our sarah

everyone, meet sarah.



i've blogged about sarah before.  in terms of family, sarah is my second cousin once removed, and harper and crosby's third cousin.  her grandma and my mom are cousins.  i knew of sarah long ago, hearing stories and tidbits from my mom about that side of the family, but didn't actually meet her until her great-grandma's funeral in 2008.  at that time, sarah was looking forward to starting at u of m nursing school that coming fall, and i was oh-so-very pregnant with harper.  her mom raved about her babysitting skills and sarah shared just how much she loved kids and babies, and so i took note of her phone number and agreed to call her when she moved to our area for school.  sarah first came over when harper was 3 months old, having asked if i would be willing to let her be a subject for a developmental profile test she had to practice administer for a class.  i agreed, and following that visit, sarah started babysitting for us lots.

fast forward to august 2011, and sarah had to go and get a real grown-up job working in a pediatric hospital in ohio on the oncology unit.  this was her dream job.  this girl is an absolute saint.  i hear stories of her days caring for children who have cancer, and i can't imagine how i would handle it.  but as always, sarah is positive, graceful and excited to get to spend time with these kiddos.  she'll be the first to admit that it's difficult at times, but then she'll push that feeling aside to go and toilet paper one of her patient's rooms just for fun.



since sarah moved away, we've kept in touch via e-mails and texts and through our blogs and instagram.  she's visited us a few times when she's come home to see her family, and she also joined us last year at auntie jen and uncle pat's wedding to help us with the girls.  we'd talked many times about us going to visit her in ohio, and decided to make a go of it one of our last weekends of summer after finally coordinating a couple days.

we arrived on a saturday morning to her apartment and to some big news.  the night before, sarah's boyfriend, andrew, had proposed, and she said yes!  he was also waiting for us to arrive, and he so enthusiastically shared the engagement story with me (and the fact that he thought long and hard about not proposing that night because he didn't want it to take over our weekend with her...so sweet).  we'd met andrew before, and we knew they were smitten with each other.  andrew is in med school, also in ohio, and the two have known each other for several years and compliment each other so well.  needless to say, we were ecstatic about the news, and excited to celebrate her engagement with a couple fun days.



harper really only wanted to hang out in sarah's apartment (mainly because of the promise that she and sarah would get a family room campout on the blow up bed), but we convinced her to go to the pool.  we spent the afternoon at an aquatic center, complete with a lazy river and sprinkler park.  afterwards, we went for frozen yogurt and back home to make pizzas.  the girls played with (and secretly fed) sarah's dog, nari, and played with sarah's box-o-toys.  sarah will fully disclose that she still enjoys being a kid, and it's not uncommon for andrew to send her crayons and a canvas to make a craft, or bring over a container of playdoh.  we pajama'd up pretty early, settled in for a movie, and by 9 o'clock, we were all zonked out.



the next morning, andrew came over and we decided to head to the zoo.  it was a scorcher, but we thought we could handle it.  the best part was the new sting ray exhibit, where we were able to touch the rays and feed them.  harper asked to do it, but when the fish were shown to her, she chickened out, leaving the task to andrew and me.  i do not like fish or sea creatures, but i somehow found my brave-girl pants and did it.  heebie jeebies, let me tell you.  we moved along to see a variety of animals until lunch, when the girls were getting restless, so we packed up and headed back to the apartment.



after crosby's nap, we headed to the park and then for more ice cream.  we played tag, climbed the jungle gyms, and tasted some really unique frozen dessert.
 

i'm a sucker for decor, and i swear i could have held this place hostage, taking pictures of my girls in every cute little corner.  it was, as the name tells, splendid.  as was our entire 2 days with sarah.


this picture is so typical of me lately.  addicted to the dslr camera and the iphone camera, both usually in my hands all the time, taking pictures of everything.  it's a problem, i know it, and michael always reminds me of it.  :)

so, here's a cute little story.  sarah isn't just sarah, she's our sarah.  last year, harper and i were talking about how kids sometimes get sick and have to go to the hospital to get better, i don't even recall why we were talking about it.  but i said to her, "you know, sarah has a job where she gets to take care of sick kids who are in the hospital."  harper looked at me, and i'll never forget it, said, "our sarah?"  and it stuck.  since then, sarah is called "our sarah."

