What Happened?!?! the Highlights

Evidently I needed a break.  I have been postponing my return to blogging, trying to think of something brilliant or newsworthy. I still have nothing.  I will share some recent, well, somewhat recent events in our lives.
--Gideon learned to ride a two wheeler in a few days time with very little help from his parents. In fact on day 2 (after practicing with Stephan the night before) he told me that I didn't need to keep holding on?!?!  So he would coast and balance a ways and come back to try again.  After seeing his success I suggested he try pedaling and he pretty much rode around the driveway after that. There were several falls. Several.  He would tell everyone that he can ride a two wheeler with NO training wheels (insert cheesy grin) and that he fell and hurt his knee .  . . Now he does tricks.  Yesterday I recorded several tricks that we did not teach him.  he rides with his feet on the top of the tire or on the handle bars, he also rides with one foot on the handlebars and one behind him, and he stands with both feet on the same pedal.  His first 'trick' was swerving and currently he is working on pulling the front wheel up. I think he is crazy and Briella thinks he is VERY crazy (She hasn't learned the 2 wheel yet...we are slowly talking her into it, but our summer days are running out...)
--Briella and Gideon took swimming lessons from the local swim nazi.  It was a bit traumatic, each day we had to count how many times we went and how many more times we had to go (both on the trip to Rita's and on the trip home).  Gideon asked repeatedly why they had to go 5 times.  By Friday they were both smiling when jumping in the side or off the board and could swim across the pool.  They have practiced a little since then, but it is nice to know they know how to swim and know a little water safety, too.  On Friday, the final day, Miss Rita talks to the kids and parents about water safety and she asked the kids what would they do if they fell into the pool.  Right away, Briella answers "Sink."  Rita says, "No, you SWIM, you know how to swim so you SWIM."  Briella's fear is sinking in the water and would cling on to either parent for dear life any time we were in the water. (see below for update)
--Asher is using some words and doing a lot more jabbering in the last month.  He and Gideon enjoy some wrestling matches, although they are short-lived because one of them tends to get hurt.  Asher has worn out 3 pairs of shoes while coasting on the tricycle.  He loves being outside almost as much as Gideon.
--My youngest brother, Tyler, got married in Canada in July.  I flew out by myself and left Stephan with the kids.  It went well on the homefront, he even managed a parade with all three :)  I was having issues trying to keep track of my kids in the midst of the other children around, then realizing my kids were not there, only to repeat the drama 42 minutes later.  And I lost a night of sleep on the way home, that was rough on many levels.  BUT the wedding was beautiful (I didn;t take my camera because I knew my sister would take TONS of pictures) and the rehearsal was the most fun one I've been to!!  I had a great visit with a former roommate and got to meet her husband during my layover in Portland.  The kids still talk about when I was in Canada like it is some exotic faraway place.
--We spent a few days camping at a near by 'resort' lake.  We had a small cabin. It was about 12'x15' including 2 bunks, a double bed, a table with 2 chairs, and a small fridge.  It was cozy.  We were close to the bathrooms (which is VERY important when camping with kiddos) and the pool was fabulous.  Since we stayed from Monday-Thursday it was not very busy.  The kids loved it and can't wait to camp again.  Maybe next summer we can try tenting it again??!?!  We spend hours at the pool and the kids really did great swimming to us, jumping in, playing (not clinging).  The puddle jumper life 'jacket' was awesome for Asher, he stayed up right and was able to 'swim' from parent to parent and was brave enough to just float about (i.e. no clinging).
--Earlier this summer Stephan built  a BIG sandbox in the back yard and the kids are playing in it more and more as the summer goes on.  Grandpa B made them a digger that we haven't had a place for them to use it until now.  We also got new neighbors and their girls are over often and want to play back there.  
--I think these are the highlights . . . maybe I missed some but I guess I can always post again and have 3 for August!!!  I would like to share some pics of Tyler and Rebecca's wedding, so I will get on that before their anniversary soon!
If you haven't seen Gideon's bike tricks, there is a video below.
 

Easter/Spring Break/90th Birthday

 Here we are Easter morning in Kansas City.  We spent about 2.5 days in Kansas City.

 Monday we headed to Branson where the weather was not too delightful, but the kids wanted to swim.  We were able to swim at an indoor pool one day as well.

 The nice place we stayed had plenty of beds and tons of space. (Lots of clouds and rain, too)

 After 2.5 days in Branson we headed up to Hull, IA.  We visited my Grandma VM and celebrated Grandma M. 90th birthday!  Briella said "I have two really old grandmas."  (Note to Moms, I explained that the 'really old' grandmas we really her great-grandmas and the 'kind of old' ones are her garndmas ;))

It's About Time

 Our family on Christmas morning

 Gideon was pumped to get a couple of new hotwheels

 Asher resting on his new moose pillow

 Sunday we took family pictures of each family and I thought Asher looks so cute in this picture :)  I'm not sure what Uncle Dan was doing to make him laugh?!?!

