Ellie and Nate

Ellie relaxing just inside the door after getting home from church.


Nate enjoying some nose-to-nose time with Stormy.

Nature

We saw four deer on the way to the camp site. Here are two of them.


The view from the end of our camp site.


A rock, a log, and a flower.


A leaning tree.


Double rainbows on the way home from Flagstaff. At one point we could see two full arcs across the sky.

Camping wears us out

We didn't even get across Flagstaff before Ellie fell asleep. Nate was pretending to sleep and soon he was asleep too.

Camping in Flagstaff

This was a great pile of rocks to climb on.


Ellie and Nate enjoying the hammock together. Every time Ellie went to get out of the hammock the buttons on her pants would get stuck and it would pull her pants down and then she would blame Nate for it.


Playing Little People when it started to sprinkle. Luckily we had a large canopy that we could all fit under.


This is one of Nate's cleaner moments. I did not get a picture of him after he dumped dirt all over himself from head to toe so that he would look rusty like Mater from the Cars movie.


Some of the best smiles are when they think no one is looking. Look at the reflection in the truck window of Nate, Katje, and Ben. (Jim, Katje, and Ben Walhof came to visit Friday afternoon.)


The girls searching for treasures. Katje found a small shell that smelled like perfume.


Having a grand time in the back of Steenstra's truck. On the left: the pirate ship is sailing and as you can tell it was a noisy ship. On the right: Ellie and Kaley investigating what is over the side.


Ben and Nate relaxing by the fire after a hard day of play.


Ellie and Nate both liked telling Maverik stories.


Ellie fell asleep in the carrier on our walk (which was the purpose of the walk) and she seemed fairly comfortable so we left her in the carrier. She slept for about an hour that way.


Sunday morning Ellie is bright and cheerful at 7:30. Who knew that this innocent looking face had unpacked all of Mommy's suitcase and went and played on Nate's bed (while Nate was sleeping) while she was supposed to be going to sleep the night before. In this case quiet was not a good thing. When asked why she was on Nate's bed she said, "he's soft and I want to watch him sleep."


Nate and Kaley figured out that they could both fit in the same chair.


Heading out. So long camp site, it was fun!

Organ Stop Pizza

Since we were all sick on Father's Day, we celebrated 3 weeks late with Opa at Organ Stop Pizza. The kids love it!!

Petsmart grand opening

We went to the grand opening at the Petsmart near our house. We got some free frisbees, cat toys, a t-shirt, balloon animals, and face painting.


Ellie had a kitty painted on her arm complete with sparkles. Unfortunately, she would not sit still so the picture is blurry. She was very protective of her kitty and was sad when she washed away in the bathtub. Nate refused to have someone paint on him.


In the center is a turtle and the other two are ladybugs. The kids could wear them on their wrists. Ellie also got a balloon flower.

Nate helping out Oma and Opa

Nate was helping Oma quilt after he was done with bug school for the day.


Nate decided that all of the plastic containers needed to be cleaned out of the bottom of Oma and Opa's pantry. It was then a game to throw them into the box at the end of the kitchen.

July 9-At the park with Oma and Opa

July 11-Last Day of Bug School

Last day of bug school pictures (courtesy of Opa). They learned about butterflies, including how their tongues work, had a bug feast, broke a pinata, and had a puppet show featuring the itsy-bitsy spider (Nate got to sing the song with motions while wearing antennas).


Nate enjoying his bug feast which included many types of food that were supposed to look like some sort of bug. Nate brought gummy bears that they pretended were caterpillars or whatever bug they decided.


Nate enjoying some time with the bucket of bugs. (He is now completely fascinated by bugs and insists on stopping and watching every bug we see.)


Nate waiting in line for his turn with the pinata. (His friend Ashton is to the left of him.)


Nate riding in Opa's car which he thoroughly enjoyed.


Nate's home with all of his treasures. (Including a ladybug bank he painted, a marshmallow model of a bug, a real spider in the white box that he caught at Oma and Opa's house, a glitter spider web, a butterfly he painted, and a butterfly tongue noisemaker. He also made a nametag necklace that you can see in the second picture.)

July 10-Bug School Day 4

Today Nate learned about spiders and that they have eight legs. They took a hike. Nate didn't catch any bugs but one kid caught a grasshopper and another caught a brown and white butterfly. Opa and Nate went to the store to get some gummy things for tomorrow's bug feast.

Nate told Opa, on the way back from bug school, that he needed to stay in Flagstaff because it is too hot in Scottsdale. Although he said you can go swimming when it gets hot in Scottsdale.

This afternoon they did Nate's new look and find Cars book, played bowling with bottles and a softball in the hallway, and went for a walk before dinner.

July 9-Ellie

Ellie enjoying reading a book in Nate's room. She is reading the book Dinosaur Roar. The last picture shows her roar as an Elliesaur.

July 9-Bug School Day 3

Nate got to ride the "Jeepers Creepers" bus today to the museum. He said it looked like a school bus. They got to hike by the little canyon by the museum. They learned about good bugs and bad bugs. Opa was told that Nate made his teacher's day because he gave her a hug and kiss yesterday. Today Nate said he hugged and kissed a tree. The first day Nate told his teachers that they smelled good which they all appreciated.

After bug school they had a tea party, went to the park that he begged to go to on Saturday, went to the library, went to Kohl's, and went to Bashas to get ice cream.

July 8

The report from bug school is that they got to feed grasshoppers to the chickens, ducks, and pigs (?). Nate made a ladybug name tag that they colored on Monday and then shrank it. They made bead necklaces for the name tag to hang on. They took a hike to the garden where Nate said he wasn't very good because he stepped on some plants but that he didn't know the rules. He learned the song and actions for "Itsy-Bitsy Spider."

In the afternoon Nate had a tea party with Kool-Aid and Ritz bits with Oma and Opa and they played Mouse Trap. After supper they took a walk.

Ellie had a playdate with Kaley. We went swimming, out to eat, and to the mall. She was one tired girl.

July 7-Ellie at Work

Ellie is practicing her computer skills. She told us she wanted to push buttons so we let her sit up there and push buttons without the computer on.

July 7-Time for Bug School!!

Nate posing with his backpack as he prepares to head off to bug school. He was so excited that it was finally July and time for bug school at the museum where Opa works. He had lots of fun his first day and told us they get to feed bugs to the chickens tomorrow (he was very excited about that). They also took a hike and learned the parts of bugs.

July 6-Fun with Friends

Jim and Liz Walhof were in Flagstaff the same time we were and all of the kids got along great after Church so we got together for a playdate.


Ben and Nate were best buddies. They played great together as they had the same ideas about how to play.


Katje and Ellie hanging out in the chair together. Ellie is wearing some of Katje's clothes because they were playing dress up. They had a great time playing together despite 4 years difference in age.


The whole gang! (from left to right) Corin, Nate, Katje, Ellie, and Ben.


Corin smiling for the camera.


They were all very focused on a movie. It was very quiet at this point which it had not been all night. It was all happy noise!


Ben and Nate watching the movie together.