Back up to the last day of virtual school. I took the kids on a bike ride to downtown Ada and we had a picnic lunch from Blimpie and then smoothies and lemonade from Brody B's. We always do something fun on the last day I just couldn't let them get off their last zoom calls and do nothing! It probably meant more to me to have some closure than it even did to them, but I can honestly say I needed the closure that this little celebration brought me.
The Farmer's Market is back!!!! I'm so excited that a few of our favorites were able to return even with Covid altering our summer. Laney's been getting fudge from this lady named Sandy every week. Last week she asked her for her recipe :-) Sandy was so happy that she had asked but politely explained why she couldn't share it. Blueberries, strawberries, and fudge...mmmm good!
Laney and Abby on the slide! We've been having play dates safely outside with friends now that school is over.
Big cousin helper! The kids just can't get enough of baby Maren!
Laney and Alexis...another friend Laney hadn't seen in months. They couldn't help but just hug each other so tight when they saw each other. I almost cried.
I had Kate's girls, Bennett and Renley over to play one day. So fun!
One morning Evie woke up, went into Laney's bedroom, woke her up, and asked her if she could wear some of "Nana's earrings" today. She hasn't done that but maybe 3 times since she passed away 2 years ago. It was so heartwarming for me because it just happened to be the anniversary of my Grandma's passing, and I was already thinking about her more than usual. Evie and Nana had a special bond and I am so grateful for the time they had together. Evie must have just known this was the day to bust out Nana's earrings!
Beach day with Kate, Bennett, Renley, and Carson's friend Graham! We all met at P.J Hoffmaster in Muskegeon and spent the day playing in the sand, climbing the dunes (until the sand got too hot and burnt our feet, ouch!), swimming, boogie boarding, and soaking up the sun. It was our first time at this beach and it was amazingly beautiful with the dunes right on the beach. The beaches we have right here at our fingertips are crazy gorgeous!
Can't leave a beachtown without stopping for icecream! What a day!
Dog park fun with Charlotte.
Laney and Thapaysia had a lemonade stand one afternoon and they both wanted to purchase matching shirts from amazon with their earnings. Chosen and purchased completely on their own!
Nicky and Ollie came to visit!! It's the most exciting time of the year when they get to come stay with us! And as an added bonus, the Mazloom's came to spend the day with us on Saturday. It's so great when we can all be together!
Carson has been taking violin lessons all summer so he was excited to show Uncle Blake what he had learned and get some tips from the master :-)
Nicky liked to be in charge of the hose, Ollie on the other had was a boss on the slip n slide! That kid went down more times than I could ever count. I can't imagine how his little legs felt that night after running of that hill 100 times!
We busted out Evie's birthday pinata since her party was cancelled.
The kids were having too much fun. The adults had to give it a try too!
Until next time Stalders and Mazlooms, we always love spending time with you!
The week before the pandemic shut everything down, our Sunday School had just wrapped up our initiative of donating items for kids going through a homeless rehabilitation program that we volunteer with here in Grand Rapids. Our Sunday Schooler's were planning on packing the items in backpacks the Sunday everything went dark. It's all been just sitting up at church and we finally decided they just needed to get packed up and sent out to the kids we were trying to help. So I took Carson, Laney, and Evie with me to get the task done. Wow, they were eager to help and they were like machines! Carson got his own system going and Laney and Evie worked their tales off! We got it all done in about an hour. It felt good to do something useful together!
There's all the backpacks, packed, in church, ready to be blessed during our virtual service and sent over to Family Promise. Good job kids!
Our pool opened up! I was sure it wouldn't, but it did, and we are going every sunny day we can!
These two are just little besties all of a sudden. So nice to have best friends right across the street.
More beach days! We met some friends at North Beach up above, and again at Oval Beach in Saugatuck down below. I am loving exploring all these new beaches!
We stopped at Big Lake Brewery in Holland on our way home from Oval Beach. It's the first and only time we've eaten out. We had lots of room on the patio and it was actually really nice. Probably the first time I didn't take snacks or crayons or anything and the kids just actually sat up to the table like polite human beings and chatted with us. Let's keep that up, ok?!
Ahhhh the 4th of July! We were all bumming because walking to our little Ada parade and watching Amway fireworks is our FAVORITE...but never fear, Ada Moorings Neighborhood came through! We organized our own kids bike parade around our block of the neighborhood and then we had a voluntary parade of our own. The fire department and sheriff even offered to lead it. And Carson volunteered to be in the parade and throw out candy. He hung out the sunroof of Patrick's car and even wore a 4th of July hat. Y'all, I don't know how much longer he will be up for things like this but I can't help but hope he never stops. This kid just gets to me sometimes! We had Maeve, Maren, Auntie, Uncle Adam, and Grandma and Grandpa come too. We had a big brunch in the garage and put up a tent and honestly, probably my all time favorite 4th of July ever.
Just look at all these cuties!!! Ugh I love just thinking back about this day! When Maeve came swinging around the corner bringing up the rear of the kids parade on her tricycle just smiling ear to ear and even putting up her hands and riding NO HANDS...I laughed so hard I almost peed. I could barely breath, I think it was more of the joy I had watching her just loving life. Seriously one of my favorite moments in life.
There's Carson, coming with the candy!!
Mr. Yost put on a spectacular fireworks show for us to cap off the night. We have the best neighbors. Period.
Evie loves using that cherry popper!
Sleepover in Auntie and Uncle Adam's new basement! Whoop whoop!
Laney and Kate reunited! Gosh, the
first half of summer did not disappoint! We are hoping we can keep having fun while staying safe, and we are praying for a medicine, vaccine, and/or a cure for Covid every night.
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