August 20: Bike Ride!

I was VERY excited to find a great deal on this trail bike for Koen last summer at the Just Between Friends Sale.  If you're not familiar with trail bikes, they only have handle bars, a seat, and a back wheel, and in lieu of a front wheel, it connects to an adult bike.  Koen LOVED riding his trail bike!  We're hoping this is a step in the right direction to help him ride his bike without training wheels.  He's not quite ready for that yet, though.  He spends most of the rides checking behind us to see how far behind Daddy is with Ty and Brielle in the bike trailer.   

Trying out the trail bike.

Brielle's new helmet -- it keeps sliding forward so she holds it up with one hand.

Brielle climbed back in the trailer after we'd taken her out...she was ready for more!



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".

August 9: Real Lemonade

One of the "to-do" items on our summer check list was to make "real" lemonade.  I know the powdered kind is easier to keep on hand and less time-consuming to mix up, but it isn't nearly as healthy for us.  I've actually been making lemonade this summer with bottled lemon juice to get away from fake ingredients, and that hasn't taken too much more of an effort. 

We made some "real" lemonade last summer, too, but this summer we used a different recipe:  Perfect Lemonade.  It claims its title by using a homemade sugar syrup rather than just sugar so the sugar disperses rather than sinks to the bottom of the pitcher. 

I purchased an inexpensive juicer so getting the lemon juice wouldn't be quite as difficult as last time, and it did seem to help the kids!  They also had fun tasting the lemons! :)   Brielle couldn't get enough!

Perfect Lemonade

• 1 cup sugar (can reduce to 3/4 cup...we did)
• 1 cup water - for the sugar syrup
• 1 cup squeezed lemon juice
• 3-4 cups of cold water

1. Make the sugar syrup by heating the water and sugar in a small sauce pan until the sugar dissolves completely.
2. Use a juice to extract the juice from 4-6 lemons, enough for one cup of juice (our lemons were smaller and it took 7 to get one cup).
3. Add the juice and sugar water to the pitcher. 
4. Add 3-4 cups of cold water, depending on how strong you like your lemonade.
5. Refrigerate 30-40 minutes before serving.

Yield:  6 servings

August 5: A Trip to Cananda

We went to visit Grandma and Grandpa Davies for the first weekend in August along with Uncle Justin, Aunt Lindsey, and Isaac, Uncle Ethan, and Aunt Tracy.  With the hot weather we spent quite a bit of time outdoors which the kids loved!  Here are a few shots from our fun time with everyone.

The adult kids went to Stratford for a matinee on Saturday.

Boys being boys!

Cousins and buddies!

Grandpa and Grandma's little sweetie!

August 4: Boulder Ridge Wild Animal Park

Since seeing the advertisement on grkids.com, I've wanted to visit Boulder Ridge Wild Animal Park.  The ad has been up for a while but the park just opened the last weekend of July.  The kids and I really enjoyed the Wild Animal Park!  We went on a beautiful day -- almost a little cool after sweating it out in the humid      90-degree weather we've been having.  The owners have so many unique creatures, and each one was easy to view up close!  We also took a wagon ride around the park looking at more animals.  I learned a good deal about the different animals but am embarrassed to admit I can't even remember all the names of the animals we saw!  The park is home to animals mainly from Africa, Asia, and Russia. 

Koen, Tysen, and their friend Ian check out some snakes in the Reptile House.

A tortoise, Tysen, Me, and Brielle.

 

A lemur (also known as a "move it, move it guy" from the Madagascar movie)...one of our favorite animals to watch!



This emu "growled" at Tysen!  Yikes!

Brielle checks out a baby chick.

Tysen gently holds a chick.

Feeding the parakeets:  You can purchase bird feed on a stick and feed the parakeets in the bird sanctuary.  Tysen wanted to do this, but changed his mind as soon as he stepped into the sanctuary and the birds mobbed him!  I helped him hold the stick, but it was still a little intimidating to have all these birds flock to you and swarm around you.  Tysen apparently wanted revenge for being scared...can you see him in the middle of this picture?  His foot is raised because he tried to stomp on the little birds.  Fortunately, he missed, but I still made him leave the bird sanctuary immediately.

August 1: Grape-Nuts Cookies

More than one person rolled his/her eyes when I clipped this recipe out of a magazine earlier this summer.  What they didn't understand was that we'd had a box of Grape-Nuts cereal sitting in the cupboard for ages!  I thought this would be a great way to use up the remaining cereal and just possibly have a healthier alternative for a treat.  The boys were eager to help mix these up and really did enjoy the cookies! 

After we had each tried one shortly after removing them from the oven, we decided they might be even better with an add-in.  We had some Craisins handy so we tossed some in the last batch, and they turned out even better than the first batches!  Raisins or chocolate chips, etc. would also have been good choices.  We'll certainly hang onto this recipe!

Grape-Nuts Cookies

• 1/2 cup softened butter
• 1/2 cup firmly packed brown sugar
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 3 Tbs. honey
• 2 eggs
• 2 tsp. vanilla
• 1 tsp. baking soda
• 1/4 tsp. salt
• 2 cups rolled oats
• 1 cup flour
• 1 cup Grape-Nuts cereal

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
2. Beat butter and sugars in large mixing bowl with an electric mixer on medium speed until smooth.
3. Add honey, eggs, and vanilla; mix well.
4. Add baking soda, rolled oats, flour, and Grape-Nuts.  Combine until just mixed.
5. Drop  rounded tablespoonfuls of dough, 2 inches apart, on a lined or greased cookie sheet.  Bake 10-14 minutes or until golden brown.
6. Cool 2-3 minutes; remove from cookie sheets to cool completely on wire racks.
7. Enjoy!

Yield:  About 4 dozen cookies

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.