goodbye gull bladder
sandy water park!
Now we're talking! It's finally warm enough to make our way to the Sandy Pines water park! Ledger is such a confident swimmer now that he doesn't need any sort of swimmies or close supervision, so he was so excited to be let go on his own there! we all hopped in the pool to cool off and enjoy the park, but he quickly started asking about going on the water slide. I went down with him the first time, but we told him that he's big enough now to go on it by himself if he's brave enough. Well, that's all the encouragement he needed! After a minute or two of waffling, he decided he was in fact brave enough, and waltzed right up there to take the plunge by himself. And he did great! He came down and was laughing and smiling like a champ! 'I wanna go again!' he exclaimed. No problem buddy, hop back in line! I think he ended up going down it 10-12 times!
allegan's 4th
This story doesn't end well. I was really excited for the 4th of July this year. With my unusual work schedule I never get the chance to spend summer holidays with the family. I always work Memorial day and Labor day, and usually the 4th of July as well. This year though, it worked out that I was actually going to have the day off! I was pumped, so we made plans to enjoy the festivities downtown Allegan! They were having a big celebration with the splash pad, food trucks, live music, and of course- fireworks! We headed downtown around 6pm to meet up with Savannah's family. We found a great place to park over by the library and walked the boardwalk over to the splash pad area. The place was packed with so many people enjoying the beautiful weather and the wonderful location. Ledger was willing to give the freezing cold splash pad another try, so he was in his bathing suit. The kids were busy playing in the splash pad when some reckless teens came barreling through, paying no attention to the other dozens of kids playing. One of the teens rammed chest first straight into Ledge, pounding him to the concrete. He immediately started crying and bleeding. He had a huge bruise on his head and scrapped up hands and knees. The teen stopped for a second and said 'oh, sorry'. He clearly felt bad about it, but the damage had been done. Ledge was a mess and in need of some bandages and tending to. All our big plans thrown out the window. We gathered our things and headed home. I was totally disappointed that our rare opportunity to take part in our town's festivities were cut short.
There's no way we will ever get Ledger to try that splash pad again now...
gatecon '19
so we bought a house...
One of the main reasons we finally sold our rental property in Indiana was for the chance to finally have a house of our own. Diana and I spent a lot of time talking about what our next step was. We've now got an opportunity to change our lives in some very big ways. We talked about moving to a bigger town, maybe up to Grand Rapids, or moving down to the South Bend area. There were many nights and weeks of going back and fourth about what was next for our lives. Through it all we realized that we both really love it here in Allegan and don't actually want to leave. So, that means that we were going to take a big step: buy a house here. We got in touch with my brother-in-law Tim, he's a real estate agent, and asked him to do his thing for us. The market right now is really tough, the asking price is just the starting point. Any of the houses we had looked at earlier ended up going for 5-20 thousand more than their asking price! We were initially put in a bid for a place downtown Allegan. We fell in love with the old home and were excited to fix it up. we put in for ten thousand below asking price, figuring that we would get the ball rolling with the bidding process. they came back with a counter offer, but after some serious thought, we kind of decided that maybe an old house isn't the way we wanted to go after all. Those repairs take a lot of money, and we aren't exactly what you would call 'rich'... We withdrew our offer. Feeling defeated we took a couple weeks off of searching. Finally we tried again and found a few we liked. Tim took us around to check them out but they were all duds. One Wednesday morning Diana opened the real estate app and spotted one that she really liked. We talked to Tim and he set up a chance for us to see it that day- it's first day on the market. We walked in and fell in love! We immediately put in a bid for more than they were asking, hoping we'd save ourselves the frustration of loosing it to a higher bidder. Wednesday night Diana was tossing and turning about the offer. In the morning we talked about it and realized that the higher bid was just more than we could afford so, reluctantly, we asked Tim to change our bid down to the asking price. He did, and told us that it doesn't mean we are out of the running. Feeling dejected, we both gave up hope and went about the rest of our week.
Then Friday afternoon we got a call from Tim- our offer was accepted! So, we seem to have bought a new house. Now the fun begins...
summer pines
It's easy to know when summer is here, because it's Sandy Pines time! Mom and Papa invited everyone to come by their place for an inaugural grill out for the start of the Sandy Pines summer season. It was still a little cold, so we didn't make it out to the water park, but we did partake in a golf cart ride through the park. Ledger was so excited to see his cousins and to be back at mema and papa's trailer!the projectionist
The place was packed with friends and those who worked on the short. The director was there to introduce the film and talk a little about the work that went into making it. It was really interesting to get a little peek behind how much effort and creativity must go in to pulling off a film on a tight budget. The film itself is about a little boy in World War II Germany who want to reopen the movie theater in town but the only ones who know how to run the projector were the jews that had been run out of town. After the film there was a Q & A and discussion. A fun event that could only happen here in Allegan!
