Happy 4th!

It seems this bi-weekly posting is becoming a habit this summer!

 

In the past two weeks, a lot of things have happened around here.  Ezri and Alora each got a month older...



  Alora has been and endless source of laughs and entertainment.  She still LOVES to jump in the jumper when Mommy showers...

 And we've found her in some interesting places lately with a book.  She just loves to read books right now, and it is so fun to listen to her "read" and chatter about what she sees in the pictures.

 We've been outside a lot - no surprise there!  With the summer heat, the girls and I cooled off after dinner one night with an ice cream cone.  This was a very welcome treat - Alora's first ice cream cone!

 Alora even  took that cone with her into the pool :)

July 4th brought a very busy day for our family.  We were up early to prepare for the Dorr parade, in which Alex pulled the trailer holding the church band and equipment while this Mommy sang.  The girls were able to ride in the truck with Daddy.  Members from our church handed out freeze pops.



 

We had to get lined up early and then wait... and wait...  The girls did really well with the waiting, for the most part.  Alora tried to do her share of exploring, but never got too far.

 Ezri had a few friends to hang out with...

 Andy and Jay were there with us, helping set up and manage the kids, among the other parade stuff.

 After the Dorr parade, we had a bit of time at home before we were off again to the Hopkins parade.  Thankfully, it was a perfect day as far as weather went!  After the Hopkins parade and the unloading of the trailer, we headed back into town to get some food and check out the happenings at the park.  Ezri even got to ride a pony, which she loved!

While we waited for dark, we found ways to entertain ourselves.  The guys pulled out the potato canon and played...

 While Ezri and Alora had some fun with a few little fireworks, with the help of Uncle Andy...

 While we waited and played, Alora found it quite funny to run off.  I chased her round and round the house for quite some time.  Every so often, she would look back to see me, and intentionally fall, laughing... then she was off and running again.  It became a fun game for her!

 As dark settled upon us, we loaded up into our truck and drove to a nearby church parking lot to watch the fireworks.  More waiting, so Ezri did a few sparklers. 

 As soon as the fireworks started, Alora was suddenly captivated and still.  She just loved them!  Ezri as well :) 

Friday morning, we packed up our camping gear and headed North with Andy and Jay to Pentwater, to stay at the Lake Michigan Camp (A UMC church camp), where our friends are currently directors.  Ezri was very excited to see her friends Lexi and Bella again.  Not much time passed before the girls were off in the Power Wheels again. 

 We spent Friday evening at the beach, after doing a little work around the camp.

 Ezri had such fun playing in the big lake with her friends, even though the water was a bit chilly.

Alora enjoyed the water, but was equally happy in the sand :)

 And she was in good company, because Jack was much happier on land as well :)

 Soon, all of the kids were digging and constructing...

 Such a beautiful day!

 Saturday, we set off on some more adventures.  We found a big chair...

And Ezri tried her hand at some photography - she did pretty good!

 The guys helped fix the camp truck...

 And the kids played together on their bikes.

Saturday evening, we returned to the beach!

 And this time, the guys had some fun in the sand too!
 Alora was often caked in sand after getting wet, so she was quite the mess to clean come shower time later that night, but she had a blast!

 We even had the opportunity to see a Heron while on the beach.

 As the sun started to set, we headed back up the dune to get cleaned up.

 And then back down the dune to catch the beautiful sunset

 

 And this Mommy even showed up in a photo - a rare occasion :)

 We returned home late Sunday evening, tired but feeling quite happy after such a fun weekend with good friends.

This past week has been packed with action.  We had Dance class on Tuesday, helped get things ready for my cousin Liz's grad party this weekend, went swimming at Aunt Nancy's with Daddy on Wednesday night, spent some time with Oma on Thursday, had meetings to attend and plenty of work to catch up on.  This Mommy even spent a considerable amount of time doing machine work for Kritex.  Add another thing to my list of jobs :)

Naps have been welcome this week!  Though, we've learned that we really have to monitor what Ezri stashes away in her room, because nap time has become more quiet time than sleeping for her, and she often plays by herself during that time.  One day, she came out of her room covered in ink...

All the way up her arms and down her legs, on any skin she could get to.  Oh boy!  Lesson learned for this Mommy :)

With all of the activity, we've had our moments of ups and downs.  Ezri often brings up Tucker, and has had some episodes of waking, crying, as well as several breakdowns mid day that seem to relate back to him.  We sure are missing our buddy :(