 Postma Grandkids

 This shot totally cracks me up.  Asher is giggling and then there is Landon playing with his lips . . . taking pictures of lots of kids is always so fun :)

 Briella got this weaving kit and we made a potholder; so fun!

We decided to move the high chair out of the kitchen so we are all sitting by the table now!  It is nice and cozy with a family of five :)

Camping

 We spent at week at a campground with 4 other families from church.  We set up in some oppressive heat and then enjoyed four beautiful days followed by two rainy days.  The kids had a blast. There were friends all around, a playground 5 campsites down, the pool nearby, and lots of bike riding. A friend brought this gate to help keep the little ones contained and less dirty, but the big kids liked playing in the cage, too :)

 Monday night our group participated in a sand sculpture contest and we won the staff pick.  We made the London Tower with the Olympic rings . . . it was quite exciting to have the kids getting buckets of sand and water while the adults shaped various parts of the sculpture.  We each got a free snow cone or ice cream cone for our prize--yum!

 One afternoon they had a slip and slide so I got the kids all excited about this and when we saw it I was not impressed.  It was flat. It was soapy. Briella didn't even want to try it (surprise surprise) and Gideon finally dared to try and then slipped and landed on his back/head so that ended our slip N slide adventure.

 One night there was a family scavenger hunt. We searched the whole campground for various characters.  The kids were excited to find this monkey in a tree until some other kids screamed and then they did too.  We also found the scooby-doo cast, Little Bo Peep & her sheep, a Dutch lady, a surfer dude, some exercise ladies, a clown (also a little scary), and Waldo.  I may have trained Briella to be a little more competitive while we raced from place to place . . .

 We spent some time inside on those rainy days, I was glad I packed books for the kids :)  We also had to enjoy the last night of s'mores under the canopy.  Thankfully for us it cleared up after the kids went to bed so the adults could still sit by the fire for hours.

Camping Trial

 The forecast for this past weekend was gorgeous, so we decided to go camping Friday night for practice.  We will be spending a week in August camping in a pop up, but wanted to go with the kids for our own 'understanding' and to let them have a fun time too.  We found a place about 20 minutes from our house with a little pond for swimming.  The weather was wonderful, the campground quiet and clean, and the kids loved it! Well, accept Asher, he wasn't a fan of being in his stroller a lot or sleeping in the pack N play in a well lit area or the cold water(see below).

 Gideon and Briella were reintroduced to the deliciousness of s'mores :)

 Asher did enjoy the swing at the playground, if you didn't believe his record breaking teeth feel free to zoom in on this picture!

 We also fed fish with some bread and saw 100's of tadpoles in the pond. It was a lot of fun, especially for the kiddos :)  I have been camping several times, mostly in my single days where camping was about active & adventurous days, relaxing evenings, and taking turns with meals . . . camping with three kids kind of mixes those up so that the nights are active and 'adventurous,' the meals are a tag team marathon, and the relaxing is optional for adults.  Overall we enjoyed the day away and of course the kids are already asking when we can go camping again!!

On the Road

 I'm debating the details to share . . . I'm not sure if more details will make more sense or be more surprising . . . We took a family road trip to Sioux Falls, SD in this sleeper cab pulling 44,000 pounds . . . and then returned 30 hours later.  Crazy, right?  We look relatively happy and clean and decently rested, right? Because the previous picture was taken at the end of our journey!!

 We left Michigan at 2 pm on Tuesday.  The above picture is at about 7:30 Thursday morning while we wait for Stephan to get the paper work taken care of and trailer hooked up.  Briella and Gideon enjoyed watching out the window as we drove across MN, IA, and IL.  We got to see lots of wind turbines and tractor parts being hauled, we even saw a couple of airplanes, one landing while we passed the airport.

 We laid on the bed in the back reading books or just playing for most of the trip.  Briella and Gideon took turns sitting up front, too.

It was fun to stay with my sister and we got to see my parents and other siblings, too.  It was an adventure for sure!!  I'm not sure if we will be able to do it again . . . but it was worth it this time and I'm glad we took the opportunity to go!

20 hour Chicago trip

 Thursday night Stephan was talking to his dad . . . and asked if we'd be interested in coming to Chicago Friday to hang out with them.  They had meetings on Saturday, but would be arriving at 2:30 on Friday.  Stephan had the day off, so we decided to go for it.  
We met them at Vito and Nick's a major dive with delicious, unique pizza.  We tried the Italian shredded beef in the video.
Next we headed to Chick fil A for the best shakes EVER!  Peppermint chocolate chip--YUM!  Believe it or not we found a way to eat two shakes in our 20 hour stay :)
Grandpa and Grandma had lots of fun holding Asher and getting him to smile.  Briella and Gideon thought the pool was awesome.

 

Briella and Gideon got to open presents from G & G --so exciting!!

 

 Gideon was thrilled with his new truck, a car carrier, and a hot wheels track that attaches to the wall--his dad thinks it's very cool, too.
Miss Briella was SO happy to see her princess things and thinks her cute rug is cozy, too.

 It was fun to take a little trip and the kids LOVED it!!  I know Chicago has more to offer than pizza and shakes, but the family time was worth the trip!