July 4, 2007 - Annual Party and Shawn and Erin's

It has become a yearly tradition to have a pool party at "Uncle Shawn's" house on the 4th of July. This year was no different, however, we also had my niece Micah along for the day. We all had lots of fun enjoying the pool, then the kids proceeding to check out Owen's awesome play area in the back yard. The day was not complete without ice cream and fireworks ( however, I have no pictures of the fireworks...don't remember why).

June 28 - July 1, 2007 A weekend of family fun.
Once again we headed out with the camper and went camping with mom and dad. The kids had lots of fun and we were blessed with another beautiful weekend. Grandpa took each of the kids hiking individually and they got to pick out their own walking stick, which he then customized for them. They loved it. After packing everything up on Sunday morning, we went on one last hike with the family and posed for a picture up on the dune.
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June 27, 2007 - Good Morning, Sam!

This is actually quite a common occurrence in the morning. Allison seems to always need to see if Sam is awake, and if he is....up she goes. All of the sudden you hear them laughing and giggling through the baby monitor. They often roll around together and even though Mom is afraid Sam will get hurt, he seems to think it is the best of fun. A week after these pictures were taken, we had my niece Micah staying with us for a few days. We got home late at night on the 4th of July and I don't think Allison had any clue that Micah was sleeping in the top bunk of the boys room. When Allison woke up and started to climb into Sam's bed Micah very gently said...no, no Allison. It totally freaked Allison out and she started crying, sobbing and cowering in the corner. Papa soon came to the rescue, but Allison remembers this and often says "Micah scared me" as she recalls the situation.

June 25, 2007 - Vacation Bible School

Two years ago, Nicholas attended vacation bible school with our neighbors. Last year, we were camping during that particular week. However, this year it worked out that he could go again, and this time Gabrielle was old enough too. Miss Shannon, as the kids call her, picked them up in the morning. Gabrielle was super excited as this is her first experience with anything like it. She barely said good-bye to me, she jumped right in the car and was ready to go.

Gabrielle shows off her first vacation bible school paper.









Nicholas and Gabrielle after the main group meeting.


Allison joins in for an after bible school picture, and a tootsie roll from big brother.

June 20, 2007 - Don't forget Me!!

As you have seen in previous posts, the girls often play dress up, and Nicholas has gotten some of his previous Halloween costumes out so that he can participate. On this day, Nicholas decided that Sam should participate as well. Sam actually cooperated and left this hat on for several minutes. What a pose with Woody I, and Woody II.

tpvan-June 21, 2007 - Nicholas on two wheels

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June 18, 2007 - A prize well earned!

The kids earn tickets during the week for doing their chores. At the end of the week they count out their tickets with us and we are teaching them to put some in their piggy bank and give some to church. With what is left they are able to choose a toy to save up for, we post a picture of the toy on the cupboard and we have a graph of sorts that we color in as they get closer to their goal. This time, they decided to pool all of their money together to save up for this water activity toy that they saw at Target. It took them a while to reach their goal, but we finally got to make the trip to the store to realize their "dream". The hose hooks up to the pool and after it fills with water their are holes in certain places to make it like a sprinkler, the pool ends up being about 3 inches deep once it is filled with water. The whale is a slide, and there is a ring toss of sorts, and a dolphin to "ride". They have had several fun days with their new toy.

Excitement with Learning

(This post will be a little out of order because I am behind on posting right now, but I had to post this while it was fresh in my mind.)

We were camping last weekend (pictures to come in a future post) and we took the kids up to the lookout to watch the sunset for the first time. Nicholas was full of questions as we explained to him the sun was going to sink down and look like it was going into the water. His questions led to trying to explain that when the sun goes down here, it is coming up where someone else lives. Paul has always loved astronomy, so we thought that this would be the perfect opportunity to spark Nicholas' interest in the subject as well. This could lead to some real quality time in the future. So we told him we would look things up on the computer at home.

This morning, Nicholas asked if we could go to the library, which we did this afternoon. I prompted Nicholas to ask the librarian if they had any books about the sun and the planets. She pointed us in the right direction and I found a couple of books that appears to be something he could grasp. After leaving the library, he had to call Papa at work to tell him what he had found.

Tonight, before bed, Paul took Nicholas in the other room to read his book while I kept the girls in the other room. When they were finished Nicholas came up to the girls room and had to tell me the following:

1. The sun is very, very, far away. (Paul prompted him further and he told me 93 million miles)

2. The earth is smaller than the sun. (Upon Paul's prompting he recalled that 100 earths would fit into the sun).

3. There were two scientists. One discovered that the earth circles the sun and his name was Nicolaus, and the other invented the telescope which has two parts, legs and another part--he used his hands to demonstrate).

When I asked him why the sun looks so small, he informed me that it was because it is so far away.

I was so proud of his comprehension of what they had read. He is quite concerned that this book is not going to explain how and why the sun sets. Hopefully, future chapters will satisfy his curiousity and his interest in the subject will continue and this can lead to some special father/son moments in the future.