Fun times!

Also in the park there are a bunch of smaller versions of windmills and one giant wooden shoe. You gotta love a Dutched up park! There are all these big troughs along the roads of the parade route because of the street sweeping that goes on at the beginning of the parade. They are filled with water before the parade and then the kids and townspeople come through all dressed in their dutch costumes and literally wash the streets before the parade for the Tulip Queen. After the parade, there wasn't much water left and the boys were getting antsy, so we dropped them in the trough and they just had a blast playing and splashing and cooling off in the water. I have some really cute video to post of them playing that I'll try to get up next.
Snack time!
Which one of these kids lives in Florida? Someone's skin hasn't seen the light of day in about 7 months!

Tulip Time

This last week was the annual Tulip Festival in Orange City. Apparently, the tulips were happy about the cooler weather we've had this spring because they were in perfect form for the festival. It is quite beautiful really to see seas of tulips in the park and on main street. The festival is always a good time, but it was even better this year because my wonderful friend Jessica and her hubby, Jonathan, and their little boy, Nathan, came to visit! Jackson and NeeNee, as Jackson called him, became fast friends as they are only 5 weeks apart in age. We spent our days at the park, riding rides at the festival, talking, and the bigger boys played some golf and shot some guns. Good times for everyone! This is Jacko and I at the park where the tulips were looking so lovely. We had a rough time trying to get the boys to sit for a picture with the tulips without them sitting ON the tulips so Jess stepped in and saved the day- and the tulips. Jackson looks thrilled and Nathan is looking longingly at the swings.
Another awesome display of tulips. I wish I could take better pictures, you know, the artsy pretty kind without random passers-by's butts in them. But you can get the general idea with my mediocre photography skills.
This is a perfect example of the differences in the boys' personalities. If you look closely at their faces, Nathan is laughing and smiling gleefully and Jackson looks a bit peaked. Nathan is quite the adventurous fellow and was quick to get into the swing of everything. Jackson tends to be a bit more reserved and is a bit of a chicken at first, but once he tries it out he usually warms up to it. The first thing he said when we got down the big slide was, "Again?"
As the smallest adult member of the party, I got voted to be the chaperone on the little truck merry-go-round. I sort of wanted to yack after, but it was worth it since the boys had a ball.
More pictures to come in another post...

A Little taste of Spring

We've had a few decent days in the last week to be outside and enjoy the weather a bit. Jackson is absolutely IN LOVE with being outside. He loves to get taken on rides in his big wagon, and he loves to take his toys for rides around the block in his little wagon. Earlier this week he helped me with a little preparation for planting by helping me dig out some of the rocks and weeds around the tree. Seriously, can you believe how stinking cute he is??? I imagine most parents feel this way about their kids, but I really can't help but tell him how cute he is all the time!
And here he is being such a boy. He loves to walk around with his hands down his pants. We try to dress him in onsies lots these days so that the hands don't go down the diapers too. Icky.
In this picture, Jackson is telling me, "Be Back". It cracks me up every time. He gets this really serious look on his face and he points at me and he is saying "I'll be right back". He keeps saying it until I say OK and then he runs off somewhere. Hilarious.
Almost done with the basement painting project. I'll try to post some pictures when it's all done. Can't wait!