Cousin Camp - day 2

As I told you yesterday, it was a night of little sleep, but Cassie was still raring to go!

Grandpa made pancakes for breakfast.

The girls all said they were good!

The tie dye shirts they made the day before were done and turned out cute!

We were in the back yard finding things to make nature prints with and Alaina spotted something.

It was a tiny little toad!

We painted art paper with a mix of isopropanol alcohol and tumeric. They we found flowers and leaves that would lay flat and left it out in the sun.  It had to be outside for several hours so we went on another adventure.

We went to a zoo about 45 minutes from our house.

The baby goats were so cute!

They each got to feed the giraffes.

Kangaroos!

They had a section with animatronic dinosaurs. Cassie was so excited!  She said "I thought all the dinosaurs died lots of years ago."  And "Look!  Real, live dinosaurs!"  We didn't tell her they weren't real, we'll let her parents do that...

Ruby and Cassie.

These are African Rhea birds. We all loved the babies who were just running all over.

The rhinoceros were huge!

We had lunch there and soon it was time to go home.

The prints we left in the sun, had to be dipped in a baking soda solution to set the color, Here's what they looked like when they dried.

While we waited for the prints to dry, they had one last visit to the camp store. I forgot to show you the camp store yesterday, but here it is. I found some old fashioned candy, like candy necklaces, wax bottle candy, pop rocks, suckers, along with some little toys, bracelets, granola bars and fruits snacks.  I had put play money for them to use, in the bags they got when they came.  They had 2 store visits the first day, and then this one before they went home. The store was a big hit! 

On the way home, we stopped at the local ice cream shop. Then we brought some tired girls home and Bob and I went home and recuperated. We were tired, but we sure had fun!

Chihuly at the Gardens

I've often shared our visits to the Meijer Sculpture and Botanical Gardens here in Grand Rapids. It's always a beautiful place to visit, but right now there is an added reason to visit. Dale Chihuly, a world famous glass artist has shared many of his pieces, which are displayed all through the over 150 acres of gardens. I love seeing this art outside in the flowers and the water. Here's a few photos of the beauty we saw as we wandered the gardens.

I hope you enjoyed this little taste of this outside Chihuly Glass Exhibit!

A Day in my Life - June

Here we are in June, almost halfway through the year. We've made it to summer with warm temps, flowers and longer days, all of which are happy things for me. 

Here's how the first day of the month went for me.

I was up around 7 and went downstairs for a 30 minute walk on the treadmill, then upstairs for a shower and a boiled egg for breakfast. I know some people think that's boring, but I'm a creature of habit in the morning and I enjoy that egg!

I started some laundry and then did a little catch up in blogland.

My sister had the day off from work and asked if I would come with her for a little shopping. She was looking for some things to wear to work.

As I was leaving, Bob was outside working on the flower beds. The sun was shining and it was 61 degrees, a beautiful day!

We got on the road and almost immediately were met with construction barrels. This is the norm for Michigan in the summer!

We had a successful shopping trip and both found a few tops.

We decided to stop and get a pedicure too, so now my feet look better!

We got home around 1 and I had some cottage cheese and fruit for lunch.

I finished the laundry I had started earlier and did a little cleaning, including the bathrooms.

Once that was done, I took advantage of the beautiful day and took a walk.  This is our road. The sun was shining and it was 70 degrees.

When I got to the woods I like to walk in, I found a small tree had fallen across the path, but it was pretty easy to get over.

A lovely path on the edge of the woods.

Lots of beauty to be seen along the path.

When I got back home, I did the last lesson in this Bible study I've been part of.  It was really good, and now we are breaking for the summer.

I made Spaghetti Pie for supper.

After supper, we walked around the yard to enjoy all the flowers that are blooming.

It was a quiet, peaceful evening and a perfect ending to a very nice day!

Wordless Wednesday

 Our flowers have been just gorgeous this year - so instead of my usual one photo, I'm sharing several...

Memorial Weekend

I'm late, but still wanted to share a little from our Memorial Day weekend. 

On Saturday, my brother, two sisters and I went to the cemetery where my parents are buried to bring some flowers and pay our respects. This isn't something that we usually do together, but we were free that day and it was really nice to remember them together.

My parents stone with Dad's military plaque on the back of it.

We spent some time walking around, remembering people who are laid to rest there. It's a country cemetery, many family members are there, and lots of people we went to church with as kids.  It was a nice thing to do together.

Some of the family stones; Henry was my great grandfather, my grandparents, Peter and Adrianna, an infant that just says infant DeWeerd, and Edna, who was my Dad's sister. She was 1 year old and died of meningitis.

Here's the 4 of us.  My brother Duane, me, Terri and Cheri.  Our birth order is: me, Duane, Terri and Cheri. I'm blessed with a great family!

On Memorial Day, Bob and I went for a beautiful 3 mile hike. This is a trail that goes through woods and then along the Grand River. It was a beautiful day and we greatly enjoyed being out in God's great creation.

Imagine our surprise when we ran into our daughter Laura who was out for a run with their dog on the same trail.  (She's the one who told us about this place, so we shouldn't have been too surprised...)

On our way home, we stopped at the cemetery where Bob's parents and some other family members are buried.

We walked around here, just like I had done with my siblings, and found familiar names of people we remembered.

Bob's parents and a sister that was born with health issues and died before Bob was born.

Bob's grandparents and great grandparents.  Note that on his great grandparents stone Father and Mother are written in Dutch.

Then we came home and had a quiet afternoon and evening.  We watched a movie on WWII in the evening. It was a nice way to spend the day and be thankful for those who gave all for our Freedom.