4th, 8th and 15th

Before I embark upon blogging about what will always be known as "The Beltman/Hiemstra Summer of 2017 Duluth Adventure", I thought I better document my kid's first day of school.
My favorite 4th and 8th grader!  Aren't they the cutest?!

This is Sam's last year in the middle school and Katie's last year in the elementary school.  Wow, how did that happen?

 I love new shoes.

 Carly is really going to miss these two.

 Don't they looked thrilled?

There is always a line to take pictures in front of the sign so I never do it but this year I told Katie she had to since this was our last year going to this school!

Katie and her sweet teacher.  Sam had Mrs. A in 4th grade too!

John snapped this one of me on our way to convocation.  I look really happy that the kids are back in school but it was just for show, I wasn't ready yet. :(

John and I have a tradition to go to the bakery after convocation.  Nothing makes you feel better than a raspberry, white chocolate scone.

And I can't forget this amazing girl...

She sent me this picture of her first day school.  She started her junior (what??!) year at Dordt on August 14.
My babies are growing up.  I would be sadder if they weren't turning out so good (in spite of my parenting).  I can't wait to see what God has in store for them this school year!

Summer fun

Looking back, I'm fairly confident that this was my mostest favoritest summer ever.  Holly loves Dordt and I love it that she loves it there but when she's there it does feel like something is missing here in Washington.  I love going to sleep at night knowing all my chicks are back in the nest where they belong.  An added summer blessing was the fact that my folks were here for so long.  I love the fact that they are homeless.
Looking back, I'm fairly confident this was the fastest summer ever too.  School starts on Tuesday and with that comes earlier bedtimes, earlier wake-up times, routine, practices and lessons, homework, evening activities, and setting the table for four instead of five.  Ugh.
Before I get to our vacation, here is one last summer fun post.
Soap bubbles on the trampoline is always a big hit!

For someone who claims to find this dog annoying, he sure fakes affection well.  I took this picture through the window.  Carly loves her tummy rubbed and it doesn't look like my dad is very annoyed.  I went to throw away a plastic bag that was in the shop the other day and noticed it had something in it.  It had an enormous dog bone in it.  My father had purchased an enormous dog bone for this annoying dog.  I like the dog and I don't even buy her bones.  Big softie.

Grampa and Sam spent a lot of time together this summer.  They took bike rides (destination Edaleen), washed cars together, went to Woods for fancy coffees, and shot guns.

Gramma and Katie got a lot of quality time in too.  I worked at our church's Rock the Block event one week so Gramma got to take Katie to swimming lessons.  They went somewhere special for lunch every day after lessons.

Here's me and some of my Rock the Block kids.  Sam was a leader for Rock the Block too.  I was so proud of him, he did so well with the kids!

Dad and John building shelves in the shop.

Gramma (and her helpers) mending outside.

We picked up pizzas one night and my mom surprised me by getting my absolute favorite (all vedgie with white sauce) which I never get because my family doesn't like it.  Pretty cool when your 46-years-old and your mom still spoils you.

I wonder what they were discussing here??

One tired Grampa.

Remember we did all that work to the cottage before my folks got here?  I don't think I ever posted a picture of it all done.  This little house is one of the favorite things about our home, we should of had one years ago.

And this is for all my teacher friends but mostly for my sister-in-law (and soon to be grandma!) Sue who is having a tough time with going back to school too.

Special Dates and Special Friends

Hi guys..I'm back!  Looking through my pics I realized I have some more summer to blog about before I get to our vacation.  You can blame my folks for my lack of blogging.  It's actually not their fault but you can blame them anyway.
For Sam's and Katie's birthdays this year, Holly gifted each of them a "date night with their favorite big sister".  So cool.  She chose something really special to do with each of them and I think they both thought it was pretty fun to have one-on-one time with Holly.  Katie's date night was first.  Holly took her to McDonalds (her favorite place for supper), to the Dollar Store for candy, and then to the movies to see "Despicable Me 3".

That night she got to sleep in Holly's room too.  I'm pretty sure that was Katie's favorite part.  I'm pretty sure it was Holly's least favorite part.  Katie is what is knows as a serious "night time thrasher". How her feet can end up in your face multiple times in one night is a mystery to me.

For Sam's special night they loaded the bikes into the truck and drove to Boulevard Park in Bellingham.  They rode bikes along the board walk and jumped into the bay.  Holly's done it lots of times but apparently Sam was a little nervous (but if you ask him, he'll say he wasn't).

Afterwards, they went to Woods for fancy drinks and watched the sunset.

Holly got her share of special dates this summer too.  Since the dentist office was right next to John's office, they ate lunch together most days.  One morning when Holly was getting her lunch box off her bike, she dropped it and the glass container holding her meatballs broke.  Apparently John didn't think his lunch was big enough to feed them both so they had to go out for lunch.

We took just Holly out for supper one night too.  Grampa and Gramma took the other two out so they didn't feel left out. This little place might not look like much but the food is so yummy!

One weekend we tore Grampa away from his work and took them to Canada to see a show.  We stopped at Tim Hortons for a quick supper and some snacks.

And then headed to Queen Elizabeth Park in Vancouver to see "The Drowsy Chaperone" in Theater Under the Stars".  It was such a fun night!

Our summer was made even more special when our good friends, Wil and Linda stopped by.  They had been RVing in Alaska and I left a comment on Linda's blog that they should stop in since we are nearly right next to Alaska.  We were so excited when they said they would!  I grew up with this sweet family in Minnesota and now Wil and Linda live in Tucson where my parents spend the winter. I have so many wonderful memories with these guys!  

The water and electricity by the shop really came in handy for their summer home on wheels.

Holly was working in the berries the weekend they came so we stopped by to see her and show our guests how we harvest raspberries around here.

She gave them a ride on the picker.

Wil and Linda's nephew is a pastor in Sumas (a little town right next to us) so on Sunday we went to his church.  Andrew joined us for lunch that afternoon.

Special dates + special friends = awesome summer.