The Week in Review!

Since it is fall (even if the temperatures still feel very summer-like!), we are embracing all things pumpkin!  I love it that the kids enjoy eating pumpkin foods as much as I do!  So far we have made pumpkin bread twice and pumpkin pancakes once!  In the above picture Faith is helping me make the pumpkin pancakes.  With our busy schedule, the weeks are just flying by, which is tiring in the midst of the business, but overall a good thing!

 

Faith is showing off her American Heritage Girl uniform in this picture!  She is very excited to have the vest this year, and looks forward to earning some badges to go on her vest. 

 

Last Tuesday night was Parents Night at Awana, so Steve and I were able to get a glimpse of why the kids love going to Awana each week!  And it was fun for us to observe the kids!  Shane was especially cute during the singing portion as he was really into the motions of each song.  Faith showed off her memory work skills as well as her competitive side as we watched her team compete in some games.  Overall, it is so nice to see how much the leaders at Awana enjoy our kids and love participating in the group.

 

On Saturday my friends threw me a beautiful baby shower!  It was such a treat to be spoiled by my friends, as well as enjoy some girl time over brunch.  Steve's mom and Aunt Joan also made the trip up for the shower, which was so nice!  I am truly blessed with great family and friends!

 

On Saturday night Shane got up out of bed to come and "read" a book to me!  It was so cute!  He has the book memorized, but even still, it's cute he thinks he is reading like his big sister! 

 

In the midst of our busy schedules, we are still finding time to cheer on Michigan football and the Detroit Tigers!  Thankfully Shane remembers the importance of not cheering for the Yankees from last year!

Pumpkin Patch

It's hard to believe that we are already six days into October!  And with October and fall come all things pumpkin!  Fall is my favorite time of year; since we have no real change in season in either temperature of leaf color here in So Cal, it's good (in my mind!) to embrace all other "fall" things!  And so it is always exciting to head to the annual preschool pumpkin patch trip.

In keeping with tradition, Shane needed to have his picture taken on a giant prize pumpkin!

 

Faith was able to come along on the field trip too!!

 

After seeing some farm animals (geese, sheep, turkeys, a goat, and a pig), going on a hayride, and hearing a talk about pumpkins, the kids were able to pick out a small pumpkin!  Good times at the pumpkin patch!

 

The kids started Awana a few weeks ago, but I finally was able to get a picture of them in their vests.  It was Patriotic night, and they picked similar outfits to wear!  Once again, they are both loving Awana!  The other night Faith recited seven verses and the books of the New Testament to earn her new level patch!

Trip to Disneyland!

We spent yesterday at the happiest place on earth!  That's right - Disneyland!  Grandpa and Grandma Bruinsma were out for a visit, so we ventured down to Anaheim as a way to celebrate Grandma's birthday!  As to be expected, a good time was had by all!  Even in spite of hot weather (mid 90s!!). 

After driving down on Saturday afternoon, we stayed at a Disney hotel.  The kids were beyond excited to stay in a room that had bunk beds!  There was quite a bit of excitement for the whole trip, but I was even surprised how ecstatic they were about the bunk beds!

Before heading into the park, we went to breakfast with some of the Disney characters.  Since seeing characters was one of their highlights from our most recent trip, I knew that the kids would love this breakfast!  The picture at the top with Chip (or Dale!  the kids know the difference!) is one from this breakfast.  Shane enjoyed lots of time with Grandpa!

 

Dumbo was one of the first rides they went on!  Faith and Grandma were soon flying high in the sky!

 

It is always very important for an adult to come along who can ride on the tea cups with the kids since I can't!  Thankfully Grandpa enjoys the spinning cups as much as the kids!  This was their first ride of two on the attraction.

 

 

The kids with Goofy!  They were able to see some different characters from our most recent visit, so that was fun.  It was a great trip to the park as both kids enjoyed the rides and just being at Disneyland!  They also saw the afternoon parade on Main St., which was another highlight!  And a highlight for me was sitting next to Faith on A Small World and listening to her sing the song throughout the entire ride!  So sweet! 

