Summer Vacation!

2 Part Family Vacation
1st Part - Mono Hot Springs, 3 nights
When considering a family vacation, one has to consider the children involved. This year, we have a pretty easy 3 1/2 year old and an easy going 18 month old. So I got a cabin with a few bedrooms and figured we'd be okay. This would have been fine except that the easy going 18 month old turned out to be not so easy going. He was just cranky, all, the, time and then kind of slept horribly. We made it though and all in all, had a great time up in the mountains. The cabin definitely made it doable and just not as much work as tent camping. I was able to relax and actually continue recovering.

Josiah relaxing by the meadow

That's Caleb way up there! He was such a great rock climber

Heading over to the hot springs

Very warm hot springs. They had bath and shower versions right near our cabin that we got to enjoy every evening.

Storytime in our cabin

We took out a boat on Edison lake. All of us had a great time, save Josiah, who was completely and overly exhausted.

We found a beach, threw lots of rocks, Matt and Caleb went hiking and had a good time.

You can barely see them, but they are way up there!

Don't let us fool you with our happy smiles, Caleb was breaking down, Josiah was in a constant whine and Matt and I were just laughing:)

The porch swing, looking over the meadow at our cabin.

Our "rustic" cabin. We kind of felt like we were homesteading.

KAISER PASS

 Part 2 - Gilroy Gardens, 2 nights
We finally got a good night of sleep! Josiah hit the hotel and was a happy camper. It's possible that the elevation was bothering him, or he just didn't like roughing it a little. Anyways, we arrived at Gilroy Gardens, a little children's amusement park/beautiful botanic gardens. It was so gorgeous and we had a marvelous time. Matt insisted on leaving for the park a half hour before they opened and since we were staying in Gilroy, going to Gilroy, we were there pretty early, the first ones there to be exact.

They had two different types of cars to take on a great track, full of tunnels and car washes, bridges, orchards, etc. This one had a four-seater.

These were the "race cars"

Caleb and Matt on the swan boat. Matt had to use his hand as a paddle to keep them moving as he made the poor swan a little lopsided.

Brothers:)

They even had a mini-water park

The main entrance to the park. It was so pretty.

ahh, we loved this place! We had so much fun that we came back the next day:)

Aunt HeHe and Uncle Peter TIME

Aunt Hehe and Uncle Peter so graciously watch our boys weekly on Mondays for me to go to work and Josiah gets to hang out with Uncle Peter while we got to church. Uncle Peter passed on some photos that he had been taking of the boys and I wanted to share some, they are so wonderful!!!

Uncle Peter and this boy have a very special relationship and it is so sweet to see

We have a lot of photos of Caleb with various trucks driving down their driveway:)

 This is one scary sequence for a mother to look at, BEWARE!!

PHEW! He made it!

Thanks for all the love you show our boys! We are blessed!

The Chicken Coop

We had been thinking of raising chickens, NEXT year. However, the more we got to thinking about it, the more impulsive we got. Next thing we know, we are ordering chickens online and Matt thinks this is okay to order chickens without a coop yet built, it'll be more motivation to finish it. So the chickens are ordered, Matt goes to Home Depot, grabs the foundation stuff, investing our first bit of serious money, and BAM! I come down with Pneumonia! I remember him in these first pictures, cause I just had a little cold at the time, I even went out to visit a few times.

Matt used as many recycled materials as possible, but as we try not to have a junk yard, there weren't too many extra chicken coop matierals lying about. He had to pull the roof off one of his work building to get some of these foundation materials.

It was perfectly square! His sheeting fit perfectly!

Chicks arriving in their box. I had to pick them up after a Dr. appt. I am officially free of the "huge" pneumonia in my lung, however it is going to take a really long time to recover still.

This is pretty much what it still looks like all the time outside, Addie just staring at chickens.

My sweet boy loved just watching the chicks

Caleb making his own chick coop, the chicks totally dug it and preferred to stay within his four walls, until Josiah knocked them over

And the walls go up!

Mimi and Poppi visits were always fun for us. Mimi would play with the boys and Poppi would help Matt, and I could feel less guilty about all I couldn't do to help anyone.

lookin kind of mangy and too big for their box

This one was Caleb's, she'd literally fall asleep when he pet her, still kind of does. She'd hop herself up and just sit there.

Temporary, larger lodgings in the garage

Homemade feeder

a tough way to figure this out. This is their roost, in it's cleaning position. It normally sits down on the ground, with shavings underneath, ready to catch the poop.

SOOOO ready for a new home!

Move in day!!

Where it sits - out in the orchard. The chickens have full run of the orchard and love running back and forth in it, eating everything they can.

Pully windows

Isn't it lovely!!? - Chicken door on the right side, storage for food on the left side and man door to the coop on the right

The coop has long since been completed, thoroughly painted inside and out. It is truly a lovely work of craftsmanship and I am so proud of Matt, for doing something that he was so unfamiliar with. We worked together and did a great job I think. We love having chickens, it just makes the property feel more like a ranch. We haven't even gotten our first egg! Oh, and there are two roosters in the bunch, but so far, no crowing here. It's funny, the most obvious rooster is the first to bed down at night and the last to make his way out of the coop in the morning. I am fully over my pneumonia as well, which is a relief!

Content with the toilet

So I was just thinking how wonderfully content I am and happy with our toilet situation. No, seriously! There is no pee on our floor anymore! Caleb did a fantastic job of potty training at two and a half years, it was wonderful. I never mentioned anything on a social network site as I was worried that the goodness may not last, but it did. He was so easy! But then came the pee on the ground, in the bathtub (overshot), all over the back of the toilet, etc. I just realized this morning that he is surprisingly tidy nowadays and that makes me happy:) I also realized that Josiah is still so happily wearing his diaper and we are happy with that. No one is asking me when I am going to start training him, no one is making assumptions, asking if he is successfully trained or not. I've still got at least a year of "potty" free time. The potty is not a topic of conversation and that makes me content with the toilet:)

I thought that this post without a picture would be okay

Life with Two Boys

Life with two boys has been so so wonderful. They do keep us very very busy and oh so entertained! They are very different from eachother, which keeps us on our toes and intrigued to learn more about them as they grow. God has definitely blessed us with these two children to love, teach and care for.

The boys get some weekly time with their Mimi. She's so fun and active with them, joining them in their play world. This is a common sight to see when I come home from work.


Our Caleb. He's going to be four in July. He is truly a little boy now. He is sweet, clever, caring, a little slow on following directions, a cuddler, a little shy and he still has a fantastic smile!
Our Josiah. He's 15 months old now. He can understand a lot of what is said to him and around him. He is strong-willed, has an amazing smile, some startling tantrums, a laugh that his brother can't get enough of,
oh, and bright blue eyes.Cuddling up at the windy park.

This was a good moment to be a mom. The moments swing wildly from good to bad, but it really is so, so good.
We LOVE this look. Caleb got this on camera. I think he'll get the better expressions from his brother:)

Introducing Josiah Adrian

Josiah Adrian Sytsma was born on November 23, 2010. He was 8 lbs. 3 oz and 21 1/2 inches long. We think it is funny how you can see a child's personality right from the start and it has been a blessing trying to understand our new little one. He is an absolute blessing, just so chill and easygoing. Caleb has been an outstanding big brother and we are so proud of him and the love he shows Josiah!