Legoland

B.W.'s birthday gift was a trip to Legoland.
The kids aren't too fond of spiders so they were very theatrical at the thought of a spider this big.
Ready to take on Darth Vader.
Lovebird loved this elephant. For her there weren't too many things to do but she just loved riding in the stroller and taking it all in.
The girls enjoyed the "Girls Only" area.
The kids took a little class on how to make the Sears tower.
Cuddlebug had a little help from daddy.


Everyone had a great time.

We then headed to Rainforest Cafe for an early dinner. We timed it just right and the restaurant wasn't busy at all which meant the noise was about 1/10th of what it normally is. It made for a much more enjoyable dinner!

I am out of here!

So Prince Charming had to go out of town for a few days for business. It was weird to not have him here during the day but the time seemed to fly by thankfully. There were library trips, movies watched, popcorn by bowlfuls consumed, and always a special treat before bed. I always find that if I focus on fun things to do at home it always makes the time that daddy is away easier. Considering this was the first time in seven months he has had to travel I can't complain much. When we were getting ready to go pick him up at the airport Cuddlebug came down with her bag packed. She had packed it herself and was all ready to go and see Mickey Mouse again because according to her he is missing her dearly. Yeah, I'm pretty sure this one will live in Florida at some point in her life as an adult.

Ludington is Summer

The cottage in Ludington is "summer" to me. I can remember going to the family cottage and now I love that my kids get the same memories.

This was where H spent most of her time. At the door watching B and L outside playing with their friends. This is H's difficult summer in that she's not big enough to do a lot yet but she's big enough to know that she is missing out. We have some great video of her calling for B to come get her. The older two usually had their swimsuits on and out exploring and playing before the rest of us had breakfast.

A little kayaking.

Um, I think Uncle B is using B as his own personal backrest.

H didn't catch much on our deck but she sure has been watching everyone else fish and definitely knows what she's suppose to do.

And it wouldn't be the cottage without bathing the smaller kids in "The Bucket". We have decided that the new cottage will have one bathtub for the kids. I told K that if she doesn't have kids before then I'm going to make her bathe them in "The Bucket" at least once so she can get the full being a mom in Ludington experience!

Ludington has the best playground with the best views.

I think everyone looks a little tired in this pic.

Going to the State Park is a daily occurrence. Here Aunt K and H are taking a cracker break.

The beach makes you hungry.

This is what the guys did a lot of the trip. We won't talk about what they caught......or didn't catch.

The day before it had rained which created this little mini lake.

H loved being able to get in the water without the waves splashing in her face.

L loved collecting seashells.

Yes the lake was like 60 degrees and yes my kids swam in it nearly every day. I was shivering just watching them.

On an exploration.

I think this is the only pic of all three kids I captured.

One wet and muddy baby.

H's ride back to the car. Getting ready to head to House of Flavors for ice cream. House of Flavors is another daily occurrence. We didn't get any pictures of us at House of Flavors but lets just say they know our family and leave it at that.

Ludington Childrens Museum

We were so excited to see that Ludington has a new Children's Museum. It wasn't the biggest but was still a fun outing on a rainy day.

H doing a little grocery shopping.

L's cart looked just like Mommy's usually does. A bunch of fruit and veggies and she even found a loaf of Challah bread!!!

Setting out for a sail.

The House of Flavors play area was a big hit with L. Considering we go to the real HOF quite a bit when we're in Ludington she knew the ropes of getting Aunt K her order.

"Baby Overboard!!!"

Aunt K got a little chilly so she warmed up by the fire while Uncle B was wondering where the S'more fixins were.

In the nature area they had this big bear to scare the kids. Uncle B was bigger than it.

L singing us a song to end our visit.

Tulip Time

Nothing says spring like the Tulip Festival. We headed up for the weekend. It worked out great since J has a business meeting and T and M needed help moving.

E joined us for the day so T and M could finish moving. Here the kids are sitting in the big wooden shoes. I was very proud of Blake who gave up his shoe so E could get in for the picture.

Blake looking at the catch.

So this is the best picture of all the kids. We have tried to take cousin pictures in the past and they all look like this. There is always one who isn't looking.

B and L loved the swing ride. This is their second time on it. I took E on the first time and knew my stomach couldn't handle a second spin.

B and L loved the horse carts you could sit in. The favorite show to watch in the O house is Little House on the Prairie so in this picture B is pretending to be Pa and L is either Ma or her usual character, Laura.

Look what the stork brought us!!!

Peter and the dyke has been the favorite story so far in our Holland unit study. I didn't realize they had Steak and Shake's back then!!!:)

The Tulips were beautiful this year. It was a great weekend. We hadn't planned on this being a full weekend trip since we've been traveling so much but it was a lot of fun and we may be doing the same thing in a couple of weeks as J has another business meeting.

Surprise Birthday Trip

So J's birthday present was a surprise trip to Fort Wayne so he could hear one of his favorite preachers in person. It took much planning to keep this is a surprise. I would pack a little and then shove the suitcase back in it's usual storage space. I didn't let the kids on what we were doing exactly and they didn't know we were going to be gone overnight. We were half way there before J figured it out!!!

The kids always enjoy staying in a hotel.

H loved splashing Daddy.

The two birthday buddies.

It was a lot of fun to go away and just relax on Saturday without any plans. Sunday service was great too but I forgot to take pictures.