County Fair

It's that time of year again when the Fair comes to town!  Faith, who remembers going last year, has been counting down for the Fair to arrive once again!  We were able to spend the afternoon there yesterday along with some of Steve's family and our friends Jayne and Delaynee Nord.  Since our kids absolutely love the rides, we have learned that it is the most economical to go on wristband days.  On those days, wristbands are available for purchase that enable unlimited riding of the rides!  And yesterday we definitely got our money's worth out of the wristbands! 

Delanynee and Faith on their first ride of many!  Faith loved having Delaynee there to go on the rides with her!

We also managed to see some of the animals!  Here Faith is feeding a very young goat.

The Farris Wheel!  Thankfully Aunt Renee loves rides as well!  The fairgrounds are located along the ocean, so not only do the riders of the Farris wheel enjoy the ride but also the beautiful ocean views!

Loving the giant slide!

This was Shane's ride of choice!  We think he went on 5 times in a row!  The beauty of enjoying a relatively unpopular ride!

The girls had to see what all the excitement was about for Shane!

Faith made many friends in line and on the rides!

Shane and Aunt Renee enjoying the tea cups! 

It was a great, fun-filled day with family and friends!  Faith is having a difficult time deciding which ride was her favorite...I think she loved them all!

Go Fly a Kite!

One of the items at the top of Faith's birthday list was a kite.  Being the wonderful parents that we are, we obliged!  Since her big day a few months ago, we have tried a few times to fly the kite.  One time it was too windy (and we discovered the challenges of getting it out of a tall tree!), another time there was not enough wind.  But the other day we had a perfect day for flying a kite!  Faith was ecstatic to be able to fly it herself, and she actually did pretty well!  And I think the other people at the park enjoyed seeing the lovely butterfly in the sky as well!  For flying the kite, the third time was the charm! 

Steve is getting the kite started before letting Faith take over!

Faith had a tendency to head for the trees, but Steve was always able to steer it clear of them!

Pure enjoyment!

Despite not flying a kite himself, Shane had a great time just hanging out!

Such a little man!

Faith's Perspective

One of the latest fascinations at the Poelstra house has been taking pictures.  Faith was given a kids digital camera a few years ago, and like all toys, she'll play with it for a while, then it becomes buried in the sea of toys until it reemerges once again.  About a week ago the camera was resurrected from the toy box, so for the last week, Faith has been capturing the days events with her camera.  While her picture taking skills have improved over time, she still takes quite a few interesting shots!  I like to think of them as artistic!

Case in point!

And yet another artistic shot

The camera also joined us on our most recent trip to the zoo!  It made an ordinary trip to the zoo extra exciting!  While Faith intended to take a picture of all the animals we saw, here is what turned out...

A black-necked swan

Flamingos!

And yet another artistic shot! 

Other than taking pictures, we have been keeping busy going to the park, attending a parade, and eating dinner outside!  We look forward to going to the fair next week!

Swimming Lessons One Year Later...

It was a year ago that Faith started swim lessons.  As I sat watching her today, I was filled with amazement at the progress that this little girl has made in one year.  When she began, Faith would go in water...as long as her feet could rest comfortable on the bottom.  This greatly limited her enjoyment to knee deep lake or ocean water and the steps of a pool.  And now, she is jumping in, going under water, diving for rings - the list goes on. 

Driving to lessons today, she had one of those moments where life went from good to bad and she declared that she didn't want to go to swim lessons today.  Being the sensitive mom that I am, I didn't take her opinion into account and continued to drive.  The sullen look on her face as she walked to the pool signaled to her teacher that this was not a happy moment for Faith!  I uttered a "good luck!" and sat back to watch. And what I saw was her attitude quickly change as she swam and played in the pool!  She now loves to swim!  Today was her best lesson all year!  The weeks of trying to get the arms and legs to move at the same time clicked today, and she actually looked like she was swimming!  What a difference a year can make...and a lot of hard work! 

Here she is putting it all together!  She still needs to work on the whole breathing to the side thing - when she needs to breath the head lifts and down go the legs! 

Practicing arm strokes on the noddle

So while we aren't ready to give Bob Bowman (Michael Phelps' swim coach) a call, I couldn't be more proud of the progress this little lady has made in a year. 

Birthday Wrap-up

We are finally finished celebrating Shane's birthday!  He's had quite a celebration for a 2 year old!  Following the wedding hoopla, Grandma and Grandpa Bruinsma were able to spend a couple days at our house, and so we managed to highlight our favorite little man's big day once again!  One of the gifts he received was a basketball hoop.  He and Faith our absolutely loving it!  Even more than I thought they would, which is always a great thing!  For me, it brings back the memories of my first hoop (very similar to what Shane received!), and then how basketball moved from just "playing" around to actually working at the game and practicing the skills.  Could this be the start of a life-long enjoyment of a sport?  The possibilities are endless!  We enjoy introducing them to many different sports and activities, and it will be interesting to see what the kids choose to pursue!

At times Faith concentrates intently!  She already has a wide repertoire of shooting methods.

As of this posting, Shane is a one-dimensional player with his only shot being the slam dunk!  Accompanied with an exuberant "Yee-Haw!!"

What form!

