Summertime

Summertime is so much fun. The boys just love summer; they love to run on the sidewalks, love to hold the water hose, love to fill up their pails, love to shoot hoops, love to play baseball, and they love to eat popsicles. What's not to love about summer?

We had a fun-filled day yesterday that left the boys (and mommy and daddy) pooped today. First we went to Nana's house to plan the upcoming "Camp VanderLugt" with my sisters (I am very hopeful for a fun week with the boys, full of naps and sleeping through the night). They always love to play at Nana's with their cousins. Then we went to celebrate my friend Betsy's upcoming baby at a house on Green Lake. While the loved the beach and the new toys and steps to explore, it was the slide into the kiddie pool that was the highlight of the night. They were relentless and quite entertaining going down the slide and splashing in the pool. That is, of course, until Tyler's foot got caught on the top of the slide and he took a dive head first into the cement. That was a little terrifying but he seems to be just fine and was ready to go play (but not on the slide) within 10 minutes. Kids are tough!

As far as news updates, I am now 17 weeks pregnant and doing pretty well. We find out next appointment (in 4 weeks) if it's a girl or a boy and we can't wait! I always find the appointments interesting though as they are much less intense compared to last pregnancy! Tyler's molars are all in and now the eye teeth are starting to poke through. Sam's upper molars are in, the lowers are working on it. We've had a rough few days with eating -- I think Sam ate just 2 sausages for breakfast and maybe 2 packs of fruitsnacks, and some veggie straws all day yesterday. He can be such a bugger (no wonder he lost weight last time!). I do think it is working though. While their skin is not perfect, I can tell when they eat something they shouldn't and they do look pretty "normal", for the most part. We also just bought a mini-van after much deliberation and negotiation ... and boy am I glad to be done with that!

Otherwise, all is well with the Ploegs. We are enjoying summer and trying to deal with the heat!

July Fun

My boys have found a new love: water. Sprinkler, hose, tub, pool, lake -- you name it, they love it. Here is some of the fun we had tonight:

And here are the boys this morning in an unprompted show of love :).

We had a wonderful Fourth of July weekend. We enjoyed a beautiful Sunday at the Holtvluwer's cottage in Howard City (Brenda's parents). On Monday, we went to the Grandville Fourth of July Parade and then back to the Ploegs for lunch, wiffle ball, and sprinklers.

We also got Sam's first haircut last week. He wasn't thrilled about it but with the help of some Smarties, he did just fine. No trim for Tyler yet but it really is starting to come in!