last day of first grade
Today was a big day for our little guy. Today was the last day of first grade! He was understandably pumped from the moment he first popped out of bed in the morning. It was only a half day with a special picnic for all the families at noon. Unfortunately Diana was feeling really sick, so I went to see him alone. All the fast food places in town are packed with parents who are picking up food for the picnic, so I knew not to even try that route, instead I planned a head and picked him up a special meal earlier in the week when I got groceries. He had a special lunchable and juice, which he was pleased about. He was kind of too excited to even notice though, this was the last day of school, after all! We ate quickly, then Ledger ran around playing with some friends for the last time this year. Soon after, everyone was beckoned over to the basketball court where the kids were treated to a real live magician! As if Ledger could even get more excited!
Finally it was time to head home, another successful school year behind him- only 11 more to go!
aladdin again
I'm always a sucker for going to see any movie in the theater, but sometimes it takes a little more convincing for my wife and son. It wasn't very hard to talk Diana into going to see Aladdin, but Ledger was a different story. He was not at all interested in seeing this one. I asked him why and he said 'it's not animated, I don't like movies that aren't animated!' I distinctly remember him saying that he didn't want to watch the animated Aladdin a year or two ago, so I wasn't really believing him this time either... We told him that we were going and if he wanted to he could stay home by himself while we went. I knew that wasn't going to be ok with him, so he pouted for a minute, but came along. He still wasn't sold on seeing the movie as we found our seats, but he's a lot like Diana- good snacks can go along way in changing his negative attitude! All three of us ended up enjoying the movie by the time it started rolling and we had a very nice family night out at the movies!grill house papa
After visiting with Chad and Miyuki for a while, we brought Ledger over to a friend's house for a couple hours so the adults could go out for dinner. Due to his medical issues, we hadn't yet had a chance to get together for Papa's birthday, so he and Mom had made plans for all of us (sans kids) to go to the Allegan Grill House for a birthday meal! It's a pretty cool place- you pick a piece of meat and actually grill it yourself. Now, since Diana and I don't actually eat meat, we hot veggie skewers and a skillet of mushrooms to grill instead. The whole thing was a lot of fun- it was great to have an interactive meal. Tim and Chad kind of fancy themselves as grill masters, so it was amusing to me to watch them try to out grill each other...chad visits
We don't get visitors very often, especially a visit from my brother! He's been in the military for over 15 years now, so he's never in town. He and his wife stop by in Michigan only once or twice a year. With them in town we actually convinced them to stop by our place before going out to dinner. It's been forever (or at least feels like it to Ledger) since he saw him, so he was really excited to see his uncle and auntie! They came down and stayed for a little while. We got to show off our place and do a bit of catching up with the two of them. As expected, most of the time was filled with Ledger wanting to show uncle Chad all his stuff and his drawings. Chad and Miyuki were appropriately impressed, which sated the boy, allowing the adults a few minutes to chat and catch up without interruption.walk in the woods
Around the apartments where we live are a series of trails. There is a woods surrounding us on three sides and there are a bunch of biking and hiking paths through them. Ledger asked if a friend from school could come over; she lives in the apartment complex too, so she came over and the two of them played for a while. It didn't take long for Ledge to get bored with his own toys, so I suggested the two of them go wander around the trails. We hadn't been on them yet this year, so it would be the first time out this season. Ledge was all for it, but his friend was a bit more hesitant. It became obvious that she had never walked through the woods before, because she was so terrified of the bugs flying around and any branches or leaves that touched her as we walked. I always thought Ledge was pretty nature averse, but this was a whole other level! Her fear gave Ledger a chance to feel brave, shooing away whatever spooked her. By the time we made the whole circuit, the two of them were quite exhausted and thankful to make it back to the apartment.frozen splash pad
downtown Allegan has been making some improvements lately. They updated the parking area by main street, expanded the library, and now just completed an new splash pad down by the boardwalk. it was a pretty warm day for the spring, so Ledger and I headed down there to check it out he was all gung-ho about it, ready to play in the water with the rest of the kids. His excitement soon vanished once he ran into the water. It is ice cold! he was not ready for that. the weather is kind of warm, but with the water he was immediately freezing- this water was so cold that it would freeze you on a hot august day! needless to say, our visit was rather short. He was a bit disappointed about the whole thing, but I just reminded him that Sandy Pines will be open soon, and they've got a water slide!
I'm sure we'll try the splash pad again this summer, but if the water stays this temperature, then we'll bring a scarf and gloves...
game on!
