Labor Day Reunion

We headed to New Buffalo again this year for our annual labor day weekend get together. This was the 5th year that we have been able to vacation together with 5 of Chris' best friends from childhood. The first year we went there were only a few kids and now there are 13 kids! It is such a fun weekend for the adults and the kids. The last 2 years we have been able to rent a house that is a block away from the beach. The house also has a pool and a campfire area that the kids love. We spent the weekend swimming, golfing, shopping, and playing a nightly round of the "not so" newlywed game. This year Chris and I won and took home the trophy!!

The Gang

Getting ready for smores

Perry's favorite thing to do on vacation

Family picture time on the shore of Lake Michigan

Some of the kiddos

ArtPrize

Right now in Grand Rapids the ArtPrize competition is going on. We went downtown last night to check it out. There were so many cool things to look at. The best thing about it was how many people were downtown walking around. A lot of times if there isn't an event going on at the Van Andel, then the streets are empty. We are definitely going to head down there again soon to see more. I would also love to go with just Chris and be able to walk around and enjoy with a glass of wine. So, if any of you would like to babysit the kids just let me know!

Weekend @ Grama's

This weekend Chris and I got to have the weekend to ourselves while the kids got to have a fun weekend at Grama's. Chris and I were doing the mom2mom sale this weekend, so my mom offered to take the kids for the whole weekend so that we could actually have a date night after the sale. One of the kids favorite activities at Grama's in going in the woods. My mom took some pictures of their adventure!

Our little princess!

Our little monkey!

A College Visit

My little brother Evan is a freshman at Grand Valley this year. So a couple of weekends ago (okay so more like a month ago, I am a little slow at posting things lately), we went and visited him when my aunt Lydia was here from Ohio. Kaden couldn't quite understand why when you go to college, you live there. But after visiting, he said that he can't wait to go to college. I think that the big inflatable bounce houses they had up and the fact that you get to ride your bike everywhere might have influenced his excitement about college.

The kids all wanted to climb up on his "tall" bed.

We went for a tour around the campus and it made me want to go back to college!

First Day Jitters

Yesterday was Kaden's first day of Kindergarten and Emmy's first day of preschool. Kaden started at Orchard View for kindergarten this year. He goes to school all day Monday & Wednesday and for a 1/2 day on Friday morning. Emmy goes to preschool Monday, Wednesday, and Friday mornings. I am so excited about their schedule this year b/c I get to spend some time with just Perry and on Tuesday's and Thursday we can do whatever we want. We had to drop Emmy off first at preschool and she did GREAT! We couldn't stay long b/c we had to get Kaden off to his first day. After I helped her put her things away, I gave her a kiss and said goodbye. There were no tears! When I picked her up, she said that she loved school and that she was such a big girl b/c she didn't even cry.

When we went to drop Kaden off at school, it didn't go quite as smoothly. On the drive over, he told us he was a little nervous. When we got there we helped put his things away and the teacher called them all over to the "cozy corner". I didn't really get a chance to say goodbye, so I just got his attention and waved goodbye. As soon as I did that, Kaden came running over to me and started crying. He was just clinging to me. Luckily the aide saw what was happening and came over to him. I backed out of the classroom w/ tears in my eyes. Chris was with me which helped me hold it together. Of course when I picked him up, he said that he had a great day and that he is so glad that he is in kindergarten. It was a really long day having him at school for the entire day. But thankfully I get to spend all day Tuesday and Thursday with him!