The Benthem Four

Exploring in Palmer Park

noreply@blogger.com (Jared Benthem) — Wed, 22 May 2013 00:31:00 +0000

Recently we headed out for an afternoon of exploration at Palmer Park. This park is great for families as it offers a wonderful forested experience in the metro area. As you drive in the main entrance you pass a few holes of the L.E. Kaufman Golf Course, and enter the lush forest of the park. There are a number of great trails for walking, running, or cross-country skiing. But one of our favorite areas is the boardwalk along Buck Creek. The board walk stretches the entire length of the park and connects to the Buck Creek Nature Preserve and Lemery Park.

Ready to walk along the creek

Looking at sticks in the water

We always get a kick out these concrete structures in the woods which always bring up some sort of LOST reference since they resemble the 'hatch'. I'm always thinking don't go down there and don't push any buttons.

The Palmer Park Hatch

The kids love running along the paths and boardwalks.

Always something to explore in this great park!

Benthem Four Summer Favorites

noreply@blogger.com (Jared Benthem) — Sun, 19 Aug 2012 02:50:00 +0000

This summer we've been able to travel, take in some sights, and relax. Here are the Benthem Four Summer 2012 Favorites in no particular order.

Ludington State Park

Our favorite Michigan State Park for family fun, relaxation and camping goes to non other than Ludington State Park. Ludington State Park is ideal for families who love to hike, explore, play, and be surrounded by picture perfect views. The Benthem Four have been camping and enjoying this park even when we were only the Benthem Two. Some of our favorite park features include the tent only campsites with it's peace and quiet, but really for the excellent proximity to the playground.

This park also has the best location for those who love the water. Of course there are spectacular views of Lake Michigan, but the campground has water everywhere. Hamlin Lake is awesome for boating or kayaking and for its calm beach. Lake Michigan is, well, awesome. And the Sable River is a great place to float on a sunny afternoon. Susan fulfilled a two year dream to float down the river. Camping with kids may be a challenge once and a while, but the experience makes great family memories.

Downtown Chicago

A short trip to Downtown Chicago makes our favorite list this summer. We decided in July to take a quick Benthem Four adventure to Chi Town. Traveling with kids to Chicago in itself can be an adventure and we decided to leave the car behind and take the South Shore Line into downtown so we could avoid the added costs of parking. The kids were pretty excited to ride a train for the first time and for the most part they did well. Riding the commuter train may have been about forty-five minutes too long for the 2 year-old. But all in all, he did quite well. Some iPhone distractions come in handy in a pinch.

Our trip included a morning at the Shedd Aquarium. Susan and I were able to score a few discounted tickets for being educators. Landon was free. So we only had to pay for Julia! The kids enjoyed seeing the many, many, many different types of fish at the aquarium. We made it over to Navy Pier in the evening. Julia missed almost all of it and slept right through dinner, but Landon enjoyed pushing his sister.

The second day included an awesome free hotel breakfast and then it was off for more adventure. Our day took us to the American Girl store where Julia created a massive Christmas list for her grandparents. From the two story doll store we headed off to Lincoln Park Zoo. This zoo is awesome, packed with animals, and best of all for families, free! Our adventure concluded with the kids' first bus ride on public transit and Millennium Park.

Lincoln Park Zoo

Playing in the fountain at Millennium Park

Cousins Visit

This summer we had the opportunity to hang out with family. Jared's sister and kids flew in from Arizona during June for a few weeks. Julia and Landon loved playing with their 'big' cousins.

In July, Susan's sister from Texas came into town with her kids for two weeks. We had such a great time catching up with our sisters, and our kids enjoyed their time with cousins.

We're already looking forward to the next time our favorite out-of-state cousins visit!

What were some of your Summer Favorites?

Today's Best Deals

Summer Dreaming

noreply@blogger.com (Jared Benthem) — Fri, 10 Aug 2012 00:53:00 +0000

Summer has been wonderful for our family. Not only do we have a change of pace from our normal work schedule and have more time to spend together, the relaxed lifestyle of summer allows us to escape into free spirit mode. Like many families we make long summer lists of task to accomplish. Work on one or two of those tasks and add the remaining tasks to next year's summer list. We've been able to soak up the sun either at many of our neighboring beaches, campgrounds, or local parks.

Relaxing on one of Michigan's Awesome Beaches

We've also had time to dream a bit. Lately our dreams are related to travel and how we can share small and large experiences together as a family. We've enjoyed roughing it, road tripping, and seeing big city sights but now we're thinking of longer adventures as a young family. Reading about traveling families has got us thinking of trips we can do to help our kids experience more of the world even at a young age. So, we're dreaming and planning and hoping to save up for a future Central American trip. Maybe it's crazy to not save for more practical things, but we feel you only have young kids once so why wait until all the stars align.

My First Triathlon

noreply@blogger.com (Susan Benthem) — Sun, 14 Aug 2011 01:17:00 +0000

Today was supposed to be my first triathlon. I've been wanting to do one for a few years now. I was going to do one two years ago, but never got around to it for some reason and then last year I was pregnant, so this was going to be the summer. I chose the Millenium Triathlon because it is the shortest one around (500 yard swim, 15 mile bike, 5k run).

