April 14: Indoor Picnic with Grandma Smits

Yummy yogurt!

I attended an all day conference in the area and was thankful for Grandma Smits who came to watch the kids for most of the day!  One highlight for the kids was the indoor picnic that Grandma orchestrated -- a perfect special activity on a day where we try to do something special.  Our kitchen table was in pieces since we were swapping it for Grandma and Grandpa Smits's old one.  The replacement table hadn't been set up yet, so the perfect solution was the indoor picnic!  Thanks, Grandma!



Koen took Grandma's picture!



November 5-6: Overnight at Grandpa and Grandma Smits

The boys always love spending time with grandparents, and this overnight was a perfect fun-thing for them and a perfect babysitting-help for us!  Seth was running the Christian Eduction bowling fundraiser for our church on Saturday while I had a Premier Designs training all day in Allegan.  Grandma was kind enough to pick them up from the bowling alley and take them for an overnight.

This arrangement also allowed us to have a date night (with Brielle, of course) so we ventured out to Barnes and Noble for a supper of soup and sandwich and and evening of browsing.  Seth also picked up the newest Lee Child book (one of our favorite authors!) with a gift certificate he'd received as a thank you gift.    

September 16: Grandpa & Grandma Time

We didn't need to go anywhere for today to be a special day...Grandpa and Grandma Davies were here visiting and available to play for most of the day.  Of course the favorite activity was to play trains with them, but there were also towers and train sheds built with blocks, chases around the house, books read, and tickles swapped.  For supper, we did venture out to Monterrey Grill in Caledonia (which was possibly more special for Mommy and Daddy since we don't go out much).  The boys enjoyed the tub of toys they keep there for the younger restaurant patrons.  All in all, a special day!

September 9: Going to Grandma's

We started our day visiting the consignment shop, LOLLiPOSH, on the north side of town.  Basically, a friend of a friend had just gained ownership, and it was the grand opening!  Mary DeBoer had told me about this place a while back because they have such cute hair headbands, etc. for little girls, in fact, Brielle has worn them in a few of her pictures.  So off we went to meet Mary and her kids.

After that, we trucked out to Holland to spend the day with Mom (and Dad when he was finished with school).  For the past four (?) summers, we've frozen corn together and today was the day.  Dad had kindly husked most of the ears before I arrived.  Mom and I spent a few hours working together and froze about 5 gallons of corn (bagged).  It's always wonderful to have "fresh" corn in the middle of winter!

It was a gorgeous day so we did some of the work outside.  Sage was outside the entire time we were there...astounding!  Tysen followed us out and spent most of the afternoon entertaining himself out there.  I also laid Brielle on a blanket when we were out there and she LOVED it!  She cried each time we brought her inside and stopped crying when she got back outside!  Koen was content to stay inside and play trains, though we did get him outside a few times.

Once the corn was cooling, Koen and I went on a mission to find gym shoes that would work for him.  I've tried a few pairs but none were OK with him.  I thought if he had a say in picking them out, it might make a difference.  Wouldn't you know, the first pair he saw he tried on and liked.  Of course, they were Toy Story shoes which are WAY cooler than the clearance shoes I'd found.  He was not happy about putting them on to show Grandma and Grandpa, so we'll see how it goes at school next week. 

Seth had a golf tournament in Ludington, MI, early Friday morning, so he and the team went up north after school Thursday.  Since he wasn't going to be home, the kids and I stayed for supper.  The kids had baths -- the boys thought it was hilarious that Brielle's bath was in the kitchen sink, got jammies on, played for a bit more, and then home again.  A great day! 

August 27: Grandma and Grandpa's House

I hadn't planned anything official for this "Special Day," so it was nice when the boys were invited over to Grandma and Grandpa Smits's house overnight.  Grandpa Smits came over to help Seth work on the basement some more (it's looking really great!), and then he took the boys home with him.  They came home with new treasures (aka Thomas movie, back pack, and game) and stories galore.  They particularly loved swimming in the "pool" -- the cooled off hot tub.  They also got to go the the Holland Christian football game although it sounded like they were excited about everything except the game!  It doesn't matter what they do...it's just special when it's with grandparents!