Discovering

We've done a lot of exploring this past week.  Lots of new places to go and new things to see!  Last Saturday, the girls and I went to Binder Park Zoo with Grandma, Aunt Kerri, Aubrey and Wesley, my cousin Emily and her daughter Sofia, my Aunt Nancy and cousin Tara.  We had so much fun together, and the kids had a blast!



The kids got some opportunities to get their hands on some of the animals and were able to pet a bird...

 There were many favorites at the zoo, including the pen of goats the kids could go into and pet/brush/feed.  They also really liked the Prairie Dogs.  The favorite was the giraffes.  After a tram ride (a train ride according to Ezri), we got to the Africa portion of the zoo where there were Zebra (which Alora quickly learned how to say), Gazelle, Ostrich and Giraffes in addition to many other animals.  The kids were able to feed the giraffes from a platform. 

Alora thought they were pretty cool to look at and watch, but was not so sure about them reaching out to grab the lettuce from her little hand.

Ezri, on the other hand, was super excited to feed the giraffes "salad" and couldn't get enough of it! 

 We laughed about how their tongues felt when they grazed a hand and were even able to pet them a time or two.  It was a very neat experience and Ezri talked about it for some time after, even bringing up how pretty they were.

After a picnic lunch, we explored a bit more of the zoo.  Kids were getting pretty tired and Ezri finally agreed to sit in the stroller for a short time.  Her ride was quite crazy with cousin Aubrey pushing her - into weeds, trees, over bumps, etc.  They  both thought it pretty fun, though.

Alora passed out after lunch and slept over an hour in the stroller, just kicked back :)

Monday was an exciting day for our family.  We purchased a new (to us) mini van - a Honda Odyssey.  Ezri was beside herself and so anxious to check it all out when we pulled into Opa and Oma's driveway (where the girls stayed while we signed papers) with the new van after picking it up.  She and Alora immediately began exploring all of the seats, and space. 

 

Tuesday evening, the girls and I went to the Hudsonville Fair with Grandpa, Grandma, Aubrey and Wesley.  What fun!  The girls even got Grandpa to ride the Ferris Wheel with them!

Alora was able to ride in the cars on her own and really enjoyed that!

We had a quick supper of corndogs together...

 And rode a few more rides, the favorite being the Carousel.

At home, there has been no shortage of adventure and discovery.  Alora has learned she can better see out the dining room window if she climbs into the baby doll high chair.  So often, now, I have to pull her out of it for fear of it tipping over.

 There have been plenty of giggles and smiles as the girls played together this week.  I love how well they really do play together - inside and outside of the house.  Such a great big sister Ezri is, and Alora just adores Ezri and tries to copy everything she does.  It sure is fun to watch the two of them together.

Much of our time at home has been spent outside.  That has brought plenty of discovery for us.  Ezri discovered a Cicada coming out of its shell one day and was just amazed.  We sat and watched as it sat waiting for wings to dry.  Soon, she was collecting all of the shells she could find around the yard in her little bucket, which turned out to be quite a lot.  They are in high concentration under and around our big Maple trees.  We find them in various states of hatching, from still crawling out, to wings uncurling, to flying.  It sure has been fun to discover with her!

The bucket of Cicada shells even had to come with us to Grandpa and Grandma's on Friday night.  On the way, they spilled all over the van floor (of course), which Daddy was less than thrilled to pick up.  We've discovered in the past day that, for some reason, some bees are now attacking the hatching and newly hatching bugs, killing them.  This has Ezri quite concerned.  So, we rescued one that was still completely in it's shell and were able to watch it hatch in entirety on Saturday - oh the excitement and wonder! 

 

While I'm not a big fan of bugs, I have put that aside to encourage Ezri to explore and learn.  As a result, I too have been pulled into the excitement of the Cicadas all about our house.  It sure brings new wonder and fun when seeing it with Ezri.

Camp

This week brought a first for our family.  We participated in the first CrossWind Youth Camp, which was held at Lake Michigan Camp in Pentwater, where our friends are directors.  So, from Sunday afternoon until Wednesday morning, we were busy helping with the camp.  After an early Sunday morning due to my singing in the band, we took off right from church for Pentwater.  The girls helped me counsel a cabin of 5th grade girls while Alex was responsible for setting up a treasure hunt, arranging work projects, and helping out wherever needed.

The theme for the week was pirates, and we had some fun dressing up :)  

Ezri and Alora were in good company with their friend Jackson, who was also too young to be a camper but there because a parent was counseling.  Ezri and Jackson spent quite a bit of time playing together.

