tippy

This weekend was our annual canoe trip with Mike's friends.  If we counted right, this was my 9th time going and Mike's 14th.  And guess what, we tipped for the FIRST time!  (Note: Mike had tipped over in the past before teaming up with me...)  So, the Pine River is a more challenging river to canoe and it is also a very, very cold river - when standing in the river it doesn't take long for your feet to turn to ice cubes.  It was a gorgeous day yesterday and we were canoeing with about 7 or 8 other couples.  At one of our stops I decided a candy cane sounded good (yes, a candy cane in August...it was chocolate flavored...).  So then we're just going down the river, I'm enjoying my candy cane, and one of our friends decided she wanted one.  Mike got one out for her, no problem, then came trying to pass off the candy cane to her - that didn't go so well.  We ended up going into some thick trees at the edge of the river.  I huddled down just to avoid getting knocked over or cut in the face and next thing I knew we were tipping over and I was submerged in ice cold water.  (Thankfully it was hot out, so after the initial shock wore off it felt great.)  Me, being such a water person (yeah, right), had just a split second of panic when I was under water thinking that I was going to get stuck under the canoe or something, but not to worry, I popped right out of the water, regained my senses and started grabbing at our stuff that was floating down the river.  The only thing of importance I had with me was my phone (just couldn't bear to be out of touch for that long in case one of my babies needed me...) and it was in two ziplocs so it was just fine.  I even managed to grab both my flip-flops that were starting to float away, and never let go of my paddle through the whole thing so we didn't lose any of that stuff either.  None of our friends were able to stop right there and help us, but there was a nice gentleman already stopped alongside the river just ahead that helped us empty the water from our canoe and get us back on the river again.

We had a very nice time away.  Mike and I don't get to talk a whole lot (thanks to both kids and busy schedule), so we especially enjoyed being by ourselves on the drive (over two hours) - we had alot of catching up to do!  :)  We also had lots of fun with his friends who we don't get to see very much.  They're the type of friends where we can go a whole year without seeing them (usually now we only see them on the canoe trip) and we can just pick right back up with them without a problem.

We dropped Caleb and Logan off at Grandma & Grandpa VanBeek's Friday night.  That sure made packing and getting out the door the next morning alot let stressful!!  Saturday morning first thing we dropped Levi off at Eric & Lea Anne's.  I was kinda dreading leaving him (our first overnight separated!), but I managed to do it without crying or anything.  :)  They sent us photos and status updates yesterday and this morning so I could keep tabs on how he was doing, and that sure helped.  (Technology is really great sometimes!)  Today we got back in time to unload our stuff at home, and clean up the van a little bit (gotta take advantage of having all the car seats out...) before going to pick everyone up.

It was a much needed time away, and I'm so glad we were able to make it.  Last year, due to some circumstances, we weren't able to make it and it was the first ever that Mike missed (my first since joining the group).  Within a couple hours of being home I was feeling frazzled again, but such is life!  :)  Mike had to go into work to load a truck, and thankfully Logan was napping, but Caleb and Levi were keeping me hopping.  All is quiet at the moment - I'm soaking it up while it lasts!

saturday

This past Saturday was another cottage day.  Mostly a beautiful day, but we did get rained out for a bit in the afternoon.  Caleb, Logan, and their cousin Alyssa who is just a few months older did manage to get into a little mischief during the rain.  They had been playing upstairs nicely for awhile, a little too nicely so I figured I'd better check on things.  The three of them were in the bathroom, Caleb was trying to wash his hands - he had PLENTY of liquid soap on his hands - and Alyssa had put gel in everyone's hair.  :)  At that point I was just thankful I had boys with short hair to clean up, hers looked like it was going to be a little more challenging...

 Levi chillin' with Uncle Harold.

 Mid-afternoon fire.  One of those days that was changing from warm to cold and back again.

 Check out Alyssa's hair...

I'm sure the boys were talking Grandpa's ear off while he was fishing.

cats

One evening last week we went to Mike's co-worker, Brad's, house for supper and to hang out a bit.  They have a dog and a few cat and Caleb and Logan LOOOVED the cats.  They also got to ride some mini-bike/motorcycle thingie.

 Caleb's favorite was this gray one.  At least in this photo he's not holding it by the neck like he was other times...

Logan's favorite was this smaller orange/white one.  

dr

I had to take Levi in to the doctor last Monday.  The week before I had noticed one of his fingers getting a little red by the fingernail.  Monday morning it looked pretty bad - very red, inflamed, a little puffy, and it hurt him (when I tried to make sure it wasn't an ingrown nail he was NOT happy).  Figured it was one of those things that would just get worse if we didn't deal with it right away and they said it sounded like he would need antibiotics for an infection and I had to bring him in.  So, yeah, antibiotics for the little guy.  Not fun since it's twice a day for two whole weeks and he does seem to be dealing with some side effects, but the infection is better.  They did weigh him and he's 16 lbs now.

Sundays

Sundays are just not always the best day for us.  We all love going to church and the fact that it's the weekend and Mike's home, but it's just a really hard day with small children.  For the first part of the morning last week I actually thought things were going fairly well.  We made it to church early (I had to be in nursery), Levi took a good nap, and Caleb and Logan sat with Mike in church for a little bit and then came and played nice in nursery.  However, during Sunday School the boys' teacher (Miss Brandi) came to ask me if I had a change of clothes for Logan.  Uh-oh.  Apparently he spilled water and needed dry pants.  I didn't have anything for him (haven't needed anything in ages!) so they used something from some clothes they keep around in the nursery for just such occasions.  Hunter green cut-off sweat pants.  Nice.  And then during the evening service he had another water incident and came out in a way too small red sweatshirt.  :)

After Sunday School that morning was done and we were picking up Caleb and Logan, Miss Brandi told us that Caleb had trouble listening.  Jumping up and running around during story time.  We tried to get him to apologize to her right away, but he refused.  Dealt with it more at home and had him all prepped to say sorry to her that night, but she wasn't there.

