Flint 2018

Since Great Grandpa Bill turned 100 in May we decided we should make a visit to Michigan to see him (and of course Grandpa Bill and Grandma Peggy). After a long trip, we got to Grand Rapids around 9:00 AM on Saturday and I immediately left my phone in the bathroom and then went to baggage claim and of course couldn't go back through security to get it. Luckily there are still good people in the world and someone turned it in! We picked up our rental car, grabbed some food, and headed to Flint! All the kids (and some of the adults ) slept most of the drive.

Everyone was excited to get to Grandpa Bill's, see everyone, and run around. We had a ton of fun playing outside with Grandpa, ate a yummy dinner, and spent time catching up with everyone. Great Grandpa spends most of his day dozing and reading in his recliner, but he was definitely excited to see everyone!

After dinner we headed to the hotel for much needed baths and sleep. Emmett was so tired he fell asleep watching TV while I took a shower.

Sunday we headed to Crossroads Village. We checked out all the old buildings, pumped water with a hand pump, saw animals, and then road the train and the boat! We also rode the fastest carousel I've ever been on and even the Ferris Wheel. We ended the trip with ice cream and took some sleepy kids to see the grandparents. 

Photo bomber!

Fun house mirror!

We looked at old pictures with Great Grandpa and decided that Clara looks almost exactly like me and Bailey looks a lot like Tia (only Asian) when we were young. We saw fireflies, ate pizza, tasted tiny wild strawberries, and the kids chased Grandpa around the giant yard!

Dog pile!

Tuesday morning we headed to the Sloan Museum to see their new dinosaur exhibit. They had giant dinosaurs set up like they were in the wild and I have never seen Emmett so excited! It was like heaven for him. They also had a nice kids play area complete with a giant two story play house and the kids had a blast! Even Elise found things to climb and chew on!

We headed to Grandpa's for one last visit and lunch before heading to Grand Rapids. Our visits are always too short, but we had a ton of fun and even got some good pictures!

VBS 2018

We had another great year at VBS! Aarne was not available to lead the singing so Jason and I did it. Luckily Jason is awesome and could cover for my mistakes! All the kids were pretty into it, even little Elise and Emmett! Elise was the hit of the week as all the kids have been when they were babies. She got carried around by the older girls and played with nonstop! She loved the singing and even started saying, "ba ba ba ba" like one of the songs and trying to do the motion!

Emmett was pretty into the singing and sang all the songs at home. Clara was pretty into everything and had no problems listening or going to her classes without me. Emmett got a little sad when he had to leave me and screamed when he had to go home without me on several occasions. Bailey had a lot of fun but was pretty worn out and grumpy by the end of the week. VBS is fun but exhausting!

The best snack ladies!

The kids had such a great time learning about how Jesus saves us and Tia did an excellent job preparing everything. Aba taught the kids lessons about Jesus and they did some super fun crafts. Throw in delicious snacks and it was the prefect week! I love VBS and am grateful for a flexible job so I was able to spend the mornings there!

Some of the kids sang some of the VBS songs in church and it was pretty cute! Emmett was very into it! Clara was into it at first and even chose the songs to sing. Then, all of a sudden, she stopped singing and pouted...who knows why.