The Last Days of Summer

We asked the kids what they still wanted to do before summer was over, and you can see what the answer was: the zoo, swimming with the WHOLE family (that means they want Papa to come), golfing, and a few other things. We even had a some cool days in the last few weeks to actually enjoy the zoo and the farm! Tomorrow is the big back-to-work/school day, so I guess it's over. It has been a fun summer, however. I hope the kids enjoyed being home."This is the sunflower tall and bright that grows in our garden day and night." (quote from one of T's favorite books--and the flower is really in our garden)

Sophie at the farm. I think she is just about too long for the infant seat, so you'll be seeing her in a new arrangement pretty soon.
The farm is full of cute little babies right now. Thys, Anna, and Mom especially liked the baby of the minature horse. The all time favorite at the farm yesterday was the turtle in the duck pond. The kids watched it for a good 15 minutes!
We took Papa to the zoo for the first time. He had a good time with all the thousands of other dads who got to go on the coolest Saturday this summer.
Train ride at the zoo
Minature golfing--Thys has a wicked swing, and Anna has Grandpa J.'s golfing gene!

Mr. T

Mr. T. is quite a character. We sure love him, and he loves his rags and his plug (pacifier). However, he has had chapped lips all summer, and now they are really sore and bleeding, so we have said good-bye to the plug except to go to sleep. He has been sooooo good about it. I love him for it. He is tougher than we are for sure. He also has another new found favorite--his doll. I know that may mortify some of you masculine fans out there, but he is soooo cute with it. He feeds it, puts it to bed, etc. I love it. He is a good little dad!

" I Can't Beleive It"

Guess what!?!?!? Not very hard to answer if you look at the picture, is it? Anna says, "I can't beleive it!" She is beyond excited, and she already has her tooth in her little wooden "melk tandjes" container from Mimi. We'll see if the tooth fairy comes!?!?

Six Months for Sophie

Time goes so fast! Tomorrow Sophie will be six months old. We are so grateful to have her. She is so cute and is growing so fast. In the last month, she has started to do so many things: rolling all over, playing with toys, eating solids (at least she's trying), and even sleeping through the night a few times. She still loves her mother most of all, which is great until I try to leave her--just ask Aunt Steph! She's going to be surprised once school starts again--poor little baby.Eating solids--or at least trying-- for the first time
Hanging out in the bumbo chair in leopard jammies

Oh, Canada!

We recently went to Canada--brave move from our perspective. Three little kids and a twelve hour drive sometimes make for a bad combination, but we did it. We stayed in a hotel halfway driving to Canada, but the key word is stayed because Thys was scared to death all night and didn't sleep--so neither did we. We decided to just drive straight through on the way home, and that actually worked well. The kids were really good. We had a great time in Canada with Mel's sisters and their families. They are a lot of fun, and we did a lot of hanging out, eating, and visiting. We were also there for Mel's niece's baptism. We went to a candy parade in Coaldale (little town by Lethbridge), we went to the park, the Dutch store, and everyone but Sophie and I went to some Buffalo-Jumping-Off-the-Cliff Museum. (Sophie and I were having a sick day--literally.) We were going to go to Waterton, but the last two days we were there it rained and was cold, so we just hung out, which was nice and relaxing. This trip was our big summer outing, so now we're going to be home working on all the projects that I won't ever finish before school starts. Oh well. Who cares if I have a clean house, right?

Anna learned to do the monkey bars while we were on our trip. She is very excited!
Thys playing at the park
Jennifer and Anna at the park
Sophie and Tante Jet--Sophie got lots of loves!
Candy parade in Coaldale
Thys at the splash park--he had a lot of fun!
Girl cousins at the baptism: Jennifer, Tessa, and AnnaMore loves for Sophie from Tante Molly
The big cousins and the little cousins enjoying a rainy-day movie

Cul-de-Sac of Fire

Ever since we stopped going to Stadium of Fire, my mom and dad have held the "Cul-de-Sac of Fire." The firework are a little less extravagant, but they are legal, right, Bryn? We haven't attended since Anna was a baby, so we enjoyed the Cul-de-Sac of Fire with the Utah cousins this year.
Somewhat more successful than my cupcakes, here is another of my culinary wonders. (:
The Utah Cousins ready for the show

We weren't sure how Thys would enjoy the fireworks, but he exhibited great bravery, as you can see. He endured the noise and the fire for quite some time, even though he had to plug his ears.
I think Sophie endured the fireworks even better than Thys. After a few, they didn't even phase here. She was just wide-eyed most of the time.

Brave Thys

We visit the farm regularly--I think the kids like going there and to the aquarium with Mel the most. We have passes for both places, so we can go whenever they want. Thys has only ridden the pony once; he screamed the whole time. Since then, he has just wanted to "watch Annie." Well, I finally got him on, and what do you know, he liked it! Good boy, Thysie!