A Day at the Fair

We spent a full day at the fair yesterday (Thursday). It was a scorcher but we all made it with lots of water and a mid-afternoon break to go home to eat and get a little rest. Ethan was so excited to see all the animals. His reactions were fun to watch. He was a little sad that we left last night without telling the cows goodnight. All of the kids had a blast on the rides. We spent time with our friends Mark and Misty Kok and their kids Elisha and Maddison. The kids did the rides with Eli and they all had a blast! Brenna was a real trooper going on the smaller rides with her brother...we were so proud of her! No worries she got to go on a few of the rides in the "big kid" carnival. We were able to enjoy the Horse Grandstand show in the afternoon and then watched Sterling Dietz the magician in the evening. Sterling is a 17-year old from Lynden High School who performs magical illusion shows. In fact, he has even been to Las Vegas for a world wide competition and won. He is absolutely amazing. We all really enjoyed our time watching him.

Ethan and Mommy...yeah, I'm actually in a picture!

The kiddos enjoying the cow barn.

Daddy and Ethan with the sheep.

"Look Mom...I found the pigs!"

Enjoying the rides...

Fun with Elisha...

Brenna was a real trooper! Ethan thought is was great that he was "driving" his sister.

The one and only ride that Brenna was actually too tall for...that was a sad moment for Brenna (disappointment) and Mommy (is my baby really too big to ride?). Brenna knew that the bigger rides were coming...that was a sad moment for Mommy too!

On the carousel with Misty and Elisha Kok

The guy operating the bumber cars was very nice and allowed Alyssa to ride with Brenna. Technically Alyssa was suppose to be with an adult but really wanted to go with her sister. I couldn't believe that they were on the "big kid" rides. They even went on the caterpillar roller coaster...which involved the up, down and around motion and not just the around and around with a few little dips Dragon Roller Coaster in the "kiddy carnival".

We took a break in the afternoon to watch the horse events. Ethan kept telling these horses to watch out...I think he thought they were really going to run into each other.

"Look Dad and Mom...I'm "milking" the cow!"

Silly picture...

...and another silly picture!

Family Reunion at the bay

This past weekend was spent with family...some in which we have not seen for quite some time. It was the Groen family reunion. It was nice having the reunion so close this year. The last reunion was in Leavenworth...beautiful place but too far for the kids, especially for Brenna since she gets car sick. This year Uncle Dick and Aunt Mar had everyone to their place. They have a beautiful home on the bay. The tide was perfect for getting in some clam digging and just having some fun in the sand. Although, shockingly, Ethan could not stand being wet and having sand on him. After an hour of playing he was in tears and ready to go get clean. The kids had a blast on the beach. They found a huge rock that had several star fish on it. They were each able to find one that they could pull off and hold. Of course, they all thought they could bring the star fish home. They were pretty upset when we told them the star fish had to stay with their friends.

After the clam digging was finished, we had to dig before eating to beat the tide, we ate a lot of great food. The women in this family know how to cook! There were so many great appetizers, salads and desserts and Uncle Dick and Aunt Mar really know how to cook up some great salmon! Due to fish allergies...Jason and a few others had burgers...poor people!

We also celebrated my Great-Aunt Liz's 89th birthday. We got a picture of her with some of the great-great-nieces and nephews.

It was a great day! We all had a lot of fun just catching up and relaxing in the sun.

The kiddos and their star fish friends

Digging for clams

The girls trying all the good appetizers.

Mom even made it out!! Her first big outing! Everyone was so happy to see her.

Jason, Duane and Todd...relaxing in the sun...talking berries and tomatoes?

Todd, Trisha, Kara and Aunt Cathy

Alyssa and Kara hanging out...Kara is so good taking time with all the kids. Kind of reminds me of what I use to do before having my own.

Great-Aunt Liz with just a small handful of the great-great nieces and nephews.

And our entertainment...Uncle Ron and Uncle Dick. They've always got something up their sleeves to share with the rest of us. This time was the harmonica. They had us all laughing.

A fun weekend!

We started off with a family reunion last night (Friday). Unfortunately, I forgot the camera so I have no pictures to share. The kids had a blast and it was great to see family that we haven't seen for awhile. The reunion was at the Deming Logging Show. The girls were all over that place on bikes with cousins. Alyssa, our princess, was an absolute dust ball. We gave her a bath when we got home and the water was brown when she got out of the tub. Ethan was loving the playgrounds and being able to just run and play. His favorite thing was the big, dark tube slide. It was hard to get him away from it.


Today, we started the day out with John Deere days at NorthWashington Implement...one of the local tractor suppliers here in Whatcom County. It was a lot of fun! They had great activities for the kids...train rides, bouncy "houses", candy scramble, peddle tractor pulls, and other activities; the Dairy Princesses were there; and free lunch for everyone! If you've never been to this event...you must go next year. The kids even got to sit on the tractors. I remembered the camera for this event. See the pictures below.


