This summer has been SO much fun. Pete finished Step 3, a 2-day, 16-hour test(!) that all residents have to take, at the end of June. And for the month of July he has had all Fridays and Saturdays off, then works 8am-8pm on Sundays (the only downside to this schedule), then noon-10 or 11pm from Mon-Thurs. Having a 2 day weekend with him every week has been HEAVEN. That said, here is a little (or big) glimpse into what we've been doing this summer...
Warren Dunes
Warren Dunes is a state park right on the southern end of Lake Michigan. The sandy beaches go as far as the eye can see, and the dunes rise up behind them. We met some of my highschool/college friends and their families here and camped for the weekend (Eliza, Julie and Janine). It was SO much fun. Thanks to Eliza for planning this! It will definitely be repeated.
We arrived Friday afternoon, set up camp then headed for the beach. When we got out of the car, it was hot and sun was shining. Then about half way to the water we felt a few rain drops. It didn't look too threatening, we were hoping the clouds would roll right over us, but we got hammered with rain! It was the kind of rain that comes down at an angle and comes down in sheets. The kids weren't loving it (and neither were we!) so we tried to shield them with the blanket. We even managed to get a smile from them. When we realized the storm wasn't going to just blow over and we were all drenched and covered in sand, we headed back to the cars to decide what to do.
Thankfully the sky cleared, and we went for a short hike before having dinner.
The next day was BEAUTIFUL! We spent 5 or 6 hours on the beach, and the kids could have stayed even longer.
Eliza, Julie & me
Me and Eliza with the babes, Will and Norah (4 months older than Will)
The cute kids
The kids! They didn't know each other before we got there, but by the end they were good little buddies :)
It was SO much fun to be with old friends. Thanks girls, for the good times!
Blueberry picking
Michigan blueberries are here! Yum, there's nothing better. There's a blueberry farm less than 10 minutes from our house, and right now the blueberries are big and can be picked by the handful. Pete has taken the kids a few times so far, and I'm going tomorrow with a friend and the next day with a group from our ward. We're going to pick as many as we possibly can (because they are incredibly inexpensive and oh so yummy) then make fruit leather to last a YEAR. Or a week, we'll see how long they last.
Nichols Arboretum
A newly discovered favorite. I don't know how we hadn't been here yet, this place is beautiful! Miles of trails winding through sky high trees with a river running through it, you feel like you're in the mountains. Yet it's about a 2-minute walk from the hospital where Pete's at. Amazing.
They have a "Fairy Woods & Troll Hollow" where you can make houses, trails, small villages, etc. for the fairies and trolls. John especially liked this place. Anything with sticks and he's there.
We later took Pete here, went for a short hike then had a picnic right before he went to work.
Date night
One of my favorite dates and one we definitely need to repeat soon. We put Will to bed for the night then had our neighbor come over while we walked across the street (in back of our house) to play tennis. The Junior High in back of us has courts that are pristine. Pete helped me work on my serve and slaughtered me in a few games, as usual. Poor Pete, I can't give him much of a game. Some day.
Other bits
I had to take a picture of our stroller on our way back from the park. Good thing we have a strong one! We've seriously put this thing to the test. Our single jogger can carry Will in his carseat, Joe, our picnic blanket, my purse, our lunch, two bikes and two helmets. Now that's some stroller.
The kids saw Pete give me a flower once to put in my hair, so now I am brought a little flower by much smaller hands almost every time the kids go out to play. It's usually John and sometimes Dan. They're such sweeties.
John took this picture of the flower basket Pete put together for me for Mother's Day. It's rockin'. We have two of them hanging by the front door.
We have gotten a ton of use out of these beach robes. Swimming at the lake, the river and pools, the kids have loved them as much as I was hoping they would (because they took forever to make!)
Wrestling in the grass. They were making a "John sandwich."
At the park. One of my all time favorite pictures.
This picture doesn't do it justice, but last week my tooth got an infection and made my entire left jaw swell up. It felt like it was the size of a golf ball, but maybe it wasn't that big. I can now sympathize with anyone who has ever had a bad toothache. Probably the worst pain I have ever had next to giving birth. Seriously, I could hardly do anything when it was at its worst, I finally just broke down and cried several times. I'm not much of a drug taker and try to stay away from pain killers and pretty much anything unless I absolutely have to, especially while I'm breast feeding, but I was taking the full 800mg of Ibu Profen every 6 hours, counting down the last 2 hours because the pain would return in full force. And after a couple days was even throwing in a Tylenol in the middle of those 6 hours to get me through. I now understand why people with chronic pain can get addicted to pain killers. It's the only way to get relief. The reason I didn't go to the dentist earlier was because I had just barely been there after this tooth started aching a few days earlier. They told me I would need a root canal and did the first half of the procedure then put a temporary filling on. Well, apparently there was still some of the infection down there, because a couple days later is when the real pain began. I called a few times to see if I could move my appointment up, but they were all booked. Then the morning of my appt. came (my appt. wasn't until 4) and I really didn't know if I could make it that long. So I called as soon as the office opened and asked if there was any way possible to get in earlier, I was in extreme pain... not to mention I had only slept 2 or 3 hours the night before because of it. Luckily they found an endodontist they could refer me to that I could see within the hour, and there they simply drilled a small hole through the temporary filling so it could drain the rest of the week. Yesterday I went in so they could redo what the dentist had done and clean out the tooth and I'll have to go back once more to finish the root canal. Then back to my dentist for a crown. Blah. I just hope I never have to experience that intense pain again, it was awful!
