Celebration and Vacation

It has been a very busy two weeks for us! On Saturday, July 18, we celebrated Shane's first birthday with our families! The weather was beautiful, the food was great, and the kids entertained us well!

Being the big sister and having some experience in opening gifts, Faith found it necessary to show Shane how to open gifts.

At first, Shane wasn't sure what to think about cake, but figured it was okay to eat as he saw everyone else eating it.

He soon realized how good it was, and took hold of the piece of cake with two hands and ate it! My guess is he was wondering where this delicious food had been all year!

He thoroughly enjoyed his cake and birthday. Faith did well too, not having the spotlight on her. She loved watching Shane eat his cake, and she laughed and laughed about how messy he was eating the cake!

The next evening, the kids and I flew back to Michigan to spend a week with my family. It was a great week of visiting with family and friends. And Shane had the chance to celebrate his birthday two more times! We spent an afternoon at the Meijer Gardens, we went to the zoo, and I actually played golf twice, which was fun as I have not played in over 4 years!

Here we are at the Meijer gardens with one of my roommates from Calvin, Emily, and her two kids. Two more sets of future roommates??

Walking on Water

Faith is absolutely loving VBS! It's called Son Rock Kids Camp, and everything is decorated to create a camping adventure. Each day when I sign Faith in, I am given a flier with the highlights of the Bible story the kids will be taught that day, the memory verse they will learn, and questions to ask Faith at home. In addition we were given a CD with all the songs that they will be learning. And the songs are good! Of course, Faith wants to listen to the CD over and over again, but I don't mind because it is really well done! I even find myself singing along. It has been a great experience for all involved! I'm sure all the other VBS's do these same types of things, but as this is our experience, it's all new, exciting, and impressive! The Bible stories so far have been about Jesus and Peter - the fishers of men story and walking on the water. I share this because of what happened this afternoon...



Upon request, I set up Faith's water table for her. As I came back outside from grabbing a towel, Faith was not only in her water table, but she was standing up in it! My "safety alarm" immediately went off, and I asked Faith, "What are you doing??!" She looked at me and said, "I'm trying to walk on water like Jesus and Peter." I was so surprised by her response, and was happy that she remembered the Bible stories she was learning, I smiled and went back in to get the camera!

Vacation Bible School

Tomorrow Faith will begin her first week of Vacation Bible School! This is something she has been looking forward to since, well, since I had to break the news to her that school has this break called summer vacation! She wasn't too thrilled about not being able to go to preschool until fall, but quickly became excited when I started telling her that she would have the chance to do fun things such as VBS, swim lessons, and family vacations! Last week Monday she and I went to sign her up, and all week long Faith has been asking when she will get to go and stay at VBS. I'll be sure to update mid-week and share the fun things she does there.

We've been keeping busy by enjoying the great summer weather through walks at the beach, eating dinner outside, and the wadding pool of course. Here are a few of the latest pictures...

Wanting to be just like Daddy!

Now it's Faith turn...

Shane is already being taught about football...especially Michigan football!

Summer Fun!

The weather this past weekend was absolutely beautiful! We had gorgeous blue skies, perfect temperatures, and no fog! What a great blessing for the holiday weekend! Yesterday we took full advantage of the great weather and spent quite a bit of time outside. We went for a walk at the beach, and then we took out the wadding pool for the kids for the first time this summer. Both kids loved playing in the water.

Faith especially enjoys the pool when Daddy fills it up with buckets of warm water!

Shane loved all the toys Faith brought in the pool.

So Big!

This morning I finally was able to capture a picture of Shane doing one of his "tricks." Here he is showing us he is "So big!" He loves to show off for us, and really anyone else whose attention he can capture! Faith, wanting to steal the spotlight away from her brother, slung her purse over her shoulder and announced she was going to work.

When I asked Faith where she worked, without missing a beat she said, "The fire station, with Daddy!" It was cute.

Here she is ready to walk out the door!

Friends

Today we had a fun play date with some of our friends. Faith's friend Bodie and his sister Libby came over to play with us for the morning. Bodie and Faith play very nicely together, which always makes for a good play date! The two kids have been friends for about two years now - and that's quite a long time when you're only three! What is really neat about Faith and Bodie is that they are just two days apart. And what is even more amazing, is that Shane and Libby are four days apart!

Thankfully, the sun came out today (we've been experiencing quite a bit of the "June gloom" lately) and we were able to enjoy a beautiful morning in the backyard. We look forward to many more play dates with our friends!

I see a six!

While I am a huge fan of early bedtimes (both kids go to bed at 7:00 p.m.), one of the downsides is that Faith and Shane tend to get up earlier than I would choose to get up! Faith generally wakes up between 6:00 and 6:30 a.m., but every once in a great while, it's earlier than that! It was on one of those extra early mornings that I invoked the rule that the digital clock needs to begin with a six before she can get up. On most mornings the pitter patter of little feet running into our room and the exclamation of "I see a six!" is what wakens me. Today was not one of those days. Today, what I heard was, "Where did the six go?" While I was really hoping that the reason there was no six was because it was seven, I knew in the back of my head that when I opened my eyes I would see a five! And sure enough, it was 5:30 a.m. So I sent those little feet back to her bed hoping for at least a few more minutes of sleep before the day began! And thankfully Faith went back without a complaint and without waking her brother.

Faith enjoys reading, especially in the mornings!

Santa Barbara Zoo

One of our favorite things to do is take the kids to the zoo. The Santa Barbara Zoo is about 25 minutes from our house, so it is a great half day outing for the fam, which is what we did yesterday morning. Faith absolutely loves to go there! When we ask her if she wants to go, she gets so excited and begins recalling for us all the animals that we will be able to see there. Upon arriving, it is hard to keep her from running from one animal to the next! And this was the first time that Shane really enjoyed seeing the animals - well, the ones he could see from the stroller! Besides having the animals to see, the zoo has great landscaping as well as ocean views, so it is always a treat for all of us to go! On a sunny day it truly feels like you are on vacation when you are there! While yesterday wasn't a sunny morning, we had a great time and look forward to going back again soon!

The flamingos were a bit smelly!

Up close and personal with a sheep

We've joined the world of blogging...

For years now I've been asked the frequent question of whether or not we have a blog. And while I love reading what others post, seeing the pictures, I was reluctant to start my own. But here I am, starting what I hope will be a regular glimpse into the Poelstra family!

For Steve's birthday, Faith and I took him to Bakersfield to visit the Crystal Palace. The Crystal Palace is where Buck Owens (country music star from the 50's and 60's) used to play, and is now home to the Buck Owens museum and is a restaurant. Because Faith is the biggest little Buck Owens fan, we were excited to take her there! So we went and had dinner, saw all the Buck memorabilia, and stayed for the live band to let Faith do some dancing! It was a great trip. Faith absolutely loved it, and she keeps talking about how Bakersfield is her favorite place! And Shane was able to have some quality time at home with Grandma B as she was visiting from Michigan.

Shane will be 11 months old on Monday, which is hard to believe! He continues to grow, develop, and get into everything! With an adventurous personality, contrasting his cautious sister, I am finding myself having to watch his every move! Shane loves to play in the swing outside, pull himself up on anything he can scoot to, and eat! I think he would eat all day if I let him!