To celebrate the birthday boy, we went to Wood Ranch where he enjoyed some Mac-n-Cheese and a birthday sundae!  I don't know if he has ever had hot fudge before, but I wouldn't be surprised if he starts asking for it regularly!  The look on his face when he discovered the chocolate on the bottom was priceless!

Wedding Weekend

This was a big weekend for our family.  For Steve and I, we were able to celebrate our five year anniversary!  And what better way for us to reflect on our five years of marriage than going to a wedding - officiated by the same minister who married us!  So really, while we did bask for a few moments in the joy of being married, the focus of the weekend was on Steve's cousin Katie (Roeda) Halma's wedding.  Since our kids each had a role in the wedding, it was even more special!  The setting for the wedding was a beautiful vineyard in Temecula, CA.  It was a gorgeous setting (flowers, lakes, fountains, etc.) a beautiful wedding, and a wonderful party!  I have some pictures from the wedding festivities, but they are mainly of my kids!!!  I didn't take any during the ceremony as I was solely focused on Shane walking down the aisle (ring bearer style!), and then keeping the kids from being distracting during the ceremony!  As I type that, I realize how self-focused that is sounding, but unfortunately, it was reality!!

Faith checking out the scenery during the rehearsal

With cousin Haley playing Ring-around-the-Rosie at the rehearsal as we attempted to keep them entertained!

Getting a pep-talk from Aunt Sue! 

Relaxing before her job of passing out candy began.  She took the job very seriously...she was hunting guests down who arrived and did not stop by her assigned position to give them candy!!

The ring bearer with his pillow!  And yes, he actually made it down the aisle!  Thanks to my parents watching him in the staging area, and being able to walk towards me, holding some candy, he made it!!

This was an attempt to get a pic with the kids in the wedding.  It was at this point I thought there was no chance in the world Shane would co-operate for the wedding!!

Steve with Faith and cousin Amy's daughter, Natalie.  One of the highlights of the wedding was being able to see so many relatives.  Since no one lives in Temecula, we all stayed at the same hotel and it felt like one big party! 

Happy Birthday Shane!!

Shane - wearing Buzz pjs and rescuing Buzz from the drawer!

Tomorrow my little boy will celebrate a birthday!!  Yes, Shane (aka little man, Shane-man, little rascal, Shane dude, little monkey) is going to be two!  It's hard to believe that two years ago at this time, we still didn't even know whether we were having a boy or a girl, and had no idea what he or she would be like!  Many people told us that kids in the same family can be very different from each other, but it was hard for us to fully comprehend.  And then Shane was born.  Right from the start, we observed a mellow, laid-back, sweet little boy, and that is exactly what he is.  Well, he's become a little less mellow as of late; he is after all almost two! 

As I watch him become more of a toddler every day, it's exciting to see him and grow and develop, but I also like to hang on to those moments when he wants me to hold him and just sit and cuddle.  Those "baby" moments are becoming fewer and fewer in between, which is a good thing I keep telling myself, but they can still be hard to let go of for this mama!  But tonight I choose to celebrate what he is and what he is becoming...a little boy who talks all the time (and can say the cutest things!), is surprisingly very polite, insists on having a hug and kiss before going to be each night, and already appears to be thoughtful.  I am grateful each day for the blessing that Shane is to our family.  God is so good to us!  Thank you for our little boy!

Swimming Pool

Once again we took advantage of the warm, beautiful day and had some fun with water in the backyard!  Today the pool made it's summer debut!  The kids loved being able to swim and just play in the water.  Shane especially enjoyed it as last year when we used the pool he was not walking yet and therefore unable to do much as crawling in a pool doesn't work too well! 

Building up courage to go down the slide!

Having a wonderful time!

Shane was hesitant at first to go down the slide as we wanted to avoid the "cold" (apparently anything that doesn't feel like the bath is cold!) water, so he would hang out on the side!

Splashing around!

By the end, Faith was jumping onto the slide and then going down!  Not a great light situation with the white slide, but a neat picture!

He loved climbing up the slide and then jumping off! 

Toy Story Party!!

Saturday we celebrated Shane's second birthday with Steve's family!  Given his love for all things Toy Story, we naturally had a Toy Story themed party!  Leading up the the party, Shane's main concern was that there would be cake and ice cream.  Anytime we ask him, "Are you going to have a birthday soon?"  He would promptly respond with "have cake and ice cream!"  And despite the constant cake-talk, the highlight of the day for him was receiving a Buzz Lightyear toy!  It has been so fun to see him so excited about a toy and play with it continually!  Here are some pictures from the party...

Faith enjoyed playing soccer with Uncle Joe

Starting to open gifts...he was excited at first just to tear off the paper and have a box to climb on!  Little did he know what would come later!

Naturally, Faith was a big help with opening the gifts

Here it is!  Buzz!

He now claims to be a Space Ranger like Buzz

"To infinity and beyond!"

Enjoying the cake and playing with the Woody figurine from the cake!

For Shane, this was just the beginning of the festivities!  His actual birthday is this coming Thursday, which he will spend at the rehearsal for a wedding in which he is the ring bearer.  And following that, the celebration with Grandpa and Grandma Bruinsma!  More good times ahead for this birthday boy!