meijer gardens

We finally made it out to Meijer Gardens yesterday! It was a hot one, but the kids loved it and I loved remembering how painful it was to be out in the heat last year in the weeks before Julia's arrival! The sun felt good and the gardens were beautiful! I couldn't resist snapping some flower shots and the kids were very patient while I did (no joke!).

Below is sweet Julia, just wishing she was one of the big kids! (Maybe it's because they have candy.)

The "great lakes" were the perfect height for Julia to stand and splash her heart out. She was drenched from head to toe. She wasn't exactly happy to get back in the stroller after this!

Just plain, heart-stopping gorgeous girls! (if I do say so myself)

Julia loved the little cabin they have there. She was all over the place and they even had this little stuffed baby doll there. She had to get in a squabble with Sarah for snuggling rights...but Sarah found a broom to play with, so we were good.

It wasn't until after I took the picture below that I thought..."This might be icky." (I'm glad I got the picture...is that bad?)

take me out to the ballgame!

Monday nights for the last few weeks have been spent at the ball field for us. Lauren is in t-ball...and loving it. She likes batting the best and can really wham the ball. It's almost embarassing how proud you get when you hear parents yelling at their 4 and 5 year olds to back up when Lauren gets up to bat! (It's pretty perplexing to me how much yelling at kids actually does happen at t-ball games...yikes!).

As you can see from the photo at below right, the games don't always have the full attention of the kids playing. Note: Lauren is on second base...facing first base (she did not run that way, however)....and the second baseman is facing left field, but wouldn't see the ball if it came to him anyway (see glove over face). Awesome!!!

days of summer...

Parades, Cottages, BBQs and Fireworks...

Saturday began shortly before 7am for us and didn't quit moving until almost 11pm. That's a great summer day!

We caught the parade in Byron Center (just last year I first learned about candy and parades). The kids loved running into the streets after candy of any kind. Sarah would patiently wait for a horse to tromp by...all the while keeping her eye on a spangler mint of all things. Hey, candy is candy in our house. We are not picky.

After the parade and a little bitty rest, we headed out to our friends' very lovely cottage by the lake. We all had a great time with some pretty cool folks.
Dylan held his own pretty well with a gaggle of girls (l-r: Faith, Bella, Sarah and Lauren). What cute kids! Thanks for a great time! After the trip to the beach, we headed back to Byron for some much anticipated fireworks (the kids missed them over the 4th of July, so this was a must-see). My brand spankin' new camera did a pretty good job with the fireworks. Now I just need to figure out what all the other buttons are for on that thing!!!

my first shoot...

This week marked my first official photo shoot. Since I don't usually stick my toe in the pool first, I jumped in with my good friends' triplet baby girls and beautiful son and daughter. See for yourself how cute these kiddos are!!!


We tried to get the three girls together, but everyone wasn't on board with the idea. We did get a nice shot later on...you'll see that soon Jenn!

a taste of summer

We went blueberry pickin' this week. The berries were huge and tasty too! Sarah managed to pick at a steady rate, but only kept a dozen in the bucket at any one time. We felt a little bad when another mom kept telling her little one to stop eating them and Sarah would just stand by, look at the (poor) boy, and eat one after the other out of her bucket. I don't think she was trying to rub it in...but it sure looked that way.

A quote from Lauren, "This blueberry is so beautiful...I can see myself in it."

day 375...and still cute

Over the weekend it was Julia's turn in the lens...

Welcome...

I'm (ahem...) blogging! I thought this would be the best way to keep everyone up to date on all the things going on with us (which sometimes isn't much). I also will keep this updated on my leap into the world of photography. Today, I'm posting some pictures of a very cooperative little munchkin seated on my new prop (a $10 garage sale find from the neighbors!). Feel free to give me any kind of feedback you'd like!

Here's some photo editing I've been playing around with....