The power he's learning he possesses....

"Nathan, please do not pull mommy's flowers off of the plants."

"But mom! It's so much fun!"

"I can't believe you aren't going to let me do this."

"I dare you to say no to me while I'm making this face."

A great weekend getaway

I'm having trouble sleeping tonight so I got back up and decided to post about our getaway this past weekend. Hopefully my lack of sleep won't bite me in the tail end tomorrow, well I guess I mean today.

You might remember my pictures (on facebook) from our weekend at my cousin's cottage in Michigan. We had SO much fun and I think it was one of the best times we have had as "just us" away from home ever! Andrew and Kelli have been asking ever since when we could go back and we decided it would be fun to go back with just the two of them! So we dropped Nathan and Emily off with Grandma and Papa and made the 4 hour trek to the cottage. It was so special to have that time with the older kids. There are so many times that we can't do what they want to do because it would interrupt nap time or the little ones aren't able to participate or it's too expensive for all of us to do it...It was just really good to have the opportunity to just be with them without the distractions that are a part of life with 4 kids! =)

The pictures are the best way to tell you how fun the weekend was!

The boys love to ride dirtbikes and the girls like to occasionally join in the fun! Kelli's bike wasn't running well so she got to ride along with Brian. Riding dirtbikes totally pushes me out of my comfort zone, but it's worth it on occasion to share in something that Brian and Andrew enjoy so much!

Kelli getting a refresher from daddy before we realized the bike wasn't running right

I think she probably had more fun this way anyway

I don't have a whole lot of pictures of Andrew because as soon as he gets the go ahead he is off!

Could she be any cuter???

Besides being cute, she's also getting so good with the camera! Check out this actions shot she caught (and check out Mom's proud expression that she was catching it!)

I have to admit there is something about it that makes you feel a bit hardcore :)

And then I'm reminded that I'm riding a bike that's just a bit bigger than my 9 year old son and I'm so sore because I've been gripping the handle bars so tight as I'm driving like maybe 5 miles an hour around an almost completely flat route around the property....and I can't help but laugh at myself...

The cottage is only about 5 minutes from Lake Michigan and both kids were anxious to get to the beach. It was a super warm day and it was the perfect way to spend the afternoon.

The water was FREEZING!! Like painful freezing. Like your legs were blotchy and red after getting out freezing. Didn't phase the kids a bit! :)

I wish I knew who these kids were, cause I love this picture! =)

Brian had been showing Andrew how to pick a good rock for skipping and when Kelli and I went for a walk down the beach she collected a bunch to try herself. She saved out the best ones for daddy.

It was a fun yet relaxing, much needed little weekend escape. There is no way however, that Emily is going to let us go again without her!

Playdates

I think I like play dates as much, if not more than my kids do! I love hanging out with other moms while our kids play! This week I brought my camera along on one of these play dates because I wanted to test out a theory I had about one of my lenses. I haven't gotten to that yet, because I couldn't wait to get my hands on these pics of our kids! This week we hung out with my friend Jess and her kids. Her oldest is the same age as Andrew, but is quickly becoming one of Kelli's favorite people to hang out with. Her middle child is the same age as Kelli, but plays wonderfully with Andrew. And her youngest is a bit older than Emily but has a similar personality and the two of them flit from activity to activity! Happy to have some photos to document our time together! It's always a blessing to spend time with you, Jess!

A community bowl of cantaloupe

Isn't that the sweetest smile?!

"RyRy" We want you to come back!

Little Miss Rylee came to visit Auntie Kori for a few days last week while mommy was working and then had her wisdom teeth removed. We had SO much fun with her here and she totally captured our hearts! We miss her tons! Come back soon, "RyRy"! We love you!

~Summer Time~

Every June we bring in the summer by attending a parade in Brian's home town. It's always a great day hanging out with family and enjoying the warmer temps and being together. The kids LOVE this parade because they throw out a TON of candy...seriously more than any other parade I've attended in my life! It's so much that by the middle of the parade, the kids realize they can start being picky and they just leave some of their less favorite candies lie on the street! Yeah, it's that much candy! What I love most about parades is watching my kids. I love the anticipation on their faces!

I always take a bunch of pictures of the parade and as I'm looking through them I always think that it was a waste to take them because the pictures I love the most are of the kids watching the parade. So this year I really didn't watch the parade at all. I just watched and photographed my kids.

The parade always opens with several local fire departments...fire truck after fire truck and ambulance after ambulance, all with lights flashing and sirens blarring. Every year I have always had one young enough to not like all the noise...

After getting snuggled on Aunt Amber's lap and realizing that there was candy flying out of the windows of these noisy trucks, he loosened up a bit, but still didn't like the noise...

It is pretty impressive to see all the fire engines, but really, it does get old after a while...there is a lot of ear plugging going on!

And then comes the little league teams, politicians, floats, clowns, motorcycles, cars and oodles and oodles of candy and happy children!

One picture I did take of the parade....thought this was too cute!

We had a special family join us for the parade this year as well! Shujun is a guy that has worked with Brian for nearly 10 years and he and his 3 children drove down for the afternoon! It was great to have them with us!

By the end, Nathan was still very docile, but waving to every person that passed by

This is what a missed nap and sensory overload looks like when you're two

After a yummy cookout and playing with the family we took a few minutes to celebrate Nathan's birthday this past week

This is always a great day~fun~food~and best of all~family..............