Memorial Day Weekend Mega-Post: Children's Musuem, Cottage, Pool and Home improvements!

DISCLAIMER: There are ALOT of pics and videos on this MEGA post, so it may take a while to load - sorry! :P

The last few days have been busy and lots of fun (and crazy weather). Thursday night after work I brought Addelyn to the Children's Museum for family night (Thursday nights are only $1.50 to get in). I thought it would be super busy but wasn't bad at all and she had a blast :)












She wanted to push this grocery cart the WHOLE time! Definitely her favorite :-P




Giant Lite Bright


Attempting to get a pic together





Joel also did a ton in the yard!



Saturday and Sunday we went up to my inlaw's cottage.
Rebuilding the dock








All finished :)


Joel wanted to teach Sara how to ski by using the canoe...on land :P



And he wanted to show her himself....HA!!





Campfire :) Did I mention we left baby with Gramma and Grampa!? A nice little break :)



Canoeing with my love :)








Sunday was CHILLY. We kept waiting for it to warm up, the forecast was 92 and it only reached 65 and rained most of the time, but we got the boat out in hope of some sun, but it ended up raining just as we were coming in, and then cleared up as soon as we went inside :-P We went home early and was in the 80s in GR.




Joel braved the cold and got in the water to ski anyways




Memorial Day Monday was nice and HOT, got close to 100! Spent some time playing outside and in the pool











What a little stinker!! ;)



And then a sweetheart ;-)

She also had her first fudgescicle ;)










AND last but not least we got a NEW sink! SO happy to be rid of the nasty old one! :D

"Summer" Weekend

The calendar may not say its summer for over a month yet, but it sure felt like it this weekend! Temps in the high 80s and even low 90s today and lots of sun and water sure made it seem like summer!

On Friday, Addelyn and I spent the day playing outside in the pool and in the backyard...






I said, "Addelyn, look at the little flower!" and she got down to smell it, ha! (you cant even see it in the pic she was so close :P)


She kept running from me to Joel touching her nose to ours and giggling :)




Saturday we went to Grand Haven beach, she absolutely loved it!








Playing with Auntie Alyssa


Love her face! :P



So happy in the water!


Then we got home and grilled out


And grampa and gramma came to visit




And even had our first bonfire complete with smores!


Overall an amazing (and exhausting!) weekend! :)

Mowing the Lawn, Bathroom Makeover and some New Pets

Tonight was extremely entertaining, laying in my anti-gravity chair watching Addelyn watch Joel mow the lawn.

First she waved to him about 100 times (sooo cute! shes learning that waving is for HI also, not just BYE)



In AWE!!


Using her walker to imitate him, cracking me up!!





Watching him mow the front too.

And now for some home stuff :) Main floor bathroom redone:




Also we were very happy to find BEAUTIFUL wood floors in the living room under the carpet! Next Project! Joel will be taking out the carpet this weekend (if he doesn't have to work)

Addelyn: What happened? This didn't look this way when I went to bed last night!

Cuddling Clifford - I asked her "where's the doggy?" she went and got him - what a smarty pants!

And we have some new friends! Meet the new addition to our home, Fred and Lena (Meijer)

And Addelyn got a new hat today, she kept it on for about 2.5 seconds for these pics :)

Home Project #1: Moving the Fence

We had a busy weekend! Me: unpacking, organizing, getting pictures on the walls, cleaning and trying to get our new home in order, and Joel had is own project (with the help of his parents and uncle).

We didn't really like how our fence (the part closest to the drive way) was set up. It was a really strange angle that cut off part of backyard and had a big area outside of the fence on the driveway side that was basically wasted space. Also the garage side door was outside of the backyard, so we really wanted it moved.

Here are some before and after pictures:






A few pics of the process:







And I am starting landscaping at the back of the fence, I made it about this far :) Hope to get it finished soon so I can start planting!



Joel enjoying his new weedwacker ;)



And of course we need some pics of the little one :)



She thinks she's cool stuff drinking with a straw now! ;)



Loving her Little People house!

Summer Break

Life has been kind of INSANE lately. Addelyn's huge, elaborate birthday party (never again! so stressful!), moving, painting, unpacking, organizing etc. Also my freelance web and photography has been super busy lately. I had a wedding the day we moved (last Saturday), so that was kinda nuts :) I also have one next Saturday, and haven't finished editing my March wedding, so I'm falling behind quickly. I've also had many, many new requests for family and other pictures and also working on a few new websites and keeping some current sites updated. All of this on top of working part time at my church (3 days a week) and trying to keep up my wifely and motherly home duties. Oh, and did I mention that the week we moved, I had to launch our church website as well which is a huge project I've been working on for 4+ months.

So, that said, life has been kind of crazy, and I've decided to take a summer break! I feel like things that aren't that important in the long run (photography/web = money, facebook and other things) are taking too much of my time and energy. I'm taking a break from facebook and photography for the summer (other than the things I'm already committed to). So, in my absence from facebook, I thought I would start blogging again as a release to write whats going on and share some pictures of our work on the house and of course my beautiful daughter :)

I look forward to my days off and evenings being spent playing with my daughter, working out in the yard, gardening, reading or relaxing on the deck, rather than being stuck on the computer struggling to edit photos, create/update websites and trying to stay on top of facebook while my daughter is begging for my attention behind me. I'm really excited for this break and hope I am refreshed in the fall to get back into my love for photography and design.

So, on a lighter note, here's a few pictures from lately!

Addelyn loves our trips to Home Depot because of the cool carts! :)


Loving her swingset!

She would stay outside all day if you let her :)



5-2-12 80 degree day - such a treat, went and got a pool! :)


I love this guy :) Hardworking. Caring. Patient. Amazing daddy and husband <3