Meow Wolf is an immersion art exhibit in Denver.

There are 3 levels of interactive art.

Most door handles you turn transport you into another little artistic world. Some included pizza, a garbage truck you could climb on, dizzy jagged stair cases, and a giant tree wiht many more artistic worlds to explore.

Our favorite areas were the giant tree area- it went up multiple floors and it felt you like you were walking around in a rain forest, as well as the metal room with street signs hung all over, and a piano hung on the wall that played on its own.

What an amazing experience! Artists are so creative and inspiring!

*The Photo featured is of Ryan and our nephew.*

Father's day can be a bit tricky.  Amanda's father passed aways 2 years ago, so we aren't able to celebreate with him anymore. Ryan is waiting to be father.

Eeyore made an art project for Ryan at Doggy Day Camp at Petsmart, and they gave us a super cute Father Day themed photo this year. Ryan's dad also came down to our house to celebrate this year. He's amazing at home improvements projects from updating flooring to lighting . He has taught us so much on while helping to update our home to make it great for when we become a family. He loves being a grandpa to our niece and newphew and is looking forward to being a grandpa again some day in the future.

Amanda was thinking about the type of father Ryan will be:

1. He'll tell cheesy jokes. His favorite right now is to say, "Watch out! That cheese is sharp!"

2. He'll tell stories using funny voices and accents.

3. He will be there for the sports practices, receitals, and school events. 

4. He'll make bunny ears in some photos together.

5. He will tell little him/her how much he loves them and how proud he is of them every day.

Fun Fact: Ryan tells Eeyore how much we love him many times a day...it's cute! He also changes songs lyrics to Eeyore's name often.

Growing up, one of Ryan's favorite chilhood memories was having Nerf Gun War's with his best friend in Ryan's basement.

Now, it's Saturday evening at Ryan's Dad's house. Our niece and nephew are playing in the living room. Amanda is laughing with Ryan's step-mom, mom, and dad all together in the kitchen about a story our nephew told in school. Amanda looks out of the corner of of her eye and sees Ryan, nerf gun in hand, smiling, showing the kids how to shoot their nerf guns at the left over Halloween skeletons hanging up on th wall, not at each other. 

Ryan is an awesome uncle. He's playful, patient, and great at superising all of our nieces and nephews. He can't wait to be a dad and have our future child play along our family members one day.

During the summer, we tend to visit Grandpa Dave (Ryan's dad)'s house once a month to celeberate holidays.  We celebreate with Ryan's dad, Ryan's mom, Ryan's step-mom, his sister, brother-in-law and their kids. One thing that is very special about this to us is that we can all celebrate together. Not all families are able to come together to celebrate the holidays in one place. We feel blessed.

We fly kites with the kids and compete to see whose kite can fly the highest.

The kids play on a blow-up water slide.

The kids ride bikes.

The adults tell jokes and laugh.

Grandpa Dave's house is out in the country, so the kids can have tons of room to draw with sidewalk chalk, play with water balloons, and run around. 

We watch fire works and eat Ryan's mom's homemade brownies.

We can't wait for the day Ryan and I have our own little family to share memories at Grandpa Dave's too.

1 week ago today, on  a Thurday, we were walking the streets in downtown Boulder in the Pearl Street Mall. Amanda was afraid to go there intinally because it looked cloudy and rainy in the mountains, but we decided to go. Despite living in Colordo for 3 years, during that time we had never ventured to Boulder. While we were there, if we looked up just beyond the buidlings in front of us, we could see the mountains with the Flat Irons that Boulder is famous. We heard people busking- a man played the drums on an ice cream bucket on one end of the street while a girl with long blond hair sang about her love for Colorado while playing the guitar on the other side. The road itself has a gray cobble stone look with flowers, play structures, and little fountains lining the center and cute little shops and restaurants lined the sides. Some shops sold vinyl records and vintage clothing, others sold custom puzzles and toys. Artwork was everywhere, including the custom chairs outside the shops made of old skis! Coffee shops were everywhere, and at one point the sun came out. Everyone seemed happy.

