Beginning of summer fun activities 2026.

Wow, what a start to summer! The older the girls get, it seems the more activities are available to them, which is fun! In our town, the majority of activities are in June, so our first weeks of summer are very busy, but then it's nice that it slows down some after the 4th of July. It almost feels like two summers, one busier and one slower, which is nice to be able to experience both and get the best of both worlds. Our first few weeks of June have been really busy but special!

We went to RiseFest, a local annual Christian music festival, and we loved seeing Phil Wickham! Lucy really loves Phil Wickham. I have a picture from college when I got to meet Phil Wickham, near the beginning of his career, so it's a family joke that Phil and I are friends. It was so cool!

No way, I found the picture with Phil Wickham in 2008! :) I can't believe I am wearing my driver's ed t-shirt in this photo, ha. 

The girls worked so hard to get ready for the kids farmer's market sale. They sold some candy bags, brownies, perler beads, accessories, and bracelets and donated all the proceeds to our friends who are missionaries. Norah, Lucy, and Ellory, we love your servant hearts and using your time and talents to bless others!

Norah and Ellory were excited to see Josiah Queen!

Lucy and Ellory rocked it at swimming lessons! They are getting really good- they have to do things like tread water for five minutes and rescue a brick from the bottom of the pool. (Norah graduated last year and completed all her swimming lesson levels!)

Lucy and Ellory did NWC soccer camp and did great!

Norah was very excited to be old enough to take the babysitting course at our local hospital! She earned a certificate and made babysitting flyers to hand out to a few neighbors and friends that have younger kids. She was thrilled to start babysitting her cousins a couple hours once a week this summer (with my SIL home, so she can get things done around the house and so Norah can get some experience- a win win!). Norah was excited to make a kid bag with some fun items to take along for kids while babysitting.

We enjoyed the summer celebration parade in a neighboring town.

Lucy and Ellory did VBS! Sadly, they only made one of the three days because all five of us were hit with terrible food poisoning, but thankful we are all better and they could at least do part of it.

Lucy and Ellory are enjoying softball and doing well!

This is the first year they have to wear a full uniform for games and play kid pitch/3 outs, etc. so it feels like a step up and a real game. So fun to watch! Lucy and Ellory each got a hit and scored a run in the first game!

Go Ellory!

Go Lucy!

Norah and Ellory are doing flag and enjoying learning their routine.

Lucy is loving speed camp.

Softball practice scrimmage for Ellory.

Softball practice scrimmage for Lucy.

Lucy and Ellory did NWC basketball camp and did great! They are also doing BEST shooting camp and working really hard!

Norah is doing outdoor youth connection with a couple friends. One day they did fishing and Norah caught a huge fish!

Norah is also loving volunteering at the desk for the library summer reading program! She is growing up and becoming more responsible! Norah gets to do a few church events this summer too since she gets to join the youth group now in middle school- wow! She has had a lot of fun at the couple so far and very thankful for that!

Happy Summer! Hope you are enjoying all your activities too!

Recent reads 2026.

Everything is Tuberculosis: The History and Persistence of Our Deadliest Infection by John Green- I kept seeing this book pop up and thought I'd give it a whirl at something different than what I usually read. It's about the history of tuberculosis; I enjoyed hearing his personal stories of people affected by it and it was interesting how it was and is shaped in other ways like socioeconomic status and access to treatment. He is passionate about spreading awareness about how deadly and rampant tuberculosis still is, yet treatable and preventable. It wasn't a favorite read, but interesting enough to finish.

Beautiful Ugly by Alice Feeney- This book begins with author Grady Green receiving the news that his book made the NY Times bestseller list and calls his wife. While on the phone, he hears her say she sees something in the road and stops the car, and then the phone goes silent and she disappears. A year later, Grady goes to a remote Scottish island to work on a book, and sees a woman there who looks exactly like his wife. Details come out about both of their pasts and their marriage together and how it wasn't what it seemed. Everything coming together in the end and the ending itself was completely nuts to me and I ended the book confused, annoyed, and in shock. It was interesting enough for me to finish to find out what happened, but then I was mad and sad about how it ended? I still don't know how I fully feel about it and can't say I'd recommend it.

The Way of the Wildflower: Gospel Meditations to Unburden Your Anxious Soul by Ruth Chou Simons- This was so good! It's broken into thirty devotions about the five ways of the wildflower- dependency, freedom, resilience, unhurriedness, and belovedness. Each of the thirty days are paired with a wildflower and how the traits of that flower connect with the principal, and such good truths and Scripture are woven into each one too. 

