rides!

he loved wandering around and just taking it all in!  to be honest, so did we!  after he got bored with that, he was all about those rides!  though the lines were a bit long, he was usually up for waiting as long as he got to go on a cool ride.  we made sure to take advantage of the fast pass as much as possible, but there was still some line waiting.  ledge was really good about it cause he knew the fun that was at the end of every line!
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beauty and the beast land

my favorite disney movie of all time is definitely beauty and the beast.  by far.  so when we were wandering through the magic kingdom and we found ourselves in the middle of belle's small town i was thrilled beyond belief!  diana shares my love for the cartoon, so we both had a lot of fun looking around and checking it all out!  it was kind of small, but anything was better than nothing in my book!  they had a little food place that was designed to look like gaston's tavern- which used antlers in all of its decorations, naturally.  ledger didn't quite share in our excitement, but thats only because he hasn't see the movie yet (diana and i are waiting to show it to him until he is old enough to appreciate just how amazing it is).  for the rest of the day i just wanted to come back here and be a part of it again!
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be brave!

here it is, the thing at disney world that ledger was the most excited about: the haunted mansion!  he was a little worried that it was going to be too scary for him, so in preparation for our trip, we found a couple videos online from people who filmed the ride.  he watched them a few times and thought he was probably brave enough to try it himself.  so on the day we were there, he gathered himself together, and said he was ready to give it a try.  we went into the first room of the ride and the pictures started to stretch and i felt a couple little hands tighten around me...  sure, he was brave, but he still needed is mama and daddy!  we double checked with him, and he was certain that he was brave enough to handle it, so we headed in to the ride itself.  he ended up totally loving it!  did it terrify him? certainly, but that's what made him love it even more!
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disney world!

we drove over to the house david and diana's mom rented for the whole family and got to see everyone.  we were the last ones to arrive, and we didn't get there until pretty late.  there were many hugs and welcomes, but soon after ledger was tucked in to bed- it was a pretty big day for him, after all!
the next morning though, we couldn't calm him down!  fortunately, we didn't need to- his cousin tavish was there, just as hyped!  the two of them were almost vibrating with excitement at the prospect of going to disney world.  we quickly downed our breakfast, and then we were on our way!  we had plans to visit most of the parks during our visit, but the first on the list was the magic kingdom.  as we arrived, david dropped us off at the front gate where we hopped on the tram that took us to the park.  there were tons of people there and we were excited to get started, especially ledger- his eyes were as wide as saucers!  fortunately we had prepped and trained the two of them to stay close no matter how excited they got.  that came in handy, because they were chompin' at the bit to run around and explore!
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go orlando

we touched down in orlando and were thrilled to be in florida- one step closer to our disney adventure!  we got our bags and made our way over to the car rental desk.  unfortunately, so were about 400 others...  sure, we had a reservation for a car, but that apparently doesn't mean that we will actually get one.  so, we waited for about an hour and a half before they came through with a car for us.  while we were waiting we got some dinner and ledger even made some friends with another family that was waiting like us.  the kids had the run of the place and spent the time playing hide and seek, tag, and just plain being silly!
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ledger's first airplane ride

once we made it on the plane, ledger was really excited about what it was going to be like to actually leave the ground.  we made sure to give him the window seat so he could really take it in as we were taking off.  once the plane started moving he was giddy with excitement!  'are we flying yet?!?  are we flying yet?!?' ledger kept asking.  i made sure to let him know the second we left the ground.  he loved watching everything get smaller and smaller!  he kept claiming that he could see our house from up here!  he was equally amazed when we rose up over the clouds- 'it looks like cotton candy!'
as thrilled as he was, after about five minutes the novelty wore off and he was bored, so out came the padpad...
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flying high

