All four of us packed our bags and flew to MI on July 15.  Tim stayed for one week where as the kiddos and I stayed for two weeks.  For the first weekend Aunt Deb (who is pregnant with a boy due in Dec!) was also in town, and we all went to our cousin Mary's weddiing.  Overall, the trip was a nice combination of visiting, "site-seeing," and just relaxing. 

While is K'zoo, we spent a lot of time getting together with friends and family, and just hanging out at Mema's house palying and doing "art projects.".  Here are some cute shots of some of these visits.  One of Lizzy;s favoriate activities was getting together with (Great)Aunt Miney and Cal and their family.  Lizzy especially loved playing with my cousin's 10 year old daughter Taya - too bad they were so busy swimming and playing that I never got a picture!  

Mema and Lizzy did many art projects together.  Here they are filling small plastic bottles with colored sand.  At first they were making quite a mess, but then Lizzy suggested that we pour everything over a bowl to catch the extra sand.  Mommy and Mema wondered why we did not think of that???

Sammy did not want to participate.  Instead he crawled and around looking for trouble. 
In other words, I did not get to do too many art projects, instead I just chased him around the house!

Sammy found the tupperward jackpot!  Since this was "safe" trouble, I let him play and rested for a while!

Lizzy and Sammy hang out in the "fort" Lizzy built in Mema's living room. 
This is an activity her scond-cousin Taya taught her, that is now her favorte thing to do!

Picnic at the park with the flokstra side of the family.  Here Liz and Sam are actaully resting!

Sammy and second-cousin Cannon at less than a month apart. 

Vroom, vroom!

Sam seems to ask, "So where should this load go?"  Grandpa Schering wouldl have been so proud! 

Lizzy and Ana (my friend Amy's daughter) really enjoyed playing pretend together.  Here Lizzy wasa princess (no surprise there!) and Ana was a zebra.  Are they fighting over Nemo?  I am really confused about which Disney movie this is supposed to be!

We had a nice dinner with (Great)uncle Ed, aunt Lisa, cousins Syliva and Ted.  After ward we hung out in the yard - here (great)aunt Lisa poses with the kiddos.  This is for you Lisa since you said you are always behind and not infront of the camera!  :)

The six of us (the fam + Aunt "Dub" + Mema) met up with Deb's best friend Maria's family at the gorgeous Meijer Gargen in Grand Rapids, MI.  In addition to the grounds there also were some great children playgrounds. 

Deb and my cousin Mary married Charles on Friday July 16.  The bride, the wedding, and the reception were beautiful.  Here is a picture of the happy newlymeds along with the Schering cousins who were there. 

The Kalamazoo Air Zoo is a museum of NASA memorabilia, old air craft and other related items.  The Air Zoo also contains about 8 different rides and simulations - two of which were suitable for Lizzy..  

Lizzy in the play area at the Kalamazoo Air Zoo.

Sammy crawling around in the play area at the Kalamazoo Air Zoo.

Only a few miles from Mema's house is the Gilmore Car Museum, a 90-acre park displaying over 200 antique, classic, and collector cars displayed in olds barns.  The park also contains an old gas station and a 5 & Diner. 

On Tim's last full day in MI Mema had to go into work and  Deb had already left, so the four of us were all by ourselves.  We packed up the fam and spent the morning at a nice zoo in Battle Creek, MI.  The zoo is set in a woods, and the huge trees are everywhere.  A highlight of the visit was feeding the girraffes - all four of us took a turn!

Lizzy and Daddy petting "lazy goat."

Sammy pointing to one of the very active prarie dogs. 

Sitting on the zoo train. 

Sam chillin' in the stroller.

Mema and  Tim share a birthday.  Although I am not allowed to give their ages I can say that this year the digits in their ages are inverted.  We celebrated Tim's birthday in Arizona -  Lizzy and I made him a card and cake.  We celbebrated Mem'as birthday a few days later in MI when the whole family flew up for a vacation in cooler weather. 

While taking a few pictures of Sammy(currently 9 months old) at the libray I had an odd feeling of deja vu - it felt like I had taken the same picture before.  Sure enough, I went back though my June 2007 photos and found a few very similar pictures of Lizzy taken when she was ten months old.  Check-out those chubby little legs - on both of them!

Yesterday I took both kids to the library.  The kids's book area contains puppets and many other toys.  Both kids had a great time checking out all the fun stuff while and staying cool! 

Grandma Sharon decided to brave the heat and visit us.  There were a couple days of heat adivsories (highs of over 110 degrees) so we tended to stay home during the middle of the day and just go out in the evening.  However, we did get out a few times , the highlights being a trip to the new aquarium and the play area at the mall.  On the 4th, we had a nice time celebrating our country's Independance Day at home where we grilled and watched the fireworks from our balcony. We also had an early birthday celebration for Tim.  Both kids had fun helping daddy open his presents.   

Olivia, Isabella, Sopia, Alexis & Elizabeth
aka
Livvy, Isa, Sophie, Lexi, & Lizzy

Lizzy sticking the tail on the My Little Pony. 

Lizzy wearing her "blindfold" for the sticking the tail on the My Little Pony game.

Isa and her mom Courtney blowing out the candles on the pink-glazed donut.

Lizzy was excited to eat the pink donut on the My Little Pony plate.

Lizzy and Sophie took their little brothers Samuel and Nicholas to the party.  However Sammy at 9 months and Nicki at 11 months were more interested in crawling around than the games!

Lizzy likes to stay very active, often tiring out her parents long before she wears out!  Some of the things she enjoys are playing on the swing set, playing board games, working on art projects, swimming, and dancing.  Here is a picture of Lizzy in our small wading pool (above) and Lizzy showing off her "dance moves" (below).