The summer scene

I guess you could say there is a "summer scene" going on in town. The city event planners must be mothers (or stay at home daddies!)

There comes a point in each mother's day when it's time to get out of the house- to get a break from the strewn pieces of paper littering the floor, stepped on crayons, whiney kids and the call of laundry to head out for some special, free event that beckons all families to its lawns. I'm constantly amazed at what Holland has to offer to enrich children's lives.

Today was the children's concert in Centennial Park at noon, part of the summer scene. What an outing. We had met up with Kendra and Anneke at Smallenberg Park prior (along with Emily/Graham and Betsy VF with two of her girls) to wear the kids out before having them listen to the music in the park. It's quite something to hear an electronic harp player play "Yellow Submarine". Sylvie and Bebe got up front and danced to the music together. Sylvie looks like she has a bit of musical goove on and Bea looks like a Christian school girl at her first dance.

I think it is fabulous that all the mothers, dads, grandmas and grandpas get out for these events- to get a break from the ordinary and mingle amongst each other, if only for an hour, to realize we are all in this together, creating one large summer scene...

Traditions- Cows, Derby and scary rides

One of our summer traditions is to take the girls to the Ottawa County Fair for an evening of down-home 4H fun. Every July, the carni comes strolling into town setting up their barely put-together rides and begging for children to come for a twirl or two. Beatrice and Sylvie along with their cousins, Sarah and Rachel, spend a night hopping from one cheesy ride to the next. (The wristband with unlimited ride access is a good investment for this crowd!) Sylvie was disappointed to be too small to ride so Haans took her to see the farm animals and sit upon a tractor which she enjoyed equally as well. We all leave with dirty feet, a bit nauseous from the rides, a bit frightened from the ride attendents and most importantly, feeling complete that we crossed another one of our traditions off our list for another year.

blueberries for bebe

One of our favorite childrens' books is "Blueberries for Sal" by Robert McCloskey. In the book, a little girl named Sal helps her mother pick blueberries to can for winter. Unannounced to mother and Sal, a mother bear and her baby are also storing up blueberries for winter. Sal keeps eating blueberries out of her mother's pail (to her mother's dismay) just like the bears who are eating blueberries off the bushes to prepare for hibernating. It is a big surprise for mother when she turns around to scold Sal for eating out of her bucket and finds it is the baby bear! And mother bear is shocked to find Sal behind her and not her precious baby bear. It is an adorable story that you should all take the time to read! I especially like the illustrations which are a throw back to the 1950's and appear to be wood or linoleum printmaking.

I'm pretty sure we have our own little Sal in Holland- Jonah VanderMeer! :) We met up with our good friends, Jane, Jonah and TJ VanderMeer today for a picking session at the Gold Barn. It was so fun to see all the kids out in the blueberry fields picking from the land. They really were all amazingly good (except a few hitting sessions by Sylvie to poor TJ!) I think for as many as Bebe picked, "to fill my bucket", Jonah ate. If only Bebe could take some ques from Jonah and eat some fruit we'd be all set. We picked over 5 lbs and it was only around $9.00, amazing. Bebe was such a follow-through like her mom and didn't want to leave until her bucket was full. Sorry to pass that trait on, Bebe.

dutch mafia

Sylvie has developed this awful habit of hitting, pinching, and/or hair pulling. Her victims mostly include kids her size, but she does not exclude the darling baby who looks cute enough to pinch or to give the occasional "face rake". Adults are not excluded from her attacks either. When this mafiaso wants something she yells, "NOW", if you don't fall in line with her orders, prepare for the slapstick on your face or head! No amount of time-out seems to take care of the problem, believe me we have tried! Hopefully this stage passes fast because if it continues Sylvie will definitely be a mafia force to be reckoned with.

Shake your booty

She makes us laugh!! The other night Bea was exhausted from swimming and no nap, so she headed off to dreamland around 7pm. Sylvie was left with her 'rents and was loving every minute of it. Here she is the center of our attention.

The De Groot Family Visit

We are so thankful that the DeGroots could come visit us once again this summer! We had a blast having our Californian Cousies around, especially over the 4th of July. We spent time on the beach, time eating all together, went to Timbertown playground, Cap'n Sundae, played at our house, played out at the cottage, rode ponies at Teusink's, and participated in Edgewood's Glory Day Parade, what fun.

I think Bebe developed a little crush on big cousin Brett- she told me he was a "nice boy" and wanted to sit by him at all occasions! Sylvie definitely got her hands on all that curly, blond hair of Katherine's...and a few eye pokes too, poor Katy-d0-bears.

It's a sad day when the DGs depart from town and we may not see them again until next summer. Hopefully they will come again in February for the opening of the Calvin Fieldhouse OR possibly we may go there for Christmas??? Once a year is not frequest enough!! WE miss you DGs!!!

June 20- Sylvie's first haircut
Sylvie will be 2 on September 1st so it was high time I get the little dear's hair snipped. Surprisingly, she did great! I was worried because she has intense stranger anxiety and we had never been to this salon before, let along had her get her haircut.
Bea got her haircut first which I think helped. No sooner had Bea gotten down from the salon chair that Sylvie managed to wiggle her biscuits in the chair chatting, "Me Too! Me Too!". Both girls received suckers at the end and of course, they thought that was the best part!

my little fin

Being a mermaid is hard work! Beatrice is exhausted from her swim lessons at the Holland Aquatic Center. For two weeks each weekday morning we suit her up and head out the door for the pool. Bebe had loved going to swim class with her cousin, Abby. She absolutely loves the water and is not afraid in the least. She is the youngest and smallest kid in her placement group and getting great exercise with all the lap swimming! Unfortunately, she kicks her legs so hard but doesn't seem to go anywhere! Her "frau" of a teacher is hard core too- I don't think she can remember any of the kids names so she just calls them "her little ducks". Lois nicknamed her "fin" because she seems to be awfully comfortable in the big "sea"! All this exercise makes for one tired kid...

Mermaids

Beatrice is obsessed with all things Mermaid. Actually, anything magical- mermaids, fairies, princesses- the typical 4 year old girl phase. Naturally then to celebrate her 4th birthday, we invited a few of her friends (14!) over for a magical morning of looking for treasure in the sea. I decorated all four opennings to the dining room with blue, green and purple streamers along with dangling fish. On the table was an aqua-blue table cloth, fish netting and sea shells. There were fish candles floating in a large glass bowl and a picture of Bebe with "the real Ariel" at Disney on the table. Bebe's favorite part was her amazing mermaid barbie cake! Emelene Van Dyke from work created this masterpiece which was SO cute! Bebe's Ariel mermaid sat on top of the cake admist frosting flowers and the water. We played three games with the kids- find the chocolate coins hidden in the backyard, pass the treasure chest and pick a prize, and lastly, go fishing for a prize. In her own quiet way, Bebe loved her mermaid party and being the center of attention for once!