Camping... Shawnee National Forest, Trail of Tears

So we finally went camping.  We've had all the gear, except the tent, ever since we were married, and we hoped to go every year.  Well, this year we bought the tent and went!  It was great :)  We spent 2 nights, 1 day, and probably spent more time packing, setting up, taking down and packing again, than we spent time enjoying ourselves; but, it was still fabulous!!  The boys enjoyed it too, even though there wasn't much for them to do.  I think they enjoyed it because of the excitement of something different.

We traveled about 5 1/2 hours south, close to the border of Illinois.   After about 4 hours of cornfields and soybeans, the terrain finally became interesting.  The above photo is a shot a t a rest area beside a lake I can't remember the name of.  Very beautiful!  

Our little man... Peter!  He had a great time too, though I had to keep a constant eye on him to keep him from eating EVERYthing.

Our Tahoe was loaded to the gills with all our gear so there wasn't much room for toys.  The boys made their own fun trying to take rides in the bike trailer and pedaling back and forth in front of our campsite.

Here's our camp site.  The most fabulous you will find in Illinois, I'm sure.  Major selling point is the 3 walled cabin complete with fireplace.  Also, it was very private and quiet.  Downside, very hilly (hard for us people who are out of shape, to pedal) and no water holes for swimming or for fishing.  Great hiking trails, but not so great for little ones.

Old fire tower

Check out this look :)

Putting the Dirksen cup to good use :)

A few more snapshots of the peeps.

Sunday Afternoon

Last weekend we headed up north to celebrate my brother Arend"s 40th birthday.  Hip hip hoorah!  And because (as I stated  last post)  I'm not so quick with the camera, I didn't get his photo :(  So here's a not so recent one... he hasn't changed too much!  

And I had to share our snapshots from Sunday afternoon:

A Summer in Rewind

  So I can't believe the summer is past and September is nearly halfway gone.  If time keeps flying like it is, I'll be an old lady before I know it!!  But now, here I am, trying to recall some of the highlights to share with all of you.  Please do enjoy :)  And to so many of you with whom we spent time, I'm sorry I don't have a photo.  I do wish I was a bit more of a shutterbug... but we all have our talents, oui?

So, to start off, we had our good friends, Chad and Janine, come to visit along with their son Cole.  Janine and I went to school and church together when I lived in Ontario, and have continued to keep in touch.  It was great to have them out!!  We enjoyed great food and interesting estate sales :)

Then my brother and his family came to visit for a week of fun in the sun and in the stores :)  Jerry and John took the boys and Janelle to best buy and they were great; they just watched TV! (picture left)

The boys were silly.

 Then my parents came to visit.

My gourds grew.  They actually grew from the old gourds I had thrown out last year.  Unfortunately, they kinda took over so I had to rip them out.  But now I've got a tonne of decorative gourds!

         

 Then we received news that Jerry's Grandmother had passed on into glory.  So we packed up our bags and headed for California.  It was wonderful to see all the family again, even amid the circumstances.  Praise the Lord that our hope is in Him, or the visit could have been far different.  On the last day before we were to leave, we took a trip up with Oma to Mills Creek, up in the mountains.  Jerry used to camp here with his family when he was young, so it brought back many good memories.  It was beautiful!!  Perhaps we ought to camp there ourselves someday ;) 

 Peter stood!

We tried to go to tractor pulls at the Will County Fair, but  the noise
was too much for Peter, and the boys were a bit of a handful for Jerry.
So, we only got to see a few, but we will make better plans for next year;
babysitter!!

Oh, and Jerry got a hat :)  He took a trip, compliments of ComEd, to help put the power back on in Baltimore, Maryland after Hurricane Irene moved through.

Our Boys

I just love it when the boys all play together.  And I love that they love to read :)


And these photos I just couldn't resist sharing.

Grandpa and Oma Come to Town

Grandpa and Oma Haveman came to visit over Memorial weekend and stayed for a week before going up to Wisconsin to visit some friends.  It was great to see them and spend time with them.  The boys were spoiled with hugs and stories :)  We took a day to visit the zoo... James' favourite exhibit was the swamp with the crocodiles.  We watched a Memorial Day parade here in Crete as well as a car show the following week.  Much of the time was spent relaxing and visiting... it was great!

Grandpa sharing his popcorn with Lucas.  Mom and I went to the farmers market and I got some plants while she got kettlecorn.  We also tried some raisin rye bread, yummy!!  While we were out and about, Jerry and his dad got greasy.

Oma kept her hands busy knitting a scarf... Peter kept her company and laughed at her jokes. 

And Jerry caught some air in his truck.  Haha...  But you should now see the grass at the bottom of the hill.  Oops.

Snapshots in Canada

These are the Cub cars from my brother John and his boys.  They all won trophies!!  I want to say that Daniel's won at the big cadeterie and the other two won at the Wellandport church event. What great talent, eh?  The batmobile is Daniel's, the truck is John's, and the charger/challenger (can't remember what he said it was) is Michael's.

Olivia (Angeline's youngest) and Lucas.

Samuel and James.  Samuel brought along cars to share with  James and the boys zoomed them all over.

Oma reading stories.  Peter is getting right in there and digesting stories already :)

We went to visit my brother Arend at his home.  He's doing pretty good... he can move his left leg and so is able to walk small distances with support (like up the five steps to his house).  We went for a small walk in the neighbourhood and one of the neighbours had a digger the boys could sit in.  James loved it ALOT.  Arend and Rosee had a toy digger from Colin that James would not put down, so that combined with the real life toy equaled digger in my tahoe coming back to Illinois.  It has a new home in our sandbox.

Daniel gave the boys and Janelle a ride aroud the property on Sunday afternoon.  They loved it!  Thanks Daniel :)

Opa and Peter... oh and John in the background :)

Lucas Turns 2

On Lucas' birthday, we decided to take the boys to the zoo.  It was a great time, but unfortunately we were under-dressed for the weather.  The whole time I complained (in my defense, I had goose-flesh every time we stepped outside) and my heart went out to my boys who did not complain.  (I figure if I'm cold, everyone must be cold!) We did see some interesting animals, but our favourite stop was the monkey house.

Happy Birthday to you!!

Our little Lucas always has a smile at the ready... and a lady killer of a smile too, I might add, with those dimples.  He's a sweetheart, quick with a hug.... like the other day I got James in trouble for whatever and Lucas pats his head and says "it's OK" in his Lucas language.  Sweetie.  But beware of his easy nature... if you push too many buttons he is not afraid to strike out.  He is mostly cured of his biting tendencies, but I have still caught him leaning in for the kill; he's moved on to bopping James repeatedly.  

For his birthday, Lucas got some wooden trucks.  Surprised?  One day I was trying to wake him up from his nap, but he was not very interested in getting up until I asked him, "do you want to see Daddy's truck?", he was up like a flash and out the door looking for his boots.