Spring is in the air and the Ottawa Hills Neighborhood is buzzing with the sounds and sights of sweet, sweet summertime - it’s just around the corner! The kids have already begun their summer routine: staying out well past bedtime and needing daily showers because they smell like the dirt covering their hands, faces and clothes from tackling one another in the yard. Can I get an Amen! But before we get too far into Spring updates, here are a few quick recaps from our winter months.
In February we took the kids to Chicago for the weekend to explore the Museum of Science and Industry, conquer the SkyDeck at the Willis Tower, and ice skate our way through Maggie Dailey Park. We had a blast and froze our booties off touring the Windy City. You can read even more details about our weekend trip HERE.
Jeff and I ducked out of town for a week with friends to ski the French Alps and we felt every bit of fancy as it sounds. Our main objective was to celebrate our friend David Kortman for his 40th Birthday - it was a great success! We wined. We dined. And we skied our faces off. Read more about our ski trip to France HERE.
Before Michigan lost all of its snow, some of us GRCS Moms packed up our SUVs and plowed north to Caberfea with our hoard of ski loving children for our last runs of the season. Caberfea continues to be our spot for Michigan skiing, providing all the things we need: easy 1.5 hour drive, fun runs for the kids, quick chair lifts, and of course, a place to plug in our crockpots. These girls are a blast to raise children with and I’m very grateful for them.
Our boy turned 7-years-old last week! Thomas was born on a Monday in late morning and arrived a whole three weeks early - he’s been ready to party ever since. He is a ball of energy, although he's also sometimes reserved - he tends to pause and assess new situations before he makes his move. He loves running (fast), playing all sorts of games, is very good at school, loves skiing, golf and football, and enjoys being outdoors. Thomas makes us laugh on the daily and we feel pretty honored to be his parents.
To celebrate his birthday this year he (and Natalie too - her birthday is three weeks after Thomas’) invited a friend after school to join us for some SkyZone fun. Later that weekend they both blew out candles with family during our Easter celebration. Both Thomas and Natalie picked out their own cakes from the Meijer Bakery and together they asked for a joint birthday present of a trampoline for the backyard - wish granted!
This year for Easter we enjoyed Sunday service at Ada Bible Church in the morning and in the afternoon we hosted our Smith family for dinner. My parents coordinated the baskets and the egg hunt, and Jeff grilled dinner for everyone. This year Grandpa had the bright idea to hoist the golden egg (which is worth five whole dollars!) to the top of the flag pole - a situation that ended with my Dad whistling the National Anthem as a hint for the kids because they couldn’t find it. Natalie and Thomas love playing with their younger cousins and were thrilled to share their new backyard toy with them.
Our sweet Natalie turns 9 on the 16th! Our girl is kind, caring, and every bit of girlie. She loves gymnastics and cheerleading, she is extremely social, loves art and music, and some day she wants 3 babies and 2 dogs - or so she tells us. Natalie is a lover and lives life with a smile. We are so proud of the little lady she’s becoming. Pictured below is a project that Natalie’s teacher, Miss Greenfield, passed along to us at her most recent parent-teacher conference. It was filled out by all her classmates with words that describe her. I think they nailed it.
In February, Natalie attended her first dance with her Dad and it was the sweetest. I volunteered to work the front desk taking tickets just so I could witness the cuteness. They danced the night away in the elementary gymnasium and made some precious memories together. At one point Natalie led a conga line of her girlfriends - it was adorable.
The Grand Rapids Christian Schools community celebrated 100 years of God’s faithfulness during their annual Eagles Always Rise Gala. This years event was hosted at DeVos Place downtown and featured Eagle Alumni who shared their GRCS stories. The event was absolutely gorgeous and we had a great time celebrating with friends.
Thomas recently wrapped up his winter Futsol League with MSA Revolution. This was our first experience with Futsol (indoor soccer using a slightly different ball and rules, on an indoor court) and we were impressed by the by the individual skills Thomas and the other boys gained throughout the season. The team missed no time jumping right back into soccer training. And after Spring Break the boys will head back outdoors for their games to finish out the school year.
In March we visited our Kladder family who live on the East side of the state for the weekend to hang out and celebrate our niece Zoe’s birthday. We had some repeat celebration methods including another visit to SkyZone as well as lots of time spent (even in the rain!) on their trampoline jumping together. I loved every minute of one-on-one time with my sister-in-law Sandy sipping bubbles together. Sandy made strawberry cake and Uncle Matt taught Thomas how to solve a Rubik's cube - he’s still working on perfecting his technique - and I think I won some ‘cool-aunt’ points with the Stanley Cup snack tray I picked out for Zoe.
The butterflies are blooming again at Fredrick Meijer Gardens, including a brand new exhibit now on display in the sculpture gallery featuring ‘things that fly.’ The butterflies are always a delight to visit and with the weather so nice, we also enjoyed some of our time outdoors walking through the Japanese Garden. The new sculpture exhibit inside the gallery space was neat, too, and we recommend stopping in during your visit to see the butterflies.
Jeff is the new 2024 champion of his winter golf simulator league! All the players plus-ones and kiddos joined for the final tournament event, celebrating the end of the season together. Big thank you to the Gibson crew for hosting. Jeff wrapping winter league has us excited for outdoor spring leagues to begin later this month.
We are enjoying some time off this week together as a family in Savannah, checking out what these Georgia Peaches have to offer! We look forward to diving back into our usual routine with some warmer Michigan weather very soon. Cheers everyone!