August 11 - August 18: My Trip to Arizona with Brielle and the Boys' Staycation

I had the amazing opportunity to go with my mom to visit my sister and her family in Arizona for a week!  Brielle joined me as she still flies free.  The only way it was possible for me to go was that Grandpa and Grandma Davies came through and helped take care of the boys as Seth was still working and had begun coaching.  Koen and Tysen loved the attention from Grandma and Grandpa -- they did a number of fabulous activities:  the new splash pad; the Children's Museum; visited Great-Grandma; went camping with Daddy, Uncle Justin, and Isaac; the library; and went out for ice-cream, just to name a few.  In the midst of all that fun, Seth and his dad renovated our main floor bathroom!  It was a huge surprise for me!  I told Seth I need to go away more often! :)

At the Children's Museum.

In Holland while visiting Great-Grandma Davies.

While Brielle and I were in Arizona, we didn't get out a whole lot just due to the heat.  We walked each morning before it got too warm, I got a ton of scrapbooking done on Brielle's first year book, and my request was that we do one tourist-y thing while I was there.  To fulfill that request, we drove up Mt. Lemmen and stopped at Rose Lake.  The drive and the stops were beautiful...it hardly looked like we were in Arizona! 

Cute Cousins -- It's fun to dress alike!

At the top of Mt. Lemmen:  Me, Brielle, Grandma Smits, Evan, Annika, Aunt Jane

Evan at Rose Lake.

The girls LOVED to play "Ring Around the Rosie".

July 30: Chicago Family Reunion

Tis the season for family reunions!  Every year the Smits family tries to get together for an afternoon to reconnect.  This year it was three hours away in Momence, IL, at my cousin Karen's house.  The day was gorgeous...perfect for swimming in their pool, jumping on the trampoline, or playing soccer, basketball, volleyball, etc.  They have a beautiful place!  The boys were most excited about the elaborate model train set in one of Karen's boy's rooms.  Unfortunately, the power was out a good share of the time we were there (which didn't hinder the party at all) so the trains were unable to run.  Brielle's favorite part was jumping in the pool to Mom or Dad! 

We all had a wonderful time swimming, eating, and talking.  Instead of turning around for another three-hour trip home, we headed to Steve and Lori's house to spend the night there.  The kids were so excited to have a sleepover with Henry...a little too excited!  No one got to sleep much before 10:30pm Chicago time (that's 11:30pm for our kids!).  We enjoyed most of Sunday there and then headed back home with a quick stop at Grandma and Grandpa's house to pick up Sage who had been left behind...poor puppy.     

July 28: A Little Family Reunion

Our "special thing" today was heading to Grandma and Grandpa Smits's house for a mini-family reunion.  My cousin Joy was out from Arizona with her kids, and Uncle Judd and Aunt Linda were out from Chicago.  The kids got to swim in Helen and Gene's pool (even though I forgot their suits!  Good thing underwear still works OK!), and as always, there was great food to eat!  It's always a joy to spend time with family!

June 19-26: Cousin Connection!

How do I write about a whole week of fun in just one post?  Uncle Mark, Aunt Jane, Evan, and Annika were in town from Arizona and Uncle Steve, Aunt Lori, Henry, and Evelyn were in from Chicago so we had a lot of family time!  Grandma and Grandpa treated everyone to a few nights at the Holiday Inn Express with a water park!  It was fabulous for the kids!  We also visited the Grand Rapids Children's Museum and Teusink's Pony Farm, a special place from my childhood.  We also splashed in the neighbor's pool and the slip-n-slide.  The kids enjoyed all the fun activities, but were thrilled just to have time to spend with their cousins!   

Tysen, Annika, Grandpa, Brielle, Evan, Koen, Henry, Grandma, and Evelyn.

Most of the grandkids:  Ty, Evan, Brielle, Henry, Koen, and Annika.

October 22-24: Chicago!

Koen had been counting the days since August for when we could go to Henry's house!!!  He knew we'd be going after Tysen's birthday and told everyone he met about it.  We'd made plans to visit Auntie Lori, Uncle Steve, and Henry so that Lori and I could do a Premier Designs Jewelry Show together and we could spend some time hanging out with them.  Little did we know when we made these plans 2 months ago that we would be traveling to Chicago the Monday-Tuesday earlier in the week for Grandma Rinsema's visitation and funeral.  Two trips to Chicago in one week after not having been there since July (even before that for Seth and the boys) was a lot, but so worth it!