Then, we left and headed back to Denver.

By that Sunday, we were already back home in Michigan when we heard there was something violent that happened in Boulder, on Pearl Street, right where we had been just 3 days before. We felt shocked and sad for the people that were hurt by what happen. We also felt grateful that God watched over us and kept us safe. 

Boulder is such an amazing place and our hearts go out to those affected by what happened. We pray that the community will be able come together and find comfort.

Thee very best putt-putt/miniature golf course we have ever been to (out of 10ish courses) is...Adventure Golf in Westminter, Colorado! 

Reasons this course rocks:

There are 3 different courses (Pirate, Lost Temple, and Fairy Tale). On our most recent trip, we played The Lost Temple theme which featured a beautiful pond with a downed plane in the background, waterfalls, talking stones, and a pyramid at the very end. When Ryan got a hole in one on the 18th hole, fire shot out the top of the pyramid! There is also a volcano that steams up every 10 minutes.

Fairy tale theme includes a giant castle, dragon,  and a big tree with eyes that open and look around. It's kinda of creepy and cool at the same time. If you hit a hole in one at the last hole, an animated skunk squirts water at you.

Now to try another course out this summer...

What is it?

A very easy hiking trail in Ideldale, Colorado featuring the remains of a castle which a family still lives in today complete with a stone bridge. The trail also has beautiful river inlets, towering rock faces, and a little creek you can cross by walking over stones, all situated in the Rockie Mountains. 

Ryan and I hiked this trail several times when we were living in Denver from 2018-2021. We revisted the trail this past week, and this time we brought my sister. The castle remains have had a few additons to them, but the same stone bridge with a river beneath and wooden water wheel remain. It reminds us of the bridge and castle featured in the movie Beauty and the Beast. We look forward to the day we can experience this place again but this time as a little family.

It's Memorial Day weekend! The past 2 years, we have gone to Honor, MI to hike the 1.5 mile trail up to Empire Bluff. Trail The view from this top of this trail is so beautiful. The trail starts with us lacing up our hiking boots and walking up and down some wooded, curvy hills. Thankfully, the hills are not very steep. There is a great spot about half way up that is great for taking pictures of the the dune over looking South Manitou Island. Then, we continue a little further until we see the wooded slats covering sand and as we curve to the left, it opens up to wide-open blue-green water of Lake Michigan that is so clear, we just want to swim in it when we go to the beach in the little town center of Empire...butttt it's still only May. We continue on just a bit further and find a place to sit on the wooded slats, with the grassy dune behind us and as we look out over the water and large sand dunes in the distance.

We fall silent and just sit in the calm moment of beauitful peace.

When it's time to head back to the car, we take one last look around at how beautiful this place and start dreaming about how great it would be to come back here one day in the future and hike as a family. 

Last year, we went to hiked Empire Bluff Trail in Honor, MI.  The sky was gray that day compared to blue clear skies we had in 2023.  It's amazing how the exact same view can look radically different when we change perspectives.

We usually go to Ryan's Dad's house for a cookout with his side of our family. Ryan's dad is always in charge of grilling the food, his step-mom finds the cutest festive cups and plates, his mom brings the veggie tray, and we usually play with our niece and nephew outside in their big yard in the country side. Amanda turns on the bubble maker and pretends to have a dances in the bubbles with out niece and newphew. Ryan teaches our nephew how to fly a kite, while Amanda colors with our niece using sidewalk chalk. Eventually, the food is ready, and we all gather around to eat food out on the patio with a breeze coming off the corn field near by. 

Later, we see the cornfields light up with tons of fire flies. The stars come out, we each pick up a kid, and point up to a clear sky teaching them about the stars.

                                            Which answer do you think is better?

Amanda's answer:    "black and white movies."

Ryan's answer:       " I don't know... but they like to Netflix and Chill." 🥶

Stay tuned for more Dad jokes!

