Blackberries!

The blackberries are out if full force! A day doesn't go by where we aren't picking them. Ben enjoys picking blackberries too...which makes life a bit tricky trying to explain to him that you only pick the black ones & that you have to watch out for all the prickers/ouchies you have to get by to get the delicious fruit! We definitely get our fill of blackberries each day...sometimes our tummies tell us that we ate too much! :)

Jaelyn is a real sweetie...always picking some to share with Ben.

Goin' for a bike ride!

This past week we have been taking LOTS of bike rides together! Ben LOVES riding his bike (with some help from me of course!) Before I would push Ben in the stroller so that Jaelyn could ride her bike, but now he thinks he's hot stuff because he has his very own bike! Jaelyn even taught him how to ring the "dinger-bell" as she calls it! Too cute.

Bark, Bark, Bark!

We continue to "prepare the canvas" as Marcus likes to say. This is our 2nd load of bark this summer...and 15 wheelbarrow fulls have made a nice little dent in this one already! Wowzers! In all ~52 yards of bark will be laid in our yard!! Marcus has done a ton of work...cutting sod, pulling weeds, preparing the bark beds & putting the bark down. It is going to look great once it's finished!

Fun times....

Jaelyn LOVES to play with her good friend, Sophie. She gets super excited when she finds out that she gets to play with her...like bouncing off the wall excited! The moment I tell her "Soph" (as Jaelyn likes to call her) is coming over, we are by the window watching for her to pull in the driveway & asking every 10 seconds if they are here yet! Her mommy & I need to do a better job of getting together....




...just being goofy 3 yr olds!

Swimming Lessons

Jaelyn had her first swim lesson today! I am in love with this swim program...it was just Jaelyn & another little girl for 30 minutes...2:1 ratio! She did awesome...I'm so proud of her! After strapping on 4 floaties to her back, she jumped right in with Ms. Angela. She showed no signs of being apprehensive...she was excited to swim! The mom of the other little girl couldn't believe that this was her first swimming lesson...in her words, "Jaelyn is a natural in the water!" At the end of the lesson, Angela told Jaelyn that maybe 1 more time with 4 floaties and then we are going down to 3! It is going to be fun to watch Jaelyn's transformation in the water!

Jaelyn learning to float on her back...using her arms & legs to "swim" across the pool.

Angela had her "running" in the water...getting comfortable in the water & the beginning stages of swimming on your belly!

In no time at all, Jaelyn was swimming across the pool without Angela holding onto her.

Pure enjoyment!

Jumping off the diving board...already! She was eager to jump...not anxious one bit!

The last few minutes the girls were able to have free time. Jaelyn chose a noodle & throwing balls. Such fun! Can't wait for next weeks lesson to see how far Jaelyn gets!

Peek-a-boo

One of the many games Ben played in our 15+ hour car ride home from the Tetons!

Pigtails!

Jaelyn FINALLY is letting my put her hair up in ponytails! (& her hair is finally long enough too...woo-hoo!!) I love her curls!!!

Always has her boo (& infamous taggie) in her arms!

Our new play set!!

I've been meaning to post pictures of our new play set...& I'm finally getting around to it! Jaelyn (& Benjamin) waited patiently for Daddy to put up their play set....& now that it's up we are playing on it daily! We LOVE it!! :) I'm sure we have years of endless hours of play on this thing...great investment!

Jaelyn likes her big girl swing, although she likes to swing in Benjamin's seat because she can go super high. Ben loves to swing as well....but his most favorite thing to do is go head first down the slide! He gets such a kick out of it (uh oh...do we have another Uncle Dan on our hands?!)

Jaelyn loves her picnic table as well....great place for tea parties as well as picnic lunches!

Pearrygin Lake State Park

The start of our 2 week long camping trip...first stop: Pearrygin Lake State Park with the Byeman family. Good times...although Ben spiked a fever for 3 days...which made for some sleepless nights in the tent! Glad he got over that before we headed to the Tetons!

First Fish!!

Jaelyn went fishing for the first time & had lots of fun doing it! Daddy bought her very own fishing pole before the camping trip...so she is set to go as often as Uncle Tom will take her! She had lots of fun reeling the fish in....and throwing them back into the lake.

She asked Daddy if we could get a boat like Uncle Tom's...Daddy's response was, "we'll just keep using Uncle Tom's for now!"

Grand Teton National Park

The whole Holwerda clan...even Grandma made the trip to the Tetons! It still amazes me that after all these years we keep doing these trips & no one wants to miss it! Washington, California, Michigan, Illinois, Colorado, Costa Rica, & Ohio were all represented this year!

The family shot on top of the world! We took the tram up the mountain (10,000 + elevation) & went for a little hike. It was beautiful & we had amazing views of the whole region.

Going for a hike. Jaelyn did great most of the way! Ben wasn't a big fan of the back pack...he wanted to hike on his own feet! :)

Hiking with the whole family is such a fun time...lots of "catching up" is done on the trails. These are precious moments for everyone.

Daddy & the kids before we took the tram back down the mountain into Jackson Hole.

This is what we got to look at from our campground! Simply breathtaking!

We're going on a Bear Hunt

"We're going on a bear hunt" is a favorite song we like to sing around the camp fire...and usually that is the closest we get to seeing a bear! However, on this trip to the Tetons we were lucky enough to have this cinnamon colored black bear come to our campsite! Yep, that's right...to our campsite! We saw her a couple times during our stay...not to mention news that a black bear & 2 cubs were also spotted in the campground!

Best buds!

I just LOVE playing with Aidan! Wished we lived closer so that we could play together more! We were bike buddies, hiking buddies, minnow catching buddies & getting dirty buddies all week long! I miss you already...can't wait to see you at Christmas time!!




...and I couldn't get enough of baby Jack on the trip either. I had to know where he was at all times and make sure to give him lots of kisses (to make up for the 6 months it took for me to meet him!). Don't we all look great in our matching Patagonia vests?! :)

Pizza pies!

A tradition we have while camping with the Holwerda clan is to make pizza pies over the fire for dinner! Mmmmm...they are oh so delicious!

Looks good, Jaelyn!

Aidan & Jaelyn enjoying their pizza pies together...Ben is trying to steal a few bites!

Just because...he's such a cutie!

Jackson Lake

Our campground was right on Jackson lake...and we took full advantage of it! The water was refreshing to swim in...after you got used to how cold it was! We spent a few afternoons relaxing on the rocky beach and even used it to "shower" in since our campground didn't have any showers. What a beautiful lake...it doesn't get any better than this!

Trying to catch the minnows...Daddy was successful a couple times!

Daddy going for a swim around the boat...some folks swam to the island & back (1.2 miles)!

Papa & Jaelyn

Looking for animals

Animals

We saw a ton of wildlife while camping in Grand Teton National Park....it was such fun! Here are a few pictures we caught of the animals:

Jackson, Wy

On Wednesday we ventured into Jackson to do a little laundry, play some ultimate frisbee, relax in the town's square, and of course eat at our favorite Mexican restaurant- Merry Piglets! What a great afternoon!

Are we too little to play?

Posing with Kevin's shades...don't I look cool?!

Having fun at The Missing Sock laundromat

Exhausted!