Day on the River

On on our last full day of vacation, we took the boat through the lake and onto the Colorado River.  It's always one of our favorite things to do as it is such a beautiful boat ride, and finding a private beach is extremely relaxing! 

 

After finding a beach, we set up camp and had a picnic lunch.  Then we spent the rest of the afternoon swimming, playing football, and building sand castles.

 

Kids splashing around!

 

The boat continues to run well and be a source of family fun!

 

Heading back to The Nautical, Faith did some of the driving!  It is one of her favorite things to do! 

 

As our vacation came to an end, we savored the time together, and I really savored the opportunity to relax!  Being our final vacation as a family of four, I know that vacations for the next few years are not going to be as relaxing for me with a new little one running around!  I am thankful for the time we could spend as a family, and of course for Steve for working so hard so that we could get away, and then working hard while we were there so that we could do so many fun things!  I am one blessed mama! 

Boating Fun!

On Tuesday we took the boat out to give the kids a chance to ride on our new, two-person inflatable!  Faith loved it, and Shane said that it was fun, but he had a serious and worried look on his face for most of the ride! 

 

After awhile Shane was happy to ride on the boat while Faith enjoyed being on the inflatable by herself!

 

On Wednesday Faith asked if we could take the boat to a restaurant across the lake called The Springs.  We all thought that sounded like a great idea, and the kids took advantage of being on the lake by taking turns riding the EZ Ski!

 

Looking like a pro!  It wont be long before she starts asking to actually water ski!

 

Stopping for a swim and some Gatorade!  The kids sat on the back of the boat and shared a drink!

 

We made it to The Springs for an early dinner!  It had been over a year since we ate there, so it tasted extra good!  Faith was applauded for her great suggestion!

 

Shane enjoyed a long, post-dinner ride on the ski.

 

Such a brave little guy!  He did so well!

 

Havasu part one...and a bit of catch up!

We are having a really nice, relaxing time here on vacation at Lake Havasu!  While it is great fun to vacation with other families, it is nice this time to enjoy a slow-paced trip with no real plans!  We are doing plenty of swimming, but also watching some movies and just taking it easy!  And that is especially nice after the very busy week we had last week!  Last week all of our "school year activities" started up again, making for a very full schedule!  American Heritage Girls began on Monday night for Faith, then Kindermusik and Awana on Tuesday, swim lessons Wednesday, Soccer Thursday, and Friday began Group Solutions, which is our home school school that we attend every other Friday! 

 

Faith is really enjoying Kindermusik once again!  This semester they are going to learn a new instrument (as seen in the picture), and focus more on reading music.  She did a little concert for us one morning!

 

While Faith was at Kindermusik, Shane and I enjoyed a little bonding time at Starbucks!  And no, he is not into coffee at the age of four!  He had a hot chocolate while I enjoyed my first pumpkin spice latte of the season!

 

Sunday morning we went to a favorite Havasu breakfast spot, the Black Bear Diner.  We met Steve's Uncle Rodell there as he lives in Parker, which is about 30 minutes from Havasu.

 

One of the highlights of the trip so far for the kids has been a water slide!  Steve's dad is staying at a hotel near ours, and one of the pools there has a water slide!  The kids just love it!!

 

We knew Faith would enjoy the slide, but even Shane went on it right away!  And he loved it!!  Kids are not allowed to go down the slide with any floaties or life jacket on, and Steve was not able to be at the bottom to catch Shane, so thankfully the swim lessons are paying of and Shane was able to swim to the edge by himself!  He felt so proud to be able to do so!  On Sunday he went on the slide for almost three straight hours! 

 

The kids also brought along some of their cars from home and have spent quite a bit of their non-water time playing with the cars!

A Visit to the Farm

This morning Faith and I went on her first field trip of the school year!  We visited a local farm, The Painted Pony, and learned about animals and picked some apples!  Faith had been looking forward to this particular field trip because she really wants to go to farm camp next summer at the Painted Pony! 

