Trip to the zoo with London

Matthew went to the zoo this Wednesday with his friend London. We bought tickets to let the boys feed the giraffe's some crackers. It was the PERFECT day for the zoo. We love the fall!

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Matthew has been doing some super cute stuff these days. He seems to be soaking up life like a sponge, and starting to really imitate us. He loves to sing this little song and we parrot it back to him...then he changes it to see if we will get it the same way he sang it to us.


Then, we found a drum set at a garage sale the other day, and Matthew is ready to jam! He seems to be very skilled at composing things. He likes to find the beat and mix in other sounds. Here he is the first time he tried the drums.


Finally, we have some video of Matthew going down the slide all by himself! What a big boy!!

Nice Doggie!

He likes to Dance!!

Hurricane Hanna is gone

Just to let you know, the Hurricane never really hit. It was never more than an afternoon of showers with a little wind. Everyone here is safe and sound, and we will be flying home as planned tomorrow evening.

Love,
Michelle

Hurricane Hanna Update

I wanted to let everyone know that we are doing just fine, in light of the media frenzy over this storm. Occasionally we hear the wind gusting outside, but otherwise right now it is just rain showers (not even pouring rain yet.) The big winds are expected to roll in around lunchtime. We may lose power, so I may not be able to send another update then, but we should be safe and sound in the house. Matthew is having a fun time hanging out with his toys and the video that daddy made for him before we left. All this is expected to pass this evening, and we should be back to sunshine tomorrow. Maybe we will head to the park or the zoo.

Splish Splash

The beach without sun, is much more fun!

Tonight we decided to eat at a restaurant that had outdoor seating by the water. Matthew really enjoyed watching all the seagulls, doggies and people going by. After dinner, we all took Matthew down to the beach for some sandbox time. I bet he will find his little turtle sandbox to be much too small when we get home. Anyhow, it was cool going at night, because we got to play in all the castles and forts that other kids built during the day. After our sand time, Matthew headed straight for the waves. He had more fun in the water tonight than on our other two visits~ This may be our last beach outing of this trip, with Hurricane Hanna making her way for Virginia. Don't worry though, we are inland enough to not have all the damage. We will likely spend Saturday and Sunday indoors though. Pray that the storm doesn't interfere with our flight home though. Thanks~

Another day at the Beach

Chasing Shadows

Norfolk Zoo

We visited the Norfolk Zoo on Sunday afternoon. It was the perfect sunny day for this, although the animals all seemed to think it was a better day for napping. Matthew's favorite part was the petting zoo. This week he has mastered the animal sounds of mooo, neigh, baaaaa, and whooo whooo for the owl. He kept looking at the hog and calling it a doggie though...maybe it's time to put Sierra on a diet?? Just kidding.

Our first trip to the Ocean in August

Matthew and I went to the ocean with Papa and Nana on Saturday. It was 90 degrees outside, but it felt like 100. He enjoyed the sand and surf much more on this trip (he was not too fond of the sand last April.) We have now been here for 4-1/2 days. We sure do miss daddy and Sierra!! Here are some photos of our fun beach day!

Snuggly Sweetness

Family Camp

We are finally having a restful day at home after 3 trips up North over the past 10 days! We spent 4 days at Pine Ridge camp in the Grand Rapids area with about 12 other families. This is something our church does each year, and it was our 2nd year.

Matthew had a blast in the "Tot house" with 6 other little ones. He also had acres and acres of land to run around on. He NEVER gets tired!! He was playing with the bean bag and ball games here while mom and dad sat and caught our breath!!

Here is Matthew at the Petting Farm. He was so excited to see all the animals we have been reading about up close. He loved petting the bunny (that he still called a doggie.) . He likes to point at Bunny's eyes unfortunately for the bunny.

Matthew seemed to agree with mommy though that the pigs are way too stinky (see photo) They get to eat all the leftover camp food :-) It smells much better at mealtime. He also got to pet the horse, cow, sheep and billy goat.

Greg spent some quality time with Matthew in the lake. Matthew loves to swim and splash around in the water. It was nice having the shallow water extend way out!! The water was nice and warm too!!

I took Matthew out in the go-carts, which he seemed to LOVE once we removed the helmet that was WAY too big for his head...Don't worry, I was the only one on the track, and we went really slow!!

Family photo

Trip to the Zoo with Nana and Papa

We love you Matthew!!

Water Boy

A Fun Day With my Cousins

Wednesday was a busy day for us. We spent a fun afternoon with Emily and Madison at the sprinkler park, and the evening with our new baby cousin Jacob. Here are some pictures from our fun day!!

Looking back...

One year ago today...to now.