I got up this morning at 5, left the house at 6 and got to Millenium Park at 6:30. I unloaded my bike in the dark, pouring rain, set it up in transition, got my body marked and then parked the car. When I made it back to the transition area I heard that the race was postponed for an hour because it was thundering and lightening. I quick called Jared because he was going to come with the kids soon, but they were already in the car, so they decided to come anyway.

We hung out during the hour delay and then heard that we were to go to the transition area for announcements. I figured we would hear about how the race would start since the storm had blown over and the sky was clearing up. When I got there I heard that the race was cancelled. Their reason was that even though the front had passed they needed a four hour window of good weather and that the meteorologist couldn't ensure that. Nobody was too surprised since the weather was so bad and it has been cancelled in the past, but there were still many disappointed people. We headed to our van and promptly got stuck in a huge traffic jam.

So, my first triathlon has not happened yet. There is no refund, but at least I got a T-shirt, water bottle, and coffee mug. I'm thinking about doing the Reeds Lake Triathlon in a month so all my training doesn't go to waste. Maybe I'll wait to sign up until I see the weather forecast...

6 Years and Counting

noreply@blogger.com (Jared Benthem) — Sun, 17 Jul 2011 01:57:00 +0000

Today marks a special day for our family, 6 years ago Susan and I tied the knot. It was a memorable day in our lives along with the stormiest day for the month of July 2005. The storm clouds rolled in just as our guests were arriving and then the rumbling began as soon as the beautiful bride came down the aisle. Even with the rain it was a great day. There have been many wonderful events in the Benthem family since July 16, 2005. For a short time we lived in our first house.

It was a nice place to begin, however, after only 5 weeks of living in our first home we were led to our second home. We boxed up most all of our belongings, gave away many others to a neighborhood free sale, stored our car and countless other items with our family and moved to Honduras to begin life in our second home.

It was a nice three bedroom apartment on the end of a quiet street with a wonderful view of the neighborhood river and picturesque hillsides. Susan and I had the opportunity to teach at the International School Tegucigalpa for the 2005-2006 school year. We had a wonderful time, Susan taught 1st grade and I taught 4th grade.

It is most likely the only school where you can be teaching your 1st grade class and have a herd of cattle pass by your classroom window on a regular occasion. We had many interesting adventures that you can read about here or here. It was an amazing adventure that we are so grateful to be blessed with and something that we regularly talk about. Such as our wild horse back riding experience in the mountains of Copan. White Lightening didn't get his name just for his coloration, boy could that little pony bolt.

We returned home to Michigan and settled into an apartment and teaching jobs. We had other great adventures after Honduras, small ones and large, but our greatest adventure began in 2008 when we became parents. Our daughter, Julia, was born in April and you can read about her early years in our blog archive here. She was and still is a bundle of joy. She used to be so little and sleep all the time and now she's all grown up at 3-years-old.

Julia on the day we left the hospital

Julia, 3-years-old, at Sleeping Bear Dunes NP

In 2010 we added another bundle of joy to our household. Landon was born in September, and made us what they call a "Million Dollar Family." Well we haven't seen the millions but now that we are the Benthem four we have definitely had a million laughs, a million hugs, and a million wonderful moments. Landon is quite the character and he has the best belly laugh you'll find in a 9 month old.

Landon, 1 month

Landon, 9 months

What started 6 years ago on a stormy summer's day has turned out to provide countless adventures and experiences, four different homes, different jobs and positions, and two wonderful children. Our family of four is the best I could hope for and all this in only 6 years! How exciting to dream about all the years yet to come.

Jared, Susan, Julia, and Landon - July 2011

Back after a long break

noreply@blogger.com (Jared Benthem) — Sat, 16 Jul 2011 02:13:00 +0000

I've decided to get back to our blog that we kept starting in 2005 while we lived in Honduras to keep connected to friends and family and when our first child was born. Then we didn't keep up with the blog as much mostly due to other social media that we were using. I'm hoping to use this again now that the Benthem family is four and create posts that are interesting to any of our followers and family rather than using other sources. I have a lot of editing to do to catch this blog up to 2011 speed. We'll see how it really goes. So keep tuned.

Here's a family photo from our latest photo shoot. More to come...

While you wait for me to upload, write, share more great Benthem family fun. Feel free to search the archives of this good ol' blog to see what we were up to back in our earlier days.

Julia's First Birthday

noreply@blogger.com (Susan Benthem) — Wed, 08 Apr 2009 15:42:00 +0000

Julia turned one on Sunday! Here are a few pictures from her party with our families on Saturday. More to come...

Recent Pictures

noreply@blogger.com (Susan Benthem) — Wed, 08 Apr 2009 15:30:00 +0000

Here are some recent pictures of Julia. Sorry about my lack of posting!

