1st grade!

Well, the day that Mommy has dreaded arrived. We sent Jamahl off to 1st grade today. The summer was so great and went way too fast. He was very excited to go and was up before I went in to wake him. No hesitation, no anxiety, just ready to see his friends. He had a grat day except he had some sort of trouble eating his lunch but we have yet to get to the bottom of that situation. Mommy and his sisters missed him but knoew that he was off having a great time. Jamahl is enrolled in the Spanish immersion program this year so pretty soon, you can say "Hola" to him! Here is to a great school year!

Meeting up with his best friend Landon. We got there, and he was gone! Love ya!

Waiting in line with his buddies

The annual picture with the T-rex!

An entire day without sisters!

Last Thursday, we spent a great day in a suburb of Chicago, visiting the Lego Discovery Center. Jamahl has been dreaming of this since before it opened at the end of July, and we were thrilled to be able to make it possible and be a part of it. We had some wonderful people stay home with all of the girls and myself, Paul, my Mom, and Auntie Roo, all accompanied Jamahl to this mega lego world. I wish you all could have been in the car when we pulled into the parking lot after our long 3 and a half hour drive to hear Jamahl screaming out of excitement. I of course, couldn't control my emotions and walked into Legoland crying. It is very rare that both Paul and I get to spend time with Jamahl without the girls, so we treasured every minute of it.From jungles, rides, and movies, to endless hours of building and testing, we had an amazing time. We did some shopping afterwards and had dinner at the "Cheesecake Factory", ending our day at IKEA. As we were leaving, Jamahl looked at us all and said, "nothing could have made this day more perfect...no, I am telling you the truth, NOTHING!" And that is exactly how we all felt! It was great to spend the day with you Jamahl, you are an amazing kid...so smart, witty, kind, and compassionate. We are so blessed to be in your life!

A day in the dunes

A few weekends ago we spent the day at Hoffmaster State Park in Muskegon. Uncle Jeremy joined us for the day and we all had a wonderful time enjoying the beautiful dunes. We investigated the nature center, hiked the half mile trail down to Lake Michigan and back, played in the water, climbed tall dunes, had a snack in the woods, and had a great time together.

All of the kids taking a break on the Trillium rug

Does it get any more beautiful than Lake Michigan Sand dunes?

The best of Buddies, Jamahl and Uncle Jeremy

Ice Skating in August!

Yes, you read that right, we went ice skating last week. Jamahl has been wanting to work on his skating skills so he got on-line and found out when our local rink had open skating. Friday was the day, so off we went. Auntie Roo had plans of laying by the pool but we convinced her that ice skating would certainly be more fun! It was quite the event. We all got our skates on, and off we went to the ice. All five of the girls surprised us and could walk in their skates without help. I have to admitt that I was tempted to not even get skates for Keyan but boy was I proven wrong. She walked out to the ice, grabbed her buckets, and away she went. It was amazing...my little "disaster waiting to happen" figured out how to lean on the bucket and move. I couldn't help but feel a little ashamed about underestimating her. I hope she just keeps proving us wrong. Abby was the star of the day though. She was all over the ice, twirling, stopping, going fast, and loving every minute of it. Sidney was not fond of the ice no matter what we did. She finally let me push her around slowly but made sure I did not go to fast. McKenzy had to go potty about 100 times so once she finally warmed up to skating, it was time to get off the ice. Jamahl is making great progress in his balancing abilities and surprised us all when he was able to fall and not panick! It was quite an adventure that we will certainly be doing again soon. Of course, you just never know what crazy thing we will try next.

If you want to see the pictures slower, just click on the slideshow!

The County Fair

I am a little behind in posting but I wanted to share what we have been up to. A few weeks ago we all went to the Ottawa County Fair. The kids had a great time. They spent a lot of time checking out the animals and petting them all. We had supper at the fair, and we even had a few dollars left so they could each choose two rides. The girls have never ridden rides, but they were quickly carnie professionals! We had a great evening together as a family!

Grasshopper invasion

OK, these pictures do not do it justice but we have a grasshopper infestation in our front flower garden and along the side of the house. It is the most amazing thing!!! If you look closely at the pictures, you can see all of the grasshoppers.There are hundreds of them, all different colors, shapes, sizes, and types. It is so weird. They must have heard that large families are welcome here! You have never seen anything like this. All you hear is hop, hop, hop, almost like large rain drops. It is certainly something to behold!

Our first baseball game

We all joined my Mom's extended family for a local ball game. It was a lot of fun and the kids really had a good time. Of course, like anything else, it takes an army to go with us in order for us all to survive but I guess that is what family is all about. We had all sorts of treats and made at least 100 visits to the little girls bathroom, but we had a blast non the less. It was a lot of work but very nice to do something besides sitting at home.

Paul and I actually had a minute to share a quick meal without the kids hanging all over us! Grammie and Poppie had them all occupied with ice cream!

Jamahl thoroughly enjoyed the Dove Bar that Poppie bought. That face sums it all up!!!

Sidney is just too cute for words! She loved spending time with the family and getting spoiled with the special treats.

And than there is Keyan....we didn't know if she would be healthy enough for the game but she was doing alright so we decided to give it a try. She was so happy to be out and about. It was great to see her completely engrossed in having fun. She clapped with every cell in her body and cheered the loudest of all. It was wonderful!

McKenzy liked the ice cream too but only the vanilla part. She doesn't really care for chocolate!We were very proud of McKenzy because she made it thru the fireworks after the game without crying. She sat with her ears covered but was able to enjoy the colors. It was a great night with family!