its been years in the making, but its finally here- we're going to disney world!  ever since ledger was 3 years old his grandpa told him that he would take him to disney when he turned 5.  well, now is the time for that promise to be fulfilled!
we've been looking forward to this for about 8 months- ledger especially.  with all the exciting things to look forward to over the next week, the first on ledger's list is getting to ride in an airplane!
james and barbara came to our place and the five of us headed to the grand rapids airport together.  ledger was really excited the whole way over.  we parked and car and headed in for the whole checking in rigmarole.  when we finally got to our gate ledger kept looking out the window for our airplane.  when it finally pulled in he was so excited- 'look daddy, that's our plane!'
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chad visits

with the recent health scare for papa, chad and miyuki decided to come up and see everyone.  papa's health has taken an uptick, so he was actually transferred back up to grand rapids.  that gave us an opportunity to all get together at the hospital and see each other!  we got some pizza and made a party out of it!  ledger always loves any opportunity to see uncle chad and (especially) aunt miyuki, so we headed over to celebrate papa's improvements together.

looking good!

for some reason ledger has recently become obsessed with bow ties.  i'm not sure why, but he totally loves them!  we were shopping with him the other day for some new clothes for him, and he noticed that they had bow ties for kids.  oh, he was all about that!  not wanting to miss out on just how cute that would be, we of course indulged him and picked one up!  when we got home he put it on and showed off his dapper new look.  he definitely gets his appreciation of fashion and dressing up from his mother, because i try to avoid anything that would make me wear a tie!

hospital papa

so, papa hasn't been doing too well lately.  we've known this for a while, ever since the doctors informed him that he needs a liver transplant.  he had a pretty rough week, so they checked him in to the hospital at u of m in lansing.  ledger, diana, and i knew we weren't going to be able to visit much, with our impending vacation, so we made sure to stop and see him for a while.  fortunately, papa was in good spirits and we caught him on a good day.  mom has been having a harder time with it, stuck at the hospital with him, two hours away from home.  she has been a strong rock for him, but is understandably struggling under the weight of all the uncertainty and stress.
we did our best to give her a little break from the storm and ledger provided a much needed respite from the heavy reality of the situation.  his cheery mood and optimism helped lighten everyone's spirits and bring a few smiles to his proud grandparents! 
we know god is going to take care of papa in his own time, but the waiting is certainly the hardest part!

jedi pier

last time there was a new star wars movie (the skywalker ones) we went with miranda and levi to navy pier in chicago to see it.  figuring we would make it a tradition, we made plans with the two of them to do it again when last jedi came out.
well, there was a little big of a change in miranda and levi's life, so it ended up being miranda and her friend leanne instead...  we went anyway and had a nice time.  the visit to navy pier was unfortunately a bit underwhelming.  the place itself is really cool, but it seems like we picked the exact wrong time to go there- about 3/4ths of the place was under construction, so there was hardly anything to do there!  about the only places that were open on the pier were a book store and mcdonalds...  fortunately the movie theater was up and running, so we at least got to do the thing we drove two hours to see!
the movie itself was a ton of fun, and really cool in the huge 3-D imax screen, so that helped alleviate some of the disappointment...
(good grief, just take a moment and appreciate how beautiful diana is.  sometimes it takes seeing her in photos like this for me to remember, but i always do remember!)

baldwinning!

its time to go back- back to the cabin!  the five of us gathered once again for our annual trip up north to the great town of balwin where we do a whole lot of nothing- and love every minute of it!  this year adam wasn't able to make it, but that didn't slow us down one bit, the rest of us were ready to rock!  we were all supposed to meet up at aaron's place, per usual, but jeffry lee was running late, also per usual, so dusty, aaron, and i headed out and met jeff and jon up there.  when we all arrived we had a couple issues with the generator, but soon got that resolved and jumped right it to the fun and frivolity! 
we made our annual pilgrimage to sporties bar for some 'delicious' food, and then the real fun started!  we always have a blast just chilling out, playing games, and chatting the night away.  the next morning, as has happened before, we had a little issue with the vehicle we drove up...  this is always super scary- if we can't get out of here then we are screwed!  its an hour and a half from home!  fortunately, we have aaron and jeffry lee along with us- two guys who know their way around a broken down vehicle!  this time the truck had an issue starting up.  aaron slid under the engine, gave it a well placed tap, and it was running again!  we didn't want to jinx it, so we immediately packed up and headed out, making sure not to turn off the engine for anything!  all went well, we got everyone home safe and sound, but after everyone was dropped off, i brought it straight to the shop to get fixed!
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brink christmas