Tired of Being Tired: Receive God's Realistic Rest for Your Soul-Deep Exhaustion by Jess Connolly- This was a really good guide for examining how and why you are so tired, what type of tired you are experiencing, and ways to try to overcome. I liked how she talked about physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual tiredness and what they mean and how they can present. Jesus came to provide rest for our weary souls, and she shares about new rhythms we can try to implement to live the abundant life God intends. This was a great topic to dive into and learn more about!

That's A Great Question, I'd Love To Tell You by Elyse Myers- I have enjoyed following Elyse's instagram page and was eager to read her book. She shared lots of different stories from her life and I love how she's not afraid to talk about things like neurodivergence, body image, and her inner voice and how weird that can be sometimes but is funny and relatable to listen to! I loved how she talked about getting together with her husband Jonas at the end and their deep love for each other. It was a bit different of a book than I was expecting, but I also don't really know what I was expecting, if that makes sense, but it was a mostly enjoyable listen!

Family visiting and meeting the newest nephew/cousin Miller!

My sister and her family came for the weekend and we got to meet our newest nephew/cousin Miller- so so sweet! We were supposed to see them over Tulip Festival, but we were sick, so I'm glad we could reschedule two weeks later! We were going to go them, but they ended up coming to us so my grandma and her close friend could meet him too. We had a great weekend! It rained a decent amount, so an indoor activity was open gym time at a local gymnastics place- everyone loved it!

We visited a coffee shop, park, Farmer's Market, and a few stores- love these cute cousins!

Meeting Miller! He was born March 24, 2026 at 8 lbs. 1 oz. and 21" and is adorable! We love you Miller and welcome to the family!

Memorial Day at the pool 2026.

Happy Memorial Day- very thankful for those that have served our country and sacrificed so much for our freedom! We are often traveling over Memorial Day weekend, but we were home this year and enjoyed some graduation parties and house projects. The girls love to go to opening day at the pool and we made it again this year! It was very warm for opening day, about 90 degrees, but the water was still freezing since the pool was just filled. Always fun to go the first time back for the year- bring on summer! Thankful for the many who have sacrificed so much for our country. 

End of year events 2026- band/choir concert, immigration play, last day.

May brings lots of end of year fun things! Lucy and Ellory had a 3rd grade immigration play day at school that families were invited to come check out. They had been doing a big unit on immigration and what that means, how that worked, and different reasons why people would immigrate. They had to dress up and they played a character that was immigrating and had to share their status/life stage, why they were immigrating, and what they hoped for when they immigrated. Lucy and Ellory did great!

Norah had her 5th grade band/choir concert and she did great! It was fun to hear all that they have learned and how much she's grown in a year. It was also neat to hear her play with a full band after hearing her practice her clarinet part for it at home for a long time. Go Norah!

Way to go, Norah, for investing in choir and clarinet this year- proud of you!

We got ice cream with cousins Will and Gerrit on the last day of school- happy summer! It was Norah's last day at the elementary school and she'll be in middle school in the fall!

Tulip Festival 2026- Costumes and Street Scrubbing.

Being on the Tulip Court is a big deal, where the whole town votes and then there's a performance to vote for which high school senior gets to be the Tulip Festival Queen. Before the afternoon parades, the streets are "scrubbed clean" before the Queen and her court walk down them. Many people wear Dutch costumes and participate in this fun tradition! 

You never know if it will be warm or cool for Tulip Festival, and this year was a warmer one. Kley enjoyed getting the girls wet during street scrubbing and the girls enjoyed getting wet because their costumes were hot!

Our street scrubbing crew.

Very thankful for this Dutch family of mine! (Kley and I are actually both 100% Dutch!)

Our three Dutch girls.

Love this fun sign!

Happy Tulip Festival, thankful for a great time!

Tulip Festival 2026- Parades.

We had a great time enjoying our town's Tulip Festival! While sickness changed our initial hopes and we didn't get to see all the family we had planned, we made the best of what we could do and had a good time! 

Sneaking in a few more rides!

On the last night in the last parade, the alumni band marches in the parade and it's Kley's favorite!

Band was not a big deal at my high school, so it's fun to see how many people do it and enjoy it here.

We got to see my sister Kayla for a day! She stayed with our cousin in Sioux Falls, but I got to run the 5K with her and she got to see the girls for a few hours and enjoy a parade together!

Lucy and Ellory rode a float in a parade! Lucy was sitting down on the other side, so you couldn't see her, but Ellory was sitting on this bench so cutely waving to everyone!

Some of the floats- so neat!

Norah and her good friend Brooke got to carry a banner together- a fun honor!

The band.

Norah and the banner carriers.

Love this picture!

This is the float Lucy and Ellory got to ride on- it's brand new this year and modeled after the remodeling that was done in our town's downtown park over this last year. So cool!