Fourth of July and Swimming in Table Rock Lake

We watched the fireworks over Table Rock Lake at Grandma and Grandpa's. Even though the fireworks were far away, the boys "needed" their ear protection!

The next day, we went back out to Grandma and Grandpa's and went for a boat ride and went swimming. The boys really enjoyed it....and Abel really enjoyed jumping off the boat!

Mammoth Cave

On Sunday, we took the boys to Mammoth Cave. I never realized how large it was! We went on the Discovery Tour, which was a self guided tour that just went into the mouth of the cave. We figured that was all that the boys would be able to handle. Unless we wanted to carry them the whole way!

Dane was pretty concerned about bats the whole time, so after this photo he pretty much kept his hood up. But, his daddy assured him that the bats would fly into my hair before they got to his!

Abel had double protection....

This picture was taken by Abel. He was quite the picture taker on this trip. I won't bore you with all the ones he took....just the good ones! I think I know what Santa will be bringing him this year....

Dane trying to hold up the cave...

Dane, Abel, and Eric on their way out of the cave....

Branson, here we come!

Our July started out with a road trip to Branson to see Grandma & Grandpa Clark. We left on Saturday (July 3), and returned the following Friday. We packed a lot of things into the week, and I have a ton of pictures. I'm sure I won't get this all into one post, so stay tuned!

By Saturday afternoon, we had made it down to Louisville, Kentucky and took the boys to the Louisville Slugger Factory and Museum. We got to tour the factory, which was pretty cool. Dane seemed to really like the museum, especially since he just finished his first season of t-ball.

Here is the outside of the factory & museum with the large bat!

Abel inside the museum..

Dane inside a large rock that was carved into a glove...

Trying to get a good picture of the two monkeys smiling....but instead, I got this!

Dane about to practice his swing.....

Good picture....but I always seem to catch Abe with his eyes closed!

Abe and Daddy....

Abel was watching the pitching machine.....and was so amazed at how fast the balls went by.

Eric and Dane with Babe Ruth. I LOVE Dane's pose....

Dane requested this picture....

Eric holding Derek Jeter's bat...

Dane with Lou Gehrig's bat...

The boys had a great time there, and it was a nice rest stop after a long day in the car. We then headed south an hour to Cave City. We stayed there for the night, and took the boys to Mammoth Cave the next day.

Really....One year already?

Wow....I'm so sad to see that it has been a whole year since I have written in this blog. I guess that life got in the way . . . .

Our computer has always been downstairs, in the farthest corner of the house. We thought this was a great plan when we moved in, but it turned out not to be for me. If I just needed to look something up on the computer quick (or blog), I would have 4 little feet running after me and it would take me a long time to get them all back upstairs. We just got a laptop that I can use upstairs, so that has made a world of difference. Now I just have another set of hands (Dane) that likes to play games on Nick Jr....

Hopefully having this upstairs will allow me to keep up with my blog. I really enjoyed doing it, and I know there were many people who enjoyed reading about the happenings of our family. I haven't gotten everything installed on this laptop yet (to transfer pictures from my camera, mainly)...so it may be a little longer before I get pictures on here. But, at least I can let everyone know what's going on in our lives!

As everyone knows, we are expecting our third little boy in September. I am in the process of trying to organize and paint this house. Dane and Abel will be moving downstairs, and the new little guy will take over their room. The boys have requested blue walls with green stripes to go with thier surfer bedding. I am going to try to make them happy, although I have never done anything like that before....I'll let everyone know how it goes.

Right now I am working on the upstairs living/dining room. We have a friend that is redoing our table and hutch, so with that gone, I am painting the whole upstairs...tan, chocolate brown, and celery green. I am about half way there. We have a new loveseat and chair picked out for up here after all the painting is done. After we are done up here, I will be working on Dane and Abel's room, and then the baby's. I have so many projects to get done before September, it is crazy! But, I know that what doesn't get done before he gets here, won't get done for a long time.

Dane has graduated from his preschool and is now on to kindergarden in the fall. He has amazed Eric and I with what he has learned these past few years, and is reading very well - amazing. He seems excited to go, especially since he will be riding the bus in the mornings with Maverick and Maddox.

Abel will be starting preschool in the fall (2 days a week) - providing that he does well on the potty this summer. He has been more of a struggle to get potty trained than Dane was, but I am hoping we are almost there. If we have to delay it for a few months, no biggie.

Eric has been out of town the past few weeks, and the boys and I will be glad when this stretch is over. We miss him a ton. Even though he works a lot when he is home, it is nice to have him here every night. I am really proud of him for the work that he does and how hard he works so that I am able to stay home with our boys. That is what we both have always wanted, and we are so lucky that we are able to make it work. When I told Eric that we were expecting, he told me that I just bought myself 6 more years of staying home! I need to stop writing about that....I can feel the tears starting to form....

In other news....a few years ago we sold our Ford Explorer in exchange for a smaller car that was better on gas (a Dodge Avenger). We have loved it, it has been a great car. Eric's truck is starting to wear down, so we have been thinking for the past year or so that we need to replace that. It was going to get replaced by another truck for him, since he really enjoys driving them and they are useful when doing house projects. However, after learning that we will be driving around three little boys instead of two, our thoughts changed. Well, I think Eric would still prefer a truck, but my "out-loud" thinking seemed to have changed his mind as well. I would be hauling around a stroller and baby gear...would i want to be throwing that in the back of a truck all the time? As time goes on, I will probably be driving the new car more often, and I have to say that I really wouldn't mind driving a truck around, it was just more about the logistics. So, after driving numerous things.....we got one. I have to say, as much as I love the Avenger, I didn't realize how much I missed driving something a little bigger.

