Out of their Minds Design

March 2013 – A Month of Stuff, Part III

Rather than get super specific on dates, I’m just going to say that Melissa’s parents, her sister, and the cousins stayed from March 29th through the 31st… or something to that effect. Camera dates are usually off in these instances anyway, and getting these in the proper order would take forever. Anyway, here’s those crazy cousins! See this image larger.

Nina getting crafty!! See this image larger.

Ian and Kaylee join the fun! See this image larger.

Posing at Meijer Gardens! See this image larger.

Butterfly again! See this image larger.

Kaylee looking a wee tired. I got some great smiles from her during the trip, so no complaints here. 🙂 See this image larger.

Grandma Barb probably more used to the in-greenhouse temperatures. See this image larger.

Bell belle. (See what I did there?) See this image larger.

The children go for a roll. See this image larger.

Nina dares the rope bridge. See this image larger.

Ian digs for fossils! See this image larger.

Preparing for a zombie apocalypse. See this image larger.

More butterfly pics! I bet they ate 5 oranges on Friday before entering their cocoons. See this image larger.

Grandma Barb found Uncle Chris’s watch and returned it to me. She offered to send it via UPS, but I asked her to hand deliver it. For fear of losing it again, it now resides respectfully on a display shelf in my office. See this image larger.

I don’t know who made it, and I don’t mean to be critical, but it is a little creepy. See this image larger.

The Jammy Bunch! See this image larger.

Kaylee helps Aunt Diss make pancakes! See this image larger.

Another angle… great smiles! See this image larger.

Time to go geo-caching! (Using a GPS device and clues to find hidden treasures.) See this image larger.

They got some exercise. See this image larger.

Connor is really great at finding this stuff. The west Michigan Chapmans have tried to go geo-caching and seriously we’ve never found anything, lol. See this image larger.

Awww! See this image larger.

Time to dye some eggs! See this image larger.

A rainbow of probably not artificial colors. See this image larger.

Weather warmed up a bit and it was a time for the kids to run out some energy. See this image larger.

Nina’s so warm she’s shedding layers! See this image larger.

Going for a spin! See this image larger.

It’s always fun to try to kick the guy with the camera! See this image larger.

Chilling out! See this image larger.

Ian’s fast, but is he Connor-fast? See this image larger.

That kid has game! See this image larger.

Sometimes I like shots like this… See this image larger.

Nina enjoying the sandbox! See this image larger.

Fun to make messes! See this image larger.

Just swinging around… See this image larger.

Nina enjoys Kaylee’s video player… you’ll see she borrowed it quite a bit! See this image larger.

Chicken wings for dinner. Ok seriously why did I take a picture of this? See this image larger.

I invented gang hand signals for West Michigan. Wonder if that’ll take? See this image larger.

March 2013 – A Month of Stuff, Part II

Pretty much Easter time on our blog… Ian’s no dummy, especially not as a bunny. See this image larger.

Nina said “I made a clock!” And she did! Sundial side up? See this image larger.

March 22nd, and we had some special visitors! Grampa Dave and Grandma Marcia! See this image larger.

…and so did the Easter Bunny! See this image larger.

Future manager material: Ian happily checks on his peeps. See this image larger.

New Skylander! See this image larger.

Mommy shows Nina some of her goodies! See this image larger.

Sitting with Daddy, briefly… See this image larger.

Remote control cars for each; I think Ian let Grampa have a turn eventually… See this image larger.

Our little crew had been watching Avatar: The Last Airbender, even little Nina; we were rude and asked Grampa and Gramma if it would be ok to watch one episode, as the kids were pretty hooked. I meant Melissa and I. The grandkids were pretty hooked too. See this image larger.

But it was getting late; thanks for visiting Grampa and Grandma! See this image larger.

March 2013 – A Month of Stuff, Part I

March 2nd, Ian playing Skylanders by himself. This is a good shot of the green office’s “man cave” corner. When we catch up, you’ll probably see the orange. (Or come visit!) See this image larger.

March 3rd, and little girl was tired and sick. Probably with the same cold that resulted in a rare Ian nap last month. We share everything in this family, especially colds. :-\ See this image larger.

March 5th, there’s our bright and happy little girl! See this image larger.

In lil pigtails! See this image larger.

Alternate bonus shot, because cuuuuuute. See this image larger.

March 9th, Blanford Nature Center, my super awesome family! See this image larger.

I was there too! See this image larger.

Two extremely stoned owls. (Of note, the summer of 2013 we had a couple fantastic owls in the woods behind our house. Awesome to listen to at night.) See this image larger.

The brave adventurers head deep into the woods to discover secrets unknown… like… how to make syrup! See this image larger.

First you gotta drill the tree. Here son, have a drill. See this image larger.

The one warm place was some kind of weird lodge thingy. Wompom? I don’t know these terms. I do know some talented story tellers got Nina’s attention. See this image larger.

BLAWAWAEEAAAERTRRGH. See this image larger.

These vats meltdown syrup and refine it into goodness. Speaking of meltdowns, Ian had one in T-Minus 15 minutes for some reason. Something about popcorn or something. See this image larger.

We had a great time, but it was cold… let’s go home. See this image larger.

Back at home, col’ chillin’ with a sippy and Mommy! See this image larger.

March 10th, Nina happily accepts a tin foil rose from yours truly. See this image larger.

March 11th. Video games. See this image larger.

March 15th, Valley View Elementary had a carnival, and you are invited… to look at pictures of it. They had games like this. Nina, pull up your pants. See this image larger.

Ian and I took a couple selfies after eating some hot dogs… See this image larger.

Of course we got silly. See this image larger.

…and then we laughed about it. See this image larger.

…and made more faces. See this image larger.

Mommy sat next to Nina… hiya ladies! See this image larger.

One more shot because I look alright in it. See this image larger.

Patiently waiting her turn. See this image larger.

The point of this game was to pull back the ball, which is attached via a string, and let go, to see if you can knock down the bowling pins. Nina Warrior Princess grabbed the string and whirled the ball over her head like a flail, before delivering a killing blow. The pins still whisper her name, but not very loud. See this image larger.

Ian survived through a maze of cardboard boxes, and neatly scrawled his name next to other winners. See this image larger.

March 21st, Mommy went with Ian on a field trip to the Children’s Museum in Grand Rapids. I didn’t go, but I’ll give you the play-by-play as best I can. See this image larger.