christmas day afternoon we headed over to jill and tim's house for our brink christmas.  though it was hard to pull ledger away from his stash of new toys, he came around when we told him that he would get to see mema, papa, and his cousins! 
this year we made it a bit easier on everyone and didn't have a big dinner together, instead everyone brought appetizers and desserts, which was really yummy and we still ended up full with plenty extra!
mema had even planned out a few fun gift games for the kids, which ledger didn't understand but was super thrilled when he won one or two!  papa still isn't feeling too well, but he was a champ and stuck with it through out the evening.  eventually we got to the gifts and it was a lot of fun to give out the different prizes we had picked out for all the nieces and nephew, as well as the rest of the family.  ledger was very pleased with his haul too.
it was a really nice time- its always great to spend some time with family, especially when there are gifts involved!
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christmas morn prizes!

it begins- the onslaught of christmas gifts!  our little boy was just about vibrating with excitement, he could hardly stand himself!  since we have the entire morning to do this, we made sure we took our time with opening the gifts.  ledge would pick one out, bring it to the center of the living room, and then dig in!  as each prize was opened he would spend some time playing with it and checking it all out.  when he was satisfied with that one, we repeat the whole process.  our lucky boy had enough under the tree that it took him a good three hours to get everything unwrapped!  his current obsession with robots and crafts led to a lot of his bounty, which he was more than thrilled with...
at one point diana and i even gave each other gifts, which took about 4 minutes, then back to ledger's loot!  once the whole tree was empty, he gathered all his prizes together and like a proud king, surveyed his new kingdom.
he was well pleased.
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christmas morn rolls

shockingly, ledger actually slept in!  what are the chances? the one morning where we fully expect him to up outrageously early, and the boy sleeps in!
when he finally rouses out of bed, he comes running in to let us know the good news: santa came last night!
he was so excited to open his prizes, but we reminded him he needs to wait, because we first need to make some delicious cinnamon rolls!  granted, this is actually diana's favorite part of christmas morning...
it was killing him the whole time he had to wait while they baked in the oven, but once we got them out, smelled them, and dug in- that made it all worth it!  we only make cinimmon rolls once a year, so its a rather special treat, well worth the wait.
but now that our bellies are full- lets open presents!
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santa's visit

tis' the night before christmas, and as is our tradition, we had ledger set out a special treat for santa.  we put out a couple cookies and a glass of water.  ledge fought for milk, but we figured that santa is getting milk at so many other houses, we thought he might appreciate having a glass of water instead.  you know, too much milk can really upset one's stomach...
it just so happened that santa left a special gift on the stand after finishing his cookies along with a note just for ledger!  check out his note here.

christmas at the lake

when ledger woke up this morning he was already beyond excited for the christmas fun to begin!  he gathered up the ornaments we made last night and was ready to go to grandma and grandpa's!  we gathered up our things and headed over.
there was a big crowd this year, with diana's dad, aunt and uncle, and even miranda joining us as well!  david, not wanting to miss everything like he has had to in years past because he's getting the feast ready in the kitchen, wisely ordered a feast for us to be catered.  we picked it up on the way over and got to dig in soon after everyone arrived.  it was delicious and we had a great time gathered around the table enjoying the food and the company.  ledger was even adventurous enough to try some of the dishes he had never had before.
once the feast was finished, we made our way to the living room and got to ledger's favorite part: the prizes!  it was great fun to give and receive gifts, showing our appreciation and love for each other.  clearly, everyone loved ledger the most because he had about a dozen prizes...
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auntie b's ornaments

