Lake fun with old and new friends!

Susan and Lindsay on the tube.

Susan, Sergi, and Lindsay

The students from Barcelona (and Isaac!)

Isaac and his Spanish girls

Yesterday we had a fabulous day on the lake with a big group of old and new friends! My good friend Susan and her husband Sergi live in Barcelona; they are in town doing an American camp for 5 students from Barcelona. During the last few weeks they have toured Texas and the Houston area doing all kinds of fun things, as well as doing an English class everyday. What an amazing opportunity for these students! These boys and girls were all so fun to be around, they range in age from 14-16 and are some of the most polite and respectful teenagers I have been around! I had a lot of fun getting to know them and hanging out with them. Yesterday was our day to take part in the fun; we had them all out to play on the lake in the neighborhood. We hung out on the beach, taught everyone how to ski or wakeboard, and of course had some crazy times on the tube. After all the fun we came back here for some good ole American burgers, yum! Thanks Eric and Carl for making such wonderful food! It was so great to be back together with my girls Susan and Lindsay...I know Lindsay and I will really miss Susan, we always enjoy our time together. The good news for me and Carl is that we will get to see Susan and Sergi again soon, we are going to visit them in Barcelona at the end of August! I can't wait!!!

Lightning Strike

We were visited by the lightning fairy last night. We think he came in through our invisible fence, hhhmmm, looks suspicious, huh? It blew up and flew off of the wall a few feet...crazy!

Luckily there was no major damage, such as a fire, but we do have some serious rewiring to do. It fried quite a few of the breakers and some wiring in the walls, there is an electrician coming out today, hopefully it gets fixed soon. Until then we have electricity to about half of the house, luckily we have AC!

By the way, don't use a plugged in laptop during an electrical storm...I was using mine and it shocked me when the lightning hit! Ouch! Thank goodness it was just scary, not harmful to me.

We definitely have a new respect for electrical storms!

The things that make Isaac happy!

Wearing our cousin, Andrew's Marine hat.

Sitting in his dump truck after he climbed into it all by himself.

Driving the boat with daddy.

While playing with Isaac today I started to think about all of the things that make him happy. I decided to make a list so I will always remember those things...so why not share that list with y'all.

• toy truck/cars...oh how he loves to push them around the house, saying bbbbrrrrr the whole time! To go with that, he also likes to climb into his dump truck. I caught that on video last week, it was too funny (I will upload it tonight, so check the next post for that)! Check it out if you have a minute, it will definitely make you laugh.
• bringing people their shoes...if you leave your shoes sitting around he will surely bring them to you and try to put them on your feet. He even does this while I'm in my bathroom getting ready, and before I know it I have 5 shoes at my feet, sometimes he even brings me a complete pair.
• big trucks on the road...he yells as loud as he can, "Da, da!" until I acknowledge the truck on the road, then he watches it as it passes by, I love it!
• outside...he LOVES to be outside! He stands at the back door yelling his version of out, and he continues to get louder if you ignore him. I hate that it's so hot right now because I feel so bad not letting him go outside every time he wants to.
• riding in his toy car...he does this outside and it is the first thing he wants to do every time we go out. He steers the wheel and even shifts gears. :)
• driving the boat...yes the real boat, he absolutely cannot get enough of driving the boat. Last weekend he even drove the boat for a wakeboarder, he'll be pulling me around the lake before I know it!
• climbing the stairs...we have had to block off the stairs at the bottom now because he constantly wants to climb them. He can go up just fine, but coming down is difficult.
• doors...open, close, open, close. He has had a fascination for doors since he was about 9 months old, and he can play with a door for a looong time!
• dancing...my boys loves to cut a rug! As soon as he hears music he starts to bounce up and down.
• clapping his hands...especially when we sing his favorite Dutch song!
• bath time
• hats...hat was his first real word, and he still enjoys playing with them and is sure to yell out "hat" every time he sees one.

My boy is growing so fast; I can't even believe it! We have so much fun; I absolutely love to watch him learn and discover new things. It's amazing how a baby develops and grows from a tiny little bundle to a rambunctious little guy!

Granny Grace

On Monday, July 6, 2009 our Grandma went to be with the Lord. She was an amazing woman... always smiling, extrememly loving, and generous. She always lived up to her name, Grace, for she was a true example of God's grace. We will miss her dearly, but take comfort in knowing that she is with her Savior, Jesus Christ.

Brunch

Sunday, July 5 - Brunch at Brady's Landing...yum!

My family from The Netherlands will start leaving this week, so Sunday we took some time to go to brunch as a family. Oh and it was so yummy! Isaac tried some new food...waffles with syrup, pineapple, and eggs (for the third time, but he actually liked them this time). Colton shared his waffle with him, thanks Colton, it was his favorite!

Since we don't get to see my aunts and uncles often, well hardly ever, it was quite a treat to have them in town and to get to spend so much time with them. Isaac has really taken to all of them and had a great time playing with them over the last couple of weeks. If you have never been to Brady's Landing in Houston, you must go! It is a beautiful restaruant on the ship channel, that serves the best brunch (buffet of course). If you get a table by the window you can watch the barges cruise by the restaurant, which of course the kids really enjoy!

4th of July

4th of July Fireworks...thanks Jones Family!

Isaac trying hard to get out of that gator, fast!

Tanner pulling Isaac around in the wagon, what a great friend!

Off to the Jones' 4th of July party!

Playing at "the beach" at the lake in the neighborhood.

This car is his favorite outside toy!

4th of July

We had a blast on the fourth of July! We spent the afternoon at our neighborhood lake with some of our neighbors, it was a blast! Isaac did not like the sand at first, but after some time he decided it was okay and had a great time playing. We brought along his bucket, so he was putting sand and his duck in it...so fun! We also did some wakeboarding and skiing, which is always fun! Isaac went on the boat with us and of course just wanted to drive. It was our friend's boat, but luckily Wayne is a fan of Isaac, so Isaac got to drive! He thought he was the king sitting on Wayne's lap, steering the boat, reaching for the throttle, all while pulling a wakeboarder!

After a nap we headed over to the Jones' (our neighbor's house) for a big party! We had a great time visiting with friends, and watching Isaac play with some new friends. He loved their wagon and the gator...although he wasn't fond of the girl driver. Carl warned him, but he didn't listen. ;) We headed home before the fireworks started because we needed to get Isaac in bed and we thought he might be scared. They started as soon as we got to the driveway and Isaac loved them! He was yelling at them and pointing, so cute! It's hard to get good pictures of fireworks, but I tried because the Jones' had some awesome fireworks, we always enjoy the show!

Lake Conroe

Friday, July 3

We spent the day on Lake Conroe with my dad, 3 Uncles, and our friend Ellie (all from Holland). It was a great day to be out, and luckily not near as crowded as we expected. We cruised around the lake, and then anchored for a swim in a quiet cove. The water was pretty rough, so we didn't do any wakeboarding or skiing, but we had fun just being out! We had lunch at Papas on the lake...what fun!

Thanks y'all for coming to Houston for the visit and for sharing this day with us on the lake, we really enjoyed it!