saying goodbye

as our memorial weekend visit comes to and end, its time to say goodbye to mema and papa.  i know this is the hardest part for my mom, she so looks forward to our visits, as regrettably infrequent as they are, and so when they come to an end its so hard to say goodbye.  now that ledger is getting old enough to actually interact with them, i'm sure its even harder.  we really do appreciate the time we get to come and visit.  its been so amazing to see ledger grow and change from one day to the next, i can only imagine what it must be like to only see him once a month!  the dramatic changes must make it feel like you are meeting a new ledger each time you see him!  we look forward to coming and visiting again soon so you can be a part of the amazing changes that have happened since last you saw him!  with summer coming, i'm hopeful that we will be able to get up there more and you can witness the amazing boy he is becoming!  he looks forward to spending more time with his mema and papa!

understanding toys

ledger always loves the chance to play with toys, and the best part of going to visit his grandparents is that they have new toys!  it has been so fun to watch him over the past few months because he has gone from just hitting toys and throwing them around to actually engaging them and understanding what they are all about. it was so cool to see him take the baby doll that mema and papa had and instead of just using it as a blunt object, actually watching him understand that it is a baby and trying to feed it with the bottle.  wow!  he had gotten so smart so quickly!  before we know it he will be talking and writing!  what an awesome joy it is to see him grow and change and learn!

visiting jeffry lee

sunday night diana and i got back to the house to put ledger to bed on time.  after the long day diana was ready to go to bed her self!  i wasn't too tired, so she suggested that i go visit my bestest pal in the whole world: jeffry lee!  well, i wasn't going to pass up that opportunity, so i gave him a call and headed over.  we had a great time, first doing a little shopping at walmart, then just hanging around his house catching up.  i always have such a great time with jeffry lee, its like i get recharged when i'm around him.  we have great conversations about anything and everything, digging deep one minute, and goofy nonsense the next.  oh how i love me some jeffry lee!

on deck

sunday we spend the afternoon playing in the deck with ledger.  he's still hasn't quite gotten the hang of that whole walking thing, so we was scurrying all around on his bottom.  going this way and that just having the time of his life!  we brought out some fun toys for him to play with. we passed a ball back and fourth, ledge racing after it each time.  we even took out an old rider toy that jaidey and aves used to use years ago.  he was the happiest boy in the world!  the problem, of course, is that by the end of all that playing he was absolutely filthy!  so mema had a great idea: bring out a bucket of water and give him an impromptu bath!  well, for ledger, this made a fun afternoon even better- that boy just loves being in the water!
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five year engagement

while we were there over memorial weekend, diana and i both remembered that this was the weekend all those years ago that the two of us made the commitment that we were going to be in this relationship for the long haul!  it was may 24, 2008 that i finally got up the nerve to ask her if she would be willing to spend the rest of her life with me.  and to my amazement, she said that she wouldn't mind that too much.  (ok, that might not be exactly how it went, but you get the idea, right?)  we decided to go back to that exact spot and remember that special day, now five years later.  i love her more now that i could have even imagined then, so i'm pretty sure we made the right choice...
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baby gathering

as happens every memorial day weekend, my parents hosted a potluck for all of their friends.  diana and i always try to be there for it because its a fun time to see all the old friends from sandy pines.  at first we had heard that squeegee and his wife weren't going to come and we were very disappointed.  rhonda, his mom, soon set us straight and let us know that they were coming, so we were relieved that the two who are the most fun to catch up with were going to be there!  we had a great time seeing everyone again, checking out how much all the babies had grown and meeting the newest additions to all the families.  i tell ya, as the years go on, it becomes more and more of a baby gathering than anything else- there were what seemed like dozens of toddlers waddling around!  ledger had a bunch of fun meeting all of his peers, playing with them and getting into as much trouble as he could!
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have a seat

one of the things that lissa picked up at the flea market was a chair for ledger.  there was a guy there who was selling these small pvc pipe chairs with different designs on them.  she got one for ledger as a gift!  later that afternoon we let him check it out.  he's a bit young to really understand what chairs are all about, but we helped him in to it and let him sit there for a minute- he loved it!  look at that smile on his face!  its still a little big for him, he feet were dangling off the end of it, but soon it will be the perfect size for him to use every time we visit mema and papa at the pines!
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cart ride

one of the best parts of sandy pines is the golf cart rides.  they were the only thing about the place that appealed to me when i was younger!  everyone, no matter how old, loves to tool around on those things and check the place out.  now that ledger is getting old enough to actually notice what's going on around him in the world, i knew he was going to love a cart ride!  so papa and i hopped on for a little 'three generations of brink' ride around the park.  ledger totally loved zooming around on that thing, and papa had a great time holding him seeing him smile and laugh as we rode.  definitely a special memory for all three of us!

flea fashion

here's what we had been looking forward to for the past few days: the sandy pines flea market!  every year they have a bunch of flea markets at the park, the first one of the year is on memorial weekend.  lissa had never been to one, so it was very exciting for her- she went nuts and got tons of stuff!  it was especially fun because ledger could tag along and even walk along side us for most of the way!  our little fella is gettin' so big!  one of our favorite booths is the one that sells t-shirts.  my brother-in-law tim, diana, and i always love to check out their selection.  they might not be the most fashionable shirts, but they certainly are the cheapest!  they are really high quality, but the price is just right: 4 for $10!  you cant go wrong with that price, right?  they are usually sports teams or souvenir type shirts from around the country, advertising different touristy type things.  but honestly, for that cheap it doesn't really matter whats on them!  i actually found four of them that i liked, diana found four, as well as two nice hoodies- we basically got new summer wardrobes for less than forty bucks!  we had a great time checking out the rest of the place, mom got her usual haul of new flowers to fill up the deck outside their trailer, and the kids got fun little knick-knacks to play with for the day.  all in all, it was another great flea market at the pines!
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some father and son time

finally a vacation!  with memorial weekend here, i took off of meijer and made plans to visit my family up in grand rapids.  diana and ledger had been house sitting for her mom and david along with lissa, so the three of them actually headed up friday afternoon so they could settle in before it was ledger's bedtime.  i didn't get out of work early on friday, so i headed up to join them as soon as i could.  unfortunately though, i didn't arrive there until after our little guy had gone to nigh-night land.  it was great to see the wife again and hang out for a while with lissa, but we called it quits pretty early so we could get to bed and be ready for the fun saturday ahead.  then, finally, i got to see my boy!  when he woke up i got up with him and got to spend a nice morning with just the two of us.  while the ladies slept we headed out to get a few things from the store, some more baby food, milk, and other assorted vacation items.  oh, it was so nice to have those couple hours with my boy- how i had missed his little smile and cute babbling noises!  when we got home it was time for him to take his first nap.  soon after the girls got up and we got ready for the day.  by the time ledge was waking up it was time to go to sandy pines and see the family!