Jason and I had a wedding this afternoon...I was coordinator and Jason played piano. It was a very nice short/small wedding. Jason was supposed to return back to the church for service tonight and lead worship but at the wedding, Pastor Craig informed us that he was going to have tonight's service outside and was giving the worship team the night off!!!!! So, now we will have family night...swimming in the pool (personally, I think it's too cold so I will be observing), light dinner, go for a little drive (we do have a destination so we aren't just wasting gas!), maybe do the fire pit and s'mores (if it's not too windy), and, if it is too windy, we will have a movie night with popcorn. Of course, we will have to get everyone to bed on time as we have church in the morning and need to be there a little earlier than normal. What a great weekend!

The famous "Kids R.R." was out at

the event giving train rides.

The kids had a blast...they were the

only ones in the bouncy "castle".

Ethan couldn't get enough of the big clydesdale and her baby.

He wanted in with them so Daddy had to hold him!

There was so much candy in the huge pile of hay.

Ethan loved to climb on the tractors and pretend to drive.

He even wore his John Deere hat for the event!

Bubbles, Bubbles and More Bubbles!

Yes, that's right bubbles! Ethan got his birthday present tonight from "Uncle" Randy and "Aunt" Janice (Korthuis)...they've been a little busy building their new house and moving so they had to miss the party. Hey, we like to celebrate birthdays all month long! So anyway, his gift was...a BUBBLE GENERATOR! This thing puts out over 10 thousand bubbles in just a couple of minutes and Ethan just sits and laughs at it. He absolutely loves it! We will now be taking up stock in the bubble business. As I was sitting with Ethan watching the bubbles I had a thought (which is amazing since my head feels like it could explode right now)...okay, my thought...we need these bubble generators for weddings. I thought, how fun to see a bride and groom "run" through bubbles as they leave the church/reception hall. This would be the wedding coordinator side of me coming out. I see lots of entertainment coming from this great new toy.

Summer time fun!

What better way to spend a warm afternoon than in the pool and playing on the slip and slide. The kids are loving the swimming pool. Wayne and Weston spent the afternoon with us today and after naps we headed outside for some fun in the sun. Ethan and Wayne had a blast together on the slip and slide while the girls swam and swam in the pool. Needless to say, they are good and tired out tonight! After looking at the weather report, we will be spending lots of time in the pool again this next week. Come on over if you are needing to cool down!

Brenna and Alyssa in the pool...our little fishies.

Ethan and Wayne having so much fun together on the slip and slide.

Ethan thought he would use the spray as a water fountain. What a goof!

Wayne...basking in the sun after we turned the water off.
Weston hanging out in the shade...what a good little boy!! One of these days he will be out running around with Wayne and Ethan...oh what fun that will be!!

The party is over!

Wow! Who knew 3 year old could get so excited about his birthday?! It was great to have the sunshine come out as everyone was arriving for the party/BBQ so we were able to eat outside and enjoy the backyard and the kids were able to run around and play and burn off some energy. We made it outside long enough to eat and for Ethan to open his gifts before it started to get chilly so we moved inside for dessert. Dessert...there are some great pictures of this. Ethan loved the chocolate fountain and auntie made sure to document the event with photos. Oh he was a goof! Everyone had a great time and we were all able to relax and have a great time of fellowship. The kids were great. It was fun to watch them all play together.

Maple Bar donut/cake...now this is the way to go! Justifies eating the leftover "cake" for breakfast!

It was great to be able to outside enjoying the fresh air!

Ethan was so excited to finally have his very own big boy soccer ball.

Fun new tractors from Eli and Maddy!

Look out world, here comes Ethan. The challenge will be teaching him to steer. He gave us all a good laugh...he kept running into things.

"Happy Birthday to you!"

The chocolate fountain...this little boy's favorite!! Do you think his mouth is just a little too full?

Yep! We saw this one coming and Auntie just had to grab the camera.

The kids having a great time together.

Weston had his own little party away from the bigger kids...he is going to be joining them soon if he gets those knees under him. He kept trying...he knew those kids were having fun and he wanted to be with them.

Our baby is 3....

Happy Birthday Ethan! It's hard to believe that it was three years ago already that Ethan joined our family. The time has gone by so fast. He is so full of energy and is constantly keeping us on our toes. His favorite characters are Thomas and Friends (trains) and Veggie Tales. He loves to watch Seasame Street, Curious George, Super Why and Word World. He is becoming one smart little boy. You never know what he is going to come up. We will post photos of this special day later when the partying is over.