1st Trip to the Dentist

I don't know why I was nervous to take the kids to the dentist. I figured I better get their teeth cleaned and see if they had any cavities. We're not always consistent in our brushing, so I was a little worried that they might have cavities.
Dan had a tooth extracted last week, so I had him make appointments for Donovan and Elliott (we'll wait till Ross has all his teeth).
I wanted to take pictures of their first time, but they got Donovan done so fast while I was with the others in the lobby that I didn't get any of him in the chair. He had a very fun time. He even told Stephanie the dental hygenist that she didn't have to floss because he did it last night. :) She thought that was cute, but flossed anyway.
Elliott was brave too, but had a tougher time. She took some pictures for me (the room was too small for me to come in with all the kids) but after that he refused to open his mouth for her.

Elliott in the chair

Elliott showing off "Mr. Thirsty"

Last picture before his refusal.

She then came to tell me about her dilemma and said that she could have the dentist come and try to look at his teeth without them being cleaned. I asked if I could come back and see if it might help. She said definitely, so the receptionist watched the other boys while Avery and I went to the room.

Success! She was able to get them cleaned! She said we'd save getting x-rays until next time. She wasn't going to push it and make him scared.

The result: NO CAVITIES!!! YAY!

And they got to pick a cool toothbrush and toy.

Nama & Papa Earl Visit

We had lots of fun with Nama and Papa Earl during our August birthday visit.

Nama is showing Elliott how to jump rope.

Papa and Daddy are playing Donovan's new video game with him.

Avery loved being held by Nama. She often fell asleep because she was so comfy.

Thank you for coming to visit!

Avery gave lots of smiles throughout this visit! I just love the cheekers!

Random Cell Phone Pictures

As I was looking through pictures on my phone, I saw these and realized I forgot to blog them.

Roswell, Donovan, and Aidan eating ice cream at our favorite place, Scoopy Doo's.

Lately Moon has been found lounging in Avery's bed. We try to keep her out, but she always finds a way. Here she is (the black blob in the lower left of crib) actually sleeping with Avers.

"Hello?" Roswell's fun banana-phone.

Guess Who's 6?

Happy 6th Birthday Donovan!!

This year, Donovan wanted to celebrate pirate style. So we had a fun shindig a few days before the actual birthday.

The pirate ship cake.
He has so many friends of all ages, so we had to limit it this year to kids from his classes at church and school. Captain Dan took them on a treasure hunt. They went through areas like the treasure tree of the pirate squirrel, Blue Beard's slide, Strawberry Cove, the Secret Stairs of Salty Sam, etc. The kids had a great time.

Then they found their loot. Play coins and eye patches!

Then they got to decorate piratey/sea masks. (Elliott, Ethan Olds, Ethan Knickerbocker)

I didn't think this would last long, but they actually colored for a while and chit-chatted about lots of important kid things. (Donovan and Zack Knickerbocker)

Then we had our parrot pinata.

Dono got just a bit dizzy from the beginning turning. And they all got tons of candy!

We got to end his friend party with a buckaneer feast of fish sticks or parrot (chicken) nuggets, oranges (to prevent the scurvey), fish crackers, and pretzel swords. It was a swell time! (pictured: Jared King and Donovan)

Then today on Donovan's actual birthday, we went to Red Robin, of course. YUM! The kids love to go here on birthdays because you get a free sundae! (Adults can also get a free burger if you sign up for their email club in addition to the sundae.)

YUM

Papa Earl pretending to snitch Donovan's cherry. :)

Happy Birthday my sweet boy! We love you and are very glad that we have you in our family. :)

P.P.Zoo Member's Night

Tonight was an exclusive members only night at our local Potter Park Zoo. There are lots of zoo keepers and docents that have behind the scenes areas where the kids can view or touch animals. For example, we got to go into the enclosure behind the penguins to view their "nests" up close. We also got to be on the other side of a chain-link fence from the ostrich (in which Roswell freaked out!). We also got to see an owl with a docent, and got to pet a turtle and this lizard.

We were given free tickets for seed sticks to feed the birds in a new exhibit (time ran out, so we will be back to do this) and also free tickets to ride the ponies.

We couldn't miss out on this!

Elliott felt like a true cowboy. He wore his boots just for this occasion! He was just sad he couldn't dress up in his whole cowboy outfit.

