A little look into our lives...: July 2008

My grandma passed away yesterday :( She was my last grandparent that I had left. I am sad, but also know that she is in an even better place now :) She lived in Colorado and though I didn't get to see her often, I do have some great memories for which I am thankful. I am mostly bummed though that she was never able to meet Jack.

On a sort of related (but more cheerful!) note, I am so thankful to have Rob's grandparents in our lives! They let me call them my own and they are so kind and welcoming. In fact, just last week Jack and I went swimming at their pool (all to ourselves :) one afternoon and then picked some fresh lavender in the garden. Then grandma fed us popsicles and fruit on the lawn while we dried off in the sun. I instantly relived my own childhood memories of my grandparents and it was nice. Grandparents definitely play a special role in our lives :)

In MyAmalies news, I invented a new animal last week! Say hello to the bird (this ones name is Hank):

And then I made this whole gang. They are all sold already...bittersweet. It sure was fun to make them and I sort of didn't want to part with them!

I'm working on a few more animal concepts and I think Amanda has a few up her sleeve as well! Fun times for us :) Also, we are excited to announce that you can now find MyAmalies critters at Hopscotch Children's Store in Grand Rapids! Rumor has it there will be a MyAmalies animal exclusive to their store in the near future (in other words, not available online so you'll just have to visit!) We're very excited about this partnership!

Jack got to have a little buddy, Colton, come and play for a little bit today! Most of Jack's little friends are girls right now so it was a nice change of pace to have a little boy for him to play with. Colton is 3 months older and such a sweet little boy! They got along so well and Jack couldn't stop giving him hugs :) I think we'll do more play time with Colton again soon!

Well, I'm off to catch some TV with Rob and relax. Everyone have a good evening!

Lots of recaps for you! Enjoy the pictures :)

What a fabulous time we had last weekend with Rob's sister Jen and her husband Derek. Jack LOVED spending time with them. Last Friday we went to the Whitecaps game and although we left early b/c it was raining and Jack needed to get to bed, we still enjoyed the time with family (and all the calories that ballpark food has to offer.)

Jen and I pretending we know what's happening in the game...

The "lemon chill" pucker :)

Dancing and singing on the stage during the rain delay

Saturday, Jen, Derek, Rob and I went kayaking down the Rogue River in Rockford. Such a great time! I haven't been kayaking in probably 10 years. The river was very very calm though and (at most spots) only a couple feet deep. I didn't want to get my camera wet for obvious reasons, so no pictures from that event :(

Later on Sunday we did fireworks at Grandma and Grandpas! Too much fun!

Some of them were LOUD!

Admiring the pretty displays :)

We even managed to spring a leak in one of the buckets. Oops.

We also finished our vegetable garden last week. (Well we need to put a gate up yet...) As I mentioned previously, we had a really late start to the whole thing so we had to go with pre-grown plants this year. I just hope they stay alive :) Jack was having a blast helping us plant everything and putting up the chicken wire.

And as usual, Jack can always be found where the water is...

Yesterday, the fourth of July, we headed out to Holland to bike/skate. (Rob skates while I bike with Jack.) We all had a great time and it's one of our favorite things to do as a family! Not sure how many miles we covered as the odometer thing wasn't working but it was several hours worth. After a stop to get ice cream at the general store (yum!) we headed home. We did a few sparklers and some leftover fireworks from last week but were all in bed well before the big fireworks started.

Before biking, we made a pit stop to play some miniature golf...Jack just liked to throw the ball.

(Sorry, no pics of biking and skating or the sparklers we did that night...I forgot!)

Today Jack and I woke up early and made blueberry pancakes (from scratch :) We went back out to Holland but to the beach this time! So much fun! Jack had a riot playing in (read: throwing) the sand. We did go for a few quick dips in Lake Michigan as well, but it was quite chilly.

A quick shower after breakfast as he was covered in blueberries. (Oh and a favorite current pastime is brushing his teeth. All. the. time.)

And more random pictures from the last week...

Parading around the living room in mommy's pink heels. Well, one of them at least.

After a really rough night (TEETHING! And it's 7 all at once now...not 6 as I had thought!) this is how I found Jack and Daddy in the morning.

Four generations of Strating men! It was really bright in the sun, hence the squinty eyes :) (Each one of them has their father's name as their middle name too, a family tradition.)