Fun in the Sun

We've been able to really enjoy the sunshine the last week or so and do some fun things. First off, we were officially introduced to two precious little babies. Brother and sister, Keegan and Mia are just about a month old. Their parents are friends of ours. Marie had been talking for a few days about getting to see them, so we cooked up some yummy food to take over to the family. Both babies were under 5 pounds when they were born and had gained at least a pound since then, but as many of us know, we soon forget just how small and amazing newborns are. Marie did wonderfully. She got to hold each of the babies and seems to be quite the pro.


Once we had dropped off supper, we decided to meet up with our friends Matt and Honnie and their one-year-old, Kailyn to get our own. Kailyn and Marie had lots of fun playing silly games. Despite the usual distractions, we did get the kids to eat a little.


With the much awaited sunshine and warm weather, we were able to get into our garden. We planted all the little seedlings that Marie had been growing down in our basement. Joey and Marie decided to help, though the actual planting got boring pretty quickly. They had much more fun just sitting in the dirt and emptying their shovels on top of each other. The garden is already half-filled and as Jon would say, there aren't nearly enough green beans in yet!


This week was also the last week for Atrium, a Montessori based preschool / catechesis program that Marie has been attending at church this year. Though she started out a little unsure last fall, she is quite the pro now and loves seeing her "Atrium friends." She was sad to learn that we wouldn't be going for a while, saying that "Waiting until next fall was too long to wait."

After Atrium, the kids and I went to the University of Michigan Botantical Gardens. They have a wonderful Children's garden. We had packed our lunches and enjoyed them under the shade before getting into just some of the fun things to do. They have slides and other climbing items, a nature's music area, a play kitchen and garden section, a sand plot and babbling brook, a small theater and other little nooks for kids to pretend. And, I know we didn't see everything. All this is not to mention the actual gardens and the small vegetable plots. I hear that later in the summer, the kids can actually pick some of the produce for themselves. We'll have to check that out....








By the time we were finished, I had two very tired kids on my hands, which meant it was a good nap afternoon. Ahhh...you just have to love good nap afternoons.

We are spending our extended weekend with the Shibata's in Ohio. We hope that you all enjoy this "first" weekend of summer as well.

This may be an indication that the kids see us in front of our computers a little too much...


It seems like the silliness reaches a new level once the kids have on their pajamas. Could it be that they are purposely attempting to avoid bedtime??