We were able to spend the weekend with family in Kalamazoo. Phil's summer work hours allow him to be home by 1:00 pm on Fridays, so once he got home, we packed up and headed down! There were boxes of stuff for the garage sale we will be having in July, bikes for taking a family bike ride, swim suits/towels/life jackets for a boat ride, and a whole bag of shoes to accommodate a family of feet for bike rides, boating, and church. Oh yeah, and our teeny tiny pet turtle, too. :)
After stopping at my parent's house to drop off the garage sale items, we stopped at Meijer to pick up a few items for the chicken chili, and then we got to Phil's parent's house. We had a yummy dinner with grilled hot dogs, friend potatoes, salad, baked beans, and watermelon. Yummy! Then we loaded up bikes for a bike ride! This was Caiden's first real bike ride on two wheels and he did great!! We biked for about 6 miles at Celery Flats and got to see 3 deer, too! One was really up close and didn't even seem phased when we stopped to check her out. Ellee rode on the trail-a-bike with Phil and Cole got to ride in the seat on the back of my bike. It felt good to go out and ride with Memaw and Papa! After our ride, we went back to the house where Papa got a fire going and we made mint s'mores! The mosquitoes were crazy, but a little bit of bug spray made a huge difference. We also found a tree frog and had fun playing with that, too. Such sticky little feet! By then, kids were exhausted (way past bedtime, though very giddy) and we put them to bed. Memaw and I cuddled with them for a while, but the two little ones did not want to fall asleep! Eventually, they were all asleep and the rest of us spent some time watching tv and visiting together until we couldn't stay up any longer.
Saturday morning, Caiden was up bright and early- excited to go spend more time with his Memaw and Papa. Thankfully, his Memaw graciously let him hop into bed where they cuddled and read for a little while longer before actually waking up for the day. Once we were all up and ready for the day, we packed up a picnic lunch and talked about going for another bike ride and playing at a baseball park area. But then we saw it was supposed to rain later, which would interfere with our boating plans, so we decided to bring the boat out right then! The guys got it loaded up and we grabbed what we needed and headed out! There were only a couple other people out on the lake and the weather was just perfect for us. Each of the kids had a turn driving the boat with their Papa, we saw lots of turtles and a snake, and our picnic boat lunch was nice. Kids put their feet in the water, but it started sprinkling so after a couple hours, we headed back.
Back at the house, kids played for a little while before our afternoon snack of ice cream cones (always have to have ice cream at Memaw and Papa's house) and then went down for a rest. Sherin and I ran out to pick up a few things and by the time we got back, Timmy had arrived!! We visited for a little while before having chicken chili for dinner and then we took a walk down to the lake to see if we could spot any turtles. No turtles were spotted, but we did learn that a turtle had just laid eggs in one of the neighbor's yards, so after looking online, we learned that the hatchlings will probably be around in August. While kids took turns in the bath/shower, people played ping-pong, and then we all sat down to watch Monsters, Inc and eat some popcorn. After the movie, kids went to bed and the rest of us watched a documentary on some athlete (Bo Jackson, maybe?) before heading to bed, too.
The next morning, Phil's parents left for church and we packed up. I also got another batch of chicken chili ready in Sherin's crock pot to bring over to my parent's house. We loaded up and headed over to my parent's house (who had safely arrived from Chicago the night before) where we left our bikes, the chili, and our turtle while we went to church with Kimme and Beau. The kids were a little timid going into their class, but warmed up and had a great time!! The message was about a father's role, as our Heavenly Father as a role model and it was a challenging, encouraging message. I really enjoyed the service at 12th St. Baptist with my little sister. :)
After the service, we went back to my parent's house where we got busy helping move boxes, rearranging the garage, and unloading the u-haul. My dad transferred to a different location for work, so he was finally able to move back home! He will still have a bit of driving to do for his jobs, but he will be able to work from home where he and my mom can get settled together again, after living back and forth between Chicago and Kalamazoo the past two years. Tony, Alison, Evan, Logan, Kimme, and Beau were all there as well and we enjoyed a yummy meal together of chicken chili, potato soup, rolls, and watermelon. We also set up some tables to try and get things ready for the garage sale, but there is still more work to do for that, too. Our friends, Jeff and Jessie stopped by (which was fun since we stopped and said hi to Jeff's family when we saw them outside after we left church) to drop off a turtle for Timmy, so it was fun to see them for a little bit, too.
We packed everything up one more time, dropped Sherin's crock pot off at church next to their car, and headed home. Caid asked if we could drive past our old house in Wayland, which brought all sorts of emotions out for me and made me wish we wouldn't have done that. Two kids fell asleep on the drive home. Timmy's turtle kept crawling out of the bucket. We stopped to pick up a few groceries and a frozen pizza for dinner. Then we got home and put kids in bed and unloaded everything from the van. Ellee was over tired, so we had lots of loud crying and sore legs and lots of comforting needed. Eventually, we wound down watching a little tv while eating a late dinner and then got in bed, too.
It was a full weekend, making lots of memories with our family, and giving us many things to reflect on how thankful we are. The many emotions inspired many things I wanted to write about, but I figured jotting down the many things we did this weekend would be a good place to start.
So thankful to celebrate Father's Day this weekend, with my wonderful father, the father of my children, and the father of my husband. I know I am blessed.
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