January

noreply@blogger.com (Susan Benthem) — Sat, 24 Jan 2009 16:25:00 +0000

Julia loves the activity table she got for Christmas.

One of her favorite activities is watching Jared shovel the driveway.

Bedtime story!

November

noreply@blogger.com (Susan Benthem) — Tue, 02 Dec 2008 01:10:00 +0000

Here are some pictures from November. Julia now has two teeth and is learning how to crawl. She mostly just scoots around on her belly, but is trying to coordinate her limbs to crawl on all four.

Hoffmaster State Park

noreply@blogger.com (Susan Benthem) — Sun, 19 Oct 2008 01:04:00 +0000

We spent the day today at Hoffmaster State Park. We hiked along the beach and in the woods. It was a great way to spend a beautiful fall day!

Julia Update

noreply@blogger.com (Susan Benthem) — Tue, 16 Sep 2008 01:45:00 +0000

Julia is growing quickly and seems to learn something new each day. She has learned to roll from her back to her front, but gets stuck on her front. She screams until one of us comes to rescue her. Hopefully she will learn to roll back over soon! She is getting better at sitting up, but eventually topples over. We think that Julia has enjoyed going to Pat's while we are at work. She comes home with a craft each day and seems to be very happy. Some of her favorite activities are taking walks around the park by our house, pulling on her mommy's hair, and putting everything in her mouth.

More Pictures

noreply@blogger.com (Susan Benthem) — Tue, 16 Sep 2008 01:26:00 +0000

Cousins!

noreply@blogger.com (Susan Benthem) — Fri, 22 Aug 2008 19:50:00 +0000

Katie, Anne, and Nicole were all in Grand Rapids last week, so Julia finally got to meet her aunts and cousins!

Addison, Julia, Quint, and Naomi with Grandma

Quint and Julia shared the bouncy seat for our photoshoot.

Future volleyball player?

Naomi with her Aunt Nicole and (future) Uncle Justin

Family Reunion

noreply@blogger.com (Susan Benthem) — Fri, 22 Aug 2008 19:36:00 +0000

There was a Benthem family reunion in early August at a campground in Cadillac. We had a great time with Jared's family and Julia got to meet lots of aunts, uncles, and cousins!

Jared's aunts had a shower for Julia. She got lots of cute clothes, books, and baby stuff!

There was also a bridal shower for one of Jared's cousin's fiance. It was raining in the morning, so all of the women drove to Goodwill and found crazy outfits to wear for the shower.

Vacation

noreply@blogger.com (Susan Benthem) — Sat, 02 Aug 2008 19:12:00 +0000

We went on vacation to Pictured Rocks in the UP this week. Julia did not enjoy all of the car rides and one of us sat in the back with her for most of the trip. Other than that, she loved being outside and hiking with us and she got tons of attention from many strangers.

It started to rain during one of our hikes, so we put Julia's hat on so her face didn't get too wet and covered her shoulders with a blanket. She didn't mind the rain at all and fell asleep shortly after this picture was taken.

We spent a night in Charlevoix on the way home.

She's a Calvin fan who loves her Grandmas!

noreply@blogger.com (Susan Benthem) — Wed, 02 Jul 2008 15:09:00 +0000

Family Reunion

noreply@blogger.com (Susan Benthem) — Wed, 02 Jul 2008 15:05:00 +0000

We went to a family get-together this past weekend in McBain. Julia got to meet more of her extended family.

Here she is with her second cousin Ella. You can tell that they are friends already because they are holding hands!

Two Months Old!

noreply@blogger.com (Susan Benthem) — Thu, 12 Jun 2008 21:40:00 +0000

Smile!

noreply@blogger.com (Susan Benthem) — Thu, 29 May 2008 14:59:00 +0000

Yesterday I put Julia in an outfit that her cousin Addison let her borrow. She looked so cute that I had to take her picture. While I was taking pictures, she starting giving me tons of cute smiles!

A New Cousin!

noreply@blogger.com (Susan Benthem) — Thu, 29 May 2008 14:58:00 +0000

Susan's sister Anne and her husband Gabe had their baby boy this past week! His name is Gabriel Bethel Williams IV. They live in Columbus, so we haven't seen him yet, but we can't wait to meet him!

Aunt Stacey Visits

noreply@blogger.com (Susan Benthem) — Thu, 29 May 2008 14:37:00 +0000

Jared's sister Stacey came to visit for the holiday weekend. We had lots of fun together and Julia loved spending time with her!

More Pictures!

noreply@blogger.com (Susan Benthem) — Mon, 19 May 2008 17:50:00 +0000

The whole family!

Here's Julia on a trip to visit Daddy at work.

Rubber Ducky Race

noreply@blogger.com (Susan Benthem) — Mon, 19 May 2008 17:38:00 +0000

Jared's school had a rubber duck race fundraiser on Saturday. There were prizes for the first three ducks that crossed the finish line and for the last duck to finish. None of our ducks won any prizes, but we had fun cheering them on!

Mothers' Day

noreply@blogger.com (Susan Benthem) — Mon, 19 May 2008 17:34:00 +0000