May 2002 Long Weekend Trip

Picked up the kids from school to hit the road at 3:30 p.m. on Friday for the 5 hour drive to Grand Rapids

We arrived at Calvin College and checked in to adjoining dorms in the VanderWerp student residence

Of course, sharing a small bathroom with four excited kids can really try one's patience...

Continental breakfast was enhanced by eating with our friends from Canada - Ida MacDonald and Lyn Acke

Then the graduation ceremony... A sincere and inspiring speech by Dr. Plantinga

And the moment we were all waiting for ... with a bit of tassel stuck behind the earpiece of his glasses

Here is a shot of our grad with his proud parents. This brings the number of pastors in the Geleynse family to three

Andy's greatest supporter, his wife Yvonne, radiates with joy

Eight years of study accumulate into a moment of introspection

Saturday afternoon we join about 80 others to celebrate the graduation with a barbecue at a home north of Grand Rapids. Karla befriends Heather, a daughter of one of Andy's friends from Hamilton. The two of them could almost be twins!

That night we were mesmerized and awed at the performance of the Grand Rapids Junior Symphony and Youth String Orchestra. Benjamin, Andy and Yvonne's second son, plays a Cello on-stage

After an appropriate pentecost service at Maddison Square CRC, a lively inter-racial congregation in the heart of downtown G.R., it's back to Andy and Yvonne's place for another celebratory barbecue.

Of course, no event in the USA is complete without the attendant CIA agent in sunglasses... hey wait a minute, I recognize her.. of course, that's Joanne kicking back and enjoying the hospitality

Here the boys catch air on the large trampoline that decorates the backyard of the Geleynse residence

Then we're on the road again. This time it's a shorter trip. Three hours back to Sarnia, Ontario to spend the night with the Veenkamps

In Sarnia, we are cheerfully greeted by my sister, Wilma

.. and a little less cheerfully by Albert, her husband :)

Karla does another twin impersonation with her cousin Nicole. I'm beginning to wonder, do all 13 year old girls look alike?

After breakfast, we went for a hike in the Wawonosh Wetlands across the road from where the Veenkamps live

The kids had fun feeding the geese

..which seemed to multiply before our eyes!

The enjoyment of the open trail and brisk air varies among members of the expedition

.. yet the astute eye picks out evidence that it is truly spring

Albert becomes animated by the fresh air as he attempts to impale one of the children with a reed from the marsh

After lunch we're back on the road for the final leg of the journey, the kid's energy finally spent, ours not far behind

The kids sleep through a couple of snow squalls on the way home. The weather all weekend was unusually cold

Of course, when it's all said and done... there's no place like home!