motherhood is simply the best gift! This year both Russell and Sloane's daycare class sang adorable songs to all of the mothers and then presented us with gifts. I began to cry watching the precious little bodies singing "I love Mommy, I love Mommy, yes I do, yes I do..." Can't they stay this size forever?!?! Please!!!

After attempting to build a gun out of bristle blocks that kept breaking, my grandpa (a.k.a. Great Papa) built Russell his own "hunting" gun. Russell was thrilled to say the very least!

Cousin Katie spoiled the kids with lots of special time playing, painting, and cooking! She is the BEST cousin in the world!!!

Aunt Marilyn and Uncle Tom brought birthday presents for Sloane. The lucky girl received toys to stock her kitchen set at home. She's been playing with all of it daily ever since!

Both of the kids were wiped out after a weekend full of fun and adventure. They ended our Mother's Day celebration curled up together on my Grandparents' living room floor! Awww...can't they always be this sweet?