After exercising I worked on packing. Then I spread preen in the flowerbeds. Jacob and Adam woke up around 9:00. We made a trip in our pjs to the post office to put a hold on our mail while were gone. The boys were very talkative with the lady there. On the drive home Adam said, “I see a flag in dat field.” Then he said, “I tell you when I see nother one Mommy.” The boys watched Bob the builder during breakfast. I worked on packing until lunchtime. After lunch we went back outside. The boys got really wet having fun with the hose. It was a very warm day. I put a couple coats of rain-x on the van windows. Then I filled up all the animal waterers. Adam stuck his head in the chicken’s water bowl. We went inside around 2:30. After changing the boys into dry clothes they ate a snack. We read a book and I tucked Adam in for a nap. Jacob rested in his bedroom and played with his bruder vehicles and blocks. I did a 1hr run. Then Jacob and I went outside to work on fill all the animal’s food dishes. Jared got home around 4:45. Adam was awake went we came inside. Jacob is really excited about our camping trip. He was acting goofy and did lots of dancing and singing. He wanted us to sit on the couch so he could perform for us. After dinner Jared and I packed our back. Then we loaded up the rest of the van and got the canoe back on top. The boys had fun in the tub this evening. They were tucked in bed around 9:30. Jared and I got the cooler packed. The alarm is set for 2:30am. We’ll be back in a couple weeks. Were so EXCITED!!!!

Jacob making sailboats.

Fun way to blow bubbles.



Trying out our new canoe.

About to go in the puddle and then my camera died.

I got up at 6:00 to exercise. After exercising I folded some laundry until the boys woke up around 8:30. After breakfast they had fun playing at the counter with playdoh. Around 10am we headed over to Nana’s house. The boys played together with the cars, and Little People toys. They also had fun with blocks. Mom got there around 11:30. We cut off the end of some water bottles and then rubber banded a washcloth over it. Then we mixed some soap and water and had fun playing with our new soap foam blowers – a great idea that Mom read about at the doctor’s office. Adam didn’t want to do much blowing but sure enjoyed playing with the bubbles. We came inside for lunch. I did a little sewing using Mom’s machine after lunch. Around 1:45 I headed over to my OB doctor appointment. The appointment went well. From there I went to Mel’s house to pick up a few things. We had a nice visit. I stopped at meijer before going back to Mom’s. Jared got there soon after I did. We helped Mom and Dad set up their pop up camper that pulls behind the motorcycle. Dad and Jared played some ping pong until dinner was ready. The boys also had fun playing down in the basement. We’d planned on buying a canoe so we went to town to purchase that. Back at Mom’s we got to tried it out in the neighbors pond. Papa and Nana also got a turn. We got home shortly after 9pm. There is a opossum in the live trap tonight.

Adam trying to get the last bit of his ice cream.

Adam eating a piece of watermelon.

Playtime with Daddy.

Jacob loves jumping over Daddy.

Adam tries but lands on his head.

Jacob came to cuddle in bed with me after I was done exercising. Adam woke up shortly after 9am. Jacob brought his barn to the counter saying, “Adam, I will find you some things to play with too.” They played with the barn for a little while before breakfast. Adam said, “I wanna watch John Deere tractors.” They watched the tractor video during breakfast. After breakfast I worked on packing the boys bags for our trip. Jacob built a tent, which he called their chicken coop. They pretended to be chickens and said, “Try to catch the chickens!" So I chased them around the house. They also had fun playing in the tunnel. After lunch the boys pretended to be selling ice cream. Adam asked, “Mommy you want ice cream?” I said yes and asked him how much it cost. He replied, “Two dollars.” They also said they were serving dog ice cream for Truman and Kate. They also had fun playing with their tools. At 2:00 we read books and I tucked Adam in for a nap. Jacob rested while play with cars and foam block. He also drew on his pixter. I did a 30 min run. Then I worked on sewing patches on the boys Copper Harbor sweatshirts. Jacob had fun playing with all my buttons. He also liked helping to hand me things that I needed from the sewing box. Jared got home around 6pm. Adam woke up just after that. The boys played with foam blocks until dinner was ready. After dinner I rested on the couch for a little while. The boys colored me a picture with crayons. Then they got out the fire truck playhut and had fun pretending to be firemen. I enjoy watching them play together. After cleaning up the house I scooped the boys some ice cream. Then I cut up a watermelon. Adam loves fruit and kept asking for more watermelon. After I’d hand him a piece he’d say, “Thanks, your welcome.” Lately he’s been adding a quick “Your welcome” after saying thanks. While I finished cutting the watermelon to put in a container, the boys had fun playing with Daddy. At bedtime Jacob said, “I wanna give Adam a hug.” After they gave each other a really big hug they went for a kiss. They had to try again to get it right on the lips. They were tucked in bed by 9:15

