Summer!!! Where have you gone?!?!

I have no idea how we are here already! Back to the school routine and TRYING to get everyone up and out the door on time. I did not miss that.

We really had a great summer, I am sad that it’s done already! 😢

(Buckle up, folks. This is a long one.)

June 21 was Norah’s 2nd birthday!! What?!? My baby is 2! And it was the day Adam got home from his first work trip of the spring/summer (3.5 weeks! Sheesh!).

And I obviously need to blog more often because I don’t even remember what we did for Norah’s big day! Bad mom. 3rd child. 🤷🏼‍♀️

I know we drove to Moline and picked up Adam from the airport!

Tractor seats at the airport 🚜

I feel like maybe we had lunch at Chic-Fil-A while in the Quad Cities.....? But seriously 🤷🏼‍♀️.

She opened presents with lots of help from her big siblings. And I know we ate cupcakes, too!

I do remember a few days before her birthday I took the kids to the Discovery Center since we didn’t really “do” anything for Norah’s birthday.

She loved it, of course!

Yikes, now I feel bad that we didn’t really do much, and I can’t even remember what we did do! 😢 I do know that having Daddy home was probably the best present she received. 😊❤️

She loves her birthday slide, too!

On the 22nd the celebration continued- we met Grandpa and Grandma Wiers at Culver’s in Rochelle (to return their vehicle which I had been using while our hunk of junk was being fixed AGAIN). More presents!!

4th of July! 🇺🇸

Waiting for the parade to start (every year it seems to be held up by a train! 😒)

It was HOT 🥵 

Best seat in the house!

We go for the free snow cones 😬

We checked out a new park in Preston- very cool!

Adam was home for about 2 weeks and then he headed out again for another 2 week work trip. Hope has a terrible sense of time, and I was getting so sick of trying to explain how long till Daddy would be home and how long until vacation!

Time for a paper chain 👍🏻💪🏻

It helped a little.

July 13- Envirokids at the Discovery Center. Didn’t get to do too many Envirokids activities this year- this was one of two we could actually go to!

“I make fwies” 🍟

July 14- Happy 12th Anniversary to us!

We didn’t celebrate. Adam was out of town. 🤷🏼‍♀️ But he did send me flowers! ❤️

We’ve taken lots of walks by the river this summer! Sometimes we stop and play at Riverview Park, but this day J wanted to try the skate park with his scooter.

Such a daredevil! 🙈

July 15-19 J and H did another VBS in the evenings at another local church (the last week in June they also did Giddyup Junction VBS at our church 🐎🌵). This one was sports themed (with an arts and crafts option, too). J did archery and H did arts and crafts. They had so much fun!

Norah did lots of playing on the playground 😊

July 20-27 Wiers Family Vacation in Muskegon, MI

So many pictures and such fun we had!! We left bright and early Saturday morning.

Suckers are Norah’s love language.

We got to MI and wanted a bit of time to drive down memory lane from when we lived in Holland. We drove past our old house and favorite spots. J wanted to stop and revisit the playground at Blue Star Elementary in Hamilton. It has changed a bit, but lots of things are still the same!

Here he is by the infamous tire swing where he got dizzy and puked on one of his first days of Kindergarten!! 😂

The rest of the day was spent getting to know the lay of the land at our home for the week, unpacking, and of course happily greeting and playing with cousins!

Sunday we hit the beach in the morning. We went to Lake Harbor Park on Lake MI, and were happy to find that the big lake water was warm! Warm enough to comfortably play and swim in. 😬 The kids had a blast! The adults had fun, too, but the biting flies there were TERRIBLE!! Ouch!

This was before she realized playing in the water was fun! Only sand for her this time 🤷🏼‍♀️

After lunch and baby naps, we headed into GR for a visit to the Sinke’s and a ride on Uncle Carl’s train.

🚂🚂🚂🚂🚂🚂

How everyone feels when riding the train! 😊

Little kids and big kids alike.

And Chuck let Jeremiah drive 💕

We stayed and had a nice dinner at Aunt Cora Mae’s house, and it was so nice to see everyone again!

On Monday we went blueberry picking at Jawor Brother’s Blueberries. The kids did a great job, but Norah needed reminding to only pick the blue/purple ones 😬 

We had SO many bags of blueberries sitting around the house, we ate so many all week. I have 2 bags in the freezer, I think it’s time to make something. 🤔 

We did s’mores that evening, too!

As you can see, the cottage we were staying at was actually on a lake- Mona Lake. It normally would have a little beach area where I’m sure our kids would have spent hours playing. However, because of the insane amounts of rain from this spring/summer, the lake was REALLY high and there was no beach (which is why we ventured out to find other beaches to go to!). 🌊🏖 Josie and Evan did some kayaking and Jeremiah wanted to stand on the dock and fish every evening! 🎣

His persistence eventually paid off- he did catch 1 fish over the course of the week! 🐟

Tuesday, we explored P.J. Hoffmaster State Park

Everyone was totally up for taking pictures! 🤣

This is the very instant her life was ruined by her parents wanting a family picture 😂😂😂

We found a beach, of course!

