School is almost here ... we start a week from today. It can't come soon enough. We had a back to school hot dog bash last night up at the school. The kids had a great time seeing friends and running around and playing. Now this morning I've been listening to them fight all morning about stupid things. I think they need some space from each other and routine that school brings!
We have a few fun things this week ... we're going to the fair tomorrow for most of the day, and then we're going to a Brewers game on Thursday. Then my cousin, Dawn, and her family will be in town over the weekend, so that will be nice ... and then school!
Tuesday, August 30, 2011
Sunday, August 21, 2011
A Blast
We went out on the boat early this morning and had a blast as a family. Timmy decided he didn't want to "do" anything, so he was just a long for the ride. I wakeboarded, Cyndie skied, and Emma skied. Cyndie had talked to a friend of our and learned that you can drop a ski, so she had a good time slaloming with out the effort to get up on one ski! Emma's getting there with skiing. She still doesn't stay up for long (I think she's still getting the feel for how much to lean back against the pull of the rope) but she definitely thinks it's cool that she can ski. I'm getting the hang of wakeboarding ... even getting a small amount of air when I go over the wake. Fun times.
Here are some pictures from lately ...
Emma and Timmy entered to be in an ice cream eating contest and made it ... so they did that on Friday night at the Pig. Emma got first in her contest, and Timmy got second! They both got brand new, very nice backpacks and some school supplies. Emma won a years supply of ice cream, and Timmy a $30 gift certificate to Target (which he somehow managed to lose ... bummer). Anyway, it was fun!
Cyndie found a great deal on this really loud, obnoxious toy that we gave to cousin Daisy for her 2nd birthday ...
Here are some pictures from lately ...
Emma and Timmy entered to be in an ice cream eating contest and made it ... so they did that on Friday night at the Pig. Emma got first in her contest, and Timmy got second! They both got brand new, very nice backpacks and some school supplies. Emma won a years supply of ice cream, and Timmy a $30 gift certificate to Target (which he somehow managed to lose ... bummer). Anyway, it was fun!
Emma by the brand of ice cream she won!
Cyndie found a great deal on this really loud, obnoxious toy that we gave to cousin Daisy for her 2nd birthday ...
Emma skiing!
Wednesday, August 17, 2011
Summer ... the twilight
Yes, we're in our last few weeks of summer. It has just flown by. My (teacher) sister went back for an in service day on Monday and her kids start tomorrow. Frankly, I can't comprehend that! We still have lots of fun things that we're planning on doing before school starts:
Last night was my last softball game of the summer. We went out in style with a come from behind victory! It was fun because it was only our second win of the year. We won the first game, lost like 10 or 12 in a row, and then won the last game! I particularly enjoyed it because I had a really good hitting night ... 2 home runs, a double and a single in 4 at bats (if you guys don't mind me tooting my own horn a bit). It was definitely the stuff to make me excited to play again next year (while being happy to have a break for a while).
Cyndie continues to be pretty busy with her photography stuff. It seems like she's had 2 or 3 shoots a week for the last several. While that is only 3 or 4 hours of actual shooting time, it also means 8 or 9 hours of managing the photos and touching them up. That's pretty exciting. Hopefully things will continue to roll along (and pick up steam) during the school year when she'll have more time during the day (with the kids off at school) to do the work!
- Go to a Brewer's game
- Go canoeing with some friends on the Wisconsin river
- Go to Magic Waters (Cyndie and the kids are currently there) - a water park down in Rockford
- Go to Six Flags (Emma went earlier in with Uncle Gow and a friend from church ... this time Tim and Cyndie are going too)
Last night was my last softball game of the summer. We went out in style with a come from behind victory! It was fun because it was only our second win of the year. We won the first game, lost like 10 or 12 in a row, and then won the last game! I particularly enjoyed it because I had a really good hitting night ... 2 home runs, a double and a single in 4 at bats (if you guys don't mind me tooting my own horn a bit). It was definitely the stuff to make me excited to play again next year (while being happy to have a break for a while).
