Bike Ride

One of our recent purchases was bike seats for each of the kids that attach on Steve and my bikes.  When  Steve is home from work, he will often use the bike to pick Faith up from school.  She loves it, and the other kids are clearly envious as they watch in awe!  Yesterday we went for our first family adventure on the bikes!  We first took a scenic ride down to the beach  We let the kids out to play at a park at the beach, where they each went up and down the slide numerous times!  Our next step was to ride along the beach to a restaurant down in the beach area.  We had a great meal, and then strapped everyone back on the bikes to go back home.  It was lots of fun!  The kids had a great time, even Shane who was a little worried at first, and it was fun to do something like that as a family!  I'm sure this was the first of many rides!

Animal Party

We are in the midst of birthday party season!  It seems as though most of Faith's friends have birthdays in the spring, so we attend many parties this time of year.  Today was an animal party, complete with pony rides and a number of animals to see in a petting zoo!  The kids were so excited as they both love animals, and of course they love going to parties. 

Faith having a turn riding a pony!

The pony ride was her favorite part (along with eating a cookie for dessert!)

The petting zoo was Shane's favorite part!  There were even two sheep and a pig - two of his favorite animals!  He's petting the pig in this picture.

Enjoying the swing

After all the playing, it was time for some refueling! 

Slip Slidin' the Afternoon Away!

After quite a few days of May grey, we were thrilled to wake up to the sun shinning yesterday!  It was a gorgeous day, and to top it off, it was even warm!  We decided to celebrate the beautiful day with bringing out the new Slip and Slide that Faith received from Uncle Russell for her birthday.  The kids had a blast (I think Steve did too!), and I loved watching them enjoy it!  Because they were having so much fun and they were so cute, I took tons of pictures!  Here are a few (well, maybe more than a few!) highlighting the backyard adventure!

Here's Faith gearing up for her first slide

Steve needed to show her how to use it! 

Giving it a try...

Taking a break from "sliding" and having fun with a new sprinkler

Shane's first trip down...notice the lack of sliding as well!

Time for a popsicle break!

Splashin' around and having fun!

An action shot of the Shane-man

Literally soaking it all in!

Using the boogie board

Shane love the sprinkler too - he kept calling it Buzz, as in Buzz Lightyear from Toy Story! 

It was pretty funny!

Another action shot!

Trip to Michigan!

What a week it has been!  Last week Thursday we left for Grand Rapids to celebrate Grandma Swagman's 90th birthday!  While this would be a joyous celebration under normal circumstances, it was especially meaningful as Grandma broke her hip eight weeks ago.  Thankfully, she is doing extremely well and is even able to walk again!  We were able to enjoy a dinner out with the extended Swagman family.  Here is a picture of all who were able to make it to the dinner!

The kids and I with Grandma Swagman

The following day, Saturday, we were able to see the entire Bruinsma clan as we gathered for a family picture.  It was quite an adventure as there were 8 kids involved (the oldest being 7...I think!), including my two who never seem to want to pose for the camera!  Despite the difficulty, it was great to have everyone together.  It had been years since we were all in one place at the same time! 

Since it is no small task to travel from LA to Grand Rapids, the kids and I stayed for the rest of the week and were able to see some friends, do some "Grand Rapids" things, and just hang out with Grandpa and Grandma!

Faith playing with bubbles at the Children's Museum! 

Makin' some music!

One of the fun, unexpected treats was being able to see some friends of mine who live outside of Michigan, but were home visiting their families the same time I was!  On Monday, we were able to have a picnic lunch with the Verwys crew!  It was so fun to see the kids play together.

Here is Grace, Sam, Shane, Rita, and Faith enjoying their picnic lunch!  Little Ellen didn't make the picture.

Faith and Rita are about 6 months apart and had lots of fun together!  We noticed that they even looked alike!  If only they had the same name, they could be twins!  (That's a little old neighborhood humor, in case you think that sounds completely crazy!!)

Blowing bubbles after lunch

Sadly, I didn't take any pictures after Monday!  We were able to visit both Great-Grandmas at their respective retirement communities (apparently the residents of those places don't like them to be called Rest Homes anymore!).  We had lunch at the Woods with G.G. Max on Tuesday, and lunch with Gswags  at her new home, Sunset Retirement Community, on Thursday.  We were thankful for a nice trip, being able to see so much of our family and friends, and just being able spend some time at Grandpa and Grandma's house.