Precocious

Apparently, the housing market is so good that even Emma is looking for her first home. 

It started about 2 wks ago.  The house across

Honest sweat

Since July, I’ve been training again for my half marathon in October.  I gave myself 3 more weeks of training this year to make it a solid 13weeks.  My friends, Cheri & Megan, agreed to do the race together just like we had last year.  After consulting our schedules, we decided we’d have to train separately during the week and do our long runs together on the weekends.

In the beginning, it wasn’t so bad.  I learned the joy of running by myself.  Quiet time to think and release the tension of the day.  Smelling the

Cottage pro

I believe I was born to cottage.  I really do.

I’m sure most people think that they were too.  I’m also sure that most would never recognize the degree of skill and fortitude it takes to cottage like a pro.  They might think that they could handle the intense level of vacationing.  They probably believe that they have the stamina to maintain that perfect balance of fun & relaxation mixed with a tinge of work.  But I believe it takes an extraordinary amount of  focus and desire to achieve a perfect harmony in what I have deemed ’cottaging’.  It’s not camping, it’s not being on a cruise… it’s cottaging.

I believe I have achieved a near perfect recipe for doing so.  It will be my life’s work to

Call me the breeze

The core of me is filled with fear… well, correct that… it used to be filled with fear.  It seems like my whole life, I’ve battled with being afraid of things.  Some are rational fears (like heights) and some have been ridiculous fears(lawn mowers).  I’ve tried to work on both the big and little ones over time.  They say the best way to overcome a fear is to just do it.  I can officially add riding a motorcycle to the list of fears overcome.  Here’s some pictures of

In pursuit of a family picture

We decided to take advantage of Holland’s 4th of July celebration yesterday since we are going to a friend’s party today.  I really didn’t want the kids to miss out on the big fireworks and the family time spent alone together. 

While there, we tried to take a family picture with the aid of the self timer in the camera.  We set the timer for 10 seconds & didn’t realize that it took 3 rapid shots in a row.  Now, any family picture normally takes a few tries but here is our progression.

Attempt #1

The painted turtle experience

One night in Ludington, we decided to take the kids down and build a campfire for s’mores after dinner.  Dan was reluctant to go fishing and leave me to this task alone. I think he was having flashbacks to my previous ‘camping’ failure.  After much reassurance that I could handle it, he left to go find some fish.

Now, I can do a lot of things and if need be, I’m sure I could have figured out how to make s’mores happen but

Edumacated

 

Dan, Emma, Gerrit & I are sitting in a Burger King after Emma’s state competition this past Saturday.  As we ‘encourage’ them to eat faster so we can make the hour long trek back home… this conversation unfolds:

Emma looking next to her at the window: “Ew… a bug!”

Me: “Emma, don’t be such a baby.  It’s just a bug”

Emma realizing that it’s not on the inside: “Oh, it’s outside the window“

Me: “Great… then eat“

We continue with our lunch but Dan & I stop dead in our tracks when

And you still want to marry each other?

Last Wednesday was Dan’s & my anniversary.  9 years officially married but 14years together.  It seems like a lot until I look at his parents… married 41 years.  What a tremendous accomplishment!

While driving up to Ludington, we talked about our journey.  How far we’ve grown and recognizing all the evolutions we’ve had along the way.  We’ve changed a lot in the last 14 years but we’ve managed to change together.  That’s important to us. 

Since we were in Ludington, Dan had asked his mom if we could leave the kids that night to have dinner together.  I requested that we go to the beach to watch the sunset and