 

After learning about the farm and some of the trees in the area, all the kids were given the opportunity to hold baby chicks and some bunnies!  Faith was a little unsure about holding the bunny, but she did do it!

 

This girls doesn't let many photo opportunities go to waste!

 

After holding the animals, the kids had the chance to pick some apples.  We picked Braeburn apples, as those were the one type that was ready to be picked.  We learned that the apple trees at this farm are trees that need only 300 hours of below freezing temperatures.  Most apple trees need many more hours, but since the hills of Santa Paula (where the farm is located!) do go below freezing on winter nights, they can grow apples, but only a limited number of types.

 

Finally the kids were able to feed the sheep, goats, ponies, and pig!  This was Faith's favorite part!  She could have stayed all day if we did not have to pick Shane up from preschool!

Labor Day Weekend

We had an eventful, fun-filled Labor Day weekend!  Some of Steve's relatives came over for two days, including cousins who live in Canada who we rarely see!  The weather was beautiful and the time shared was a treat!

Saturday afternoon we went to a park at the beach.  The kids played, Faith went on the boogie board in the water with Steve, and she also went on the zip line!  It was a perfect beach day!

 

While at the beach park, Shane's best friend Miles arrived!  The boys ran around and played Batman together!

 

Shane looked pretty cute in his game day clothes!  Despite a less than stellar start, the kids and I are glad that college football is back in season!  Go Blue!

 

After church on Sunday we stopped by our favorite place, Padaro Beach Grill!  As always, the kids played in the giant sandbox while the adults enjoyed relaxing and talking!  And we found Shane's hat that he left there last week Monday!

 

Part of the crew - Uncle John, Steve, Rick, Brittany, and little Aspen!

 

This was from yesterday.  After the "Church Lady Workout" (a bi-weekly workout at our church!) Faith and I went and did school at Panera before having to pick Shane up from preschool!  We both enjoyed the change of pace!

Catching up once again!

The lack of blog posts lately have been a result of being busy, being tired, and just not putting pictures on the computer!  Here are some of the things that we have been up to lately!

Summer had officially arrived in Ventura as it has been warm lately!  We took advantage of the summer weather one night last week and went to the beach after dinner.  Since school is back in session around here, we had the beach to ourselves!  The kids enjoyed playing at the playground and of course putting their feet in the ocean! 

Over the weekend we headed back to the beach to do some swimming!  One of Steve's friends of many year and his family came up to rent a house at the beach in Ventura.  So we spent Sunday afternoon with them at the beach!  They kids all had a great time playing together, and there is just something about being at the beach that the kids never run out of things to do or see!

 

Faith was excited to be near a jetty so that she could go exploring and search for sea anemones!  She found many anemones and even a crab! 

 

Shane was more adventurous than we have even seen him in the ocean!  He loved using the boogie board!

 

Faith is building a sand castle with the middle little girl of the other family.  It was cute to see Faith act more "motherly" than we have ever observed before!  It was great practice for when her little sister is born! 

 

On Tuesday of this week Shane had his first day of preschool!  While he is at the same preschool as last year, he is in an outdoor classroom this year.  The first two hours of the morning are spent outside doing some normal preschool things, but also exploring nature, harvesting crops (they picked tomatoes on the first day!), and just being outside!  So far he loves it!!  The last hour is spent in the classroom, and today we saw the class having their circle time and a story inside when we arrived to pick him up!  He is loving being back in school!

 

Faith wanted a picture of part of her school day today too!  On Thursdays we do our science experiments, and today we made little boats out of corks that we pushed a thumb tack into the bottom.  We then moved the boats in the tray filled with water by using a magnet under the tray as we are learning about magnets!  You may notice the bandage on Faith's chin.  She had a bike accident the other night that required a trip to the urgent care center!  Thankfully the doctor was able to fix the damaged chin with a little glue rather than stitches!  She appears to be healing well and is not complaining of it hurting, which is good!