Knoebels

Great time with Chad's parents at Knoebels yesterday.

Got caught in the rain in the afternoon.  Made things a little interesting. :)  At least it wasn't hot any more.  Then there were puddles everywhere, and we actually were cold on the way home!  They didn't stop any rides for the rain, at least that I knew of. 

Chad's trip/Sideling Hill

Chad flew home from MI early so he could work while we played. :)  Then we headed home, caravaning with Chad's parents.  We stopped at hotel in New Stanton, where Chad met us.  He had parked the car 60 miles away and rode his bike to the hotel.  Turned out to be a pretty day for him-- we drove thru lots of much-needed rain. 

On his way, he stopped at the Flight 93 memorial.

Driving home together the next day, we stopped at Sideling Hill for Claire's Washington County project.  Beautiful day for it.  A bit windy on the bridge, but none of us fell off.

MI

Fun MI trip packed full.  This is the bday party we had for Katie and a half bday party for Natalie, since her bday gets lost around Christmas.  We had a bonfire (by Chad) and hotdogs and watermelon.

 Jenna holds little Levi-- 3 mo old.

Katie and Natalie thoroughly enjoyed being together.  Think they look like cousins?

Many of us went to see Schoolhouse Rock in Grand Rapids.  Micah LOVED this-- his first play, lots of colors and music.  Later in the week, my mom, Liz, and I went to another one-- Ramona-- with Jenna and Claire.  That one was very funny.  Claire is now aspiring to be an actress playing Ramona in that same play.:)

We went to the beach twice.  Once while Chad was there-- he actually rode a bike to and from the beach (and ran 3 miles the same day).  Nuts!  Beach was gorgeous, and the kids had lots of fun.  Most surprising was that Micah very much enjoyed the water.  He has not liked pools lately, but the waves in Lake Michigan were just his style.

One of Claire's favorite parts of the trip was being with the little cousins.  She wished she could have taken them home with her.  Here she is reading dozens of books to the boys.

This is our group at Kollen Park-- kids concert while we ate our picnic.  Some of the brave ones even went up front to try hula hooping!

Went to see my Gma Tiemeyer at her house.  She has a beautiful backyard!

My dad did one of his hayrides for the kids (and some of us adults who went along to protect the kids :).  Micah really enjoyed it, but Jenna claims she's not going to go on one again. 

Since this trip coincided with the Olympics, we watched a lot of it together.  Dad decided that 100 meters looked awfully short and easy on TV, so he wanted us all to see how far it really was.  We measured 100 meters on their road and then ran it.  I think it took me about 23 seconds.  I've got a little ways to go to beat Usain Bolt. 

Dad gave Claire and Micah a ride on the combine, since we aren't usually here in the fall to see it in action.

Claire with Levi

We worked on honing our pingpong skills.  Each of the girls improved from last time.  Wish we had room for a pingpong table at our house.

Here Katie was opening her bday presents from Gpa and Gma when they arrived.  She has worn the shirt several times already, and we've all been enjoying the Lord of the Rings soundtracks!  Great music for driving thru the mountains in PA.

Did a train ride (Coopersville to Marne).  Very relaxing; and fun to watch the little boys enjoy it. Nice weather with the windows open, too.

Went to one of my mom's favorite stores in downtown Zeeland-- Out of the Box.  Sells games and puzzles.  In a room off the store, they have picnic tables because they have a game night there I think once a week.  This puzzle was on the wall-- 9,000 pieces!  Another 9,000 piece one on another wall.  Yikes, that would take a big table. :)