Cyndie continues to be pretty busy with her photography stuff. It seems like she's had 2 or 3 shoots a week for the last several. While that is only 3 or 4 hours of actual shooting time, it also means 8 or 9 hours of managing the photos and touching them up. That's pretty exciting. Hopefully things will continue to roll along (and pick up steam) during the school year when she'll have more time during the day (with the kids off at school) to do the work!
Thursday, August 11, 2011
Summer moves on.
Yes, summer is passing us by, and at a fast pace. We here at the Wildwood DeVries household were looking forward to a slower paced August. Well, I'm not sure it's been much slower paced, and it's going by quickly! We have about three weeks left until school starts, which is nice, but will go quickly. My sister Amy, who is a teacher, starts back at work next week. Good grief!
I was sitting on the deck working yesterday late morning, and it was still a bit cool. In fact it felt a bit fall-like. After the heat we had in the middle of the summer, it was a bit odd to actually feel cool outside. Craziness.
Humm, what else is going on? I just looked back at the last blog entry I made and realized that I didn't write that Cyndie (and my dad) rode their bikes from my folks' house to Crystal Lake. It was nearly 40 miles. They made it! Cyndie said she was pretty wiped out the last 5 or 6 miles, and she was pretty sore the next day or two, but very happy she did it!
Yesterday morning Cyndie and Emma got up early to go out skiing with our friends Jeannine and Anna (I think she's going into 7th grade). Emma got up and skied for a couple couple of minutes three different times! Awesome Ems. I think we're going to need to get her a wet suit because she gets cold so easily. It will also extend our ski calendar a bit.
Last Saturday evening we went to the Music by the Lake for the second time. We saw a quartet that did a lot of 50s and 60s style music. My folks went with. It was a great time!
I think that recaps pretty well the last week or so. Here's to hoping for a bit warmer weather and an end of August that feels like it lasts forever!
I was sitting on the deck working yesterday late morning, and it was still a bit cool. In fact it felt a bit fall-like. After the heat we had in the middle of the summer, it was a bit odd to actually feel cool outside. Craziness.
Humm, what else is going on? I just looked back at the last blog entry I made and realized that I didn't write that Cyndie (and my dad) rode their bikes from my folks' house to Crystal Lake. It was nearly 40 miles. They made it! Cyndie said she was pretty wiped out the last 5 or 6 miles, and she was pretty sore the next day or two, but very happy she did it!
Yesterday morning Cyndie and Emma got up early to go out skiing with our friends Jeannine and Anna (I think she's going into 7th grade). Emma got up and skied for a couple couple of minutes three different times! Awesome Ems. I think we're going to need to get her a wet suit because she gets cold so easily. It will also extend our ski calendar a bit.
Last Saturday evening we went to the Music by the Lake for the second time. We saw a quartet that did a lot of 50s and 60s style music. My folks went with. It was a great time!
I think that recaps pretty well the last week or so. Here's to hoping for a bit warmer weather and an end of August that feels like it lasts forever!
Wednesday, August 3, 2011
A trickle
It appears that my blogging has slowed to a trickle. If that. Sorry about that. I'll make no promises, but I hope to be at least a little more regular about blogging.
So, what's been happening? How about a few bullets:
So, what's been happening? How about a few bullets:
- Softball ended for Emma. Her team wasn't horribly good, but she improved a lot over the season to where she was probably one of the two best players on her team. Her hitting was good, and her defense was very good. In fact, she turned an unassisted double play in the last game ... awesome considering getting single outs at a time is an iffy proposition at best in her league.
- Baseball ended for Timmy. He was 6 years old in a league for 7 and 8 year olds, so it was a learning time for him. He loved to play, and was constantly wanting to play catch or hit in the yard. He did well for his team, getting lots of hits ... as many as any of the other boys. It was very fun for him to be on a really good team. They only lost twice out of 10 or 12 games. Their second to last game was against an undefeated team (that had beat them by one run the other time they played) and Tim and the boys won 31 - 10! That was a fun game!
- Last week we were up in the UP for family camp. As usual, it was a blast. It was fun to not have to do anything, to have meals be prepared for us, to have lots of other kids around for Tim and Emma to play with, etc.