we celebrated christmas with diana's family the weekend before the holiday this year.  since mom and david's house was full with guests, we opted to stay with james and barbara- which is what barbara and ledger would prefer anyway!
we spend the day playing and having fun with crafts, taking the dogs for a walk, and being generally silly.  we even talked barbara into taking ledger for an hour or two while we finished our christmas shopping for the family. 
one of barbara's clever ideas was to make christmas ornaments- from scratch!  she found a special recipe that lets you make what are basically christmas cookies, bake them, and then decorate them.  when they were all made we worked late into the night painting them and having fun together!  ledger stayed up till almost 10:30pm- which is super late for him.  he was getting understandably loopy by the end there...  but its a good thing we ran out of ornaments, because i'm sure he would have wanted to keep going straight on till morning!
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movie with the cousins

last year we went to go see a movie with the whole family.  this year we didn't quite get everyone, but we at least gathered up all the cousins and went and saw 'ferdinand'.  the movie wasn't very special, but getting to spend the afternoon with the kids was special!  we wandered around the mall for a bit, grabbed a bite to eat, and had a really fun time!
i'm pretty sure we've got a new family tradition on our hands...

swim night

with ledger in swim classes we noticed that that there was a special open swimming event at the pool.  we weren't about to miss that fun opportunity, so we went and checked it out.  it was really cool, they have a series of inflatables that go on the pool so the kids can play around on them, slide down them, and jump off them!  there were a bunch of kids there and ledger had a really fun time.  up until now he has only been swimming in the little pool, so it was quite a treat for him to be able to go into 'the big kids pool'.  we had a lot of fun and look forward to the next pool night!

the art hop

the old regent theater is once again showing a christmas favorite- that must mean its time for allegan's annual art hop!  our little town has this annual event where they have all the shops downtown stay open late, they fill all the other buildings with craft booths and art galleries for everyone to check out and enjoy the local artists.  we were able to enjoy the special night together last year, and i left work early so we could be a part of it again this year.
this year the theater was showing frosty the snowman, which ledger had never seen, so he was totally up for it!
after the show we got to enjoy a horse-drawn carriage ride through downtown allegan and walk around town checking out the beautiful artwork made by local artists.  we picked up a couple christmas gifts along the way.
all in all, an amazing night with the family- what a wonderful christmas memory!
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deck the halls

one of ledger's favorite christmas traditions (diana and i love it too) is putting up the tree!  as is our tradition, we started by setting the scene- we baked some sugar cookies so that the whole place smelled like christmas.  after filling our bellies, we put on some christmas music and got to work!
each year ledger is able to help out more and more- he's getting to be a big boy!
the tree is put together and set up, and now the fun part begins: putting on the ornaments.  diana is always very particular about the ornament placement, wanting to make sure there are no empty spots on the tree.  well, the fruit doesn't fall far from the tree, because that's what ledger was obsessed with too- he made absolutely sure there were no gaps, even putting an ornament or two up, then taking a step back and examining his work, then deciding on the next placement.  a true artist at work, that's for sure!
once the whole thing was done, no more ornaments left to hang, then we lowered the room lights to get the full effect of our work- and it is glorious!  with the high ceiling and cool star on top of the tree that shines up, the whole thing looks just as amazing as we had hoped!  now we are ready for another fantastic christmas!
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garage band

nathan, ledger's friend from school who lives next door, stopped by and asked if he wanted to go play outside.  he was totally up for it, so he and i headed down.  we go to the garage so the boys can play on the scooters. 
the two of them had a blast!  they scooted around and played with some of the toys in the garage.  i have a cd player set up in there for when i'm working, so it was blasting out some music.  one of ledger's favorite songs came on so he and nathan rocked out along with the music and put on a concert just for me- nathan on the piano, and ledger on vocals, just rockin' out!