I lay down after my exercises. Jacob cuddled in bed with me until 9:00. We went outside to let the young chicks out of their stall. Jared left for work early this morning and it was a little too dark to let them loose. They sure do enjoy getting out during the day. I helped Jacob catch the silkie chick. He loves that chick and says its his favorite. I carried the camp kitchen inside and Jacob helped me pack some things in it. Then Jacob played with his automoblox. Adam woke up calling for me shortly after 10:00. When I walked in his bedroom he said, “I call you. You hear me call you? Daddy here?” The boys made some cinnamon sugar and then they sprinkled some on their toast. They ate breakfast while watching the tractor video. After eating they played some more with the automoblox. I worked on packing. The morning seemed to go by quickly. The boys had fun painted (with water) their color changing matchbox cars until lunchtime. After lunch they rode around together on the dump truck. They hooked the dog leash from the dump truck and pulled things around with it. Around 1pm we headed into town. First we stopped at Tim Horton’s and then we went to the bank. From there we stopped to get an oil change. As we left Jacob said, “That was fun.” We also went to Salvation Army, Walmart, and Meijer. Jared met us at Meijer on his way home from work. He finished our shopping with us. We got all the shopping done for our camping trip. We got home around 5:30. While dinner was cooking I finished packing the camp kitchen. After dinner we went outside. Our neighbor, Jim, came over to get eggs. He is going to be letting the chickens out in the morning and locking them up at night while were gone. Jared showed him the usual hiding places for eggs because he will be collecting them also. The boys were very excited to see Jim. Adam gave him a hug and Jacob gave him a high five. As he was leaving Zeck came over. Jared went over with him the things to do for the animals while were gone. We came inside soon after 8pm. The boys were tucked in bed by 9:00. Adam asked if Truman could sleep in his bedroom so I put Truman in there until he was asleep.

Jacob block trucks.




Jared's ready to get that fox.

Boys driving their garbage truck.



This morning, after doing my exercises, I lay back in bed for a while. Jacob soon came to cuddle with me. Adam woke up around 9:00. The boys watched Bob the Builder while they ate breakfast. Adam decided to give Truman a spoonful of his cheerios. I rocked Jacob and we read some books. Then Adam wanted a turn being rocked and he picked out a book for me to read. I worked on packing things for our trip to Copper Harbor. I also did some laundry. After lunch we got out the blocks. Jacob made lots trucks from them. He also set up an area to launch off some fireworks. Jacob complained when Adam knocked down what he’d built. I suggested that Adam build some of his own things to knock over. Then Jacob said, “I can build him some things to knock over.” Adam held a couple blocks together and pretended it was a bulldozer. The boys picked up all the blocks while I loaded washed clothes into the dryer. I could hear Jacob getting Adam to help pick them all up before I came out. I waited until Jacob told me they were ready for me to come see. I let them know how proud of was that they’d worked together and got them all picked up. Then Jacob put the container away in the closet. What a great helper he has become. We went outside and the boys played while I pulled weeds from around the day lilies. Jacob loaded piles of weeds into his tractor cart and hauled them away. Adam pet Nutmeg and then ran to me saying, “I pet that horsey. That horsey like me!” After I was done pulling weeds we picked apples and fed them to the horses. We came in around 2:30. The boys ate a snack while I read some stories from their bible. Adam took a 3 hr nap. Jacob sat at the desk in his bedroom and drew with markers. He liked pretending his papers were mail to be delivered. He made me some pictures and also some for Daddy. He wrapped Daddy’s pictures in his blanket and then hid it for Daddy to find later. I did a 1hr run. Jacob played with moon sand for a while. Jared got home around 5:45. After dinner we took a trip to McDonald’s for smoothies. That was a really yummy treat. Before going home we stopped to talk with Zeck (neighbor boy) about taking care of our animals while were gone camping. He and his Dad were bailing hay in the field. They stopped to talk with Jared. At home Jared cleaned a stall for Kate to stay in during our trip. Jacob was filling up his shirt with barn dirt and hauling it elsewhere. Adam tried to do that too. I picked and cut up some rhubarb. Jacob pulled Adam around in the bike cart. Then they both pulled it around and pretended it was a garbage truck. After the boys were tucked in bed I gave Jared a haircut. Jared is sitting outside for a couple hours tonight to see if the fox comes again. Last night it dug up another dead chicken.

