Our Dutch Cousins

John's cousin and her husband from the Netherlands have spent the last month vacationing in the U.S.  They stayed at the Hiemstra House last week and let me tell you - Dutch people (at least the ones related to my husband) know how to have fun.  We had a great week of site seeing, eating, drinking, learning each other's language, visiting with family, and doing lots and lots of laughing. 
Here's just a smattering of pictures from our week with Hans and Sary.
Katie (surprise, surprise) took quite a liking to Hans.  One night when it was Katie's bedtime and they weren't home yet, she made me promise that Hans would come in and give her a good night kiss after they got home. 

This one isn't of our Dutch cousins but I thought it was pretty cute.  We had everyone over one Sunday and we couldn't figure out where Auntie Grace had gone.  I found her downstairs playing Uno Moo with Katie. 

Sary and her Lynden cousins (minus Rick) and aunt.

John took them up to Mount Baker one day.  I was bummed I had to miss....especially when I saw their pictures later.  They had a wonderful view.

We found out our Dutch cousins are very adventurous.  They could only get as far up as the ski lodge with the car so they hiked the rest of the way up to Artist Point.

After Mount Baker John drove them to Whidbey Island for a hike along the ocean.  This is my most favorite hike but unfortunately it was cloudy and pretty windy so they didn't go too far. 

We didn't make them spend the night in La Casa Hiemstra (we are still regretting not putting indoor plumbing in that thing) but we did have them sign the rafters (in orange of course).

 At Birch Bay State Park. 

 At the Peace Arch.  I told you they were lots of fun.

We took the ferry out to San Juan Island.  On the ride out, it was very foggy and overcast but very soon after we arrived the sun came out and we had a beautiful day.  Here we are at the American Camp.  I thought we were supposed to be reenacting a battle (although technically they never battled there) but evidently no one understood me.

 Me in the Lavender fields.

 Hans and Sary in the lavender fields.

Lime Kiln State Park.  We were hoping to spot a whale or too but no luck.  If you are ever in the Pacific Northwest and would like to see a whale....don't take John and I with you.

Eating ice cream on the way home.  We found out our Dutch cousins like ice cream almost as much as we do.

Their last night in the U.S. we spent watching Holly perform in The Music Man Jr.  Sary had really wanted to see "The Needle" but she said she would rather watch Holly so they decided to skip Seattle this trip.  So sweet.  They even took us out for supper before the show.

 After the show...I'll have more pics of Miss Marian the Librarian and Music Man tomorrow.

Hans and Sary, we LOVED having you here!  Come back anytime.  Can't wait to come and visit you in the Netherlands too...I'll bring the Oreos!

The Music Girl

If you're looking for something to do this weekend, this beautiful and very talented girl...

 will be playing the part of Marian the Librarian in this fun musical...

Performances are Friday and Saturday night at Lynden Christian High School.  Shows start at 7:00 and you can buy tickets at the door. 

A story about an 11-year-old

One upon a time there was a boy named Sam.  For his 11th birthday he wanted to have a sleepover party with four buddies from his school.  His mom said yes. 
These are things the five boys did:
1. played freeze tag
2. played capture the flag
3. ate a lot of snacks
4. watched The Lego Movie
5. played video games
6. had a water gun fight
7. played in the tree fort
8. roasted hot dogs and smores over a fire
These are things the boys did not do:
1. sleep
Unbelievably, Sam's mom did not get one single picture of his 11th birthday party.  The next day when Sam's mom realized she had not taken one single picture, she felt very bad...and very, very, very tired.  The end.

p.s. I did remember to get out my camera when Sam opened his present from his family. 

HAPPY BIRTHDAY SAM!  MOM LOVES YOU!

Summer Vacation Begins

We've been thoroughly enjoying our summer vacation thus far.  There has been lots of sunshine, sleeping in, staying up late, and no routine.  Poor John.  He still has routine, early mornings, early bedtimes, and sometimes only hears about the sunshine from his patients.  Mom, if you get a chance today, you might want to call and tell him he's your favorite son-in-law. 

Anyhoo, here's a little sampling of what we've been up to.