santa comes to town

with the christmas season approaching, we knew ledger would be all about it.  allegan, being the amazing town that it is, of course had a special event downtown where they had a ceremonial lighting of the christmas tree.  and would you know it, guess who was coming by for the special event?  why, santa himself was planning to be there!
we headed down for the late night parade (because, again, allegan is amazing and has late night parades!) where ledger even found some of his school friends to play with.
after the parade we headed down to the plaza by the river and gathered around for the lighting.  santa was kind enough to invite the kids over to sit on his lap and let him know what they want for christmas.
it was truly a magical evening, but really, at this point that's what we've come to expect from our little amazing town!
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hanging with tav

alanna and tavish don't come to town very often, so when they do we make sure those two cousins get to spend as much time together as possible!  the two of them are just a about a two years apart, but they are two peas in a pod.  tavish is about the only kid who can match ledger for energy- the two of them zip around the house in a blur the entire time!  as you can see by the photo, they certainly love each other!

loosing his first tooth

looks like the tooth fairy will be visiting us!  after fiddling with his loose tooth for the last couple days, one of them finally came out!  ledge was really excited about loosing his first tooth, though to us it feels like they just grew in!  i guess this means we are going to have to accept the fact that our little baby isn't a baby anymore and will have grown up teeth before we know it!

oh, deer

so, um... looks like i hit a deer.  i was on may way to work in the morning and i saw a deer running across the road.  i slowed down but figured it was ok because it had gone all the way across.  but then, as you do, it crossed back across straight into the side of my saturn.  dang.  well, fortunately it wasn't going too fast, so it kind of bounced right off.  i stopped and checked out the damage.  the deer trotted away without a scratch- more than i can say for the car!  we did get lucky in that it was only damage to the body of the car, nothing important was bent or broken.  i guess its no great loss, its not like the saturn was in perfect shape to begin with... its not really worth repairing, so i think we will start our search for a replacement car.

school fun night

now that school is in full swing, they invited everyone to come for a special fun night filled with activities and games.  well, there's no way we were going to miss out on that business, that's for sure!
ledger is still excited about school, so he was thrilled to get to go back and see everyone in the evening.  he has started to make some friends in his class and was looking forward to introducing them to us.
we wandered around the school, stopping in different classrooms to participate in the fun crafts and games they had set up for us.  ledger's favorite was the professional face painter they had- as you can see he requested a fish!
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leaky rental roof

there is only one good thing about owning a rental property, but there are millions of bad things.  chief among them is having to do repairs.  well, i got the call i had been dreading for the last couple years: the roof was leaking. 
granted, it is about time, the roof had been replaced just a year or two before i got the place, so that means it had been almost 17 years since it was last shingled.  they say a roof should last between 15 and 20 years, so this was almost exactly between those two figures. 
i headed down to check it out, fearing the worst.  thankfully it wasn't quite as bad as i was expecting.  there was a wet spot on the ceiling that was dripping, but a little repair work inside and a gigantic tarp on the outside, and we were all set!  granted, this isn't really fixing the problem, but i'll let future me worry about that...

trick or treatin' ghosty!

it's ledger's favorite day of the year- he's been waiting 264 days for this: its halloween!  and now that school is out, it's time to go out trick-r-treatin!  he picked out his costume about 263 days ago, so he is certainly ready and eager to get out there and do his thing.  diana and i spend the afternoon (or at least the last 5 minutes of it) putting together our costumes and now we are ready to go out and get some candy! 
we wandered around town, up and down some of the busier streets, finding some great places get get some sugary goodness and fill ledger's basket with treats.  we stopped by the fire department and made crafts for a bit too.  by the end of the night our little ghosty was sugared up, worn out, and about as content as a boy can be!  when we got back to the house he poured out his loot and picked out one or two of his favorites to enjoy, but it was soon time for bed.  for once it was a welcome rest for an exhausted ghosty.  he had a blast- and can't wait for the next halloween!
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halloween parade

