Ups and Downs

Wow!  What a busy week for us here!  We've all been on the run and the emotions have been all over the place as well.

 

Last Saturday, the girls and I headed over to Aunt Nancy's house to pick some cherries.  What a blessing to be able to get so many cherries to can, freeze and make jam with, all for free!  We had quite a few laughs in the ladders with Aunt Nancy, and the girls had loads of fun with her and Tara.  After picking for several hours, it was getting hot.  Though we were not prepared with swimming suits, in the girls went with Aunt Nancy to cool off, and what fun they had!

 Sunday was this Mommy's birthday.  We celebrated with dinner at BD's Mongolian Grill (which had no air conditioning - it sure was hot!) and some fun at Craig's Cruisers while the girls spent a little time playing with Opa and Oma

 I even got a hole in one while messing around and golfing with my left hand :)

 Monday, the girls and I headed back to Aunt Nancy's to pick more cherries from a different tree and some swimming - this time we were prepared!  Kerri, Aubrey and Wesley joined us and we spent the day in the pool.

 Back at home, Tuesday found us going to Ezri's dance class in the morning and chasing Tobi around under the truck in the evening.  Turn my back for one second and there goes Alora, under the truck after the cat, and out she comes covered in grease, of course...

 Wednesday, the girls and I went with Oma to Shipshewana for the day, where we met Aunt Becky.  Our morning started out wet, with several hours of rain...  So we hit some shops first.

 One of the buildings had a carousel, so we spent some time there, of course...

 And found a toy store as well.  Even saw a cute little monkey there!...

 We made it to the flea market after noon, when the rain cleared off, spent some time there, then had dinner together.  Alora was quite intent on reading the dessert menu :)

 After dinner, we got some frozen yogurt and Ezri thought it was so cool to be able to eat inside a buggy!  We had been watching the horses (yee-ha's as Alora calls them) and buggies all day, and both girls enjoyed checking the buggy out.

Supper with Grandpa on Thursday night, a baby shower this morning for one of our MOPS friends, and we're all very tired!

Now the part of this blog I have been dreading all week...  Along with all of the chaos of our week, we were struck with some real sorrow.  We had to unexpectedly say farewell to our loyal friend and family member of 14 years, Tucker.  This has been a very difficult week for me, given how long Tucker has been my baby and a huge part of my life, but also very difficult for Alex and the girls.  We are unsure why, but apparently God decided he needed a spunky little dog by His side, and so we've been trying to sort out emotions, explain to the girls and work through the many moments of each day that he was a part of which now echo volumes of silence.  Words can't really explain how much we will miss him.  It has been especially hard for the girls - Alora keeps calling and looking for him and Ezri tells everyone that our puppy is in Heaven now - which reflects back onto Alex and I.  So hard...  But we know how truly blessed we are to have been a part of his life, and he a part of ours, for so many years, so many laughs and stories, trips and adventures, snuggles and barks, and so much more that made Tucker such a unique and wonderful part of our family.

  Boy are we going to miss him!

Special Trips

The past week has afforded us the opportunity to go on a couple of special trips.  Last Friday, the girls and I met two other moms from my MOPS group and their children at John Ball Zoo.  It was the perfect day for the zoo with temps in the low 70's, a bit of a breeze and not crowded at all.  We had a wonderful time together!  

Alora really enjoyed the hands on opportunities and was so curious! 
We found a new play area for the kids and let them burn some energy for a bit mid way through our visit...

 We walked up the hill along the back of the zoo to the top, where the new tram is.  After finding the way down was the same way we came up, we headed back down.  At the bottom, I realized Alora was short a hat which she had been wearing at the play area mid way up the trail, so this Mommy went running back through the zoo, up the hill, all the way to the top (of course) to find the hat, and then back down.  That's enough running for me for the rest of the year!

We were able to enjoy lunch together and then spent a little more time in the zoo.  The three oldest children, Travis (4), Ayla (4) and Ezri (3) had a great time playing together, skipping and chattering together :)

 We got a chance to see the kangaroos, which somehow I never realized the zoo had until this trip.  The female had a joey in her pouch, so we watched intently for a bit to see if it would pop out - it didn't, but Ezri sure enjoyed watching the kangaroos hop around!

 Alora, growing tired as nap time neared, kicked back and put her feet up, literally...

 And soon was snacking on her toes!  Silly girl :)

After finishing up some time in the petting zoo, we decided to call it a day and split up to go our separate ways.  Before heading out ourselves, the girls and I spent a little time on the water front feeding the ducks, and the girls really enjoyed this!

 Both girls had such fun and were so good the whole day...

But boy were they tired!  Poor Alora zonked out on the way home, mid chocolate chip cookie :)

 Back at home, Ezri was so excited to show Daddy the zoo pictures and tell him all about our fun day!

 Saturday, Daddy and Jay worked on putting up a majority of the fence in our yard.  We spent the entire day outside, and it was such a beautiful day weather wise that nobody minded a bit.  We got a good chunk of the fence installed and are quite happy with how it looks :)

 Saturday evening, Ezri spent a little time playing with her friend Jamesen on the swings and in the pool. 

 Tuesday was another special day for Ezri.  We started a summer dance class in Dorr and she was quite excited to go.  We were quite obviously new to the whole dance thing in comparison to the rest of the girls, and only 2 others had never taken a class before.  Nevertheless, Ezri jumped right in and seemed to really enjoy herself.  I think she especially liked dancing in the tap shoes, but the entire hour class she was smiles.  A little tap, a little ballet, some rhythm and coordination activities - all very basic and introductory, but fun for her anyway

With all of the extra activities in addition to teething and even less sleep than "normal" at night, poor Alora was so exhausted at lunch on Tuesday that she fell asleep.  Poor thing!

Wednesday night, Daddy, the girls, Tucker and myself headed East to Au Gres, MI for a last minute business meeting.  Thursday, the girls got to swim twice, and absolutely had a blast!  Ezri is even braver and Alora has no fear of the water, apparently.  Both were jumping into my arms in the pool without vests on, going under the water and trying to swim!  Definitely going to have to keep a close eye on Alora this summer at the pool! 

 

Between swims, while Daddy was at his meeting, the girls and I had lunch in our room, which was fun for them :)



 After Daddy completed his meeting, we swam a little more and then packed up to head home late in the afternoon.  After a quick shower, Daddy dressed Alora and she was soon fast asleep in his arms :)

And then on his face! :)

Roughly 3 1/2 hours of travel back home, yet both girls did remarkably well for having to sit all that time.  A few little spats, but with Mommy in the back seat, things were manageable.  The biggest complaint for Ezri was Alora's feet constantly in her face - on purpose.  At first it was funny, but then Alora kept it up long after Ezri was over it and that's when the trouble started...

 Ezri was no longer amused...

 Though we hoped that some napping would occur as it was after 5:30 before we started our trip home, no such luck!  Ezri tried to close her eyes a few times, but was too distracted or bothered and soon gave up.

Little miss curiosity caught me off guard as we neared home.  Around 8:45 or so, she was looking out the window and suddenly Alora started talking about a ball.  I was confused at first, but soon realized she was seeing the moon!  For the next 20 minutes, she would ask, "ball go?" any time she could not see it due to a change in vehicle direction, and would chatter away about the ball when she could see it.  Smart kid!

 

Needless to say, we're all a bit wore out after all of the abnormal activities of the past week.  We sure did have a bunch of fun, though!