Gpa and Gma Collingwood's Visit

Dan’s parents came out for a visit July 1- 10


7/2 - All 6 of us went to the beach for a picnic lunch and an afternoon of wading and building sand castles..... well, OK - it was more sand-trenches and filling buckets with sand, water, and rocks. But the main point is that is was FUN in the SUN! (For those interested - the lunch menu was summer sausage, cheese, crackers, peaches, green pepper, carrots, and Chips-Ahoy cookies)

A sad (but KINDA funny) story from the day involved Ethan. We were finishing picking up lunch at our metal picnic table while the kids were running around. There were several sea gulls and Ethan was imitating them. Out of the corner of my eye i see Ethan skipping toward us "flapping" his wings and making the sea gull noise over and over. He was SO CUTE. Anyway, mid-flight he runs his forehead right into the corner of the picnic table! It almost looked intentional, but it wasn’t. Poor guy. It ended the sea-gull session. I gave him some infant tylenol and he was fortunately ok. But now whenever i give Kaylin tylenol for teething he mentions he got some for his headache :)


Grandma and Grandpa Collingwood with Kaylin and Ethan


Kaylin, Britt, Dan, and Ethan (And just in case someone doesn't know - Britt is 5 months pregnant in this picture.....)


Ethan and Kaylin got matching buckets for the beach.


7/3 - Gpa reading a book to Kaylin


7/3 - Kaylin loves to "sing"........it comes out as "AHHHHHHH"


7/4 - Grandma reading books. (Ethan DID enjoy it, he just has a weird expression on his face!)


7/4 - Gpa Collingwood holding a sick little Kaylin. On top of teething, Kaylin had been running a high fever for over 24 hours. (Doctor said it was a virus) She was better on the 5th.


7/4 - Ethan and Grandma Collingwood making Sugar Cookies for the 4th of July


Cutting out the Stars


The finished 4th of July star sugar cookies.


4th of July - Kaylin had been sick with teething and a high fever all day, so Gpa and Gma stayed home with her while Dan and Britt took Ethan to see fireworks. It was a fun and special time just the 3 of us. Ethan still talks about it.


Ethan on the way home from fireworks around 11 pm. I had taken Triscuits and Chips-Ahoy cookies for snacks. I offered them to Ethan as the fireworks started, but he actually said no. He was too enthralled with the show. His favorite were the "blue ones". He kept asking and trying to figure out how they worked. "Push button on and off?" Finally on the way home, Ethan was ready for his cookie (see picture).


7/6 - Lyle, Sherry, Dan, and Britt Collingwood. We got a babysitter and the 4 adults went out to eat at a nice steakhouse.


7/7 - Gpa, Gma, Britt, Ethan, and Kaylin went to a Park and met Dan for a picnic lunch. Afterwards the kids played in the new splashpark. Ethan was content to use the cup and play with one stream of water.


Kaylin was the adventurous one and was soaked by the time we left.


7/8 - Sister-Brother Love :)


7/9 - Ethan and Grandpa Collingwood playing with GeoTrax Train set. Engineer Grandpa of course discovered the optimal way to set the tracks up (with Ethan's input) :)


7/10 – Relaxing

VBS 7/11-7/15

The week of July 11-15 our church held Vacation Bible School from 9am - noon. The theme was “Safari Adventure – Discover Jesus the King” We learned to “Find” the King, “Follow” the King, “Know” the King, “Believe” the King, and “Share” the King. (Basically: Jesus was born, died, and rose again to pay the debt for our sins. If we just trust in Jesus for our salvation from our sins, we will be saved. We need to share Jesus with others) Britt helped lead the opening and closing songs each day. This was Ethan’s first VBS experience… and actually his first “organized group activity” experience.


Ethan in his VBS t-shirt


Kaylin also got a VBS shirt :)


Britt lead the opening and closing songs. Ethan (who had learned the songs right along with me at home) felt led to help lead! I was actually impressed he wasn't too scared to stand on stage in front of the other 150 kids. All in all, this was a great experience for Ethan. (Even though I got pulled into also becoming a 3&4 year olds helper due to Ethan not wanting to go off without me the first day) - "We" worked on the "group" thing all week and by Thursday Ethan was able to go off to the next activity without me going right away. And I must also say that Kaylin did a wonderful job being in the Nursery most of the morning.


