[weekend/rewind]

Thursday night we went to the fair as a family. I look forward to this every year, for some reason. I guess the hilbilly in me likes it! ;)
We walked around for a while, and found Gapa's favorite tractor. This little guy was so impressed he didn't even know what to think!!

testing out a skid steer. 

we tried to skip rides because they are SO expensive, so we opted for the pony rides instead. They weren't any cheaper, but I thought it might work to get us out of buying so many tickets. :)

Bentley loved riding the ponies - he is our animal lover!

Harry, not so much. I dont see any animal occupation in his future. 

we did buy tickets to ride the airplanes, the only ride we rode.

Bentley loved it. 

The big booty judy in me couldn't leave without an elephant ear.
bad decision, i had a stomach ache all night.

Mother Nature allowed us to have a nice relaxing, refreshing weekend together as a family.

Friday night we spent some time with friends.

Saturday we slept in a little and then headed to Bowerman Blueberries for their berry harvest party.

It was a perfect morning for it!

Of course, the boys sniffed out the tractor first thing.

riding the "goggie"

we made some crafts, jumped in the bounce house,

and did some shopping in the store. I am OBSESSED with blueberries.

all. things. blueberry.

so naturally I bought two more pounds of the little gems themselves and some other goodies i wanted to try.

After that we headed downtown to do some walking, browsing and grab some lunch.

I had the cutest little lunch dates in town. :)

Saturday night brought more r&r.

We headed to church sunday, after enjoying our fresh homemade blueberry donuts.

came home had lunch, naps and dinner with kaindls. 

it was a perfect sunday in my book.

we ended the night curled up together on the couch for a movie.

Apparently this nasty cold weather led Bentley to believe a Christmas movie was appropriate.

hope everyone had a great weekend!

enjoy this coming week as well!

Swimming Lessons

Bentley has successfully completed two weeks of Julie's Swim School.

He had a blast and definately learned a ton!

Ready to go on the first day!

swimming like a pro!

turtle ride to practice his kickers.

The first week he did awesome. We were very proud!

the second week he regressed a little bit. Im not sure if he was just sick of it or if it was just too much. 

He still did great but he was losing confidence and not kicking as hard

 and he kept turning around to see where Miss Julie was.

Here's a video of one of his "good" days. :)

http://youtu.be/bdlxxklBYPo

FridayFavorites::beauty edition

A few months back I subscribed to Birchbox. And it has led me to using samples and purchasing product when my samples are gone.

The whole point of the gig, right? {they totes saw me coming!}

Anyway, one of my all time faves so far is the Coola sunscreen.

It's cucumber scented and its organic. Win, Win!

So while I was placing an order on Amazon, I decided to order some other products.

It's a 10 is a dry shampoo/conditioner in one.

It was recommended by my sister, and the best stylist ever, and again, I am IN LOVE!

The small bottle on the far left is Ben Nye Banana Luxury Powder.

I read Emily Maynard's fashion and beauty blog, over here.

And she recommended this powder to set your face after applying your makeup.

Needless to say, again, I am in love with this as well.

While reading Emily's blog, she also talks alot about nude and neutral nail polish. So while at Meijer, I snagged some "Samoan Sand" by O.P.I. It's been the perfect shade of nude for me, and it hints a slight light pink undertone in the sun. Perfect for everyday and every outfit! :)

my two favorite parts of my makeup routine are Aveda Products.

This is a tinted moisturizer, with an SPF, which I use as a foundation.

Its amazing, and it has done wonderful things for my skin!

&& this is a blush palette that my lovely sister gifted me for my birthday.

I love this trio of colors because I can go subtle or dramatic,

without having two seperate blush palettes.

Hope you enjoy this Friday -- the weekend is here!

Hope you enjoy that as well!! :)

Mommy/Son Getaway

Spur of the moment this past week, Sarah and I decided to load up our boys and their toys and head north for some fun and relaxation together.
The boys were super excited to be able to take all their toys along so they could ride.
Loaded up and ready to go!!

we headed right to the campground when we got there to see Craven & Cohen and to play for a while before bed.

The boys didn't take long to get into the pond! :)

Harry loves throwing mud.

We headed home for a short nights sleep. Sleeping three deep is not ideal, for any of us.

It took the boys till after 11 pm to fall asleep, but we shared many giggles and laughs.

