Belated Father's Day post

I love this man.

Chris loves being a Dad and chooses those boys and our family, in big and small ways, every day. 

Even on the crazy days, when the boys are driving us bonkers and the house is way louder than I'm sure is good for anyone's ears, he and I, we're a good team. He brings out the best in our boys and in me.

Happy Father's Day Chris! 

Saturday night at the beach. 

Go fly a kite!

Last night, on a whim, we decided to go to the beach. It was a beautiful evening and the boys had taken a later nap, so we knew they'd have energy to burn!

As soon as we picked a spot near the water, the boys grabbed their shovels and got to work! Digging, digging, digging. If there is sand, they shall dig!

The weather was absolutely perfect. We watched the boys play in the sand and the sailboats sailing in the background. It was so peaceful!

The boys also brought their kite which they've attempted to fly in our yard... never with any real luck. But tonight there seemed to be just enough breeze at the beach, it might just work!

And it did!

Each boy got to take a turn holding the kite and boy did they think they were hot stuff doing it. Chris kept saying "Hold on tight WITH BOTH HANDS!"

After a bit, Owen and I headed back to our blanket and watched from a distance. All of a sudden I saw the kite take off in the wind. Carter had let go.

Then I watched Chris in a dead sprint racing across the beach after this kite. I was concerned (like that the kite would fly into unsuspecting beach goers) but I also could not stop laughing!! Or taking pictures while laughing. Ohmygoodness.

Chris eventually dove for the end of the kite string and got it! He saved the day! Four little boys were very relieved. In fact, the whole kite flying experience was the highlight of the day. I think they'll be talking about this for a while to come!

Cousins together again!

We had a fantastic weekend!

My brother in law, sister in law, and their two boys came to visit from Toronto. Although we don't get to see them often, it's always so much fun when we do! Our boys all just pick up right where they left off. 

We spent a lot of time at the beach. And there was a lot of digging! Seven boys (nine if you count Chris and Joe- big kids themselves)= a lot of digging! 

Here's one of Owen and I, watching the action from the shade. 

The only bad part about going to the beach? Lugging all the stuff and the kiddos back up the sand dune to leave. Oh how that stinks! I dream of the day when the boys can walk themselves up the dune and carry their own stuff (although that would mean they're older.... and by then I'll probably miss these days too...)

After our family left, our friends Beth and Dave came to visit. Beth has been a professional mentor (occupational therapy) to me and is a dear friend as well. The boys know she is a "professional player" so they are always excited to see her too!

That brings us to today. It is SO hot. Really really really hot. We took the boys to the beach yesterday and it was great, until once again we had to leave. It's about a 300 yard walk from the waters edge to the parking lot, over hot sand and it was about 150 degrees out if not more. Picture me carrying Owen in the ergo and carrying Everett who refused to walk, under my right arm, beach chair in my left. People, I am not in shape. I was dying. I was sweating profusely. It felt like a march across the Sahara desert. Our sweet nanny Jordyn was also racing back and forth from the car carrying supplies and little boys who'd decided they could not take another step. The whole rest of the day I felt the need to constantly offer her water, diet coke or lemonade to re-hydrate her!

But we made it. Barely.

Then last night, my friend informed me that there is a way to avoid that 300 yard sweltering walk by parking in the further lot. Didn't know there was a further lot closer to the beach.... but you bet we'll be driving around until we find it next time!

Or, we could always just go back to carcass beach. 

Beaches and Bones

Summer is officially here! 

We basically spent the whole day at the beach.

We tried out a "new" beach this morning, one that is about a 10 minute drive up the lake and even less crowded. There were only two other families on the whole beach. We enjoyed ourselves so much (well, except for one minor snafu that I'll describe in a moment), that after naps, we headed right back out to the beach for the rest of the afternoon. 

These sort of beach days remind me of what drew us to Holland, MI. In the dead of winter it was getting hard to remember, but I remember now. Amongst other reasons to settle here, we liked the idea of living near the beach. 

I took this picture this morning, just before "the incident".

Lovely, right?

While I was nursing Owen and therefore a little tied down, I noticed Finn walk to the side of our blanket and pick up something that he was calling a stick. 

"Look Mommy, a stick."

Only, I immediately realized that it was NOT a stick. It was a bone. A rather large, probably deer, bone. It was in a pile of bones. And suddenly I realized that the smell I'd smelled when we'd laid our blanket down, wasn't just a random bad scent (Having five boys, four in diapers, I dismiss a lot of random scents). This time however, the smell wasn't coming from us. Nope, it was a rotting carcass. Basically, we'd set up camp right next to a rotting carcass with a pile of very large bones, that my sweet curious Finn had just picked up. How I didn't notice this when we arrived, I'm not sure.

"OH MY GOD! No! NOOOO! Put that down! Finn, PUT THAT DOWN!!"

Unfortunately, this has the opposite effect that I'm going for. Instead of deterring them, my words just peak everybody's interest. I could see the others starting to run over and all I could picture was them all picking up bones, or worse, diving into the bone pile. Seriously, it could happen.

Thank God our nanny, Jordyn was with me and has lighting quick reflexes. She pried the bone out of Finley's hands and blocked the others from getting into it all.

We tried wiping Finn's hands with baby wipes but the smell was just not coming off. It was disgusting. All I could envision was him putting his fingers in his mouth. OMG.

So although we'd made quite an effort to get down to the beach, we packed up our stuff and left.

I washed every, single, thing that even touched that beach. Including myself and the boys.

But we weren't deterred that much. Apparently it takes a lot more than a rotting carcass to keep us away from the beach on a bright, sunny day!

Because after naps, we headed back to the beach that's closer to our house.

Beach bound! That's one choo-choo wagon and one double stroller and a bag full of shovels and buckets.

Ahhhhhh..... summer. Soak it up!

Perfect way to end the day....

(mom roasting her marshmellow)

(Dad, Chris, Mom, Geneva)

(Geneva)