Bible story time. The first day Ethan said that this was his favorite and he learned about "baby Jesus". However, snack time was also mentioned every day as a favorite :)


Ethan with a few of the other 3&4 year olds during Game Time. (They were lined up ready to kick a ball)

MISC July Pics

7/16 - Ethan drew his first smiley face all by himself. I wasn't even aware he was trying until he was all done!


7/20 - Kaylin and Ethan using their watering cans form Grandma Collingwood to water our 3 flower pots out front. I had the creative idea of drilling holes in the bottom of tin pails/watering can and using them for pots. I was trying to grow wild flowers. Operative word being "trying". It got too hot and too busy to stay ahead of watering and the wild flowers died. Dan and i like to say of our outside landscaping that we are raising Kids, not grass...or flowers.... or anything really, if it is not self-sustaining on MINIMAL effort :)


7/24 - It was a windy night and Kaylin woke up scared. I put her in bed with Ethan for a few minutes and she fell back asleep. Ethan is a very good older brother... "What's the matter, Sweetie? It's OK" (pat, pat, pat) Warms a mother's heart :)


7/25 - Kaylin in her cute outfit and top ponytail


July 25 - I have a Garden!!!! This year a friend of mine asked a few other women if we wanted to go in together on a large garden at her house. We planted it mid-May. This night i took Ethan with me to pick produce. His favorite was digging up potatoes. I must say that for a 3 year old he was a diligent helper :)


View of the Garden from the other end. Zucchini on left, then Tomatoes, Green Beans, and Potatoes on far right.


1st major produce from the garden. Green Beans, Red Potatoes, Kohlrabi, and Zucchini. (This is proof I don’t kill EVERYTHING green!) J


Britt is now 6 months pregnant as of July 31st

Gpa & Gma Jordan's Visit

July 27 – August 3, 2005
Grandpa and Grandma Jordan (Britt’s Mom and step-Dad) came out for a visit


Thursday, 7/28 - Grandpa Jordan and the kids enjoying the cool of the early morning on our back patio.


Grandma Jordan with Ethan and Kaylin on our swingset out back


No explanation needed


Ethan ready to catch Kaylin :)


Mama was scrubbing potatoes with the vegetable brush. Kaylin came over and wanted to help, so I gave her the bottle brush and said "Do you want a brush to help?" Kaylin (on her tip toes on a footstool) proceeded to wet the brush and .........


....Brush her HAIR! This process of wetting the "brush" and "combing" the hair was repeated AT LEAST 5 times! .... and a little fit ensued when Mama finally called it quits :)


Ethan helping Grandpa adjust the bike seat


Thursday, July 28 - Grandma and Grandpa giving Kaylin and Ethan foot massages. Kaylin actually held still for this :)


Time for the backs!


7/31 - Ethan and Kaylin playing with Hot Wheels


7/31 - Grandma and Grandpa hanging out with the kids. Kaylin made several attempts at brushing Grandma's hair with her hairbrush!


On Friday, July 29, we rented a minivan and took a day trip up into the mountains. We had a picnic lunch and went wading in a mountain stream. Lots of fun. (And for those relatives who appreciate food... we had cold meat sandwiches, grapes, chips, fresh raw green beans, and cherry tomatoes)


Grandpa Jordan, Ethan, Dan, and Kaylin playing in the water. Dan removed a couple rocks to make a little spillway for the kids. They found it very facinating watching twigs and leaves floating down stream.


More beautiful scenery....and I mean the mountain pine trees!


8/1 - Ethan and Grandma making Zucchini Bread


Kaylin wanted to help, too. Ethan is very diligent about wiping down the mixer and winding up the cord when finished.


Caught in the act ..... Kaylin was the taste tester behind Grandma's back..... well, OK - Grandma let her taste test in FRONT of her, too :)


8/3 - Newly Decorated Living Room! Now the front room actually feels like HOME rather than just a big white room! Kevin and Mom(Penni) were very helpful with ideas and shopping for items. (It would have been impossible for me to do it by myself with 2 kids in-tow)