Catching Up

Well so much for keeping up with Blogging, life just gets moving to quickly and cleaning, working and playing take up too much time so at then end of the day Blogging is forgotten.  So a quick catch up.  November was GREAT! All the Meeuwsen's were together for Thanksgiving, it was great to see everyone and the little kiddos played awesome together most of the time. We even got a chance to take family photos.

Always good to get a photo with all the grandkids.  We were fortunate the weather was nice.

 When they were in town we had a chance to play, go to paint a pot, the santa parade in Zeeland, build a bear and catch air.  It was fun and go go go.  

  

 Since then things have slowed down a little but we are still managing to fit in lots of fun.  Today we went over to Bretton Mall to see the trains, the fish and of course Santa.  I think that the girls actually liked the fish better then anything else, but the train was still fun to see.

We also had to go see reindeer.  This was Jacqueline's favorite, his name was Lucky.  His buddy Spike was kinda noisy and so Grace was not as much of a fan.

  We actually went to see Santa last week down town Holland.  Jackie told him all she really wanted was a Cinderella Klip Clop Neigh Neigh.  I am not sure he understood but I did.  

One last photo in case it takes me too long to post again, but Grace is awake so my time to write is done. 

Are you ready for Halloween

I love Halloween,  mostly because Grandma Jackie loved it and because it was almost as much about seeing family as a kid as it was about getting candy.  This year the girls are super excited for Halloween.

 Weeks ago we went and picked out costumes with Aunt Kate, Aunt Kelly and Grandma,  Jackie is going to be Elsa, Grace is Anna, Kate is Olaf, Kelly is Sven and my dad is Kristof.  (MORE pictures to come when everybody gets together I Promise.) The girls have already worn the costumes a lot.
We went Trick or Treating in Holland this past weekend, I think that Holland may have been just a busy on then as it is during Tulip Time.  We also made treat bags for all the kids in Jacqueline's class at school.  
Yesterday we carved pumpkins with Aunt Kate.  Jacqueline wanted Elsa on her pumpkin, and Grace wanted an M&M.  Every time I asked she would go point to the candy jar of M&M's.  Jackie was not so sure about gutting the pumpkin, but she did help a little with poking the design.  Grace really liked scooping the pumpkin guts and loved eating the roasted seeds.


We are all looking forward to some more fun this week.

Jackie's first day of school

Today was Jacqueline's 1st day of school!  She loved it.  Kate and my mom made her this sign and ribbon wand just to make the day more special.  She was ready to go with her horsey backpack, pink scissors and new crayons, (her teddy bear Sofia even got to ride along in her backpack.)

Jackie would have stayed and played with these blocks, the sand tables and the doll house all day if she could have.  Next week will be her first day by herself, (today parents were there to help get kids used to school), I am positive she will do great since at one point today she told me I could go and pick her up later when she was done playing.  Hard to believe she is so grown up already.  I am so proud of her.

Michigan Adventure

Today was Adam's work party so we took the girls and headed off to Michigan Adventure, I packed swimsuits, towels, spare clothes, treats, drinks, sunscreen, everything I thought we might need got loaded into the car and off we went.  An hour later we were there and realized Adam didn't have the tickets... So we headed home, got the tickets and went back again.  The girls did remarkably well with the very long car ride.  Adam and I were both wondering if it was really worth it before the missed tickets, so if we had not promised Jackie we were going I am not sure we would have returned.

 The day turned out great and both girls had a lot of fun.  Of course we started with the carousel because that is always Jackie's favorite, and then we made our way through car rides and buggies, helicopters, boats and elephants.  The wonderful thing about the little kiddo rides is there is almost no line.  So on one occasion the girls got off the ride got back in line and were on the next round no waiting at all.  They did really great with all the rides, until Grace started getting too tired.

 We also played a few games, the girls both won puzzles playing the Duck Pond and the got suckers from another game.  We headed home with two very tired kiddos.  The day was great but I think it will be a lot more fun in a few years when we can make it longer with no naps and when they are tall enough for some of the water rides.

New Bed, First Ball Game

Last week Friday, I was sitting in the living room enjoying a quiet cup of coffee when I heard a bang followed by tears.  Grace had managed to pull herself up and get out of her crib, so no more crib.  She has transitioned to a big girl bed.  The switch was easy at nap times but took a little adjusting at night.  So far it has been great.

In other fun news last night Kate and I took the girls to the whitecaps game.  It was both of their first times to a real ball game.  We did not make it to the end of the games because it was a late night but they both had a blast, Grace loved the hot dogs. Jackie really liked the dip n dots but her favorite part of the game was the mascot Roxy the river rascal.