ledge decided he wanted to dress up as a ghosty for halloween this year, and since they had a special halloween day at school, that meant wearing his costume to school as well.  at the beginning of the year the teacher had a sign up sheet for parents to volunteer to come in and help out with one of the special days through out the year, so diana and i, knowing how much halloween means to ledger, volunteered to come in that day and bring treats.  well, that day is today, so we got some yummy treats and got to spend a little extra time with our little ghosty!  the kids were all dressed up and had a blast doing a costume parade through the different classrooms to show off their fun costumes.
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carvin' pumpkins

now that we've got the pumpkins, the next step is to carve them, right?  we dug right in as soon as we got home and made the best chock-o-lanterns that we could!  ledge wasn't so keen on the messy part of cleaning them out, but he was eager to draw out the faces he had in mind for them!  since he's only five, i took the knife cutting duties and made the faces to his exact specifications.  he was very pleased with the results and was excited to put lights inside them to see how they would look at night.  we lugged them into the bathroom (the darkest room in the house), and tried them with a light to see how they would look.  ledge was quite pleased with the results and both of them got the thumbs up.  now we are ready for halloween!

pickin' pumpkins

one of the guys at work grew up in the allegan area, so i like to ask him from time to time about local things.  as halloween is almost upon us, i asked him where the best place would be to get pumpkins from.  he told us about gene the pumpkin man!  apparently he's a local icon around these parts and if you want good pumpkins, then there's no one better than ol' gene.  not wanting to miss out on such a wonderful opportunity, we headed down there at our first opportunity!  it was a little bit rainy when we headed over, but figuring it was fall, that was about the weather one would expect.
as we pulled up to the pumpkin farm, the first thing ledger noticed was how everything was orange- and he was delighted! 
we picked out a couple nice pumpkins, including a few little gourds just for fun, and even got a chance to talk with gene himself.  the farm was fun to visit and the pumpkins were top-notch, so we will definitely make this a regular visit from here on out!
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diana is so hot!

every once in a while i just realize how lucky i am to have such a hot wife.  sure, she's so much more than that, of course, but she is super hot too!

future tigershark

ledger did pretty well over the summer with swimming at sandy pines, but we figured it might be a good idea to have him practice his swimming skills over the year to get him ready for next summer.  well, it just so happens that allegan has a swimming pool at the high school and offers swimming classes all year long to make sure kids are fully trained.  what luck!  well, now that leger is in swim class, he is all about the swim team life- he is pretty sure he's on the allegan swim team and has been calling himself a tigershark and thinks he's pretty much on the swim team himself.  granted, he may one day be on the swim team (he does have the sleek body for it), but i'm pretty sure level one of swim class for children does not qualify you.  at least not yet...

jon's baby

well, look who is a daddy again.  jon and allison were in the hospital celebrating the birth of their second girl, so i gave aaron a call and the two of us headed over to congratulate them and see the new bundle of joy!  jo-jo was as cute as can be and jon was beaming about the whole thing.  as we were talking to jon he shared with us that his car had some issues down in the parking garage, so aaron was all about that!  its always helpful to have someone who knows how to fix a car- even at the birth of your second child!  aaron got the car running again, which was a welcome relief for jon, who had a little bit bigger issues on his mind...

sailor pride

my nephew jackson has always been athletic, and now that he's in on the south christian freshman football team!  well, this certainly warranted us to come and support our favorite sailor!  ledger and i braved the summer heat (and boy, was it hot that day!) and went to a game against the wayland team. 
jack did a fantastic job, even scoring a goal!  ledger wasn't so interested in the game, but he was all about that concession stand!
after the game, jackson was sweet enough to pour attention on ledger after the game.  it was a special day for jackson- is first goal! and yet he made sure ledger felt special.  now that's a great cousin!
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lets zoo this

