End of Summer

So apparently I have become a once-a-month (maybe) blogger.  I even have more time on my hands now and still don't seem to get to it very often!  I have no good excuse.  And I make no promises to be better about it, sorry.

The eternal summer eventually did come to an end!  We finished up the summer with some fun activities:

One day J and I ventured to Grand Rapids to check out Frederik Meijer Gardens.  We had been there once before (last summer, I think?) with my family, but somehow missed this awesome part:

A Jeremiah-sized model of the Great Lakes!

 We spent the majority of our time here, obviously!  But, we did also make our way to another part that we knew about, and J also loved.

What's more fun than getting soaking wet in your clothes??
 

We saw very few art sculptures or gardens (just the ones that happened to be on our way to the children's area!).  But I'm sure we'll be back again some other time to get cultured. :)

We also spent one final afteroon/evening at the beach at Diekema's.  I'm assuming we won't be back to the beach, as the weather is going to be cooling down.  But, you never know!  Maybe Michigan weather will surprise us with some warm September days still.

This guy would not complain!

For Labor Day Weekend (the official end of summer), we packed up and hit the road for Iowa to visit our friends and old stomping grounds.  It was SOOOOO nice being back in Iowa and seeing our friends-- it really felt like we were coming home!

Adam took Friday off so we left Friday morning, and arrived in Iowa in time to meet up with J's best buddy, Grady, and his family (we miss them a ton!!!) at The Pizza Ranch for dinner!  These guys were SO happy to see each other again!

And of course it was hard to say good-bye again.  These 2 are just peas in a pod and miss each other like crazy!

We stayed with our friends, the Paulsons, which was so nice (but yes, it was weird being back in Iowa and not going to our house in Ankeny!  We did drive by it-- it definitely looks to be well-cared for by a woman who is much older than us. :)  I remember one of the first things I did in that house was take down the hideous lace curtain in the window by the front door.  And what do you know?  There's another lace curtain there!).

On Saturday, Celeste and I hit up the Des Moines Farmer's Market (and NO, the farmer's market in Holland does not even come close to comparing-- sorry, MI people).  The guys hung out and then we all met up for lunch at Smokey D's (West MI seriously lacks good BBQ also....).  Saturday evening we went out for Mexican and let the boys play at "the pirate park" in Altoona.  Such a great day!

On Sunday, we went to church (MDRC) and then the Paulson's took us out on their boat on Lake Red Rock.  It was a great day for it, since it was like 90 degrees!

J was in awe the whole time and just had the best time-- he thought riding on the boat was SO cool!

  It was a fabulous day of fun and relaxing!!

Had to stop and play in the sand for awhile!

33 week baby bump!

Sunday evening we went over to our friends, the Scholtens, for a BBQ and fun.  The kids played (and were mesmerized by a movie) while the adults talked and caught up and laughed a ton-- just like old times!  We miss our friends so much!!

And Monday, before we left for MI, Celeste had a 31 party (with me being the consultant, of course!).  Another nice time of seeing friends and catching up (and looking at bags, purses, etc).  A great way to end the weekend! 

I really am so glad that we decided to go back over Labor day weekend.  Travel is not going to be so easy anymore, so I am glad we went while we could.  It was really weird thinking that it was the last time I'd be packing for our little family of 3, and next road trip we take (which will probaby not be until Christmas?!?!) will include ALLLLL that baby stuff you need.  Crazy!!  Anyway, this trip was a great way to end the summer!!!!

And then finally, this past Monday was the long-awaited day-- Jeremiah's first day of preschool at Zeeland Christian!  I can not believe how big my baby looked, seriously!  My baby has been replaced by a little boy!!!  When did that happen?!?!?

No comment.  Sigh.

In front of his hook!

It's so funny-- I have been on the teacher side of the first day of school SO much, and now to be on the parent side of it was weird!  The first day was basically a transition day-- they split the class in half and each half only came for an hour, and a parent got to stay for the hour.  I really think this helped J be more comfortable with everything!  We did some activities, J got to play with the tractors he had been eyeing, they did a shortened circle time.  It was just enough to get him used to most everything and excited to go back!

So today was the first day for him to go on his own, and I was worried there would be tears (from both of us).  But J said in the car on the way, "I'm not going to be nervous this time.  At least this isn't swimming lessons, cause I HATE swimming lessons.  I like school a lot better than that."  Well, good.  If nothing else, swimming lessons helped him realize that some things are not that bad. :)  And he did great today!  We walked in and did all the things they need to do-- hang up backpack, wash hands, answer the "question of the day," and greet Mrs. D (his teacher).  And then he was off to do his first activity, and I was left by the door.  Okay, and yes, there may have been a few tears (from me)!

Apparently his first activity was "playing poker."

"See, I poked holes in all the dots!"
 

He was really excited about this, for some reason! :)  And he is excited to go back tomorrow because they are going to bake gingerbread cookies!

Oh, and in baby news, tomorrow is my 34 week appointment (even though I'm like 2 days away from 35 weeks).  The time is nearing, folks!  I am definitely feeling bigger and more uncomfortable-- this baby girl seems to know exactly which way I want to sit or move, and she jabs a foot or a butt or SOMETHING right where it's uncomfortable!  I'm not getting much great sleep because of that, but I will never complain.  Feeling her move never gets old!!!  I have been having a few odd cravings, too-- ice (yes, ice.  I could just sit and eat ice cubes all day long.  Weird.), iced pumpkin spice latte (that is thanks to you, Celeste!), and Michigan peaches.  YUM.  Actually that sounds like a great meal right there.

We are getting excited to meet this little girl!  Oh, and we're moving again.  Don't ask when or where yet, cause we're not 100% sure, but the next couple days will tell a lot.  We were hoping it would be this weekend, but might end up being next weekend.  I can't tell you how excited and eager I am to get out of this place and into a house with more space (and then I can REALLY start nesting and getting ready for baby!).  Hopefully I'll get back to the blog a time or 2 before she arrives! :)