The Regent Theater downtown Allegan apparently had a back room that went unused for years and years. They recently decided to clean it up and open it as an arcade- filled with pinball games! When I heard about it I knew we needed to go and check this thing out. I grabbed the boy and a roll of quarters and we headed down to see this place!(more pics)
walking around downtown
we were walking past and saw that they were gearing up for the grand opening. for some reason they had sidewalk chalk by the door. Ledger, of course, noticed this and asked if he could do a few drawings for them. 'certainly!' they said. well, he then proceeded to fill the sidewalk with video game characters in celebration of the arcade! They were very pleased and got a good laugh at the fun scenes he created.
We are totally going to have to check this place out when it opens!
(more pics)
officially named 'best snugger ever'
I'm sure this will disappoint a lot of other fathers out there, but it's time to face reality: you lost. Many of you gave it a good try and performed admirably, but the results are in and you didn't quite make the cut. My son recently informed me that I had been awarded the much-coveted title of 'Best Snugger Ever'. I even have the plague to prove it.
I'd like to thank all the cozy evenings on the couch and the times we laid on the floor reading books. Also, a shout out to Diana who did all the heavy lifting on this one. She was busy keeping the household together while I was in training. Being the best snugger ever does not come easy, there's at least 2-4 hours of practice every single day. She really has been a trooper while I've been going through the rigorous snugging in preparation. Again, I'm amazed that I won the award, I mean, it's just an honor to be nominated. There were some strong contenders this year, but it looks like I was able to pull out the win.
Better luck next year, guys!I'd like to thank all the cozy evenings on the couch and the times we laid on the floor reading books. Also, a shout out to Diana who did all the heavy lifting on this one. She was busy keeping the household together while I was in training. Being the best snugger ever does not come easy, there's at least 2-4 hours of practice every single day. She really has been a trooper while I've been going through the rigorous snugging in preparation. Again, I'm amazed that I won the award, I mean, it's just an honor to be nominated. There were some strong contenders this year, but it looks like I was able to pull out the win.
art show
Every year Allegan has an art show for the grade school students to show off their work. Its always a highlight for us because we get to see how our little artist is progressing! Ledger's medium of choice is ink and paper, so its good for him to be challenged with different materials from time to time. This year he got to show off his skill with pastels. He made a self portrait. He really likes art class at school, even if he seems to think every class is art class... All of his school work and assignments are completely covered with drawings and doodles! I hope he's not annoying his teachers with them.
Actually, I don't really care if they find it annoying- he's an artist and he needs to express himself!
(more pics)
that's me
I get told sometimes that I only put pictures of other people up here on this. Usually this is said by people who think I am putting up pictures of them that they think are unflattering. So, as a way of equaling things out, here's an unflattering picture of me.
you're welcome.
children's museum
a On half days from school we like to try and do something special with Ledger. This time we thought we'd take him to the children's museum in Grand Rapids! We invited his best friend Savannah to join us and she was all in.
I picked them up from school and headed directly downtown to check it all out. Ledge had been there before in preschool, but Savannah hadn't ever see the museum, so Ledge showed her around and they checked out all the cool exhibits and fun activities. It was all I could do to keep up! Their favorites were the bubble makers and the medical facilities for kids.
After checking out all the nooks and crannies of the museum, we headed home. First though, we stopped at a McDonalds for dinner- one that had a kid's playland, of course! I was surprised they still had any energy left, but they were busy at it, almost forgetting to take time to eat their meals!
We dropped Savannah off at home and finally got back to our place around dark. This little boy is going to sleep well tonight!
like riding a bike
Diana and I took turns walking next to him as he worked on being able to turn the pedals and keep moving forward. He got frustrated often, but we reminded him that's part of the process of learning something new. He wasn't impressed. We were only out there about 10 minutes before he got bored with it. Well, we will try again soon and eventually he'll get the hang of it. At least he now has a bike that's the right size for him!
a pet snail
Well, the day finally came and he and Diana went down to pick up dear old Alex. The two of them became fast friends! All that boy wanted to do was watch his little slimey new friend. Over the next couple days he would come home from school and play with Alex, feeding him different fruits and giving him water. We let him know from the start that Alex would eventually need to go back to the forest to be with his own kind, this was not a long term pet. Eventually he accepted that fact and we took the terrarium down to the edge of the woods and Ledge said his goodbyes. It was with a heavy heart that Ledge placed his beloved Alex onto a leaf on the ground and waved goodbye forever.
I'm sure Ledger will talk about Alex for months (or years) to come.
end of the trip
when we got home our boy was pretty excited we were back, and we were better rested and happy to see him too.
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