Donovan

Roswell also got a ticket and was excited to ride until the horse made a noise, then he hi-tailed it out of there screaming. Maybe next time. :)

They also fed us hotdogs, chips, and a drink. It was a fun, albeit hot and humid, night. I'm glad we get to be members yet another year!

Fun with the Browns! 7/30 - 8/7

On July 30th, Amy (Dan's sister), Jason, Aidan, and Ainsley came for a visit. It's been 2 years since these cousins have seen eachother! They had lots of fun craziness together! Here's some pictures of things we did together throughout the week.

Picture Time!

They did really well considering all the ages and wiggles that these kids have. :)

Blueberry Picking:

Before Aidan came out, he would say that he was very excited to come to Michigan because he would get to pick blueberries. So of course we had to get some!

We went to the farm that we went to last year, but they didn't have a great crop this year and so they had to close down. But the nice owner directed us to a farm that still had blueberries to pick.

Starting out the pickin.


Roswell was always in the bush, picking.

...and eating, eating, eating. Once he put his bucket down, he realized he could pick and eat with both hands. Silly parents, we let him do this unrestrained. BAD IDEA!! We estimate that he ate over a pound of blueberries and his bowels have been paying for it for over a week! Poor kid! But he still asks for blueberries, fortunately now we don't give him as many.

In total we picked a hair over 9 pounds of blueberries @ $1/lb. Not bad at all!

The boys displaying our pickins.

Go Nuts! Lugnuts!

Dan and I enjoyed the game we went to last week, so we thought the kids would enjoy going to a game too. This time we got lawn seats so that the kids could run around.

Earl boys watching the game.

Roswell had fun, but ended up wearing a restraining strap because he would run away and eat anything he could fit in his mouth, grass included (remember he is still having bowel issues, so this wasn't helping)

A view from on top of the lawn's steep slope.

Miss Ainsley crawling all over. Ross would call her "Baby Ainzee, see haa (sweetheart)"

Miss Avery enjoying Daddy time.

Aidan, Donovan, and Elliott really enjoyed rolling down the hill.

A fun night! The Lugnuts lost again 5 - 0.

Potter Park Zoo!

We also wanted to take a trip to the zoo.

Most of the animals were a bit sleepy.

But not these animals! :)

They thought these pennies were pretty cool. Thanks Aunt Amy!

Elliott and Aidan monkeys.

Enjoying watching the otter.

Holland, MI!

We took a trip to the beach in Holland. (Much better than the beach in Saugatuck!!!)

Aidan, Dono, and Elliott

The Earl boys were in and out of the water having fun.

Roswell, U. Jason, and Ainsley

Ross kept darting into the waves, so Jason had to hold onto him so that I could take a picture.

Avery was all smiles.

Especially for Daddy!

Roswell wore this bucket and kept singing "Happy Birthday"

Donovan, Elliott, and A. Amy

U. Dan and Ainsley

Amy and Jason watched the kids while Dan and I went swimming in Lake Michigan. We were hopping the waves and having fun when all of a sudden a larger wave wacked into me and I lost my footing. In Dan's words, he saw the blue flash of my swimsuit and then lost sight of me, then saw feet fly in the air, then down, then my feet surfaced again. He thought it was me, but wasn't sure, but figured that whoever it was needed some help. Yup! I would try to right myself only to be knocked by another wave. It was crazy! I felt arms lift me up and hoped they were Dan's. I would have been ok, but I was glad Dan was able to get me up sooner than later. I'm glad the kids weren't with us, they might have been whipped right under.

Holland's lighthouse

closer view

Then we went into town and tried to get to Windmill Island. Here is a pic. of the windmill that was transferred here from the country of Holland.

Some more smiles of Miss Avery (or in Roswellese "A -O -WE")

The 3 Amigos in their cowboy gettup

Avery saying "Ay Yi Yi" at the noise level in the playroom.

Elliott found a place to lay down on U. Jason

Miss Ainsley

Aidan was excited to open up his tootin skunk (it has a whoopi cushion inside) for his birthday.

Amy and Jason loved the mornings that they got to spend in cooler weather. Florida has humidity like MI, but it is much hotter. Aidan even thought that maybe it was a little cold.

The boys at the table.

We loved having our family visit. We had such a fun time. It was a sad day when they had to leave.