more buddies:)

The Hammers were in town for Brian's brother's half Ironman a few weeks ago.  Kate and Lincoln are such good friends and they have a lot of fun together.  Saturday night, we had dinner with all of our Hope friends in town.  Kate got her first major head bump when Lincoln threw the little bocce ball and hit her in the forehead...oops! She healed extremely fast, though.  Over the course of the night, we had 7 cute little munchkins here:)

Sunday was Ben's race, so we didn't see them very much.  But on Monday, while Brian was at work, Jill and I took the kiddos to the zoo.  Kids + animals + room to run is always a lot of fun.  Until the meltdowns start.  We had a bit of a rough drive home, but everything was better once they had food in their bellies and naps.  We were sad to say goodbye after dinner on Monday, but it was time for all of the kids to get back into their own beds and routines.

snuggles with Brian:)

hugs for the penguins

BEARS!

checking out the camels

hugs for Graham!

Kate playing with Graham buddy

buddies

My friend, Steph, has a super cute son named Eli.  Kate loves Eli and calls him her buddy all the time.  We went to the splash pad a few weeks ago, but neither kid wanted to go in the water, so we ended up on the playground instead.  The kids had a blast climbing and sliding all over the place.

when did she get so big?

These two were cracking each other up on the wagon ride home.  They would just look at each other and laugh.  Then they both sucked thumbs.  Then they started kicking each other and Eli quickly wanted out of the wagon.  Such sweetness:)

fun at Frederick Meijer Gardens

Allison and I met up at the children's garden at FMG a few weeks ago and our girls had a great time playing in all the water! We, unfortunately, didn't bring swimsuits for our kids (like the other smart moms), so we just took off their shirts and let them go:)

Kate liked the little splash pad at the front of the gardens, and both girls loved playing with the sailboats. 

cutie pie, Haven:)

They had fun 'painting' on the sidewalks with water too - what a fun idea, I can totally do that at home!

We played around the treehouse for a while, and then Kate was off to find the drums in the maze.  She loves those things!

We finished our trip with a picnic lunch by the waterfall.  Neither of the girls ate super well, but we had a great time talking and feeding the giant goldfish in the pond:)

a hug for the road!

little helper

Kate continues to love to help with things around the house (as long as they're fun, and not noisy).  She was a great helper when we washed our cars a few weeks ago:) 

Another favorite activity: pulling weeds.  No joke.  I love her so much.

who needs a sponge when you have hands?!

Gampa Party

We went to a summer party at my dad's work a few weeks ago and it was so fun! I kept telling Kate all day that we were going to a party, and when I asked her whose party it was, she would say, "Gampa Party!" The weather was beautiful and I got cotton candy:)

Kate had her first sucker

They had these swings that were basically just a board with a few chains to hold the kiddos in while they went around and around, and I was a little nervous to let my squirmy child ride them, but I told her to hold on tight and then let her go.  She LOVED it.  She rode them three times and cried the last two times when she had to get off.  She squealed and laughed the entire time they were moving.

doesn't look so safe, does it?

Next, we tried out the bounce house.  Another huge success.  Kate loves to jump lately, and the bounce house was perfect for her.  She didn't even care that she kept falling down:)

Kate also got to sit in a Holland Fire Department Truck.  She was pretty excited to 'drive' it.

The zoo and Miss Independent

Last Wednesday, Kate and I spent the morning at the zoo.  She LOVED petting the goats (yuck!) and seeing the penguins get fed.  I think her favorite exhibit is still the bears.  She says bears now and it's the cutest little word you've ever heard.

this is the face you get when you tell her to smile:)

look at my bear, mommy!

the monkeys are always a fave

Kate has also become Little Miss 'I do it' lately.   Her independence brought her to the snack cupboard last week....so she helped herself pull the cereal box down, pulled out the bag, and started snacking.  At least it was just Crispix!

the look on her face just kills me:)