birthday fish

for the last several months ledger has made one thing very clear: he wanted a fish for his birthday.  he actually wanted a cat, but since diana and i are both allergic, that was a hard no.  we told him that getting a fish was a maybe, so he kept asking day after day and telling us that he was big enough to take the 'respility' that comes along with taking care of a pet.  on his birthday we finally made his deepest wish come true and took him to the pet store to pick out his very own beta fish.  he could hardly believe it!  we took time to pick out what tank he would want, picking out the perfect sand, plants, and decorations to get to fill the tank and make him feel at home.  then we picked out the fish itself: a blue beta.  he decided to name it bluety, because of course he would... 
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pato

one of ledger's favorite shows is 'pokoyo' (and i must admit, its one of my favorites too!), so when it was craft time, he knew exactly what he wanted to make: a hat of pato, the duck from pokoyo!  well, with a little bit of help from daddy, we put together this fun creation!  he was about as pleased as a little boy could be- he spent the rest of the day pretending to be that crazy duck, much to his father's delight!

pie!

can you believe that our son has gone this far in his life without ever tasting pie?  sounds crazy to me too but it's true!  well, the three of us were at the allegan village inn restaurant and ledge said he wasn't very hungry...  not hungry, you say?  well, i bet you can find room for this!  we got him a peanut butter cream pie and he almost fainted when that slice came to the table!  he was certainly not expecting to be allowed to eat this sort of sugar bomb! (diana's really good at making sure he eats healthy, thus the reason he's never had pie before). 'dig in!' we told him- and he did!  he hardly even let us have a small taste.  as you can see, he gave this one hearty thumbs up!

yahtz

it was time to finally initiate our son.  it was time for him to learn his mama's favorite game: yahtzee!  diana's loved this game for decades.  we've gone though times in our marriage where we would play it for a couple hours a night for three weeks straight!  its been a while since we've dragged the ol' dice out, but we figured our boy was old enough to rattle them die and learn the ways of diana...
he took to it really well and was really enjoying it!  diana and i took care of the scoring and what not, we just told him what he should try to roll.  he was really excited that he actually won the first game he ever played, so i think he's hooked for life like his mama!

party time

every year diana's friend sara invites us all to her son's birthday party.  ledge and diana are always excited to join them because sara and vince always go all out to celebrate!  this year they went to chuck e. cheese's to have their party.  i always wish i could go, but its on a saturday so i have to work.  diana does make sure to take some pictures so i can at least live vicariously through them as they are having a great time with friends!
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scrape the sky

one of the cool things ledger got for christmas from his grandma and grandpa was a huge set of magnet blocks.  well, we were playing around with them when we decided to give ourselves a challenge: how high could we make a magnet tower?  turns out we could make one really tall!  we were first making one on the kitchen table but got so high we hit the ceiling- so we moved it into the living room and grabbed a step ladder so we could go as high as possible!  i think that thing ended up being around 8 feet, and ledge was so proud of the architectural marvel he had created!

oscar-in-law

if you know anything about me you know that i love movies.  as a lover of movies, that means i also love the super bowl of movies: the oscars!  i always make a point of trying to watch all the movies nominated for best picture each year.  well, this year it was especially cool to watch one movie in particular: manchester by the sea.  if you've seen this movie you may be wondering why i though it was cool to watch- because it is a slow and extremely depressing movie!  but let me explain: i was really excited to see this one because i know someone who helped make it! my wife's step sister worked on the set of the movie and clothed the actors in the film!  that means that she was an important part in an oscar nominated film- congrats alanna!

rockford dogs

as a special treat, we headed up to rockford with mom and papa!  as a family, we've been going up there since i was really little.  usually there is just one purpose in going there: eating at the corner bar!  their hot dogs are probably the best i've ever had.  we headed up, all five of us, in order to enjoy the beautiful day wandering around the small town... and also get some hot dogs! 
we poked around in some of the little shops, checking out the local artwork and crafts, then took a walk over to the fish ladder.  the weather was amazing and well worth the trip up.  we grabbed a bite to eat, and just had a really nice relaxing day together- what a treat!