On Monday, we bought a 2007 Nissan Pathfinder. I absolutely love it, and Eric says he does too (although he still loves his truck). Someday I promised him he would be back in a truck. I think this just made the most sense for us now. I told Eric he would have the exclusive driving rights this whole summer, and after that, on the days I don't need to haul all three kiddos around - it's his. With Dane riding the bus, I may actually only need to drive it 2 days out of the week. It's fun to drive and the boys love it. It has a third row of seats, which Dane will eventually be riding in. When we test drove it, he got to ride back there. The smile on his face the whole time we were driving was priceless. We drove it last Saturday, and then spent the weekend thinking about it. On Sunday, Dane said he wanted to go get it..."We just have to go there and give them some dollars, and we'll be all set"....if it were only that easy.

We got it, and couldn't be happier with what we ended up with. Eric is gone this week to St. Louis, so what do you think I have been driving????? The Pathfinder, of course!

This hopefully gets everyone caught up, and I hope that I will be able to keep up with this blog better than I did . . . . .

Grand Rapids Public Museum Visit...

Last week the boys and I went to Grand Rapids to the Dinosaur Exhibit at the museum. We met Aunt Carole and Andy there, and the boys had a wonderful time. The exhibit was just the right size for the boys, and we ended up there for the whole morning!

Here are Andy and Dane just before we got in to see the dinosaurs. Abel was not being cooperative at this point...

Andy and Dane playing with one of many tables set up for them to play on.

There were some magnetic boards with dinosaur parts, and the kids could create their own dinosaur. The boys were doing better than I was....I couldn't figure out where all the parts should go.
Abel concentrating very hard....

Here is Andy coming down from the tree house...he really liked it up there!

Dane and Andy looking out the treehouse windows...

Here is Andy digging up dinosaur bones....the had a huge sandbox filled with uncooked rice. The kids used paintbrushes to uncover the fossils...what a great idea!

The big dinosaur you see the background was being moved by Abel (the controls were in front of him)...this was his favorite!

Aunt Carole and Andy

Andy doing a dinosaur maze...

Abel with some of the big dinosaurs...they had ones that were animated...very cool...

Here are some of the babies popping out of the eggs...another favorite.

After we were done there, we took the boys to McD's for lunch...where else would the kids want to go? After such a fun filled morning....the ride home was very quiet!

Construction!!!!!

It's nice to finally see the sun again! After a rainy and dark start to the week, we are finally getting some nice weather again. Hopefully that was the last of the cold weather. I probably shouldn't have just said that...

The developers of this neighborhood (KBH Builders) are starting to build on the two empty lots in our cul-de-sac. There are still seven remaining. Needless to say, there have been a lot of trucks down our street this week. On Monday, they cleared out the lots. The boys loved watching the trucks cut down the trees, another one pick up the lumber, and then it being put into the wood chipper (a big one, I must say!). There was an enormous pile of wood chips Monday night. Despite the misty rain, the boys and I ventured over there to climb the mountain. While the workers were on their lunch break, I was tempted to haul our Christmas tree over there and some of the logs in the back yard...I refrained.

On Tuesday, they finished clearing and leveled the lots out. Today they poured the footings. Dane and Abel have been waving to every truck that goes by, and have occasionally got honks! They have been watching from the window - but it was much nicer to be outside today!

Last night a tree fell on a house right across from the neighborhood. There was a tree service that came today to clean it up, so the boys and I sat and watched them for awhile. Our neighbor from across the street came down in his golf cart and watched for a little while too. We were having a great time until the Bobcat driver hit an overhead line and broke it. The F-bombs started flying and then it was time to go. Mr. Paul gave the boys a ride back up to the house in his golf cart....and they LOVED it. I think he started something.....

The boys are going to have a lot of stuff to watch in the next few months... and hopefully some kids to play with!! Word has it that one house has a buyer and the other one doesn't. Haven't met anyone yet, but we're hoping for a younger family, since we are the youngest ones down here! We can't complain though, everyone is very nice. Now we won't be the newest ones here....

Easter

Nikki and I took the boys on the train from Battle Creek to Jackson last Thursday, and we stayed until Sunday. They had a great time, and everyone was well behaved....well, except for Abel. He realized he could run around, and was not going to sit down for anything! It was only a 50 minute ride, so we didn't have to fight him for long. Unfortunately, I left my camera at Nikki's house that day, so I don't have any pictures. Once I get them from her, I will post some.

Here is a picture of Dane with the Matchbox car from Nana and Poppy....do you think he liked it? Abel is opening up his Easter basket from Nana and Poppy...with a chick in his pocket that they made the day before.

Dane tried for about a half an hour to blow up a balloon from an egg he found. I thought he was going to pass out! After he gave up, he wanted me to blow it up. It couldn't have been any wetter from all his spit!

Dane and Aunt Nikki after the egg hunt. He was very proud of what he found!

All the kids....Abel, Dane, Cameron, Avary, Maddox, and Maverick afer the hunt. I was surprised we got them to sit!

Abel with one of his eggs....he had to look inside each one before putting it in his bag...

He wasn't afraid to get down on the ground in order to get some! It was a very nice day out, but it had been raining a few days before. The ground was still quite muddy at my parent's house, so they had to wear their boots.

Here is Dane checking out what is in his egg. They all had Easter baskets, but after the "Easter Bunny" (aka Uncle Eric, Aunt Nikki, and Uncle Jason) hid all the eggs outside, we realized that there were too many eggs for their baskets. So, we opted for bags instead!

Abel says, "Farewell"......