- We tried an evening boating trip on Monday, just Cyndie, I, and the kids. It was a blast. I wakeboarded, Cyndie wakeboarded and skied, Timmy went on the knee board for the first time ever, and Emma got up (briefly) on two skis! It was really fun.
Tuesday, July 19, 2011
Pictures!
Emma learning to knee board
Timmy winning his Day Camp rock/scissors/paper tournament!
Some of Timmy's buds from Day Camp
At the Freedom Fest ... Timmy showing off his muscles
Waiting for the concert to start at the Freedom Fest
Emma and I at "our" Indian restaurant
Tim and Emma loved having cousin Brandon here to visit!
Uncle Gene rented a jet ski
Tim and Emma cooled off by decorating themselves with shaving cream
Monday, June 27, 2011
I need a weekend from my weekend!
Well now, that was a busy weekend! Friday night my sister Amy and her two kids (non-attending camp division) came up for the night. My folks and Laura and Gow and the kids and Jane came over for dinner and a rousing family baseball game. Then Timmy and his cousin (same age) Ben went over to Auntie Jane's and got to spend the night there. The next morning Tim and I headed to baseball practice, while Cyndie and Amy went to pick up the oldest cousins, Emma and Sarah at camp. Emma (and Sarah too I think) had a great week. The weather was cool, but that didn't seem to bother them too much. I think they were ready to go back again this week, but were pretty darn pooped on Saturday! Emma said her favorite things were the zipline, the climbing wall, and banana boating.
After a couple of hours of down time, we headed to the Freedom Fest, a free concert/festival in Janesville, joining our friends the Goreckis there. That was fun. The rides/carnival stuff was all free. They had stuff for the kids. The concert, Matthew West, was good, and there was a phenomenal fireworks show at the end. Fun times, but late. We didn't get home until around 11:30. Needless to say, everyone slept in in the morning! Then we had church at Covenant Harbor (our pastor was speaking and we had three people from church get baptized in the lake after the service). There was a picnic, then we spent the rest of the afternoon out on the boat with various friends from church (sandwiched around a trip to Wal-Mart to get a new battery for the boat!). And then we had church (a very short prayer/singing service). And then we went to Culvers for a heavy snack with a bunch of folks from church. Fortunately, the kids got to bed at a decent time.
Whew, typing that makes me tired all over again. Today Tim is off to Day Camp at Covenant Harbor (his first camp experience by himself). He was a bit apprehensive when I dropped him off, but his buddy Owen was dropped off moments later, and I'm assuming that things were peachy from there. Emma had a PetVet class this morning (she said there were five dogs and a cat there today). Tonight we pick Timmy up at camp, then go straight to his 5p baseball game (and Emma's softball game after that).
I need a nap!
After a couple of hours of down time, we headed to the Freedom Fest, a free concert/festival in Janesville, joining our friends the Goreckis there. That was fun. The rides/carnival stuff was all free. They had stuff for the kids. The concert, Matthew West, was good, and there was a phenomenal fireworks show at the end. Fun times, but late. We didn't get home until around 11:30. Needless to say, everyone slept in in the morning! Then we had church at Covenant Harbor (our pastor was speaking and we had three people from church get baptized in the lake after the service). There was a picnic, then we spent the rest of the afternoon out on the boat with various friends from church (sandwiched around a trip to Wal-Mart to get a new battery for the boat!). And then we had church (a very short prayer/singing service). And then we went to Culvers for a heavy snack with a bunch of folks from church. Fortunately, the kids got to bed at a decent time.
Whew, typing that makes me tired all over again. Today Tim is off to Day Camp at Covenant Harbor (his first camp experience by himself). He was a bit apprehensive when I dropped him off, but his buddy Owen was dropped off moments later, and I'm assuming that things were peachy from there. Emma had a PetVet class this morning (she said there were five dogs and a cat there today). Tonight we pick Timmy up at camp, then go straight to his 5p baseball game (and Emma's softball game after that).
I need a nap!
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