I am a People Watcher

People fascinate me.

I love seeing the various outfits people put together, or how they interact with each other. Sometimes at a theme park, I like to just plop down on a bench and watch people stroll by. It's weird, I know.

The Applebee's I worked at in Redlands shared the parking lot with Walmart. Often, when I was finished with my shift, I would head over to pick up some toiletry we were in need of, and in the process I would people watch.

I stumbled across this site which brings me back to the good old days of people watching at Walmart.

A few of my favorites:

There really is no place to go but up from playing a gig at Walmart, right?

I wonder how long it took her to grow her hair this long?

The sign obviously did not mean No Soliciting Dogs, right?

In all seriousness, my brother actually owned this Sylvester hat growing up. And I wanted one. No lie.

You gotta really love Michael Jackson to get this tattoo.

and my personal favorite. No shorts, no sarong....just a bathing suit as her attire for shopping in Walmart.

What a weekend!

Amber and Justin's wedding was this past Friday. There are already ten million pictures on facebook, so I won't rehash them here:-) Just a few to recap the details...

They got married at Princeton Church. I would describe it as quaint. A large crystal chandelier hangs above the center aisle, with stained glass windows surrounding the sanctuary. Wooden beams give it the appearance of a much older church. Absolutely stunning.

Rehearsal was Thursday, and I started feeling like I was coming down with the flu. I took a bunch of medicine and went to bed around 10pm to try and ward off illness. Friday morning, the full-fledged flu hit. It was so unfortunate to wake up the morning of my brother's wedding and feel so sick.

Thankfully, around 2pm, I started feeling better. Praise God! Who would have wanted to miss this special day?

These are two of my favorite pictures of Amber and Justin.

Amber and I had talked about it before, "Whatever happens with the kids, happens." You never know how kids are going to do, and there is no pushing a two year-old down the aisle if he does not want to go.

There is one thing Brycer loves more than life itself, and that is his pacifier. Lately, he only gets it at bedtime.

I admit, I bribed him. He stood at the end of the aisle looking at me, and I dangled that pacifier. I have never seen that kid come so quick. A huge smile on his face, he was grabbing for the pacifier before he even got to the end of the pews.

My in-laws were such a huge help. Not only did they do all the flowers (for free), they also did the music AND watched my kids. The flowers were gorgeous, and they went so far beyond what I could have imagined. So perfect.

I realized, all over again, how much I love Josh. From supporting me through my illness and caring for me all day, to taking the kids countless times (without complaining) over the past year while helping Amber plan this, I know Josh is the best there is.

I think back on my own wedding day, and realize it was the day I loved him the least. I am so glad our love has grown over the past ten years, and can say I love him so much more now than on our own wedding day.

One of the best surprises of the day is Justin's wedding ring. When my Grandpa Vander Ploeg died, he left this ring to my dad. My dad then left it to Nathan.

Anyone that knows our family knows how special my Grandpa is to all of us. It was a touching and tender moment when Amber put the ring on Justin and he realized it was my Grandpa's ring--I am so glad I had a front row seat to see his reaction. What a sacrifice, Nate, to give up such a special memento to make your brother happy.

Supportive and selfless. That is how I would describe these two. We are blessed to have parents that love us more than themselves. What a great example of love we have to look at. Not only do they love us kids, they love each other still after 34 years.

They paid for all of our attire, the bachelor party, food, shoes for the kids, my hair and make-up, donuts, suspenders, plane tickets, the list seriously goes on and on....my mom and dad saved us a ton of money because they cared so much about it not being a burden for us financially. They went above and beyond to make this wedding day special for Amber and Justin and also our family.

To have the example of selfless love, set by my parents, is a gift in itself.

My other brother, Nate, rented this sweet limo. We did not know how long we would have in it, depending on time. We rode through downtown GR, and it was a blast having a few minutes alone with the bride and groom (and bridal party) before the reception. Kayden and Bryce loved the ride.

