Memorial Day Weekend Fun

We had an exciting end to our week.  Ezri completed First Grade!  She is a very excited little girl.

With school out of the way, at least formally anyway, as we will still be doing schooling on a lighter scale all summer long, we geared up for the long holiday weekend.  This year, we opted to spend the weekend in Edwardsburg, helping our pastor and his wife at their new home with some big projects.  We put up tents in their back yard and camped out for two nights.  The girls were very excited that Daddy and Mommy got a new air mattress, so they got the old one.  It was a big party on the air mattress with those three!

Our first afternoon there, we took stock of what we might need and the guys gathered supplies for the big project - repairing and stabilizing the deck.  We enjoyed grilling out and sharing a meal together, watching a mama bird continually returning to feed her babies in a nest under the deck, and the kids had a great time playing. 

Saturday morning, we woke up and got to work.  The kids helped Miss Carrie clear rocks out of a flower bed.

And played with sidewalk chalk...

The adults got busy tearing down a makeshift shed that had been built under the deck.

As that task was being completed, we carried wood to a pile for burning later.  It was a vast improvement just having those walls taken down.  As the next part of the project began, adding support beams to the outer edges of the deck to address the sagging, we shifted the kids inside to the basement to keep them from being hurt.  They had tons of fun playing together!

And Elam was entertained by his own new toys in his stroller.

While the kids played, there was more demolition being done on top of the deck.  A poorly constructed patio roof had to be removed.

The kids, wanting a chance of pace and to be helpful, found themselves tagging along with Miss Carrie, tearing trim down inside and helping to install cabinet door handles.

Or giving baby brother a ride :)

Once the patio roof was down, it was time to tear out the old deck railing...

By the end of the day, we had quite a pile of wood to be burned, so after the kids were tucked in, we enjoyed a huge bonfire together.

Back at it Sunday morning, the guys set to work facing off the upper edge of he deck in preparation for adding new railing.

It was hot, so we eventually all had to break for ice cream!

Then, Miss Carrie took the kids and entertained them for quite a while with projects and games...

While railing sections began to be put in place on the deck.

We loaded up the kids at dinner time, to give them a change of scenery, and took them to "Donald Doo's" where, when we arrived, we met Ronald McDonald himself!

After dinner, it was back to the house, where work continued on the deck.  The kids helped Miss Carrie with some yard work

And we all admired the drastic change that had taken place in a few short days.

While Pastor Scott and Carrie went to find more railing pieces, we planted the tree they had been given by the children from CrossWind.

We left Sunday evening, close to 9pm, with some very tired kids.  While we were not able to finish the project as time was gone and supplies were not available, we were pleased with all of the progress we were able to make and had a great time together helping our friends.

After a very late arrival at home, we had some tired kids the next morning (and parents too!).  We were lazy for a bit and then started to get ready for another adventure.  We met up with friend and headed back South to the Air Zoo in Kalamazoo.  What a fun place!

The children's play room was a big hit!

Even Daddy got in on the fun

 There were rides for the kids to got on... which they did over and over and over...

 We found the robot exhibit, where R2D2 was popular among our crew.

 And Daddy found a friend too!

Ezri was thrilled to find a cannon!  For school, she opted to study cannons as her last history project, a choice she made completely on her own.  So, to see one in real life was very exciting and Daddy was happy to talk to her about it.  Using what she had learned from her history project she and Daddy had quite a conversation together.

There were many fun exhibits and things to do there.

We even got to watch a move in 4D!

 At the East campus building, we found cockpits the kids could climb into and explore, which was a huge hit!

 Especially the helicopter, since out girls know their Uncle Kevin flies one.

 There was plenty of fun for the kids to get into there.

 And lots of cool things to see and touch.

 We even got to watch a plane taking off at the airport next door as we waited for Daddy to bring the car to us!

It was busy, and filled with lots of hard work, but an amazing weekend packed with fun and memories the girls will be talking about for a long time to come.