And the PARTY continues..

Party #2- celebrating with the Rotman fam.
He loved his cake!
The birthday boy and his cousin Ella.
I think he missed her.
We watched her throughout the school year on Friday afternoon's and periodically over the summer the kid's have asked when we were going to have an Ella day again. Thankfully in a month or so we'll get our Ella day's back- yay!
Present time.. Kooper loved all his gifts, but was super excited about the skateboard he got!

Needless to say, once all the presents were opened we headed outside to give the board a try.. lookin' good, buddy!

Kennedy had to give it a whirl as well..

And Kolter, well he, was a board HOG!

I think he might have enjoyed it even more than Koop did that night.

Thankfully grandma and grandpa were there to supervise.

I didn't plan this but the shirt he was wearing had a skateboard on it. Maybe he will be a lil' skater someday...

Kooper Time...

After Kooper's birthday we knew we'd be having yet another celebration with the Rotman crew since they are typically cottage bound the week of Kooper's b-day, so we had a little photo shoot one morning hoping for the perfect pic for his b-day invite... As you can see the invite turned out great. I think the pics of my little Buzz and Woody boy turned out pretty cute too. Kooper used to hate the camera but is actually enjoying it these days. I think he may even be learning some posing moves from his sister. :) Thankful for your sweet smile, handsome boy.
We had to include Buzz Bear, too.

Buzz and Buzz Bear- lookin good!

Kooper's 4th Birthday!!!

On July 13 our sweet little Kooper celebrated his 4th Birthday. Four! How can my baby boy be four already?! I tell you, the years are flying by way too fast. The other day I told the kid's I wanted to find a shrinking machine so I could keep them little longer. They thought I was silly. When you're young you want to grow up and when you grow up you wish you were young again. Ahh..

Kooper had a wonderful 4th birthday. We kicked the day off with a mommy date. We don't get them near enough so it was a morning both of us were looking forward to. Kennedy had her Animal Adventure's class and Kolter went to g-ma's so our first stop was Zeeland Bakery. Koop picked out a donut with colorful sprinkles. After the bakery we jumped back in the van and headed for the mall. To Build-A Bear we went.

Kooper picked out a camo bear and the process of building him began...
He is all about Toy Story currently and picked out a Buzz Light Year costume for his bear. He also named the bear Buzz Bear.. here he is proudly showing off his new bear.
And one with me to remember our special day..

After the mall we headed to Party City. He likes looking at all the party stuff so it was fun for him. He also picked out some candy, so even better. Lunch was next on our date and he chose Burger King. We opted to hit the drive thru and surprise daddy with lunch at work.

Bryan was happy we came to visit. It's not too often the three of us get alone time together so it was indeed a special treat.

B-day kisses from daddy..

Once lunch was over we headed back to g-ma's to pick up Kolter. Kennedy was spending the afternoon with her friend, Jenna, so had an enjoyable 'boys' afternoon at home. Later that evening we headed to Chuck E. Cheese for dinner with my parents.

Loving the Toy Story robot and Woody costume he got from g-ma/g-pa.

We got a special visit from Chuck and he even brought Kooper a cake..

Making his bithday wish!!

Kolter was terrified of Chuck..

Kooper and Kennedy, however, were all about him.

All and all it was a great day.

I think our b-day boy enjoyed his special day.

Later in the week we had a visit from grandpa Randy and grandma Debbie so he was spoiled even more. We also celebrated with the Rotman's (post to come) since they were cottage bound the week of Koop's b-day. Only a special boy has the b-day that never seems to end!

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Kooper Bryan you are loved more than you know. We love your spunk and your sweetness. God blessed us with you and you are a gift that we will forever treasure. We are blessed by you each and every day.

Animal Adventures..

A couple weeks back Kennedy and her friend Jenna spent two days, only a two hour session each day, at the Critter Barn in their Animal Adventures class. The girlies had an absolute blast. They were able to hold all sorts of critters and help with various things around the farm. Kennedy even helped milk a goat and walked llamas. They were both super excited when we came to pick them up and couldn't wait to share all they did for the two hours they were on the farm. Kennedy said her favorite part was holding the baby rabbits and chicks. I do recommend this class to anyone who had animal lovin' children.

On day two this sweet little kitty came out to greet them..

Kennedy treated it just like a baby doll..

Three little sweeties..

When uploading photos I came across this one of my three little sweeties. Oh how my heart melts in moments such as this when there's nothing but LOVE for one another.. I do believe they were all sweetly sitting on the couch and hollered, "hey mom, look at us" and of course I had to grab the camera.

1st Camping Venture of the Summer

We ventured out to Oak Grove Resort in Holland last week for a fun week of camping. We went out with the Goorhouse fam and had a blast. We were blessed with the best week, weather wise, and enjoyed every moment of it. I didn't bust out my camera until the end of the week, still plenty of pics, so the following were taken when we headed to the State Park to enjoy the fireworks of the 4th..
We walked from the campground into the state park and that is totally the way to go. They give foot traffic about an hour to clear out before letting any vehicles loose. Just a tip if you ever plan to drive out to watch the fireworks in the channel. Below is a pic of Trista and Kolt enjoying the swings. They kept the kiddos busy until the light show began.

The whole gang checking out the view of the channel.

It would've been a great place to sit sans kids..

Our sweet little tooter's giving me an, almost, smile..

Fun at the Beach..

The campground is exactly one mile from Oak Grove.. perfect for a nice family stroll but not so much when it comes to all the junk you need to take when beaching it for the day. Driving to the beach worked slick for us and on the days we didn't sit by the pool we were beach bound.

All the kids did great at the beach. Baby Tori was as angelic as can be and discovered her thumb while camping.

Trent and Kooper working on their tans..

My little water rats..

The kids looking on as a man searches for buried treasure.

A kiss for daddy..

And a hug, too...

Surf's Up..

A dip with daddy...

Lovin' that he can run in and run out...

Also lovin' being splashed by dada..

Getting ready to go in..

I think the temp was near 70 so not too bad for Lake MI.

Being silly..

Like I mentioned when we weren't at the beach we were at the pool. On the 4th we had some friend's come and visit.

Kennedy posing it up with Mallory and Emma.

Kolter pleading with daddy because he didn't want his lifebelt on...

No lifebelt, No pool!

Daddy didn't cave so easily so Kolt showed him what he thought about that.. :)

Our lil baller..

Sweet Koop's taking a little rest..

Lovin' the pool..

Lovin' on mommy..

Lovin' the panda..

When we weren't beaching it or sitting poolside we enjoyed he other other fun things that go hand in hand with camping like relaxing and eating. The kiddos, well, they enjoying playing and more playing..

Kennedy and Mallory showing off their sparklers..

More sparkler fun..

Kenz and Kolt enjoyed their fun with fireworks and Koop wanted nothing to do with it.

He did enjoy pop it's earlier in the week. What boy doesn't enjoy that?!

Hanging with daddy waiting on dinner...

Kolter and Eric, b-day buddies, having a stare off or so it appears.

The BOYS chillaxin'

Kennedy playing mommy to baby Tori..

Tori got lots of loving over the course of the week and filled our baby itch.

The whole gang of chillies..

With a group this size there's no way we were gonna get a shot where all were happy.

And just like that our amazing week was over and it was time to head home...

The good news is we get to go back for yet almost another week with more friends.

CAN'T WAIT!!

Stay tuned for pics from camping venture #2..

We pray the weather will be just as good since we know the memories will be.