Fair Fun

This year at the Ottawa County Fair, Brighton was big enough to ride the rides. Yahoo! We did also check out the animals and the dirt bike racing on Tuesday night, but the rides definitely were the highlight for Brighton. What a fun night!

Babysitting and Baptism

Brighton and I are bi-weekly babysitting our favorite little guy (well, he's not that little) Urban James. This picture demonstrates how he feels when he comes to our house. I really think he loves it, but he also doesn't know what hit him. Brighton loves him to pieces, and I really think Urban is beginning to notice when Brighton all of sudden isn't around. Oh, and we are very good babysitters, but our services are not available for hire. This is just plenty for us. Plus, I'm potty training Brighton this week, so things are beyond busy.

While on the subject of Urban, he was baptized at Faith Reformed Church in Zeeland on Sunday. We attended a really nice service that in celebrated Urban, and we continued the celebration with a family lunch following the service. God Bless Urban!

Let's Go to the Movies

Do you know that song from Annie? Let's go to the movies...let's go see the stars...
We love Annie over here and coincidentally we went to the movies last night.

It was a first for our Brighton. We went to see Cars 2. We love Lightning McQueen, tow truck Mater, and all of their friends. We have the toys. We frequently watch the first movie. It was an obvious choice for us to go as a family and for it to be Brighton's first movie.

But hello, when did the movie experience get so expensive? We told Brighton that we could get popcorn, but that was before I realized how expensive it was. Yikes! It cost just about as much for the popcorn and drink as it did for our tickets. Oh well, good thing we don't go to that many movies. Jon and I can't remember the last time we went. I would say we'll remember this one though.

Armed and Dangerous

We've been talking about it for quite some time. The dentist brought it up to Brighton last week too. So finally after lots of convincing, Brighton decided he could let the last one he had go. This week, he cut up his "pipey" with my help, and then we headed to Meijer for the prizes. Brighton is now armed and dangerous. We found and bought both a Nerf Gun and a squirt gun for him. We of course had to buy the same for his dad.
And yes, after hours of playing with the guns outside, that first night it was a little rough for Bright. It took him over an hour to settle down. It probably was a combination of both excitement and loss. He had that Nerf Gun right in bed with him shooting darts at the ceiling. Oh well, better that than the pipe.

Brighton has asked about his pipe a few times since, and I remind him that they're all gone and he has his guns instead. Yesterday, he sighed, pouted, and said, " Oh no, what am I going to do?"

I'm just thrilled we're done. Now all we have to do is get potty trained.

My Annual Shopping Trip

Every year with some of the ladies in my family, we head to the Nordstrom Anniversary Sale. I've wrote about it here before, and before that too. I of course look forward to the getaway every year. Good deals, good times, and good company. This year was no different. We spent the weekend in Chicago, and we did much more than shopping this time. We always have a few fabulous meals. We always go back to our favorite spot Quartino, and this year we tried Bandera; it's conveniently right across the street from Nordstrom. We also saw the musical Beauty and the Beast. That show was fabulous!

It was a gorgeous weekend so we decided to do something touristy that we had never done before. We took a boat ride down the river and out into Lake Michigan. I've been to Chicago countless times, but I've never done that before - very fun.

Clean Teeth

You may recall that the first time Brighton went to the dentist, it didn't go very well. I even took pictures of the appointment and wrote about it at "Doesn't Do the Dentist."

I am pleased to report that we tried the dentist again, and it went very well. Yahoo! I was worried. He is still talking about his time there and the super cool toothbrush they gave him.

July 4th Weekend

We've been so busy having other fun, it had been several weeks since we made a trip to the Raterink Cottage. We spent an extended weekend there over the fourth of July, and it was so good to be back there and experience the fun, family, and sunshine.

Cottagin' it with the Walcotts

Jon's parents rented a cottage on Hutchins Lake (Fennville, Michigan) right after we got back from Disney World. The weather did leave a little bit to be desired, but that didn't slow us down.

Walcotts hit WDW

We hit Walt Disney World on a family vacation as soon as school got out. What an absolute blast! It was such a huge joy to experience the magic of Disney World through the eyes of a child. Admittedly, it even choked me up at times (but I wasn't the only one). There is no other place like it. We love WDW!