John Ball Park Zoo

Yay!!! This time we actually made it into the Zoo. Nicolynn and I went with Grandma, Aunt Sarah, Zachary and Baby Levi. Nicolynn really enjoyed herself, and so did I. After labor day we could get in for $5 and Nicolynn is free because she is a baby yet!!! Yay! Another plus. They did have some of the animals put away for the season, but there were plenty left to look at. We saw lions, mountain lions, different birds like eagles, crows and flamingos, many different monkeys, farm animals, penguins, and owls. (There were more animals than I just listed, but those were at the top of my head right now.)

Helping Aunt Sarah push the stroller...

Nicolynn wants to touch all the animals, and Zachary wants to look at them all from a distance. :) Levi did very well. He only cried a little and he's only a month old. (Oh and Grandma and Aunt Sarah did well too.) :) We all had fun.

Dancing girl

DeGraaf Nature Center

We went to DeGraaf Nature Center this summer, and I was pleasantly surprised  with the place. It was a great little outing for Nicolynn's age. We went on a rainy day so we didn't stay to walk the trails much. But we were in the nature center for a while. They had rabbits that Nicolynn could play with. She was able to touch some turtles, play in some sand, and Nicolynn saw a real owl. The owl blinked a lot, so Nicolynn whenever we asked her to say 'owl'.

we visited a park afterward

We never saw it coming...

Ok, so the other day I tried to get some cute stuff on video, and it started out so good.
Then it went south from there...

When I replayed this in front of Nicolynn, it made her cry again :(

Oh, and I added some pictures of her "jumping" :)

And no... she does not leave the ground, even in real life.

Hudsonville Fair

 We always love an outing that involves animals!!! This time we went to the fair with my mom, Kelli, and the Borst girls. We had such a good time we decided to make Daddy come with us in the evening.

Nicolynn found a little cubby to hang out in...

Best friends already???

We HAVE TO touch the pigs ear!!!

Timmerman's House

We went to Uncle Mitch and Aunt Sarah's house for Grandma H's birthday party. We had a good time playing in the back yard with the kiddos.

The Zoo... well almost.

Well, one Tuesday night I didn't have hair clients, so Josh and I were going to take Nicolynn to the Zoo. Once we got there, we found out it was closed. FAIL. Previously we did look up their hours for Tuesday's, but apparently every Tuesday is not the same. I felt pretty bad because I told Nicolynn she was going to get to see monkeys. So instead of the monkeys we ended up going to a play ground nearby. As we were walking, Nicolynn pointed at something in the distance and started doing her monkey sound. I'm not sure if what she saw was human, or if it was a dog or squirrel. But I guess in her eyes, she was able to see a monkey. :)

Gentex Picnic

Gentex picnic almost got rained out, but we were able to enjoy ourselves. We went to the 5/3rd Ball Park, and were able to take over AJ's fun park also. So first we did the batting cages and bumper boats. Then when we got inside AJ's we found out we could have as many tokens as we wanted. So we played some arcade games (which just ended up being Nicolynn putting the coins in the slots for fun).
At the ball park, the parking lot was full of different carnival games. Most of them Nicolynn couldn't enjoy. So we headed in the park where we could pretty much eat as much as we wanted, free hotdogs and hamburgers, popcorn and pop.
They even had the Mega80's band come out on the field to play. (Nicolynn danced on the field to the music) And then they had fireworks. This was the first time Nicolynn saw fireworks. We got rained on on the way out, but it was a fun night.

The Big Sand Dune

Earlier this August we went to the beach again! This "dune" is only about 6 feet high, but it looks a lot bigger with Nicolynn on it.

Emerson Lake

Nicolynn and Daddy on the dock!

We played with fish!!

Boat Ride!!!

We played with a toad!!!

Loves "My Little Pony"

We even took the paddle boat in the water.

EMERSON LAKE!!!!
Once again we visited my parents at Emerson Lake in late July/early Aug. We stayed for 2 nights, and thankfully Nicolynn did very well sleeping through the night.
During the day we played on the beach, went swimming, went for boat rides, went for paddle boat rides, tried to fish a little bit and just had a good time!!!

Ottawa County Fare

"Is he allowed to do that mommy?"

So yesterday Nicolynn and I went to the fare with Cousin Zach and Aunt Sarah.

This is the first time Nicolynn got to see all the live animals that she has been reading about.

She loved it. Zach wasn't so sure about them though.

May I touch him please...

Nicolynn wanted to let them all "lick her hand" but I didn't trust most of them.

They are animals you know.

So I would take her hand, wrap mine around it, and maybe let part of the animal graze her hand a little bit. :)

I did let her touch a pigs ear, sheep wool, and a bunny's fur.

But I want her to keep all her fingers.

Can I touch this one? It's just a kangaroo...

Ok this is my stroller, go get your own. And I don't want to touch you anymore either.

TIMBERTOWN!!!

Peek-A-Boo

We love timbertown. Especially when Daddy comes to play with us. If we need a little break from being at home, this is one of our favorite places to go. Nicolynn loves the swings, climbing everything, playing pee-a-boo and the slides!!

Deanna's PlayHouse

July 20, 2012 Nicolynn and I spent an afternoon at Deanna's Playhouse. We had a good time. She loved the music room and playing on the drums. There was a little house with a full kitchen set that she played with most of the time. She played with the dollies and strollers, large boats, cars to ride in, and trucks and blocks. I think we will wait till she is a little older to go again, but we had a good time.

Great Grandma and Grandpa Holtrop

Grandpa and Grandma Great (Holtrop) came over for a night of dinner and haircuts.
Nicolynn LOVED them reading books to her.

Pool water... fresh today :)

The pool was almost empty by the time I could get her to stop drinking...

Helping Grandma in the Garden

July 09 we stopped at Grandma D's house to "help" her in her garden. We actually just stopped by to watch her in her garden, but Nicolynn was ready to pull the weeds.  I'd let her help out at our house too if I didn't have to pull the weeds first and then hand them to her...
She is awesome!