May 3, 2009 - Lake Side Trail in Spring Lake

There was an article in the newspaper on this morning - describing different things to do in West Michigan. A bike trail in Spring Lake caught Paul's eye. The article initially stated it was 12 miles long but when we googled the trail name to find out how to get there we found out it was only 2 miles long - but it started and stopped a local parks. We decided it was a beautiful day and too nice to stay home. We packed a picnic supper, loaded up the bikes and headed out to find the trail. The kids loved the playground, then we grilled some hot dogs for supper and headed out for a short bike ride. As expected, the trail ended at another park. On the way back, Paul spotted a small dirt bike trail which Nicholas was more than happy do a test ride on.

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May 2, 2009 - Crazy Croc Kid --Part II

Back in February I talked about Sam and his crocs. He wore them all the time including to bed.
Well, lately Sam has been into changing his clothes. He will just randomly come downstairs throughout the day with a different shirt on. He is very particular about what he will or will not wear. If he doesn't like it he will take it off. I have put him to bed for a nap wearing his clothes and he will get up wearing pajama pants.

Well - this was Sam's choice of wardrobe on this beautiful spring day....

042409-042609 - Silver Lake (JellyStone)

Our second camping trip of the season was not all we had hoped for, but nonetheless quality family time. The forecast called for scattered/isolated rain showers - not the day and a half of rain that we actually received.

We headed up to Silver Lake and stayed at Jellystone Campground - normal price is more than we would normally spend - but during the month of April they only charge $15/night. So we could hardly pass it up. Being early in the season, none of the amenities like go-carting or mini-golf are open, but we wanted to spend some time at the sand dunes anyway.

We had a beautiful evening on Friday night, spent some time checking out the dune riders and got some ice cream and went to check out the sunset on Lake Michigan. The wind had started to pick up by then, and by the time we got back to the trailer to make a fire it had started to rain. It basically rained almost the entire time until we went home on Sunday. We did take a ride Saturday afternoon up to Ludington State Park and just drove around a little and did a little shopping at Walmart.

Given the fact that we were inside most of the time: Nicholas taught Gabrielle how to play checkers, and I taught both of the kids how to play boggle. Here's a note: when you play Boggle with a 5 and 7 year old 2 letter words and phoneticly spelled words count (for them, but not you).

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041709-041909 Hoffmaster State Park

Our first camping trip of the year was a great success. We had so much fun! Some warm sun in the afternoon that allowed us to take our coats off - and no rain until after we packed up to go home on Sunday.

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April 23, 2009 - Daddy Daughter Dance

In addition to Mother/Son Bowling - it is also an annual tradition for the Daddy Daughter Dance. It is so cute seeing all the girls in the neighborhood head out to the front yard to get pictures with their dad's with everybody all dressed up. Gabrielle talked about her evening for over a month and was so excited for her night out. She was so excited to get dressed up and wear her flower headband that Grandma made especially for the event. Of course, once she got to the dance she was too shy to do any dancing. She had her punch and cake with Papa and just kind of watched from the sidelines - but she came home tickled pink about her evening away and the carnation flower she got to take home with her.

April 22, 2009 - Hello, Matthew! It's nice to finally meet you!

On Monday, April 20 - Cory (my brother), Catherine and Joshua finally welcomed Matthew Jon Hager into their family. Our kids were so incredibly excited to go see the baby, but taking 4 kids up to visit the hospital did not sound exciting.

Therefore, on Wednesday afternoon - I took the kids to visit them on their first afternoon home. We brought them dinner and the kids were each able to hold the baby and spend a little time playing with Joshua. They even got to see the train come through right behind their house. (Given the fact that the trains don't generally run on the weekends, Joshua had thought he would never get to share this experience with his cousins).

Here are some pictures of our visit:

April 14, 2009 Annual Mother Son Bowling

This was the school sponsored annual Mother Son Bowling. I don't know what is more fun for the kids bowling with their moms, or bowling with their friends. Either way, I think the main thing for Nicholas was getting to leave the house one on one. He was also very excited about bowling. We went a few weeks ago for spring break and he was very excited to do it again. We were able to enjoy pizza and pop and then a game of bowling.

Unfortunately, this year they also scheduled Kindergarten Round Up on the same night, so our evening was a bit rushed. As soon as we finished bowling we had to hurry up and meet the girls at school to sign up for Kindergarten and Preschool.

Here's a picture of Nicholas and some of his friends from school that bowled with us.

April 12, 2009 Easter Sunday

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April 8, 2009 - Spring Break Bowling

We didn't have a lot of activities planned for Spring Break. I took the kids to the Library on Monday which surprisingly scored big time mommy points. The older 2 don't usually get to go to the local library during the school year because they get so many books from school. I was grateful to hear their excitement for my plan. Then on Wednesday we met Grandma for some shopping, lunch and a surprise trip to the bowling alley. Before today, Nicholas was the only one of them who had gone bowling before. We had a great time. They had lots of fun and I'm sure we'll do it again sometime.