Koen and Tysen had a great time hanging out with Henry, playing will all of his toys, and reading all of his books.  They also enjoyed the fact that Henry's TV actually gets shows they like, such as Arthur and Micky Mouse (we don't have cable or a dish, nor do we get PBS with the digital box we have).  Koen was excited to have a slumber party in Henry's room, and Tysen was happy to have a slumber party in Mom and Dad's bed (although that wasn't the original plan...apparently the bed is more comfortable than the floor!?!).  Brielle did just fine on her own in the pack-n-play.  :)

The boys enjoyed breakfast out on Saturday morning while Lori and I had the jewelry show and Brielle napped (just an aside...Lori's show was so much fun and she earned A TON of FREE jewelry!!!)  We had thought about going to a Children's Museum in Naperville for the afternoon, but between a late lunch and nap times, plus an early closing time for the museum, we decided to try it another time.  So it was a relaxing afternoon for the group with movies for the adults after the kids were in bed. 

Sunday began with a wonderful worship service in their church.  Koen even went up front for the children's blessing and left with the kids for Children's Worship!!!  He's growing up so much, as last time we were there (a number of months ago) he refused to leave with Seth and ended up staying in church with us.  After a yummy lunch together and some football on TV, we left for home again...with the boys asking when we could come back.

July 23 - 25: Davies Family Weekend at a Best Western

This is the second year we've had a Davies family reunion at the Best Western in Grand Rapids.  Both times we've been fortunate enough to have Aunt Elise and Uncle Jono (pictured on the right...Aunt Elise is holding Brielle) in town from Williams Lake, British Columbia.  It's always good to see them, as short and sweet as our time together tends to be.  We also were glad to spend one evening with Great-Grandma Davies from Holland (see picture below; with Grandma & Grandpa Davies)! 

The hotel has a pool which is great fun, especially for the kids.  Koen and Tysen had a wonderful time showing off their newly acquired swimming skills and enjoyed playing with cousin Isaac. 

We also spent time at the Grand Rapids Children's Museum.  Koen and Tysen were there earlier this summer, but still loved going back.  They even saw things we had missed during our first visit -- the train table and bee hive being the favorites. 

Within two hours of arrive home after the hotel weekend, Koen and Tysen took off with Daddy, Uncle Jono, Auntie Elise, Grandpa D., and Grandma D. for the Tinklenberg Reunion in Minnesota!  A whirlwind weekend!

June 7/Day 1: Game Day

After this past school year, I've learned that Koen really thrives on routine. He was THRILLED with the idea of having each day of the week hold a different special activity. He already knows which activity belongs with each day. Smart kid! And whatever excites Koen tends to excite Tysen.

So the first day on the new (flexible) schedule was Game Day. I asked Koen which game he would like to play...he has a number of games, many that we haven't played in a quite a while. I listed a few options and he replied, "I would like to play Thomas trains." OK. Not quite the "game" I had in mind, but it's a new way of life, so to speak, and there's no reason to quibble about the definition of a game, so we played Thomas the Train Engine and Friends for the afternoon. He was so excited!

As much as I don't like how the trains in the Thomas stories are rude and revengeful toward each other, I admire Koen's passion for his trains. I'm continually impressed by his story retelling/reenacting as well as his creativity with his own stories or revisions of stories he knows. If you ever want to hear a good Thomas story, give Koen a call and he'd be happy to share one with you (but first be sure you have plenty of time...you never know how detailed/long the story might be).

He's also recently branched out and begun using Duplo blocks to build sheds and the Sodor Steamworks for the engines. I've also rediscovered my enjoyment for building. Building with blocks in and of itself is a great activity...learning how to balance, how to fit together, how to work with structures so they are strong and lasting.

Koen & Tysen have plenty of opportunities to learn the joy of sharing while playing with their treasured trains -- sharing trains, sharing blocks, sharing tracks, sharing Mom's attention.

So our first game day wasn't what I had pictured, but maybe this flexible schedule will teach me a thing or two, too. Knowing this was the "game" I was going to play with my boys that day, I took a deep breath and actually enjoyed playing Thomas the Tank Engine rather than simply enduring it.

P.S. Tysen was napping most of the time we were playing trains, but was able to join us for some of the time after waking up. Koen graciously shared with Ty when he joined the "game"...I loved that part!

A New Beginning

I previously used this blog for a class I took, but I have new aspirations for this space! This summer I started something new with my kids...a flexible schedule.

• Sunday = Church/Family Day
• Monday = Game Day (Obviously, we'll play a game, do a puzzle, etc.)
• Tuesday = Baking Day (Yum!)
• Wednesday = Project Day (Koen doesn't get too excited about "crafts," but using the word "project" seems to work.)
• Thursday = Library Day (We look forward to this all week!)
• Friday = Special Day (Go somewhere special, have friends over, etc)
• Saturday = Swimming Lessons (at least into July...then we'll have to see)

I thought this would be a good place to share what we've done and maybe post pictures of our adventures. I make no guarantees as to how often I will update it, but I will do my best to stay somewhat current.

Enjoy!