Jacob made this for me while he was resting today. He called me to come get my mail saying, "And it even says Mommy on it." Then he said, "I'm really good at writing now."

Here is Jacob holding our silkie chick.





I got up at 6:00. Jacob woke up shortly after 7am but stayed in his bed until around 8:00. Then he came and cuddled between us in our bed. We had to wake up Adam to make it to church on time. Adam did good in his class today. He only pouted as I left. Jacob was in a different class today because some teachers were gone. We stopped at meijer for groceries before going home. I wasn’t feeling good so I lay down on the couch for a while. Both boys brought me some pillows. Daddy and the boys ate pizza for lunch. After lunch Jared went outside to mow the lawn. The boys both were acting very tired. We read a book and I had them lay down for naps at 1:45. Jacob didn'y fall asleep but play quietly with cars while lying in bed. Adam slept for 4 hrs. I did a 1hr run. I’ve felt nauseous a lot today and very tired. I lay on the couch while Daddy, Jacob, and I watched the dump truck video. Then we went outside. It was a nice, cool day. I cleaned out and vacuumed the van. Jared spread grass on the garden. He found a frog and put it in a bucket for Jacob. Jacob put grass in the bucket for it. The fox killed 3 of our chickens last night and also dug up one of our dead ones. Were using the killed chickens for bait, but it will be hard to trap. Adam came outside for a short time until dinner. After dinner I felt sick so I rested on the couch. Jacob rubbed my head and Adam sat on me. Daddy held their hands while they took turns jumping on the exercise ball. We went outside so the boys could let the frog go. They had fun in the tub until pj time. They were tucked in bed by 9:30.

Adam says "See them, drummin, and them holdin up flags."

At Aunt "Bippi's house.











Fun with Daddy.




Pretending to be garbage trucks while holding grass behind their backs.


I love Adam's expression as he tries to smile with his eyes open.




I got up at 6:00. After doing my exercises I lay back down for a while. Jared and I were up around 9am. After getting ready and taking care of the animals we headed into town for drinks and donuts. We also got donuts for Vikki, Rody, Kenzie, and the boys. On the way we stopped to drop off Mel’s purse, which she’d left at the reception last night. At Vikki’s the boys watched from the window as we walked to the house. Adam saw the donut box and said, “Mommy and Daddy got donuts!” After they’d finished their donuts we headed over to Mom’s house to pick up the Vibe. On the drive there the boys talked about how much fun they had and also said that they missed us. Before going home Jared stopped at Grandpa’s to sharpen his mower blades. I stayed and visited at Mom’s house for a while. The boys acted very tired. Rody switched our cell phone, giving us Vikki’s old phone. He brought that to Mom’s for me. I gave the boys pushes on the swings. Jacob has learned how to pump his legs really well while swinging. On the drive home Adam said, “Mommy, I ready to go back to Bippi’s house.” Both boys fell asleep in the van and continued sleeping as I moved them to their beds. I did some exercises. Jared mowed some of the lawn. Around 5:30 we woke the boys and headed downtown to watch the firework display. We got there early and enjoyed our time together while waiting until dark. The boys loved running down the big hill near by where we sat. Jared and I put them on our shoulders and ran down the hill a couple times. They both were giggling. The boys ate sandwiches and pretzels for dinner. The temperature was around 60 degrees and it felt cold. We enjoyed listening to the band. They also played oldies music. Jacob showed us some great dance moves. Shortly after 10pm they started the fireworks. The display was great and lasted about 30 minutes. The crowd was much smaller this year due to the weather. We were home before 11:00. Both boys fell asleep on the drive.