During the reception, I was asked to give a speech, so I will share those sentiments here as well. I am thrilled that my brother has found someone that I can call my sister. I love Amber and am so glad she is a part of the VanderPloeg family!

Make Way For

Ducklings.

There is a pond, not so far away, in which we take bread to feed Jack, Kack, Lack, Mack, Nack, Ouack, Pack, and Quack.

In case you have no idea what I am talking about, Kayden's favorite bedtime story is Make Way For Ducklings, a book about mallard ducks and their journey to making a home in the Boston Public Garden.

My hunch is that Kayden chooses that book nightly because it is SO long.

This afternoon was overcast, so we decided to visit "our ducklings".

Whose ready to feed the ducks?

His favorite thing is throwing the bread as far as he can, and watching all the ducks chase after it.

Reminds me of t-ball, come to think of it.

Bryce's favorite is trying to throw it direct into a duck's mouth.

OR throwing 10 pieces in the air, and watching all the ducklings scramble.

Mom's favorite are the two ducks with broken beaks. I pay special attention to them, and make sure they get extra bread.

Half Way?

Summer is rolling by.

My list of half written, abandoned blog posts serve as proof that I cannot complete a coherent thought these days.

Someday I will finish those posts, but in the meantime I wanted to catch up on a few things happening around here.

The pipe still makes it's way out of retirement when tired. We are working hard to break this habit, but OH, it is a tough one!

My brother played in the state's largest softball tournament last weekend. Kayden was invited to shag balls during the home run contest.

He thought he was pretty big stuff out there.

After about five of the thirty-three hitters, he decided that was enough running.

In all fairness, it was SO HOT out!

After the tournament, we went to the hotel where the team was staying. Bryce was pretty over it at this point:-)

Twinners

Another new development this summer is t-ball for Kayden. There are three things I love about this 'learning stage' of organized sports:

1) Upon being hit, the ENTIRE team goes after the ball. It can roll into the outfield, and the entire field clears to chase after the ball.

2) When base runners hop off the base to chase after the ball.

3) Watching the kids run the bases. Sometimes they run straight from first to third, sometimes they never even make it home. One boy last night was on first, and then all the sudden he was in the bathroom.

It has been great fun watching Kayden trying his hand at this sport. So far, he has loved it.

For one little kid, he has quite the fan section:-)

See Dale

See Dale cross creek

See Dale walk up banks

See Dale walk down tree log

See Dale tease, and joke that he is falling off log

Funny, Dale.

See Dale walk down the rest of the log

See Dale check out stability of last log

See Dale fall.

Well worth lugging my camera 15 miles.

Even in Gatlinburg...

there isn't a vacation from fighting.

We arrived three days ago, to the warmest weather I have been in a while. 90-95 degrees during the day is the norm. The pool has been our constant companion.

Things I have already learned in TN:

• Dentist visits are not mandatory. Lots of missing teeth in these parts.
• A ginormous confederate flag tattoo is pretty popular, as evidenced by the bareback men walking down the street.
• It is possible for me to take a week off. Most vacations I take are "working vacations", and this week I have really tried to stay away from e-mail. It has been nice!
• Bedtime for the Van Clan is 10 pm- crazy, huh?
• There is so much to do here. If you have never been to Gatlinburg, I would highly recommend it. We have mined for gems, riden go-carts on three story tracks, taken the trolley around town, slid down the side of the mountain on the dry luge.
• We have planned: Ripley's aquarium, more mini-golf, horseback riding, black bear viewing, hiking, and a few dinner- shows.
• Josh and my dad have a great relationship, and I cherish that.

All in all, we are having a great time!

We love Herman Miller

Why? Because they give my dad a job.

Also, the Herman Miller Picnic.

Having fun racing cars

Amber taking Bryce through the bounce mazes.

Taking in all the activity

I love this one- they look so little!

In the fire truck

Verdict? Neither of them like snakes.

But they both love horses. This was far and away Brycer's favorite.

Thanks for taking us to the picnic!

Now it is time for a nap:-)