Congrats Dathan!

A friend of mine from high school (who I also ran cross with) ran in the Olympics for the second time last night. He did remarkably well (and it was only his third marathon ever!), finishing 9th overall and 1st for the USA.

I dug up a few old photos of us from high school (I apologize for the poor scanning quality).

(l to r: Kyle, Dathan, Seth, Andrew, Phil)
Us showing off our pop bellies (I think Ryan on the left won by a fair margin)

During college at a cross reunion

Dathan dressed up in my brother and sisters puppy-dog sleeping bag

Mommy and Me Soccer

Madisyn and I get to play soccer together Tuesday nights for six weeks! I may enjoy it more than she does, but I'm sure she looks cuter!

Playing goalie, and not so focused on the game. Yes, she got scored on.

And posing during the game

A late birthday celebration

We finally celebrated Elliot's bday (my brother) Sunday. His birthday was June 28th, so we were a little late. None-the-less, we were lucky enough to have my aunt and uncle join us as well and my uncle took some fantastic pictures of the kiddo's.

I love this picture!

Landon likes planing IN his toy box (Madisyn did the same thing at his age!)

Madisyn and Grandma Grandia

Seriously, I think she looks so old here! (minus the cheesy smile, of course)

Don't mind the naked diaper photo.

Loving Daddy

Loving Aunt Shell

Loving Landon (and cheesy posed smile)

Still enjoying the swingset!

Pool time

Vacation!

Our wonderful vacation has come to a close. Rob and I stayed at a campground in Bellaire, MI (near Shanty Creek) in a cute little cabin. Five days was a very long time for me to be away from the kids! I probably annoyed the sitters calling all of the time to talk to them :) None-the-less, everyone lived :D



Rob and I spent the majority of our days boating on the "chain-of-lakes" and our evenings having campfires (or attempting to do so). We launched at various public launches and found our way from one lake to another until evening. It was fantastic! We had gorgeous weather, were able to spend a lot of quality time together, and even sleep in! I was absolutely amazed at how beautiful some of the lakes were, especially Torch Lake! The water was crystal clear, turquoise in color, and it had the most silky sandy bottom! If you haven't gone there, you need to!

MIA

I apologize to the few of you who read our blog :) I have been delinquent in posting lately and now Rob and I are on vacation up north ("camping" and boating) for the week. Note: our first time on vacation alone (since kids) for longer than a long weekend! I promise to give updates when we return! Hope you're all well!

Thank you to Mom (and Dad) Grandia, Mom (and Dad) Dykema, Rachelle and Kate for helping with the kids this week!

(for now, here's our crazy daughter eating a tomato, and loving every minute of it)

How we celebrated the 4th

We had a nice weekend at the cottage filled with family, friends, water, boat rides, food, and late-night campfires.

Our little princess (who insists on getting bigger, although we ask her not to) decided that she wanted to swim to the raft this weekend and was SO proud of herself!
Jumping to Daddy



Swimming with her cottage buddy Meghan

The three eldest grandchildren taking a bath - Landon (1), Joshua (2), Madisyn (3)


Landon loving on Levi (2 months old) - Whenever Levi was around, Landon wanted to "hug" (smother) and kiss him :)





Our little peanut with his pale white tummy!

Daddy's day (belated)

I love my Dad because: he plays with me

My Dad is really good at: hunting (I was surprised that Madisyn remembered that Rob hunts, especially since the theme around our house lately has been fishing!)

My Dad helps me with: playing (see a theme?) :)

My favorite memory of Dad is: he helps me to eat

Thanks for being the most wonderful father for Madisyn and Landon. You compliment me perfectly, as both a father and a spouse! I could not asked to be more blessed! We love you, honey!

For those of you who didn't know, on Father's Day Rob headed to Alaska for work. Although we always miss each other, I think it was a little easier on him this time as he had a couple of days of fishing to keep him occupied :) In the bottom one, you can see how close the bears were to his customer's son, Nick.