I cherish these times -- they seem so few and far between lately.

We got up friday and headed back to Whiskey. More playing outside! :)

These two had so much fun together again.

Look at those naughty adorable smiles!

Harry could have rode with Hunter like this non-stop.

He just smiled and laughed out loud the entire time.

Before lunch we headed back to the pond to cool off.

all piled in the ranger and lovin it!

naptime was a total fail, but we played and relaxed a little instead.

Harry LOVED the trampoline. Again, he was full of smiles and giggles.

headed to the store for some ice cream and candy!

couldn't pass up a quick tourist photo op you know.

It was such a fun few days away with my guys - I am so blessed to be their mother!

Thanks again, Vienings for all the fun and hospitality && thanks to Nana & Papa for such a fun place to stay! :)

IceCreamSocial::

This past week, some neighbor friends and I organized an ice cream social for our neighborhood.

We have lived here for 5 years this summer and have never really gotten a chance to meet a handful of our neighbors. So, planning we started. 

My dear friend Kate, was able to get Hudsonville to so generously donate all the icecream and other goodies. It was SO yum!!

We beat the heat in a sprinkler, which the kids LOVED.

And we had ice cream.

Some of us, like sweet Harrison, had three bowls. 

He is my ice cream loving child.

You can read more about the details in Kate's link above.

It was a great time, and we are looking forward to getting together with our fun neighbors more often! :)

{{14months}} harrison

Harrison -

Your personality is bursting out the last month. We are starting to learn who you are, how you communicate, and what you like and don't like; through your communication to us.

You are fiery. Strong willed. Loud. Happy. Smiley. Goofy. and our snuggler. 

You are starting to remind your brother that you aren't a baby anymore, and you can {and will} fight back. You love to laugh, smile and yell when you get excited or mad about something. 

You are a little spitfire. 

We are also seeing some signs of a short temper. I am pretty sure this is normal for your age since you can't fully communicate yet but it wouldn't surprise me if it sticks. {you get that from your momma, love, though I hate to admit it.}

So far, we have only found one thing you are afraid of, and that's the snap balloons make when they are popped. Otherwise you show no fear of ANYTHING. You are not scared of climbing, or falling, or the boat, or going fast..or really anything. You are a little daredevil and I see my heart skipping many beats in future years.

You are also my little lover and snuggler. You give kisses on demand {which from me, is a lot. i can't resist} and you still love to be held and snuggled, especially when you are tired. Speaking of sleep, you sleep twelve hours at night still and are napping every afternoon. Your morning nap is give or take these days, depending on how busy we have been. Fourth of July weekend you slept for 13.5 hours straight just to recover and followed that up with a 3 hour nap just an hour later! {you also get your sleep habits from your mommy. that one i will admit to.}
You are almost walking. Like you take a few steps here and there, but won't go the distance yet. We figure this is mostly because your brother doesn't usually give you a chance -- he gets so excited he usually runs over to you and either scares you into falling or knocks you down trying to chase or hug you!
We're also learning that you love dogs. You go crazy when you see one and try to get as close to it as possible. You are also obsessed with Dah-Dee! You get so excited when you see him and yell daddy repeatedly until he picks you up.

We are looking forward to finishing out a fun summer watching you continue to grow. We cannot wait to see what the Lord has in store for your future little love.

{weekend/rewind}

Another busy {wedding} filled weekend is in the books for us :: we are halfway with our summer weddings. Two down, two to go.

Friday we celebrated Alex & Tiffany in a beautiful outdoor lake michigan wedding. they could not have picked a better day.

Tiff made a gorgeous bride

Mr & Mrs Nykerk!

Saturday we headed to Nykerk's beach to play and cook out.

The kids had a blast playing in the sand

and swimming in the lake.
Bentley Wes and Brooklyn were little fishies all day!

And Baby Soy had fun playing on the beach too! :)

we enjoyed some amazing food - thank you Scott & Mary!

played on the beach some more and swam back out to the boat for bedtime. 

It didn't take the boys long, after such a fun and busy day.

the moon was GORGEOUS on our way home! This picture doesn't even do it justice.

Sunday some of us napped, and some of us went to church. And we relaxed together, and then went for our favorite sunday post dinner boat cruise.

We started a record busy week today, but have NOTHING on the calendar for this weekend. Seems kind of refreshing to look ahead and see some blank spaces! :)