Evelyn Turns 3

Our little girl turned 3 earlier this month. We scattered 3 birthday parties over the course of the month with the final one Easter weekend.

All 5 Elenbaas grand kids.

Easter egg painting with Grandma Gail and momma.

My cake this year.

Evelyn wasn't being cooperative, so we took an 80% family picture.

Florida 2011 - The Trip Home

On the drive home we were on our own. Two adults, a 3-year-old, two newborns, and 1300 miles. Daunting...but it went amazingly well.

We woke up at 4:00 when the boys were hungry and were on the road by 4:30 am.

I drove every mile and we pulled into our driveway 20.5 hours later at 1:00 am. We were so efficient that the 3 kids never even left the van. Our stops were either gas or drive-thru. Twice we drove almost 6 hours on a single tank of gas and only pulled off when our gas light had been on for over 30 miles and I was getting quite nervous.

2 weeks of fun tired Evie enough to take 2 naps on the way home.

During our short breaks we would "play" in the car. Evelyn loved to have the babies and "99" sit in her seat while she sat in our seat and buckled up.
Evelyn once again did great. She was annoying at times but with good reason and never pitched a fit. Our headphones are too big for her so Erin had to do some creative engineering to get them to stay on.

Veldhof Florida 2011

Erin and I are very fortunate to have such great families, and we really took advantage in March. After a great week with the Sopers, we packed up the van and drove...1 hour south for ANOTHER great week in Florida!

The Veldhof family spent the week on Anna Maria Island. The weather wasn't as good, but it was still an excellent week. The photos should give you a taste.

Good opportunity for family pictures.
Erin personally made the twins' onesies and Evie's dress. Impressive!
The house we rented was on a canal so we did some canoeing and fishing. I'm not much of a fisherman but I really enjoyed it. Live shrimp work great as bait.
Big tubby.
Technology department.
All 5 grand kids in Erin/Lindsay-made clothing.


All 3 kids on one lap.
Ahhhhhhh

Soper Florida 2011

We had the "last one ever" Soper Florida trips the last 3 times we went, but then we'd go again...and again...and again. So this year we didn't even pretend that it might be the last.

With the help of Derek, Erin and I braved the drive down with 3 little kids. The kids did great even though Evie somehow only slept for 2 hours overnight. She was just too excited.

The week was fantastic. Here are some highlights:

• Barefoot 99% of the week
• Barefoot running on the beach
• AWESOME weather. 80 and sunny every day
• Lots of hanging out with my family. I happily took nappy time in the condo

• The boys loved the warm weather, probably because they never had to wear pants

• Being spoiled by Grandma Gail

• Sharing a condo with Grandpa and Grandma Great. Evie's funniest quote of the week was when she saw Grandpa Great taking a snooze on the porch and ran to tell my dad "Grandpa! Him dead!"

• John's pass for some souvenir shopping as always

• Ice cream EVERY day, twice most days

• Lots of time with Grandparents. "Grandpa Doug Elenbaas" (exactly how Evie addresses my dad) had his fill!