It has been a busy summer, and Erlan has been loving every minute of it. Every night when he goes to bed, he says with sleepy eyes, “I had another fun day.” The he asks to read, “Handsome Prince Erlan” (known to the rest of the world as Snow White), and he loves to look at the pictures of the prince with black hair.
Erlan’s own life is like a storybook packed with trips and adventures. This make-up blog may be a little long as I play catch up and describe the some of the things that comprise Erlan’s fun days!
Our final days in Belgium
Erlan still talks about our trip to Belgium. He says, “Ride school bus, ride choo-choo train, ride airplane, ride different airplane.” Erlan’s memory of our week-long sojourn to Belgium boils down to our final hours there when we took the bus to the train station. We took the train to the airport where we caught our first flight. We then flew to DC where we caught our final flight to Kansas City.
He does occasionally make phone calls to Sacha on his cell phone. “Hi Sacha! How are you? Nay, Sacha! Nay!” This is followed by phone calls to Agnes, Papa Emil, Magda, and Jean Pierre. His memory never ceases to amaze me.
For Ben and I, the last days in Belgium were as wonderful as the first. Papa Emil took us to Lier and Antwerpen. If I had one guess, Lier was Ben’s favorite stop on the entire trip. He made sure Agnes and I were up and dressed early so that we were at Lier on time. Lier has a town clock designed by a pre-eminent clockmaker who lived there. In case you don’t know, Ben is a fanatic about clocks. There are, at least, at least 15 antique clocks in our house. Ben was in heaven in Lier. 
We had just enough time in Antwerpen to see the church before we headed back to Brussels to have dinner with Emil, Magda, Agnes, and Sacha. Our final picture together didn’t come out because Ben used up our camera’s battery videotaping the videotape about the clock in Lier.
We still miss our Belgian friends. We hope that they come to see us soon.
Swim Lessons
Erlan had two weeks of swim lessons in June. He learned so much! Our neighbor, Will, taught Erlan how to go underwater. Erlan would go under and come back up with eyes wide open and a big, toothy grin. He learned to move his hands and feet at the same time. He also learned that jumping into the water is wicked fun. Most of all, though, Erlan gained confidence in the water which has made our time at the Lake even more fun than usual.
Fun at the Lake
We spent our first weekend at the Lake with our friend Wendy and her son Cooper. Cooper graciously taught Erlan the wonders of boogers, and Erlan continues to delight us with his new-found knowledge. In fact, he recently saved a booger just to share it with Aunt Amy. :-)
During our first weekend, Erlan clung to me as if his life depended on it whenever we got into the water. Despite his fears, he managed to go off of the slide at our neighbor’s dock. He and Cooper also finagled a waverunner ride from our neighbor’s brother, Jerry. Jerry was very nice and took the boys on a very long waverunner ride!
Cooper out dare-deviled Erlan, and jumped from the high platform. I was afraid that Erlan would want to “dood” it, but fortunately he did not.
Our 2nd weekend at the Lake started with temperatures in the high 90s (with humidity—welcome to Missouri!) and water so dirty that there was no way we would jump in! Erlan and I finally went to our neighbors, Jim & Cheri's, dock. They are closer to the main channel so their water stays a tad cleaner. The kids swam, and when Cheri and I finally found a clear spot we got in too. Erlan initially clung to me, but he finally let go and swam to the ladder (this was only one short week after our first trip).
our friends Scott and Nicole came over with their little girl Chrissy. Chrissy is 2, and she and Erlan got along famously. It probably helped that Chrissy is a blonde… Erlan does have a thing for blondes.
Angie Comes Home
My niece Angie (The Woods Family) finally came home for a long-awaited visit. Everyone in my family lives around us except Angie who gave herself a two-state buffer zone. Of all of Erlan’s cousins, Angie’s boys are closest in age to him and he loves to play with them.
The 4th of July
Our 4th of July was fantabulous! Our weekend started with a visit from the Storks (Three Boys and Me) and the O’Neills (Keep Believing).
We went to my parents farm where the little boys could enjoy playing on the blow-up waterslide, riding the go-kart, exploring the great outdoors, climbing in the tree house, and lighting fireworks. The boys had different plans. The discovered my parents’ kittens. Their entire day was spent looking at the kittens (who were hidden under the porch), holding the brave (foolish) kitten who ventured out, and worrying over “Little One”—the white and black kitten in the picture.
They did take time away from the kittens to light fireworks and sparklers.
Everyone had to take off the next morning for adventures in different parts of the state, but I managed to snap a picture of the fab four. Notice the only one looking dorky. :-)
Continuing the 4th at the Lake
Our 4th of July fun kept going as we met up with the Harveys, the Landreths and the Parsons at our Lake cabin. We swam, we boated, we tubed, we played. Erlan was surrounded by his friends and his girlfriend, so he was one happy camper.
The little boys competed for Kati’s affection. They clamored to sit on her lap. She couldn’t hold one without the others wanting to join her. They flirted with her.
Nicholas: Do you like milk?
Kati: I like chocolate milk.
Nicholas: I have chocolate milk at home!
Kati was awesome with the little boys. She has made fans for life. Best of all, the boys remained friends through it all.
Erlan was all about swimming and was in the water swimming around with Kati & Zach before I even made it down to the dock. Don’t worry, there were other adults around and he was in a life jacket.
He enjoyed the boating (especially being the captain!), but did not want to go tubing even after Seth rode the tube on his Dad’s back.
Vacation Bible School
Erlan attended VBS that where he was taught by our friend Jenni. Erlan LOVED VBS. He wants to go back. He tells me he misses it, which is funny considering he cried when we took him the first 2 nights. He’d say, “Don’t leave me Mommy!” Aaahhh, the guilt!
The Circus!
We took Erlan and his cousins to see the circus. Ben even took Erlan early so he could see the big top go up.
We thought that Erlan would want to ride the elephant, but he insisted on the camel… then he cried the entire time he was on it.
He did enjoy the circus, especially the part where he got to eat popcorn and peanuts.
Funny images from the Summer
Nothing like relaxing in bed with a good book.
Hey Mom! Enough with the pictures… I’m trying to read!
Erlan’s “I’m getting a present face.”
