Acadia National Park

We recently returned from a wonderful camping vacation at Acadia National Park in Maine. On our way up, we stopped to visit the Olivares' in Avon, CT. They are doing well and are settled into their beautiful new home.


This was our third visit to Acadia, and we explored some favorite sites as well as discovering new places and things to do. One highlight was when we came across Anemone Cave, a large cave that Robert and the bigger boys were able to explore because it was low tide. Inside they found a tide pool with anemone, starfish and lots of snails.


On our last day we were able to take advantage of the low tide again, and walk from the town of Bar Harbor to Bar Island. The first picture we took just before we walked across, the third was taken at high tide, on the same spot.
We spent lots of times during our hikes foraging for blueberries. There were so many and they were ripe for the picking!
We hope to go back to Acadia in a few years when the boys are all able to ride bikes. Acadia has beautiful bike trails we'd love to explore!

Fourth of July

We spent the holiday weekend in Washington DC visiting Andre, where he has been stationed the last five months. We met him at the new Smithsonian Air and Space Museum by Dulles airport. We all enjoyed the museum, it is pretty impressive to be so close to these aircraft, many which have fought in battles in different wars.




Andre's apartment is just outside of DC and overlooks the Pentagon as well as the Washington Monument and Capitol building. It was fun to be back in DC, our last visit was 3 years ago in March to celebrate Tristan's 6th and Calvin's 3rd birthday. Time flies!


We also visited some of the Smithsonian Museums on the Mall. There was a folk festival taking place which had Texas as a theme, so we enjoyed listened to several bands from that area while we walked around. The boys liked the National Art Gallery as well as the Natural History Museum which featured skeletons of the woolly mammoth and dinosaurs. Pretty cool!

Last Day of School

What a wonderful year the boys have had in school. The year flew by like they always do, and here we are, done with another year of school. Calvin graduated from Kindergarten yesterday. We enjoyed a special program with lots of singing dancing and memories from Kindergarten. As the kids walked across the stage to receive their diplomas their teacher announced what they plan to be when they grow up; Calvin announced that he will be a wild-life veterinarian, I have no doubt!



Tristan completed third grade. One of his latest accomplishments was to memorize the 50 states, he received a 100% on his states test, we're really proud of him! Here is Tristan with his teacher, Ms Young. (Yes, his lips are blue, that had an end-of-the-year party with blue popsicles.)


This morning I had an IEP (Individual Education Plan) for Noah. A spot opened up for the summer special ed preschool program, so now, Noah will start preschool July 1st. I'm very thankful he has this opportunity, he will now be able to continue speech therapy which was scheduled to end his birthday.

Michigan

Our family spent a wonderful week in Michigan at the beginning of June. We met Mum and Dad at the cottage, where they've spent some time every summer the last nine years. The best part of the cottage has to be the beach. The kids love to play there and Tristan and Calvin where brave enough to join Grandpa for an almost daily swim.


One afternoon, we rented bikes and had a nice ride from Mears to Shelby, about ten miles round trip. In the first picture you see Noah getting situated in his carrier behind Grandpa's bike, Floris sat next to him for the first mile or so, but was too excited to sit still, so he ended up running along-side Grandma. Tristan and I had our own bike, Robert and Calvin rode together, Calvin on a tag-along behind Robert's bike. I hadn't ridden a bike in about ten years, and was happy to discover I still remembered the basics.

We visited two lighthouses, Big Sauble in Ludington State Park and North Breakwater Light in Ludington. The first involved quite an adventuresome hike on the beach in stormy weather, but the view made it all worthwhile. The lighthouse in Ludington is next to a playground that we've stopped to play in every time we've visited the lighthouse.

Birds

Well, here they are, the fabric birds that kept Jessica and I up until way after midnight. We love them, we paired two pieces of fabric to create the bird which is made up of three pieces and the loop. It's so fun to mix and match funky fabric, but it would be just as sweet with more traditional fabric. Hope you like them!






This morning Jessica said she has a "birdover," (hangover of the bird variety.) Today I'm busy packing, we're leaving early for Michigan tomorrow morning.

Cousins

We've been enjoying having Jessica, Pieter and Anneke visit us these last few days. Jessica was visiting Andre' in Washington DC, and after her visit here she will go up to Boston to attend Andre's graduation from Harvard. Congratulations Andre'!

The kids have been having a nice time together. Pieter is full of stories and interesting observations, and Anneke is almost two, and talking a lot.
Just before supper today, Calvin's tooth fell out. It's been wiggly for a while and it finally came out.
Tonight Jessica and I plan to make birds out of fabric. If they turn out I will post a picture tomorrow.

Memorial Day 2008

We camped in Swartswood State Park in Northern New Jersey over the long Memorial Day weekend. We went with a wonderful group of families from church and had a great time. All together we had 16 kids and 12 adults.

We enjoyed good food, a fun day at the beach, and lots of time just talking and catching up with friends. It was especially wonderful to see how nicely all the kids played together. Tristan and Calvin spent a lot of their time on their bikes, riding around from campsite to campsite. On our last night all the kids put on a talent show that was enjoyed by all.

Now that we're home, I'm surrounded by piles of laundry. A small price to pay for such a nice weekend. Next, we're looking forward to spending some time in Michigan with Grandma Sanneke and Grandpa John.