I think this was a daily occurrence ❤️📚

Norm’s for ice cream and playing on the playground!

More stories with Grandpa 💞

Wednesday- Pere Marquette Park

First the playground!

Then the beach! We were disappointed to find out that the water temp of Lake MI had turned drastically colder! Freezing! 🥶 The kids (and some crazy adults) did go in briefly, but it was mostly playing in the sand today.

After the beach, some of the family went to tour the WW ll submarine the USS Silversides. From what I hear, it was very cool! Norah and her claustrophobic mom went back to the house for a nap. 😬

Thursday morning we started the day by meeting Erika (my friend and former coworker at Chicago West Side Christian School) for breakfast. So fun to see her again!

Then we moved on to check out the Muskegon farmer’s market and the splash pad. 

The cousins wanted matching shirts 💕

We were only at the splash pad briefly, but it was long enough for Norah to collide with another kid and face plant on the cement. 😢

Bleeding mouth, fat lip, bent tooth 🤕 Ouch.

Cup of whip from Bigby to the rescue!

That afternoon Matt and I took the older kids over to another beach- Ross Park I think? This beach was on Mona Lake, not far from our lake house. Great place for the kids to play!

Water temp was much better on Mona Lake!

Then it was off to Grand Haven for dinner at Culver’s and ice cream at Temptations! 🍦❤️

First taste of Temptations! 💕

Yay! Family picture time! ❤️

Friday, another beach! 😊 Duck Lake State Park 🦆

This beach was so fun! It was on Lake MI (still too cold 🥶) but also a little channel between Lake MI and Duck Lake. The kids had a blast playing on the dunes and in the warmer water in the little channel. Oh, and last day of vacation- Norah finally decided that playing and splashing in the water was fun! 💦 Go figure 🤷🏼‍♀️

She was exhausted (and filthy) when we left!

Saturday was pack up and leave day. 😭😭😭 We were out of the lake house by 10 and then went to a playground and out for lunch before parting ways.

Biker babies keeping busy while we all packed up 😊

Huizenga Park in Zeeland

Lunch at American Char- one of our favorite places to eat when we lived there (and right next to where J went to preschool!)

So sad for these cousins to say good bye! 😭 They had such a great time together!! 💕
 

We hit the road for Iowa and arrived home in the evening. We were home for approximately 3 days! One of those days (Tuesday I think) was when the Big Boy 4014 steam engine (largest steam locomotive ever built!) made a little stop in Clinton. Of course we had to go see it! (In hindsight, we should have just watched it cross somewhere in Fulton or something. Hanging out in the rail yard with a million people on a hot day and the traffic trying to get out of there..... it was a little MUCH.) But it definitely was cool to see! 🚂

After being home for 3 days, we hit the road on Wednesday to meet up with Adam’s family in Yankton, SD! Let me tell you, I love the state of Iowa very much. But driving across the entire state.... that’s a lot of 🌽🌽🌽🌽🌽🌽🌽🌽🌽!

Thursday we went to Lewis and Clark Recreation Area on Lewis and Clark Lake- there was a really nice beach and a playground for Norah!

Jeremiah, Hope, and their cousins had fun digging for clay and searching for rocks!

 

That afternoon we also went to the visitors center and the fish hatchery. 🐟

That’s a lot of fish in there!! 🐟🐠🐡

Friday we took a tour of Gavin’s Point Dam. It was super interesting! Norah and her desire to run around and yell definitely made it interesting, but we made it through. Jeremiah would like to work there someday. 😊 No cell phones or cameras allowed, so no pictures inside. 👎🏼

Friday afternoon I was able to get away for a bit to go hang out with 2 of my besties who live in Sioux Center. We hadn’t gotten together in 2 years, so since we were close I’m so glad we could make it work to meet up! We met up at a park in Vermillion, and it was so much fun! Love you girls!

And Saturday we packed up and hit the road for home again. Kind of a quick trip, and we wish we could have stayed till Sunday with the rest of the family. But Adam had to leave again early Monday morning for his next work trip, so we really did need a day at home to unpack and do laundry!

On the 8th, the American Queen (“said to be the largest river steamboat ever built”!) docked in Clinton for the day. The kids and I stopped to see it docked in the morning, but the coolest part was in the evening when we drove over to Lock & Dam 13 in Fulton to watch it go through the lock. My parents were also in town to enjoy it with us (someone had a birthday on the 9th 🤗 so they stopped to help celebrate on their way up to NW Iowa 😬).

And the passengers sit out on the balconies and even threw beads and candy out to the kids! 

Very large paddle wheel! They also entertained us with music from the calliope. So fun!

And that’s it. Summer is done! August 14 was Jeremiah’s first day of 4th grade. (😱😭😢🥺😩 I don’t even know how he got this old).

3 half days in, and so far it’s a good year 😬

And the girls. Hope doesn’t start preschool until the 27th- she is SO excited! And Norah keeps saying “I go pwe-cool too” 🤔🤷🏼‍♀️  Not sure how I’m going to break the news to her that she’s still stuck with mommy at home for awhile 😬