Our Trip to Ohio

Because Gigi (Daddy's Grandma) suddenly passed away last week, Daddy & Mommy (with my Aunt Blip Blip) drove up to Ohio for the funeral. They enjoyed seeing everyone, even though it was emotionally difficult to say good-bye to Gigi. Daddy & Mommy told me that she is in Heaven now since she asked Jesus in her heart. We had a lot of fun memories with her, and we will miss her! Here is a picture of her taken while she was visiting us in Huntersville just a few weeks ago!

Below is a picture that Daddy, Mommy, & Aunt Blip Blip took with Gramps. He is very sick with cancer, but we are praying that God gives him peace. We love him very much, too, and we are so thankful that he took such good care of Gigi/Grandma while she was here on Earth!

Then, we had a previously planned Van Wingerden family reunion in Sandusky, Ohio while Daddy & Mommy were in Ohio, so our Oma & Aunt Helen drove us to Ohio to meet Daddy & Mommy and enjoy our family reunion. We had a wonderful time. It was at the Kalahari Resort, and we had so much fun with our family. Here I am with my cousin, Stephanie (the front middle) dancing to some music while enjoying dinner. The other people up there with us are not family...just other people dining at the restaurant that evening. It was fun dancing...

...and following the motions of the "leader"...

...and doing the Limbo.

We loved the water park. There was an indoor and outdoor one. Here is Brady enjoying the fountains at the outdoor one.

I enjoyed all the slides. I was quite a dare-devil...going down all the big slides and loving it...even the ones that were in the dark...I called them the "tunnel slides."

And, since Brady isn't quite walking fully just yet, this is how he would crawl on the rough concrete. It was too funny!

Here I am with Daddy & my Aunt Helen going down the family ride. Mommy was at the bottom with Brady cheering us on. We got to ride on this innertube together, and we rode down lots of hills and curves...all in the dark until the very end. I had the best time!

And, here is the attempt of a "small" group photo. These are all the grandchildren present with their spouses and children. And, we say "small" since there were 197 Van Wingerdens at the reunion. (My Opa is one of 16 children, and they all had around an average of about 8-10 children each, who then had about 2-4 children each...and counting!)
And, here is the group picture of all the great grandchildren that were present...the oldest great granchild is my cousin, Eric, who is 16 years old (not pictured), and the youngest is 6 weeks old...with several more babies due in the next 6 months! It was a really fun reunion, and we had so much fun playing with so many kids our age!

On our 11 hour drive home, we stopped back in Columbus so that Brady & I could see Mamaw, Aunt Deb, Sara, Kaden, & Jeffrey again. Daddy & Mommy saw them while they were in Columbus earlier that week, but they wanted to see us too, so Daddy & Mommy stopped by again. I had so much fun with Mamaw (Daddy's grandma). She let me "paint" her fingernails...

...and her toenails. I did a great job!

Then, a picture of me with Mamaw.
Here is Brady Boy...just smiling away at Daddy's cousin, Sara. She was making him laugh!

One final picture of Daddy, me, Brady, & Mamaw before we headed home. It was a long drive in the car, but we are so thankful that we got to spend some fun times with both sides of the family!

Going for a swim...

I (Averie) am taking a few swim lessons this summer at my friend, Ella's, swimming pool. This is my first swimming lesson, and I had a great time. Here is our little group of swimmers.

My instructor is telling me to "blow bubbles" in the water.

I am so excited to learn how to really swim without my bubble on!

More learning...

...and floating!

As I was watching the other children learn, this is how Mommy caught me sitting. It made everyone just giggle, but this is how I see my Mommy sit, so I thought I'd try it too!

And, now it's my turn...

...and in I go...

What a fun time!

Random Days of Fun

Okay, so my Mommy has to admit that she has a small digital camera that she keeps in her purse for those moments that she forgets her regular one. It doesn't take the best pictures, but at least it captures the memories. Well, she had forgotten to download any pictures from it in at least a few months, so here are a few random moments in our lives...

Brady's first "ride" at Chuck E. Cheese. He loved it and rode it at least 5 times!

We got to go to Chuck E. Cheese while we had my cousin, Kaitlyn, at our house. She loved helping out with Brady!
Here I am sporting my "big sister" shirt on Brady's birthday, since I was happy that my little brother was having a birthday!

We had a terribly long wait at the doctor's office for his 1 year well being visit, so Brady entertained himself with the mirror ("talking" to his "friend" in the mirror)...while I colored for a long time!

I think he's saying "I am tired of waiting" in this picture!

He really wanted to color with me, and he is such a climber now...obviously!

Brady's 1 year stats are written down somewhere, but they are MIA right now, but he weighs approximately 26 pounds & is 32 inches long (at least)!

One day, Brady & I got to join our cousin, McKinly, for story time at the library. This was Brady's first time going, and he had fun. He loves music and bubbles right now, so this was perfect for him.

Of course, I like bubbles myself also...

Here are McKinly & Brady chilling out together.

Brady was very entertained by the books in the bucket...

...and looking up at Mommy.

Library time...and time with McKinly...was a lot of fun. We hope to get back again soon!

Happy 4th of July Fun!

Hi Everyone ~ Happy 4th of July (a few days late!). We had such a great weekend, and we wanted to share the pictures with you. Enjoy!

To celebrate the 4th of July, we spent the day with our really good friends, the Mumpowers. That morning, we met up at Birkdale for the grown-ups to get some coffee at Starbucks. Then, we walked around and enjoyed the festivities...the crafts, the food, the games, & the parade. It was a beautiful day, and we had so much fun! Here I am with my sister, Averie!

She enjoyed making a patriotic necklace...and then a bracelet for Mommy!

Then, we each got to get spray on tattoos...Averie enjoyed it...

I just watched the lady VERY closely...with a little fear in my eyes! :)

Waving our flags...Brock, Macie, Me, & Averie

Even the dogs came dressed up for the day!

Daddy & Averie got to look through a fire medic truck. They had fun doing that!

Then, I got to play with a basketball while Daddy & Averie got to shoot them in the basketball hoop!

She almost made a basket!

After the parade, we walked back to our cars. Here are Averie & Brock. They love to hold hands and walk together. They are good buddies!

Brock & Averie

Then, it was time to go to Opa & Oma's for an afternoon of swimming & grilling out. Daddy grilled out yummy burgers and hot dogs. We had a great time swimming and playing! Here is Brock jumping off the waterfall...

...and then it was Averie's turn. Oh, notice anything different about Averie? She's not wearing her bubble.

Yes, she got to swim without her bubble on for a lot of the day. She is doing great with her swimming...and she is very proud of herself!

Swimming to Daddy!

And, then there's me...exploring around the pool!

Our Family
And, the Mumpowers.

Technically, this picture should have rewarded Mommy with $100. Mrs. Deirdre said that she would give anyone $100 to get a family picture of them with everyone looking at the camera. Here it is. And, actually, this was Mommy's 2nd successful family picture of the day, so she should be receiving her $200 in the mail soon! :)

Opa stopped by & enjoyed a burger with us. Averie was the most excited...she loves her Opa!

Then, after I went down for a long afternoon nap, Averie enjoyed more swimming in the pool...mostly without her bubble. She was so excited that she would smile while swimming :)

And, she goes underwater too. What a big summer for Averie!

Hope you had a happy 4th of July. (Oh, Daddy & Mommy enjoyed a nice dinner with Mr. Adam & Mrs. Deirdre that night while we got to party with Poppy & Nana. Sure was a great day for all of us!) :) :)