Pursuing happiness in life with our liberties!

"We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness."
—Declaration of Independence, July 4, 1776

And what a Happy 4th of July we had. Dakota and Daddy got up bright and early for a "boys only" fireworks shopping trip. (where Kota luckily got way more explosives then mommy would have bought). Then, since daddy was on call and had a bit of at-home work to do, Mommy took the kids to Lake Michigan where we met a bunch of great friends for a few sunny hours at the beach. We all had ice cream cones on the drive home and each took a glorious (manditory) afternoon nap.
After a few pleasant dreams we freshened up and had a house full of guests for a casual bbq & backyard playtime. eventually that switched gears into what Dakota excitedly calls the "Danger Party"! A driveway firepit for smores and kiddy fireworks!
That lasted till nightfall when the tireless of our group headed out to the hospital rooftop for city firework viewing. All in all the kids did great and we had a spectacular day.

Summer strawberry pickin'

With my favorite little pickers!

another day at the beach....

The Worlds Best Daddy Lives here!

Lucky us got to have daddy for the weekend. We spent Saturday getting burned and having a blast doing it at the beach. Sunday was all about spoiling him with breakfast in bed, gifts (including a book written by Dakota and dedicated to daddy), finished off with a big bbq dinner.Daddy, you are our hero and we love you more than sliced bread!
Thanks for taking such good care of us
and being so cool too!

My Firstborn Graduates Preschool

It's been a very happy year of school for my sweet & silly Dakota Jack.
I surprised myself by actually getting a little choked up on the last day.
So, I figured I'd make him a little yearbook to have printed for his memory shelf.
Here it is...

BIg Ball, Big Fun

Windmill Island

We recently had a little excursion to a nearby place in Holland, MI called Windmill Island. It's a beautiful little dutch village that explodes with tulips this time of year. With a few friends and our hoard of kids, we headed out there a few days before the actual start of the annual Tulip Festival so they could run around without the crowds. It was a chilly overcast day (unlike the perfect picture you see here) but still loads of fun for everyone. We brought sack lunches, toured the real working grain grinding windmill, poked through darling dutch shops, took a carousel ride, and of course saw zillions of tulips.
A great day that wore out the kiddos fabulously!

Easter shmeaster

Anyone who knows me, knows that Easter is by far my most favorite holiday of the year.
For one, it's meaning is far more important than even Christmas. It's the fulfillment of it all right? But then there are the lovely spring colors, everyone wears their prettiest clothes, gifts are given but kept to a minimum (not overdone and over stressed like christmas), egg hunts, chocolate bunnies, baby animals, spring flowers! ooh I just love it all. This year was a total bust however. Dakota tore apart his basket and collected all the eggs by 3am and kept me up all night long. The weather is just too dang cold here in michigan to enjoy wearing a spring frock outside, ended up being too sick to go to the school party dressed in my new bunny costume and daddy had to work all day so I slightly gave up this year. I have only two pictures from our egg painting before everyone broke down and im including one from a few days prior where the kids decided to dress and a princess & knight. Next year will be much better I promise. And I have big ideas for the future. Just you wait!

Spring Break Day 5

Our last spring break day activity was a bust.

It was meant to be our big day on the dairy farm.

There was a full two hour tour, cow milking, corn maze, animal petting - the works. We even met his favorite friends there. Unfortunately, after the long drive out there first thing in the morning, we soon realized it was much too cold and we were far under-coated to enjoy any of the outside activities. in fact, Dakota decided from the moment he stepped out the car that he would not attempt to enjoy this day even with borrowed jackets. We went into the barn and pet a baby cow. Dakota cried while his buddies ran around and 15 minutes later I piled them back into the car for the long ride back. We did agree to try again in the summer so hopefully it will all be happier then....The next day we hosted a family ice cream social with every topping you could devour.
I didnt manage to get any pictures of that so maybe this will help you imagine..
Since then, the last three weeks or so have been spent with wild bouts of sickness.
(thus the great delay in catching up on these posts).
If that was the price for one week of kiddy spring break then it was surely not worth it.
However, I prefer to think that at least we got a few things done just in the 'nick of time.

Spring Break Day 3-4

So for Wednesday and Thursday I signed up Dakota for "mini camp" and the local MVP sportsplex. He was able to spend several hours each day swimming, playing tennis, doing crafts and eating with little buddies. He said he liked it enough but would rather do something else next time. Oh well, we gave it a go. I on the other hand enjoyed the few hours of girl time with Lilly which we used to go shopping of course.

Spring Break Day 2

I had originally planned to sign up Dakota for a "Bug Clinic" and Frederick Meijer Gardens while Lilly and I played in the butterfly room but unfortunately I was too late and it was full :(
So as a last minute substitute activity I heard from a friend I could take a free intro class at Gymboree. Dakota did a little sport class with his two buddies, Rand & Norah while Lilly & I took a family class with our friends Carrie and little Hazel. Now if I could only get my house clean...

Spring Break Day 1

This week is spring break and we have planned a fun little activity each day for the kids.
Today was a kids greenhouse tour at Koetsiers where they got to see and learn how a plant nursery works. Dakota was even able to plant his own watermelon seed. It was a good little outing for a very cold and rainy day. (even if we did have to skip the outdoor bumble bee trailor ride)

My trip to see Sasha, Arizona & the Grand Canyon

A quick trip to Florida~

We survived it!

Traveling alone with two kids for a moment of fun in the sun

We met grandma there and she had the great idea of this blow up pool at the beach.

This one put the cutie in patooty

and slept when and where the moment grabbed her

I spent Valentine's Day out alone with my two little Loves
and we treated ourselves to some beach side key lime pie

Our last day was spent with grandma at Hollywood beach where we rented bike buggies and cruised the scene....

Just keepin' in cool...

Fall pictage

Autumn dream...

New York City Baby

Last September 11th we took our family vacation to New York. It's quite the wild ride with little ones en tow. (ok, maybe not as wild as we would have liked had they not been around). We were very grateful to be able to stay at Aunt Sandie's apartment and to have Keith folks meet us there to give the kids some G&G time. We tried to do as much as we could; boat ride to statue of liberty, museum of natural history, FOA Shwartz, Bronx Zoo, and most importantly, momma's purse shopping on canal st. We ate pizza, pastries, chineese, Indian and street food of course. There was lots we wish we could have done but time & kids didn't allow for it. Still, it was a memorable trip we'll cherish forever.
ps. Dakota finally came home and decided that living in the country might be nice afterall...

Halloween 2010

Grandpa & Nana

We were really excited to have my Dad & Lisa here last October, even if for a short visit.We went out to restaurants, Meijer Gardens, and the Toy Store!

I guess we figured since the builder Grandpa gave Dakota tools,
this Grandpa would give him doctor tools.

Lilly was set loose to pick out what she liked.
And thus began her intense love affair with all things Horse related.
This guy, Sparkle, is still months later her favorite thing in the world.(and this is her favorite pillow)

My favorite outing was the pumpkin patch (except for dropping and completly breaking my new little camera which has still not been replaced thus the lower volume of more recent pictures)

All in all we had a great time and I am so very grateful they were able to make it all the way out here. Dakota was very sad after they left and wants them back again soon. Maybe someday...