Zebra kisses

Today Kate, the girls and I went to Boulder Ridge Wild Animal Park.  The day was defiantly overcast, cool and dreary but the animals were all out and we all had a lot of fun.  We also managed to stay dry all morning, but it rained like crazy on the way home.

This is one of the most interactive Zoo's I have ever been to.  We saw some of the animals from behind fences and from the bus, but there were a lot that you could feed, touch or even hold.  This is Kate and Jackie in feeding the birds.  When we went in the birds swarmed, at first I thought the girls might be afraid but they both warmed up to all the little birds quick as long as Kate and I were holding the feeding sticks.

Jackie and Grace both loved feeding all the animals. The giraffes were great, (the girls feed the giraffes and the camel a lot of carrots.)

 Grace loved the soft little bunnies.  She was quick to pet all of them and as you can tell by the pictures she even kissed several of the little bunnies.

 Then we feed the kangaroos (Grace's favorite), the llamas, the fish, the goats and a few other friends.  For the most part the girls loved absolutely everything.

However this little Zebra was a little too friendly for Jackie.  He had a note not to put fingers by him because he might bite.  So we had warned Jacqueline to keep her space.  She got a little close to the Zebra and he decided that she needed a kiss (the Zebra licked her and really scared her.)  A few tears but in the end she now says that was the best part of the day.  In fact she even took home a Zebra stuffed animal from the zoo.  Thanks Aunt Kate it was a great day.

Blueberry Picking

Today we headed out to Bowerman's Farm Market to pick Blueberries with Kate, Kelly Grandma and Papa.  If you have never been this is the place for the best overall blueberry picking experience.  Of course it starts with a ride on their pink cow.

This year the highlight for Jacqueline was the bounce house (this is new).  Jackie was more excited about bouncing then she was picking blueberries. 

 Eventually we did make it out the fields to pick.  The berries were huge and there were so many that were so ripe they were literally falling off the branches in some places.  The biggest sweetest blueberries I have scene in a while. 

 Grace loved it.  She ate so many she actually got sick and then still wanted more. I always feel a little bad at u pick because you only pay for what is in your bucket and I know my girls went home with a ton in their bellies.  We may be back again before the season is done.

Can you Climb?

We have spent the summer trying to hit a new park at least a couple a times a week.  Jackie loves when we find a Splash Pad but really her favorite is anything with a climbing wall.

We were able to Millennium Park on cooler day this week and we had the whole place to ourselves, splash pad and beach!

 Grace loved the beach at Millennium,  We dug a mote and made an island, we built more castles then I could count, but every time I went to get my camera Grace had managed to smash the castle before I returned. 

 Grace likes climbing walls too... but that's just because they are great to play peek-a-boo around.

In general, it has been a wonderful summer playing outside.  There are still a few parks on my list of must hit before the end of summer but we have covered a lot of ground.

Grace 15 month

 It's hard to believe that we were at the 15 month doctors visit this week.  Time just goes buy so fast.  Grace is eating on her own when I will let her, (she loves to be in control of the fork and spoon but she is soo messy.)  She also is great at stacking blocks, and knocking them down.  Grace loves anything outside, she often will bring me her shoes and point to the door.  By far her favorite thing to do inside or out is climb, she is fearless.

So much fun to see you grow Grace.
Height: 34.5 inches (above the 99.9% curve)
Weight: 23lbs about (65%)

take me out to the ballgame

Photos

 Grandma says she needed some new photos of the girls and she is right. We have been busy playing and having fun but I have not done a great job of taking photos and documenting what we are up to.  So today the girls and I headed over to spring grove park to play and take some new photos for grandma.  I love this photo of Grace.  I wish it were from farther away so you could see the river and the waterfall better but I just did not trust her to sit there for long.  The awesome smile is because to get this shot I am standing mid-calf in the creek and almost fell over.  Thankfully we all stayed mostly dry and I think the smile was worth it.

Jacqueline loved the stone paths to go across the creeks.   No surprise she loves to walk on the stone path I made in the front landscaping so she was a pro a these.  She spent quite a while dancing from one side of the creek to the other and need to investigate every possible way to get across the creeks.

 Individual shots of either kiddo seem easy to get but trying to get them both to stop in the same spot and smile for any length of time is almost impossible.  I love this photo Grace climbing up a set of stairs Jackie running down the hill back to the water, just stopped long enough to give Grace a kiss and keep on moving.  I did manage to get a few shots of the girls together but we may need to try again another day.  Now that school is out hopefully I can find sometime for more photos and more posts again.