Grand Haven, MI has an awesome kite festival we've attended the last 3 years. This year may have had the best turn out we think, as there must have been at least 100 kites participating. This year's favorite kite included a Snoppy and Charlie Brown kite as big as our living room! There was a huge black octopus with tentacles following behind it, a scub diver with small shark in tow, a huge black and red dragon that looked like Toothless from How to Train Your Dragon, and a bunch of blow up colorful crabs that are inflated and staked to the ground but look like they are crawling when the wind blows! The Wind Jammers ( a kite team from Wisconin that flies many kites at once choreographed to pop music) were there again this year too. What a cool job to have! It was sunny, pretty cold, and very windy. Ryan was able to get our kite up and flying with ease. Unfortunatly, we had to miss Jeep Fest- last year we were able to attend both on the same day! Watching Jeeps climb over piles of boulders and seeing all of the different kinds of rubber ducks was a a new adventure for us.

This year at the beach, there were also 5 kite boarders on out on the water. Up until we moved to West Michigan a few years ago, we didn't know kite boarding even existed. Watching the the boarders glide across the water while directing the wind using a kite, catching huge air, and then slamming back down to Lake Michigan all while mainting their balance amazes us.  

Hmmm...we wonder what kites we will see next year?

Bingsu is awesome! When Ryan and I lived in South Korea, our favorite dessert to eat was bingsu. It is a dessert that has made of frozen ice crystals with milk. Traditionally, bingsu is topped with red beans, but we also ate some varieties that had strawberries, mango, or chocolate on it.  We miss so many things about South Korea and bingsu is one of them!

We love ice cream too. One of Amanda's favorite childhood memories is when she went to an oldies themed ice cream store with her family in the summer and looked at old fashioned cars. It seemed to her as though the whole little town she grew up in was in the ice cream store, including her favorite teacher, he taught gym. Last weekend, we were able to make some more ice cream themed memories- this time with our niece and nephew. The waffle cones they ordered looked as big as their heads, one chocolate and once vanilla flavored. Our nephew had a small bit of ice cream on his chin that looked like a tiny goatee. Ha! The moment was drippy and messy and one we won't soon forget.

I scream, you scream, we all scream for ice cream...memories!

Meet our mini golden-doodle, Eeyore Piglett! He is the only dog named Eeyore we have heard of yet to date. Amanda thought we might seem a little strange compared to our other friends that have pets because our dog has a middle name (Piglett). However, during a recent work activity, we discovered a lot of people at work who own pets also gave their pets middle names! The most unique middle name we saw from them was Aphrodite. 

Despite his name, he is actually a little bundle of energy that loves to play fetch, run around our back yard, and perform tricks for treats! He loves people, kids, and other animals. His favorite place in the world is Pet Smart because he can socialize with other dogs and attend doggy day camp. One great thing about him is that he doesn’t shed hair and is hypoallergenic. He sleeps at night in his own little canvas sided crate that we call his house and insists on listening to classical music.

If you have/had a pet, would you also give him/her a middle name?

One of our favorite things to do in spring is go to the Tulip Time Festival in Holland, Michigan! The first year we went, there was a group of people from the Netherlands wearing Dutch attire playing musical instruments while riding bikes in figure 8 patterns in the Volskwagen Parade! We staked out a great spot to watch the parade on a tulip lined street and watched 12 marching bands play in the parade. Because we played in marching band together back in high school, the number of marching bands indicates how great the parade is for us! 

We were back in Holland again for Tulip Time! This year, we walked downtown past the moss-covered fountain and koi pond in Centennial Park and sea of food trucks to enter Windmill Island Gardens. We heard an old organ play, crossed a mini pedestrian bridge over the creek, saw over 150,000 Tulips planted throughout the island, and climbed four flights of wooden stairs up a huge authentic windmill from the Netherlands! We were also very excited to see how many people we were able to see from a variety of different cultures gather together to celebrate the tulips.