Grand Haven

This past weekend we were able to do one last fun summer outing. It's been a couple years since we last took the kids out to the pier in Grand Haven so we decided to do that. We invited Eric's brother, wife and kids to join us and had a great time. The weather was absolutely beautiful.

The other Tower family.

Sister-in-law and friend

We heard no complaints from Bryan about holding someone's hand. I think he felt much more secure while doing it. As someone who used to have nightmares about falling off piers, I can completely relate.

A beautiful and long walk.

Mommy and her kiddos.

We were glad Bryan had Eric's hand at this point, as he was LEAPING from rock to rock with no regard for whether it was flat or slanted. Thankfully, we had no major spills.

I think every child who goes to Grand Haven insists on walking on the rocks.

Our precious third grader.

Our niece was happiest when pushing the stroller rather that riding in it. We ended the night with a trip to Temptations Ice Cream parlor and enjoyed their fabulous waffle cones.

Off to Third Grade!!!

Off to FIRST GRADE!!!!!!

Coming soon: Bryan's first day of preschool next week.

The girls did great on their first day of school. They already love their teachers and are excited about what the year holds in store for them. We are so blessed to have such a wonderful public school to send them to and we don't take that for granted.

To Aunt Shari's house we went

We had an awesome week last week as the kids and I traveled the four hour trip to Indianapolis to visit my sister's family. Shari loves to make memories and this trip we visited Conner Prairie which is a living history museum from the 1800's. We learned so much about what it was like to live in those days and were even able to help with some of the chores that had to be done. We did make many special memories. Thanks Shari and Stephen for an incredible week. We love you!!!

Learning how the Indians made clay pots.

Visiting an Indian home.

Riding a bronco that was pretending to buck. :-)

I wasn't really expecting it to feel like this!!!

Ashlynn was much more calm and serene and didn't scare the chick to death.

Brushing a goat in the animal barn.



Taking a break to enjoy the wonderful picnic that Aunt Shari packed for us.

Amazingly, Bryan was strong enough to get this pump to operate and was ready to exchange the buckets so that he could fill the second one. He quickly found that that was not possible when he tried to lift them.

Getting beautiful at the General Store.

Pickled tomatoes, anyone?

Bryan is learning how to play hoop and stick.

Elizabeth was given a special job to do by the blacksmith and his wife. She was asked to deliver this pot of slop to the pigs at the inn.

These are two happy sows.

Making sure they finish their dinner.

Bryan and Elizabeth all dressed up for tea.

I'm pretty sure who is enjoying this more. :-)

Our silly little boy discovered "Pringle" fun this week. Have a great week! We're off to school tomorrow!

InterGenerational VBS and Canning Peaches

We had a really special week this week as the girls chose to attend a VBS at the retirement home where my Grandpa lives. They were actually the only kids there with a great-grandparent as the rest of the kids seemed to be the children or grandchildren of staff members but it was really special for them to spend the time with Great-Grandpa. Several of the residents joined in on the fun and just enjoyed watching the children.

Great Grandpa and the girls.


Canning season is here and for those of you who know me, you know that my canner is about to be used overtime. A friend once offered to get me an apron that said "Talk to me in October. I'm canning." (I don't think I'm really that bad :-)) I had already done some beans, sweet pickles and dill pickles, but we added peaches and some tomatoes from the garden this week. I found out this week why God gave me girls first.

Ashlynn was an incredible peach peeler. It seemed I would look away and she would have a jar half full.

Elizabeth was also a great peeler. She was a huge help with washing the peaches, laying them out under newspaper, dropping them in the boiling water and fishing them back out. They both lasted about an hour and decided it was time to play so I got to finish, but we got a lot done in that hour.

70 quarts of peaches canned. Aren't they beautiful? Pears are next...

Summer's here!

So after a couple of months of colder than average temperatures, summer is finally here. It's in the high 80's and HUMID. Eric's brother had an unfortunate biking accident this week and walked away with a broken collarbone. Because of this our niece and nephew joined us for a morning this week and we headed off to find some water.

One of the boys playing at the park with his grandma had brought a bottle of bubbles which quickly attracted 3 of our 5 charges. They had a great time racing to pop the bubbles.

Elizabeth posing for a picture.

Our girls are forever attracted to the hand over hand bars at any park we visit. It amazes me that they can do it so well. I tried but was sure my shoulders would be dislocated and gave up. It may have something to do with weighing about 50 pounds vs. ??? :-)





My niece just enjoying the day.

Another posed picture. This girl is growing up too quickly. About once a day, something happens to make my mind fast-forward to the teenage years. If only I could slow time.

We are all gearing up for school. The school supply bags are packed, backpacks are ready and Daddy's already been back to school getting a few things ready. We have a couple more weeks of freedom before all four of my little/big ones head off to school. It's always a little sad to see summer come to an end but I also get a bit excited about the prospect of having a little more structure in our schedule. It also helps that the kids love school.

Soccer, Birthday and Friends

Ashlynn enjoyed a week at soccer camp last week. She had a great time and learned some good skills. We were blessed with a cloudy, but dry week so were spared any serious sunburn.

Practicing stopping the ball.

Making the best of sitting on the sidelines, Elizabeth and Bryan entertained themselves with games of hide and seek.


You'd never guess he was under there, would you?

Oh, Grandma, you're sooooo close!

I'm here, I'm here!!!!!

Scrimmaging against the other first graders. It was a fun week!

Finally the day arrived! It still doesn't seem possible that I could have an 8 year old.

On Monday this week, we headed down to Coldwater, MI, to visit some good friends. Eric used to work with Mike at Grandville but they moved out to Seattle for several years and have been back in Michigan for a year and we just hadn't found a time to connect. Our kids were immediately taken with their two boys and all five kids had a wonderful time together. In the afternoon we headed over to their parents' condo to enjoy an afternoon in the pool .

It was a beautiful heated pool and the kids had a ball for a good part of the afternoon.

Ashlynn with one of the kittens who has not yet been named. Our children thought they were in heaven with two dogs, two cats, 10 chickens and a rooster.

Bryan taking his turn holding one of the kittens. Thanks Mike and Jenn for an awesome day!! We had some pretty tired kids but they were excited enough to stay awake for the entire 2 hour ride home.

We're realizing that school is approaching very soon. The girls are up at Kairos with Grandma for the rest of the week so Eric and I are enjoying being down to just one child. We'll bring Bryan up on Friday and then have a couple of child-free days to celebrate our 11th anniversary this weekend.