this year we had a membership to the grand rapids museum.  one of the perks of being a member is that it includes a free visit to some of the surrounding museums in west michigan.  september there is a free pass for the sky zoo in kalamazoo.  ledger and i had gone there for a field strip last year, but ledger has been eager to go back, and diana was interested in checking it out as well. 
he had a great time checking out all the exhibits, but most of all ledger just wanted to go on the rides!  we joined him, of course, and had a great time there.  we will definitely be back!
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oil you could ever want

one of diana's new interests is essential oils.  yeah, i know, her and everyone else in the country!  well, one of her new friends is someone who sells oils, so diana ordered a starter kit from her and it arrived today!  its like christmas morn for diana, she is so thrilled to open it up and check out what she got.  apparently the starter kits sometimes have different scents, so she was really eager to see what she got.  there were a few she wanted that weren't in there, but she was very excited about the unexpected surprises in their as well. 
looks like our house is going to be smelling pretty good for the next few months!

first day of kindergarten

here it is- today is the day.  it's ledger's first day of kindergarten!  we've been preparing him all summer for the changes coming, and now today they have come!  he has been very nervous about the change- this is a different school than preschool, with all different kids, and a totally different schedule.  he has been playing it cool for the past couple weeks, but he definitely has some anxiety about starting. 
diana and i both got up extra early so we could savoir the morning with him, answer any questions, talk about the possibilities of the day.
we made him a big breakfast: waffles with peanut butter and bananas.  don't want the little guy getting hungry on his first day!  we talked through with him what he was going to be doing, how the drop off was going to go, how we were going to see him at the end of the day and pick him up; just kind of go over everything so he wasn't too worried. 
he picked out his clothes for the first day and when he got them on he was feeling pretty good, it helped melt away some of the worry he had for the day.  he got his minion backpack, some new duds on- this boy is ready for the first day of kindergarten!
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second hand print

with another school year upon us, it was time to pull out our hand print board.  last year before ledger started preschool i decided we needed to do something a little pinteresty: we got a wood board and are planning to have ledger make a hand print on it just before the first day of school every year until he graduates from 12th grade!  that means there will be 14 hand prints on it, charting his growth from preschool to senior in high school.  kinda sappy crafting, but we think it will be pretty cool.  with kindergarten less than a week away, we stopped by the craft store and got a new paint color.  this year he picked yellow, which i'm pretty sure was heavily influenced by his obsession with minions!  we made the hand print on the board and then proceeded to make a good ol' mess with the paint- which ledger loved!
this will be a really neat one to see when he's all done.  (here's the link to last year's post about when we started it)

sandy with friends

we invited miranda, levi, and lissa to come by for one last hurrah before the end of the summer.  they came by for a visit out to sandy pines.  my parents were kind enough to host them, making a delicious meal and everything!  sandy had a fun fireworks display, so we stayed out nice and late, which ledger really loved!
(more pics)

kindergarten open house

as the summer winds to a close, the reality that our boy is going to be going to kindergarten is starting to set in.  his school had an open house so we went.  ledger was really excited to see his new classroom and meet his new teacher, diana and i were a excited as well and eager to see what his new school was going to be like.  we got to meet his teacher and she is wonderful- it will be a good fit for our lil' active kid!  ledge is really excited for the school year to start- i know that won't always be the case, so we are going to enjoy it while we can...

all terrain fun

one of my buddies at work has a boy who's just a little younger than ledger and the two of them get along very well, so he and i went over to spend the afternoon at their place with them.  while we were there, mike offered to pull out his four wheeler.  um, yes please!  i don't know if i've ever been on one before, so i knew ledger hadn't!  after mike and his boy rode around for a few minutes he asked if i wanted to give it a try.  i snapped up that opportunity and cruised down the drive a time or two!  when i got back to the house i asked ledge if he wanted to ride.  without hesitation he hopped right on and the two of us tooled around on it and ledger loved it!  mike hopped back on and took ledge for a ride too, this time getting a bit more adventurous and even doing a wheelie or two while he was on it!  he totally loved it!  as we where heading home from a fun afternoon ledger asked when we would be coming back cause he totally wants to go on that atv again!
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goodbye bluety