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to our sarah,

thank you for hosting a crazy mama and her energetic kiddos the weekend of your engagement.  thank you for sharing your town with us, and allowing the 3 of us and our many bags to invade your home.  thank you for everything fabulous that you are.  we count our lucky stars that we have you in our life.

love, us

a full fall day of fun

today was not an active outside day. today was a day of getting things done around the house. but last sunday, we took advantage of the beautiful fall weather- crisp and cool, with the sun peeking out behind sporadic clouds- and captured some outdoor fall fun.

first off, was early morning apple picking. a bushel full to be exact. (our home will be filled with lots of apple recipes in the coming weeks, so if you have any great ones to share, please do.)

our little helper loved being able to reach the apples off the trees from her spot on the ground, and also getting a boost from her daddy to reach the high ones way up at the tippy top.

a few times, she'd find a good one, take a bite or 2 and throw it on the ground. just a taste of each kind.

notice the white coating on the apple? you don't think toxic pesticides are used, do you?! ugh.

and how could i not get some posed shots?? perfect setting, perfect weather, happy girl. that all equals a clicking mama.

and isn't she just delicious?!

we completed our apple picking with traditional cider and donuts. the good pumpkin-batter, cinnamon-sugar coated cider mill donuts. and they were fabulous. we lugged our bags of apples home, and curled up for a nap.

later that afternoon, we participated in our third annual buddy walk to raise awareness for children with down syndrome. i have the absolute privilege of working with several children with this extra magical chromosome every summer for summer speech groups, and they are delightful. their spirited, happy outlook on life gives me only positivity. it's so fun to catch up with these children and their families at the buddy walk after working with them all summer. harper was a mere 9 weeks old at our first walk, so it's fun to also see her enjoy the live music, good food, cotton candy machine, and of course, the one-mile walk surrounded by so many wonderful people. it's a great event for a great cause. and this year, their 6th annual, brought a record-breaking 850+ walkers for this support team. what a tremendous day it was.

our happy holiday

we headed out on an early drive 7 am saturday morning. little did we know where we were really going. that where we would end up was so much better than we ever pictured in our heads. we knew that our neighbors and friends had invited us for a quick weekend holiday getaway. we knew we were going to holland, michigan. but what we came upon was heaven. right here in our own little state.

so frequently in my head lately, i've been picturing toes in the sand, umbrella drinks in my hand, lounging in my beach chair and listening to the waves while harper played with her buckets and shovels at my feet. i thought it would be a long while before i got back there. with our plan for a kitchen renovation this summer, elaborate vacations just aren't in the cards right now. we went to the beach in north carolina last june, but harper did not even want to touch her toes to the sandy terrain. and being just under 1 year old, i was hesitant to be out in the hot sun on the open beach for more than just a few minutes. so we spent most of the time in the pool. not sure why i thought that i had to travel out of state for several hours to find that piece of heaven again. because this weekend, we surely discovered another slice less than 3 hours away.

so, we began our adventure bright and early. i packed new dvds and toys and snacks for the long trip. harper enjoyed her dvd headphones.

and by 10:30 am, we came upon this...

well, it wasn't this busy at first, but that's where it got to be. it was packed. but we found our own little turf of sand, plopped down our tent, umbrella, chairs, towels, coolers and sand buckets galore and blocked everyone else out of our little world.

and harper and hunter commenced to doing this all day long. scooping and shoveling. pouring and filling. building and smashing.

their little bodies were covered with sand the second the sunscreen was applied and they were allowed free to plop in the beach all around them.

they took some time to bury the dads.

and themselves...

lots of love and happiness was shared along our shoreline.

and when the sun got to be a bit too much, we took a break in the umbrella'd shade for some snacks.

at the end of the day saturday, we escaped back to our hotel for a snooze and a freshening up before we were back out for dinner and to another beach for fireworks.

jacque and her sister, sam, who also joined us for the trip

i love this shot, just wish it wasn't blurry...

the kids lasted about 10 minutes at most watching these bursts of light and sound in the sky. then they were both sound asleep.

we were back to the beach sunday for a full day of sun and water, but we could tell everyone was a little less ambitious. saturday wore us out. yet, castles were still built and the football was thrown back and forth in the water. we left late afternoon, and harper napped the minute we pulled out of the beach parking lot for a solid 2 hours.

we had a marvelous time, and we're so thankful that our neighbors shared this amazing little spot with us. it makes me happy to know that we don't have to venture out hundreds of miles away to find a relaxing and beautiful beach vacation. we can go back at the drop of a hat whenever we feel the need to escape from reality for a bit.

and these two littles make us all happy, and made the trip that much better. watching them enjoy each other's company, even at the ages of 2 and 3, and getting excitedly giddy to see each other, is a beautiful thing.

we had a happy fourth!