I started this post a few days ago, but now we've made it through another Sunday and I've got a great update!  So, last night and this morning Mike talked to Caleb about apologizing to Miss Brandi.  After the boys had been in their class for a few minutes Mike popped his head in to check on things - Brandi was right there and right away told Mike that Caleb said he was sorry and that he was going to do better this week!!!  He did it all on his own without any prompting!  So proud of my son!  :)

Levi was very cranky this afternoon/evening.  Who knows what it is...could be just because it's Sunday (he was pretty cranky last week, too), or the antibiotics he's on, or he's gassy, or any number of things.  I spent the whole evening service in the nursery with him - he had to eat, and I hate to pass him off to someone else too soon since he spits up so much (although, it really doesn't make a difference when, he'll spit up ANYTIME), and by the way he was acting I was just waiting for a blow-out (which he did do, so then there was clean-up to do...).

We had an ice cream social after church tonight.  It's a little interesting waiting in line with two little boys that are very excited about ice cream and just hyped up in general - Caleb was being super friendly to EVERYBODY, and one of the pastors was jumping up and down with the boys getting them to say, "I scream, you scream, we all scream for ice cream!"  :)  Thankfully, Grandma Marsha was there to lend a hand and helped Logan get his ice cream, so I could help Caleb and Mike was managing Levi (who kept periodically spitting up and was NOT happy when someone else tried to hold him so Mike could eat his ice cream).

Caleb and Logan have still been sitting in the beginning of the church service ("big church" as we call it) and doing well.  I think Logan was trying to sing along a little bit this morning.  He seems to be a little more musically inclined.  (By the way, the other day I was singing along to "The Wheels on the Bus..." and Logan told me I was too old to sing that song.  :)

old

I am old.  Saturday I had the opportunity to play volleyball in an alumni vs. varsity team game at Freedom.  I had gotten the invite a few weeks back, but didn't decide until Friday night that I was going to play.  I mean, I haven't played in years (would love to, just don't have the chance to!), and I just had a baby so I'm pretty out of shape - why would I willingly choose to go possibly make a fool of myself??  Well, my desire to play was too strong, and I found out a few of the girls that I played with in high school were also going to be there and I just couldn't pass up the opportunity to play with them again.  Also, my dear husband was very encouraging and assured me that he and the boys would always love me no matter how I played.  :)

It was fun!  Definitely felt old playing against those high school girls.  Our team took just a little bit to get warmed up, but once we got going we really weren't all that bad.  We didn't win at all, but they didn't totally cream us either, and we came super close in the last game.  I didn't quite play like I did in high school, but I wasn't terrible either.  :)  I have been rather sore the last few days after using muscles I haven't used in a very long time.

 Mike had the boys all excited to watch me play volleyball (or as they say, "bolleyball").

Serving.  Wish we would have had this gym when I was there!!

more activities

One evening last night Mike and I took the boys to McDonald's to eat and play. It was a nice night outside, so we had the playplace all to ourselves for quite a while.  :)  Caleb and Logan are getting braver in there (now crawling through the high tunnels) and it's fun to watch.  Also interesting to see how they make friends.  It seems they can both be social butterflies like their dad.  :)  Mike and I enjoy going there because it's a place where they'll go off and play nice, and we can actually sit and have a conversation!!  Imagine that!

Last Friday we went to Kollen Park in Holland for a kids' concert.  For a while Caleb was more interested in the fire station across the street - partway through things a fire truck came in and a firewoman waved at him, and at the very end a truck pulled out with lights and sirens and all.  :)  Both boys had fun running around with their cousins.

 Claire & Logan

Caleb watching the fire station...

Saturday night was girls night!  I went to see Ramona Quimby at the GR Civic Theatre with my Mom, my sister, and two of her girls.  It was a cute play and we had a fun evening!  Slight damper when I found out at the end of the night that I had left my wallet out on the car before the play, but thankfully there are some kind people left in this world and it had been brought in to the theater.  Just bothered me that I did that...that's not like me....I feel like my head has been spinning for the last three months, hmmm, I wonder why?!  

Sunday morning we visited my parent's church because my sister and niece were playing piano.  We tried to have the boys in the service to at least see them, but we were only partially successful.  I had to take Caleb out before they played, I think Logan made it through their song and then Mike took him out, and Levi didn't last much longer before I had to go out and feed him.  :)

Today we got to go on a train ride!  We took the train that goes from Coopersville to Marne, it's a fun little ride to go on with kids.  I didn't tell the boys about it until they got up this morning because I knew I'd get endless questions otherwise.  And I still did.  Of course we had to take time to drive up there, wait around until we could board, and then wait until the train actually got moving.  Must seem like at eternity for a two-year-old.  :)  Caleb kept saying again and again that he wanted to go on the train, etc.  He enjoyed watching out the window for most of the ride.  Logan watched out he window some and especially enjoyed his ticket (he gets attached to little random things like that, especially anything paper...).  

 Levi hangs out with Auntie Shell, Caleb looks out the window.

 Caleb watching out the window.

 Logan and I.

Me and my boys!  Levi looks nice with that burp rag, doesn't he??  :)  It's a necessity!  You never know when he'll erupt!