Morning Waits

The big girls' school opens the doors at 745 each morning.  All of us get ready and go to drop them off every day, then have half of an hour to wait, before the little ones' school opens the doors*.

So, sometimes we run home for a forgotten something.  And sometimes we go in early, because I'm subbing, and when the weather was really pretty, they got to play on the playground for a while.

The have wonderful teachers, and are so happy to be back!  (I am too, for that matter. = )) 

Now that it's colder, we go and wait as one of the earliest cars in the drop-off line.  At least I have a good heater in my car!

later days

*I will really like this when the roads are snowy and gross, because then I won't feel rushed.  For now, it's a lot of time to kill.

Finishing Out Summer

As summer wound down, we tried to fill it with as much fun as we could!

The twins entertained themselves by dressing up and making a show, while the big girls were gone.

Charlies had the outside Jenga inside, and it was LOUD when it fell.

We went to an outdoor event in Fowler, they had lots of cool things to try, the first thing that the kids wanted to do was kayak.  William was able to manage his one-seater all by himself!!!

The twins both rode with one of the volunteers in the two-seater.

They had a virtual reality trailer, that all the kids enjoyed.

Juliet was the only one brave enough to do the shotgun, and she needed a bit of help.

But she totally knocked out that paper squirell!

A favorite was for sure the archery, they started Grace out on a left-hand bow, but holding it right-handed., but once they got it figured out, she was good to go!

The BB gun truck was another favorite.

They did really well, waiting in lines and taking turns, but by the end the playground was where they wanted to be.

The volunteers were so amazing!  We had a great time.

The twins spend lots of time coordinating everything from their bows to their socks.

Alice and Emily pick out chips that I would never have as a kid.

The day after the murder mystery party, and after Emily's yard sale, we went to BaconFest with the Cornishes!  It was really fun, but truly, they need more straight up bacon!

Billy and I did the VIP option for extra tickets, so we got matching sunglasses! ; )

An Alice Story:

Bought a sweatshirt for Alice. Came home.
M: I bought you a new shirt!
A: eyeroll
<But reads shirt and works hard to conceal smile>
M: well, what do you think?
A: <reaches for it, and feels edge> at least it's soft...

This past weekend, we had a 2-day re-building of the Cornishes playscape.  Day one we had help from their nephew who was the one that took it apart, but then the rain came and stayed.  So, we went back the following day to finish it up.  As the pieces were used up, it became easier and easier to assemble.  The kids were chomping at the bit to get on by the time we were done.

Lizzy made me a picture on day 2. = )

And now, it's back to school for the little ones; the big girls start next week!

later days

The Other Fun Events of July

 Emily and Grace helped me with a Yard Sale.  It was pretty cool, and the mosquitoes were terrible, but we sold lots of stuff.  The kids made some money on a covid lemonade stand: Bottled water & mix your own lemonade pack.  And, my streak of no more than one car at the end of a sale still holds up!

I'm in use up gift card mode, and that took us on a trip to Panera!  We were returning the school shoes that we had ordered online that did not fit, and Panera was a nice convenient stop.

For Avia's birthday, Haley flew up from Texas and Sarah agreed to a picture.  I made a German chocolate cake for all to enjoy, but I think Avia enjoyed it the most.  = )  Hopefully she had a great birthday!

We had some playdates this month, and when Abby came, she went with Emily to the mural meeting.  Grace wanted to go too.

William attended a board breaking camp, and loved it so much, we signed him up for karate.  It's twice a week, and he's already earned his white belt!

As part of the summer reading program, the kids all received a book coupon to a book store in East Lansing.  So, we headed that way to pick out books, eat a pizza lunch, and then went to cold stone (to use up another gift card that I had had in my walled for years.)  I told the kids that Cold Stone is where Daddy and I went on our first date when we were in college.  They were all shocked, because their initial thought was that we came to this particular one. lol.

Alice did not eat lunch, so she skipped the ice cream and went back to the car with Avia.  The other four wanted to recreate the picture that I took of Daddy in the snow. = )

Grace's friend Zoey invited us to go out to MooVille with them.  It was a much more fulfilling experience this go round.  Everyone enjoyed some ice cream, the petting zoo and playground!  We attempted to go to the park in nearby Nashville that we had spied on our previous trip, but there were so many mosquitoes, that even with spray it was unenjoyable.

At his last appointment, we learned that William gained enough weight (yay!) to move up to the next dosing of his medication.  An unforeseen consequence of this is that we will now be receiving two shipments of medication, since he will be taking two shots.  = /

Building towers with the twins!

later days

Endocrinology Check-up, Turned Adventure

This is the latest post in the series of William, grace and Juliet's journey with hypophosphatasia.

On our previous trip, we arrived with only a minute to spare before our appointment time, due to a construction delay.  This was a stressful enough event for me, that this time we left 30 minutes earlier than we usually would. Alice made the decision to stay home with Billy, since we were planning a beach trip afterwards.

Since they had reopened both lanes this trip, we were an hour early for our appointment.  Instead of killing time at the hospital, my mom spotted a playground from the interstate, that was nearby the hospital.  It was a little rainy, but the kids managed to have fun.

The appointment was just a check up, and they all look good.  We have bloodwork and xrays the next time we go to Grand Rapids, but it was a nice smooth, quick appointment.

Avia and Emily were in charge of monitoring the weather and seeing what beach would have the least chance of rain.  Since we'd visited Grand Haven back in 2019, we opted for a new park: Hoffmaster State Park.

On the way, we wanted to stop and grab some buckets from a dollar store, but none were convenient.  We did stumble upon a thrift store in the tiny town of Fruitport.  I scored two planter buckets and a funnel!

It was a very empty parking lot and beach.  We were there with only 20 or so people, coming and going, our entire visit.

The wind was cold, and the water was colder.

The kids all played in the shallows, such is the siren of water for children.

The sun did peek out for a bit, making our day look bright and sunny!

The park itself is massive.  It has onsite camping, and runs about 3 miles of beach along the lake!

Once we were finished with the sand and water, we explored the park. The visitor center was much more than I could have expected!  There were many interactive displays and some seasonal dioramas.

Emily found "Goldie's" relative, from when we went to visit the Atkinsons in Indiana.

Our final park activity was hiking to the top of the dunes.  The stairs seemed endless, but were well done with lots of platforms and a zig zag staircase.

Once you got to the top, there were more stairs!

Not too shabby of a view.  Pretty sure we were on a hind dune looking at a foredune. We learned some neat trivia in the visitor center! ; )

Down was much easier than up!

We spied a burger drive in joint on our way in, so we made that our dinner stop on the way home.  I think it was called Whippy Dipp, but we'd called it Whip and Dip all day, so maybe it was the other way around?

Everyone was tired and slept before we even made it back to Grand Rapids.  Between full bellies and the late hour, we had passed on the ice cream at Whip and Dip,  so we stopped in at our little village ice cream shop for a sundae to share. = )

It was a long, busy, fun day.  And, our next scheduled appointment with the Endocrinologist is a telemed!  

later days 

<what happened previously

what happened next>

Edited 7/18/2023: This post is now a part of my project: 78 State Parks! #52

Tahquamenon Falls #15
Grand Haven State Park #53
Waterloo Recreation Area #70a
Van Buren State Park #73