Katie requested a lizard pancake one morning.  I must say that I am pretty talented.  Yep, she's still slightly lizard obsessed.  We went to a graduation party last weekend and she got to hold a bearded dragon.  She thought it was pretty amazing and talked about it for days afterwards.  No Mother, you may not buy her one.

My eldest will not be working in the berries this summer.  We will be in the Midwest when they are picking so I told her she could work for me.  I'm not sure she thought that was quite as awesome of an idea as I did.  She has quite the active social life so she hasn't put in too many hours yet but she did yet our garden shed all cleaned off and ready to be painted.  Yes, you heard that right.  We are going to paint the exterior of our house after talking about it for the last two years.  I have finally committed to a color...I think.  It's one of the dark grey samples.  What do you think?  Please tell me you love it.

Me and the kids picked 36 pounds of strawberries.  I think we probably ate five pounds while we were picking.  They are super big and yummy this year.  I made three batches of jam and then froze the rest for smoothies. 

Here's my handsome boy enjoying a strawberry shake. 

Father's Day picture.  Just so you know, my kids have the best dad ever. 

We had a little issue with one of our swings.  Luckily Sam was not swinging too high when the chain decided to rust through!  We ordered two new ones and they came in the mail yesterday.  There was much excitement.

All three kiddos had to try them out.

They passed inspection.

p.s. Please say a prayer for all the people in the Midwest that are experiencing some pretty bad storms and flooding.  A bunch of our friends and family are dealing with wet basements - no fun. 

School's Out!



It's tradition in the Hiemstra House that Sam gets a buzz cut after the last day of school.  This year John had a busy weekend ahead so he had to cut it the night before the last day of school.  Sam was a little worried that everyone was going to be touching his head the next day (it is kind of irresistible) but I think it all turned out okay.  I love a buzz cut!

First day of 4th grade:                               





Last day of fourth grade:

 Sam's I'm-so-happy-school-is-done picture.

Holly's first day of junior year:                       

And her last day:

                                        

She wanted to do a I'm-so-happy-school-is-done picture too!  I'm still having a tough time wrapping my head around the fact that she now is a senior.  How did that happen?!

The Princess's first day of kindergarten:                  

And her last:

She's probably changed the most.  I wished I would have measured her at the beginning of the year.  She's gotten so tall!  She has no I'm-so-happy-school-is-done picture because she was not happy that school was done.  I'm going to miss our just Mommy and Katie days next year.
Bring on summer!

The Princess turns 6!

I'm pretty sure Katie started talking about her birthday way back in January.  When you're in kindergarten, birthdays are a big deal.  She chose a princess party (imagine that?) and we invited all the little girls in her class.  It was a fun day!

Here's the birthday girl with her princess sash and princess cupcakes (strawberry with pink frosting).  



We played games.  This one was "wrap a friend up in Rapunzel's hair" (yellow crepe paper).  It was a big hit.  They decided they all needed a turn being Rapunzel!

Aunt Kerri is a very good friend.  She stayed up way too late with me the night before making pink, sparkly tutus.  The girls loved them!

 Silly girls.

 No princess party is complete without a dance party.

Blowing out six candles!  

I let Katie have free reign over the menu and besides the very pink cupcakes she chose: mini donuts, Cheetos, sausage pizza, and raspberry finger jello.  We also served Sprite in pink, plastic champage flutes...I think they may have been the biggest hit of the party!

It was a beautiful day so after lunch, we all went outside to play.  At one point, I was pushing all seven girls on the tire swing.  There was A LOT of squealing going on.

The next day was Katie's actual birthday.  She had school so I brought in donuts for a snack and stayed to help out in the classroom.  Holly had lots of homework that night so we postponed Katie's birthday supper until the weekend and she requested I make meatballs.  We had our friend Becky over for leftover pink cupcakes and she opened some presents.
On Saturday Katie picked "the train restaurant".  She was very excited to see her name on the train when we got there!

She liked it when the wait staff sang to her and she really liked the big sundae they brought her!  She has no problem being the center of attention.

Kind of hard to believe my baby girl is 6 years-old.  I'm really glad John let me have one more.  I can't imagine life without my little princess.