The Algeras

Watch Sara run her race! It's an action shot, so forgive the crazy angles; Ben did his best following a randomly moving target!

Sara ran a real race today! She did one lap around the indoor track at Calvin's new fieldhouse for the Family Fun Run. She got her own race number and race shirt and thought that she was the biggest girl ever. "I got a shirt and a number! I'm a real racer. I'm like Daddy!" She got to pick up her race packet and then we walked around campus to see what had changed since we were there. Ben and I graduated 9 years ago, can you believe it? The new fieldhouse is amazing. It's huge! We showed David and Sara where Mom and Dad lived and ate and went to school. Sara was impressed. David just blew gazoos.

There were games for the kids before their race, and Sara loved the parachute game. She ran under it and did her jellybean dance. Thanks for teaching her that, Grandma! When the race actually started she had a hard time focusing on running in a straight line, but eventually figured it out and finished about 5 kids from the back of the pack. Hopefully she'll fix that by the time she runs for the Calvin track team :) Ben got some cute video of her racing, I have it up on Facebook.

David and Sara were both very talkative on the drive home. They make each other laugh when they ride in their car seats. Our trip was a little longer since we got a flat tire just before the Zeeland exit. Ben worked his amazing manly skills to fix it before the kids even got too upset. We ate lunch, then Ben went to get the tire replaced. I got a nap in with the kids and Ben got to work on his boat for a while while a big spring storm rolled through. Dave must have been really tired because he didn't react to the thunder at all.

It's still rainy and rumbling outside. David is sleeping and Sara is snuggling Daddy in her heart pjs. Thanks for the hand-me-down, Allison! "These are my heart pjs, from Asilon!" Silly kid.

It was a summer like day today - warm and sunny. We took the kids to the Meijer Gardens. They had a great time. It was amazingly crowded in the butterfly conservatory and the childrens garden so we spent most of our time in the Farm Garden and the Woodland Shade Garden. Sara did get a chance to play tea party in the tree house and sail a toy boat, though. David got to splash his feet in the Great Lakes. The water was a little cold, so he would pull his foot out as soon as he stuck it in, pause for a minute and then put his foot back in and giggle. Both kids enjoyed sitting on the farmhouse porch and rocking. Sara loves the farm, especially the old barn. She ran all over in her new racing shoes and cried when we started to head back to the entrance. "No, I stay by butterflies and tea party all day! Please!" Both kids fell asleep soon after we started driving home. I'll update Flickr soon so you can check out the cuteness.

After we left the gardens we went to pick up the plywood for Ben's canoe. We made it to Johnson's Workbench minutes before they closed. Ben got his wood and is very excited to start building. Go check out his boatbuilding blog!

Ben here...

I'm just typing as she talks/sings:

"playing the piano da da da in my hiding spot....I am playing the ladybug song Laaaaddddy buuuuuggg da da da....the ladybug goes flit flit, the dolphin goes splashy splash in the salty sea la la la la..."

"I play like Beethoven"

" I need some lemonade for my throat to keep going now"

"all night long I sing at the zoo, play with me la la la goo goo goo..."

"I will bring my lemonade in here, no, that's really silly"

"Oh Mommy, I will not spill, that would be naughty!"

Dave is singing now too - "agaaaaa gaaaa maaaaa maaaa"

Unintelligible singing to the tune of Rock a Bye Baby

"I take a picture of you, Mommy, because you are pretty! Cheese for me! That's cute"

"How do I turn this off? Silly camera. Want to fix it Mom?"

" Battery is dead? I know where to find more Mom. Here you go!"

"My camera is not a real one , I want real one to work!"

"Oh can we have lunch? Banana and cheese with milk?"

"Oh the sun came out to make me happy! It is far away up in the sky but it will make me warm"

"My lunch! Thank you, so good cheese. Carrots are good for my eyes!"

I might continue this later, but for now we have to eat some so good lunch.