lego batman

i know i've said it before, but i'm going to say it again: i love the regent theatre in allegan!
in celebration of the release of the new lego batman movie, the regent invited batman to come on friday night for the opening night of the movie.  well, there's no way we could miss that!  i made sure to get out of work a couple hours early so ledger, diana, and i could go and meet batman and watch his newest movie. 
ledge was really excited about the chance to see batman, so we got there nice and early.  batman pulled up out front in his bat-truck and meet all the kids waiting for him outside!  he stopped to take pictures with everyone!  ledger asked him if he was going to stay and watch the movie with us, but unfortunately he said that he had to go and fight crime, so he couldn't stay too long.  though ledge was a bit disappointed, he understood...
we had a great night and ledge really liked the movie- thanks again, regent theatre!
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mikey likes birthday parties

one of the guys i know at work has a little boy about the same age as ledger.  we have gotten together and had the boys hang out a time or two and they both love to play together.  it was mikey's birthday, so the three of us went over to celebrate along with them. 
it was fun to spend some time with mike and ashley and let the boys play around for the night!
we will certainly be doing this again soon!
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sing along

you know me, i'm always up for going to the movies.  but you know who isnt? my dad.  so when he says that there's a movie he would like to see, i always jump at the chance to go see a movie with him!  usually this means movies like 'skyfall', or 'lone survivor', but over christmas he said the most unexpected thing: 'hey mark, i'd like to go see that 'sing' movie'  what?!?  i laughed at first thinking he was joking.  he wasnt.  what is going on here?  my dad wants to see an animated musical in the theater?  ok...  well, i went to work trying to make a whole event out of it and everyone was up for it!  so a few days after christmas the whole family went to the theater to see 'sing'!  i was so excited about the whole thing that we payed for everyone's tickets!  even my mom went with!  i think the last time we were able to drag her to the theater was for 'forrest gump'!  it was a lot of fun, whole family, seeing a movie together.  the film itself was ok, but the chance to go to the theater with everyone made the event extra special!

daddy's shirt

i have a shirt that i like to wear all the time when i'm home.  i don't know why, but its something i've done for years.  i have a 'house shirt' that i always change into mr. rogers style when i first get home each day.  i'm sure my wife is super sick of seeing me in it, but its just the thing i like to wear.  well, the other day it was in the laundry and ledge pulled it out of the clean pile and put it on.  he then proceeded to talk around saying, in as deep a voice as he could muster, 'i'm daddy, look at me! i'm daddy!'  it gave diana and i a good laugh, thats for sure!

museum day

we had some extra time on our hands, which is bound to happen when ledge gets two weeks off of school for christmas, so we decided to go to the grand rapids public museum.  instead of just getting tickets for the day, we decided to spend just a little more and get an annual pass. 
its a good thing we did too, because ledger totally loved the place!  we went into all the different exhibits and had so much fun poking around and checking everything out.  ledge had a blast, and so did we!
we will definitely be coming back here again soon!
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south bend christmas

soon after christmas we headed down to celebrate with diana's family.  we had a great time seeing everyone and exchanging gifts.  ledge always loves to see his auntie gigi!

christmas morn

oh what a glorious morning!  our boy popped out of bed excited for what santa brought him!  he jumped in our bed excitedly demanding that we get up.  gladly, buddy!  we all walked out into the living room to see the plethora of gifts waiting for us.  thought ledge was thrilled at the pile of prizes, he was also more than willing to wait until we were all up and ready. 
first things first: lets have some breakfast!  we started a new tradition- cinnamon rolls on christmas morn.  it had been years since we made cinnamon rolls, but i got a container of them earlier in the week in preparation.  it was great because they are really yummy, but it also fills the house with such a warm and delicious smell- perfect for the christmas festivities!
then the fun began- ledger started digging in to the gifts we had gotten for him.  we really took our time, giving ledge the chance to play with each toy and enjoying it before moving on to the next gift.  when the rolls were ready we took a break and all ate, just enjoying the nice slow morning.  diana and i opened our little trinkets for each other, and then back to the main show of ledger's gifts!  as always, we went a bit overboard with the gifts, getting him way too many prizes.  but when it was all said and done, about 3 or 4 hours later, he was a very happy boy and we were very happy parents.
for the rest of the day we just took it easy as ledge jumped from one toy to the other, exploring the new bounty he had gotten.
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christmas eve

we got home pretty late from the festivities at my sisters place, but ledger was still super excited about the excitement that was to come on christmas morning.  as soon as we got home ledge wanted to crawl under the tree and be a christmas present!  his big plan was to stay under the tree all night and try to catch a glimpse of santa when he came to bring the gifts.  of course, we couldn't let that happen- so we went him straight to bed!  well, we let him set out a treat for santa first, but then off he went, fast asleep so he would be ready for the exciting morning ahead!
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