 This Mommy also got dressed up for the first day,, so Ezri and I were pirates together for a short time :)

 Our week was filled with activity.  Swimming and games on the beach Sunday evening started it all off.  Alora was in heaven with all of the sand to play in!

 Alex and Jay got to judge the sand sculpture competition and watch all of the chaos...

 And Ezri got a long awaited chance to play with her friends Lexi and Bella!

 It was a beautiful evening on the lake!

 The girls did really well, despite being drug around much of the day to do big kid activities.  Still, they found a way to fit in, especially during Chapel or Fire Bowl, when there was music, singing and dancing.

We had some very early mornings and very late nights, which left the girls worn out by the end of the camp.  The hard part was trying to explain to Ezri and Alora why they could not play with their friends all of the time, as we usually do while there.  Fortunately, the last night, Ezri was able to have a few hours of play time with Lexi and Bella when their parents graciously offered to take them to play together while Alex and I were busy with campers.

This camp experience offered Ezri a first experience with Communion as well.  At the last Fire Bowl with the group, Communion was offered and Ezri went up with her friends and their mom.  I was able to have a little talk with her later about what it all meant and she seemed to understand somewhat.  She surely understood about how much Jesus loves her and that she can go to Heaven someday if she loves Him too.

Each day, we were able to share breakfast, lunch and dinner with the group in addition to Chapel and Fire Bowl times of worship.  As the days passed, the weather cooled to the point that when we woke on Wednesday morning it was 41 degrees!  Brr!!!  I was sure glad I had packed plenty of warm clothes and blankets because we needed them.

We've been trying to catch up on lost sleep and get back to normal around here after that adventure.  Daddy has been busy working and the girls and I have been helping where we can and getting laundry done and stuff put away as well.  This has meant plenty of time outside.

 The girls have played so well together, and most of the time they are laughing about some silly thing, like Alora laying on top of Ezri.  I love to hear their giggles!

Dirt and Chaos

We managed to stay home and play much of the week.  This, of course, meant tons of chaos and energy...

 In a matter of minutes, the living room floor was filled with toys, but oh how much fun the girls had!

 Saturday, Ezri got to play with her friend Jamesen for a while.  More messes and fun.  It seems the dirt and mud really drew Ezri's attention this week.  Every time we were outside she was picking up dirt or rocks, digging and shoveling, mixing in water...  We had plenty of dirty clothes this week.

The girls found plenty of fun inside together as well.  One morning, they were busy singing and dancing together on the toy box for a good 10 minutes.  It was so much fun to watch and just listen to the songs Ezri was making up.  Alora would join right in however she felt was right, clapping and singing along :)

 I am really enjoying watching the sister activity that is developing.  Though we have plenty of scuffles, the generally surround little sis wanting to be with or do what big sis is doing.  More often, I hear them giggling and squealing together - music to my ears!

This Mommy did a good share of machining this week for Kritex.  While this was happening, the girls played together outside where I could watch them.  Ezri requested a couple of picnic lunches this week, enjoying being outside so much.  

It has been a great week, filled with reminders of the many blessings we have.

18 Months

We were grateful for a week spent at home for the most part.  Though it seemed we were gone almost every night, our days were relaxed and filled with play in or around the house.

 

We learned on Tuesday night that Ezri has an ear infection.  The only reason I questioned anything being wrong at all was because it seemed she could not hear well anymore, and I wasn't sure if it was a physical problem or if it was toddler selective hearing.  She never complained of pain or trouble.  We learned on Saturday that she had quite a wax buildup, which we thought was the cause of the hearing loss.  However, Alex's uncle checked her ears Tuesday night and found an infection on top of the wax.  This is the first ear infection either of our girls have had, so it's new territory for us.  Thankfully we were able to get her an antibiotic.  While I'm not sure there is any improvement in hearing ability, I trust her ears are starting to heal.

 

This week brought 41 Months for Ezri...

And 18 Months for Alora!

We had some fun taking her pictures at home again, and are loving the results :)  Each time I have a plan for how the pictures might go, I have my plans changed by the girls, so we ended up going a totally different route - but it turned out great! 

 

At Alora's 18 Month appointment on Thursday, we discovered her to be 26 pounds and 35 inches tall!!!  Way off the top of the growth chart for height.  On our wall at home, she is a couple of inches taller now than Ezri was at 2!  Healthy and growing as she should be, her appointment was quick and painless :)  Some people say that you can estimate a child's adult height by doubling their height at age 2.  If this is the case, Alora will surely be close to her Daddy in height, way beyond me.  Learning more words every day and becoming even more adventurous, she sure keeps us on our toes!  Love that little girl and her big sister!!!