it was a tough day in the brink household.  granted, he may have only been a part of this family for a couple months, but ledger's fish bluety was a big part of our son's life and he took his fish's passing very hard.  bluety had been acting out of sorts for about a week.  we did everything we could, consulting the internet, going to the pet store for medicine/water treatment, but unfortunately there was nothing we could do.  our pet fish's time on this world came to an end.  we warned him that night that bluety might not make it to morning, but it was still tough for him to wake up to the reality of a dead pet.  i left early that morning for work so i took bluety and buried him out by the garage before work.  the last thing we wanted ledger to see was his dead body floating in the water.  when i got home i took ledge down to see where he was buried and to pay our last respects.  ledge wanted to make a gravestone for bluety, so he drew a stone on paper and we taped it to a popsicle stick and we put it at the top of his grave.  when we went down to see his final resting place we picked a couple wildflowers to put on his grave.  ledger wanted to say a few words, pray, and say his goodbyes.  he was a good pet and will be missed.  ledge is already looking forward to seeing him again with grandma great in heaven.

eclipse

there was a whole lot of hubbub over the past couple weeks about the impending solar eclipse.  these things don't happen too often, so it was kind of interesting.  we happened to be driving back from south bend while it was happening, so we pulled off the road for a bit and checked it out.  it was hard to explain to ledger what was going on, but once he made sense of it, he thought it was super cool!  we made sure not to actually look directly at it, but i did take a direct photo of it so we could see it really well.

girls trip

while i was home moving furniture around for our new carpet and working, diana was off galavanting around with her lady friends at the beach!  i would say i was jelous, but i would rather do that then have to spend the week at the beach...  every year for the past few years we have gone on a friends vacation.  for a couple years we went to the upper peninsula, which was a blast both times; and last year we mixed it up a bit and spent the week in the nash.  well, this year we had made plans to go to miranda's grandparent's place over on the east side of the state, but for one reason or another people kept backing out.  the only people left were diana and i, miranda, and lissa.  i gracefully bowed out and allowed the three ladies to have a special vacation just the three of them.  diana's mom took ledger for the week and i stayed home and put in some overtime at work.  everyone involved had a fantastic time!  (it wasn't all that fun for me doing all that overtime, but on the other hand i got to watch a bunch of movies too!)

roll out the carpet

since we resigned our lease on our place, the company offered to replace our carpets.  i didn't have to think about that for very long- of course we want new carpet!  the only bother with getting new carpet is that i have to move all our furniture off the old carpet so they can replace it.  we scheduled it for a time when diana and ledger would be out of town, so it was up to me to get most of the stuff ready for the workers.  i had initially set up a time when jon could come and help me with the heavy stuff, but that ended up not working out, so it was just lil old me moving all our heavy furniture!  it's kinda surprising how much we have when it comes time to actually move it.  well, i hunkered down and did the heavy lifting to clear the place out.  we did it in two stages, the first day they replaced the main floor, the second day they did the bedrooms and loft.  its a good thing too, because if they tried to do it in one go there would have been nowhere to put all our stuff!  to prepare for the first day i had to put everything in our bedroom or up in the loft, the second day i had to pile everything in the living room and empty out the bedrooms and loft.  it was a pain, but the results are fantastic!
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switch!

i finally did it- i found one!  as soon as nintendo announced their new system i told my wife that i was going to buy one no matter what.  she understood and said 'go for it!'  here's the problem though: now that it's released, i can't find one anywhere!  its been out for about 3-4 months now and i had yet to find one in a store, which i would check all of them every time we went into a place that might have them.  well, we happen to be picking up a few things from the target in kalamazoo and i figured i'd go take a look and see- and wouldn't you know it?  they had one!  i immediately called over an employee and had them open up the case and bought it right there- i couldn't even wait to make it to the registers at the front of the store!
as soon as we got home i set it up and had a blast playing it!  i am certainly going to make my wife regret letting me get this thing...