The garden
I took this picture a few weeks ago, but our garden is hoppin' this year. We're wishing we would have tilled under a few more feet on one side, we can barely walk through it. We planted zucchini, banana squash, green peppers, red peppers, tomatoes, cherry tomatoes, cucumbers, carrots, basil, thyme and rosemary. We just got our first few red tomatoes and I can hardly wait to get more. There's just nothing like them.
John and sometimes Dan literally go out to the garden every day to collect the produce. I am amazed at how much these plants produce in just one day! The veggies below were collected over 2 or 3 days. As you can imagine, we are drowning in zucchini, squash and cucumbers.
Jackson Balloon Festival
We met up with some friends at a hot air balloon festival this last weekend. More than seeing all the sweet hot air balloons up close, it was just fun to be with friends for the night. Between the 4 couples there were 10 kids 6 and under. They all had a blast together watching the balloons, having races on the field and running through the trees.
Joe hates anything loud. He had to cover his ears whenever we got close to the balloons (even though they're really not even that loud).
Ward Pioneer Picnic
Just a few pictures from our recent ward activity. We had a pioneer-themed barbeque, had yummy pork, cornbread and salads, people dressed up like pioneers, the kids had a parade, had a pie eating contest and made butter. This first picture is the parade. We brought our wagon, Dan pulled it and John pushed. Here they are pulling up the rear. A friend saw them and asked if they had picked up any girls in the wagon yet... lo and behold there was one cute little girl in there... but come on boys, you can do better than that! :) ha ha
The pie eating contest. A man in our ward was watching our three boys have a go at it and told Pete they were the neatest pie eating contest pie eaters he had ever seen! Yeah, they probably were. But John did finish every last bite, and Joe was the last one sitting at the table.
Will at 4 months
And last but not least, Will is laughing! He is 4 months old today. He is the ticklish baby I have had, he can't hold a straight face even when I'm just changing his diaper or his clothes. I just love the little guy so much. He's my first baby that has made it this far on breast milk alone. It seemed like my milk supply was running low a couple weeks ago, Will went hungry for a few meals (I tried a bottle but he refused). Since then my body has put back on a few pounds and I have plenty of milk again. Sigh... I might not be able to wear half my wardrobe until after I'm done nursing, but it's worth it. Will is sleeping about 8 hours/night, waking up around 4 or 5, then going back to sleep for a couple hours. He usually takes 3 naps a day, sometimes 4 if he needs it. He has been so easy going and comes along with us on all of our outings.
And he is rolling over now too! He easily rolls from his back to his stomach, and occasionally (I think accidentally) from stomach to back. He's getting a strong neck and is enjoying tummy time more and more. He also has very strong legs, he can stand up alone if he's holding onto my hands.
Will LOVES his fingers. He is always sucking on them. I took this picture of him because he was sucking on those two middle fingers that Dan sucks on! Nothing has stuck yet though. He'll be sucking on his thumb one minute, then his fist the next, then his pointer finger, then his arm... whatever he can get in his mouth. Anything that is except a binkie. He is not a binkie lover and will only sit there and chew on it. And you'll notice his hair is turning blonde! He's still just got that little mohawk on the top of his head, not much anywhere else.
His brothers sure love him, he probably gets more kissing and hugging in this family than anyone else (sorry, Pete). The kids like to take turns holding him on the couch. I took this picture of him with John because I thought he looked HUGE. He's going to be running around with his brothers before I know it.
We recently discovered that Will likes toys. One morning I told the kids that Will was probably ready to start playing with toys, and John immediately ran upstairs and grabbed the box of baby toys, then they all huddled around Will and took turns giving him toys.
I sure love my boys (including you, Pete... in fact you most of all :) And I love that I have 4 of them. People ask me all the time if I think we'll try for a girl. A girl would be fun, but to be totally honest I am loving my life surrounded by boys. I guess I can't imagine it any different.
3 comments:
I loved the novel! Will is getting so chunky and cute!
What a darling family. I'm dying over that workhorse of a stroller! And Will's cute rolly polly arms.
You are the funnest mom! I loved the overloaded stroller! wish we could see you guys this summer!
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