Highland Festival

Every year we attend the Scottish Highland Festival in Alma.  It is a time for me to remember my family, my heritage, and enjoy the exhilarating pipes and drums.  I am so happy to share it now with my own child and husband.  We park at the Presbyterian church, which is just off Alma college campus where the festival takes place.  There is a courtyard there where the ashes of my grandparents & father were laid.  There is a bench in the garden where we can sit and remember, and listen to the bagpipes in the distance.  The whir of the pipes stirs in me both the near past, and very distant past as I imagine it...that one ancestor making his way from Scotland to the new world.  I am a hopeless romantic I suppose.  That journey in thought ends in the present, as I look upon my own continuing bloodline and wonder what life's journey will bring to her. 

The massed bands are impressive.  Hundreds of pipers & drummers all marching and playing in sync makes for a powerful display. 

                                            A "heelin' coo" or highland cow

                                The sheep herding demonstration is a favorite!

Faolan was so cute watching the highland dance competition.  She tried hard to mimic every move.

                                    Remembering family in the memorial garden.

Spring 2011

Faolan had a kitty cat birthday party.  Daddy made kitty ear headbands as favors.  Do you see the cute little cats on her skirt?  Beautiful handmade skirt from my favorite website, etsy.com.  Can you believe this pose?  My little kitten.

Mom made me a cat cake when I was three, so I thought it would be cute to make Finn one too.  Actually, I am told that I pleaded for a home-made cat cake...and didn't understand that it might be difficult for mom to bake a cake four days after giving birth to my sister, Evie!  Thanks, mom. 

Mine is not quite as nice as I had hoped...and too big to fit on a cake platter.  Finn requested a white cat, so there it is.  I have a new respect for cake decorating. 

Grandma & Grandpa Hartsaw got Finn a real CD player, complete with microphones.  Tim and I were a little worried over how excited Finn was to get it.  She is such a little performer!  Here she is rocking out to Mary Had a Little Lamb.

                                                                   I'm three years old!

We celebrate spring each year at the Frederick Meijer Gardens Butterfly exhibit.  It's so nice to come in from the cold and experience tropical warmth, beautiful flowers and lots of gorgeous butterflies!

                                                                   I"m a butterfly!

Faolan loves statues.  This one is outside the gardens & depicts the founders.  Faolan thought they looked like Grandma & Grandpa Hartsaw for some reason, so she ran and sat on their laps.

Faolan's first chocolate bunny!  You can see the ears have already been nibbled...then came the eyes right after this picture.

Faolan's cousin, Justin, came over for an egg hunt in the back yard.  It stopped raining just in time!

Faolan LOVED the klompen dancers during the Tulip Time Festival!  I couldn't resist buying her a pair of wooden shoes.  She was so excited to pretend to dance with them in the street.  She did a good job mimicking all of their moves.

                                                   I think I mentioned that Finn loves statues...

             
                                                                      Mother's day

The worm princess!  I couldn't resist taking a picture of Finn, who insisted on wearing her tiara while digging for earthworms.  The other day she had a cup with rolley-poley bugs, slugs and earthworms in it.  I had to talk her out of bringing them inside to be her "pets".  I love my wee garden gnome. 

Fall 2010

 I used to dread raking leaves in the fall.  But the world is born anew in the eyes of a child.  Now it is a much anticipated time of year!

 While Daddy was gone at a writer's conference, Finn & I occupied our three day weekend over Halloween at two different nature centers.  Each had a treats & trails night where the children stopped at designated areas along the trail where knowledgeable workers educated about nature & animals as they handed out treats.  Finn got to see owls, and even pet turtles and snakes.  Her favorite part though, was roasting marshmallows over a fire for smores.  What an adorable little chicken she was!

Finn road five of the six ponies at the pony farm.  It was her favorite thing to do.  She did so well all by herself.  I was impressed with her posture and bravery at 2 1/2 years old!  The ponies only work weekends in the summer & a couple of special weekends in the fall.  They seemed to be well taken cared for and loved. We also got a hayride with a bonus of holding baby bunnies while riding.  We rode on a surry as well.  Faolan hopped right up on the front seat by the driver and took the reins before I even noticed.  The driver was so kind, he allowed Finn to "help" drive the surry.  We also saw a donkey, cows, sheep, goats & chickens.  What fun!

It's all about the babies!  Tim's family gathered at his brother's house to say goodbye to Grandma, who moved to Texas.  Faolan was in heaven as she got to dote on her baby cousin Danielle & hold cousin Morgan's guinea pig.  The guinea pig looks a little scared.  I can't imagine why.

Spring/Summer 2010

We went to the Dutch Village in April.  I had never been, and I am a sucker for kitschy places such as this. Faolan loved the antique carousel, the funny fake horse and carriage and best of all, the baby animals.  There are also ducks and geese wandering about as well as chickens.  It rained that morning, but we got lucky and stayed dry in the afternoon when we went.  I didn't get a photo of the big mouse (a man in a mouse suit).  She saw him across the park and we tried to chase him down the rest of the day.  Finally, I saw him again and alerted Faolan, who rushed over to see him .  As she drew closer to the mouse she stopped, paused for one moment and then screamed, terrified, and ran back to me.  I should not have laughed.  After some talking, she became brave and went along with me to shake the big mouse's hand. 

                                                               

                                                            Faolan LOVES puddles!

  

We enjoyed the annual Highland Festival in May.  Notice Faolan and her baby match?  All three of us are wearing the Scottish National Tartan.  It was fun, but Faolan was not in much of mood to pose for photos that day.  Mom & Dick joined us since they were still in town.

                                                              Faolan loves the water!

 One of our favorite things to do in the Summer is to go to the farmers market.  They always have bubbles and hula hoops for the kids.

The Holland lighthouse

                                                            Having fun at Lake Michigan

                                                          summer sunset and rainbow

This is my pot of gold at the end of the rainbow.  Who should be so lucky?

 

Super Finn! I never know what she is going to do next.  This day I was folding white laundry and I failed to notice that two of Tim's socks went missing.  Adorable.