flea pancakes

with it being the last flea market of the year, i knew i wanted to go!  usually we don't actually get anything, but i just love to wander around and look.  mom, ledger, and i were up early, so we even decided that we would head out right away and partake in the pancake breakfast they always offer!  usually we get there too late for it because we sleep at the house and then drive in saturday morning, but since we just slept at the trailer, we were able to make it in time!  diana wasn't really interested since it would just give her a really bad stomachache all day, so we let her get a little more sleep.  we told ledger that we were going to get pancakes and he was thrilled- he loves those things!  we got a couple helping of flapjacks and found a spot to sit.  he feasted on them and ended up eating almost two whole pancakes!  he didn't plan ahead very well, we forgot to bring wipes for him, so he was a bit sticky and syrupy for the rest of the flea- but to be honest, so were we...
as we wandered around the flea market for a while, mom wanting to check out all the flowers even though we were at the end of the season, and ledger wanting to check out... well, everything!  when we finally made it back to the trailer diana was up and ready so we spend the rest of the day riding golf carts and enjoying the beautiful weekend!
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the sandy memorial

memorial day is always a little bittersweet.  its a wonderful time, and its always great to have a nice long weekend, but it also means that summer is over and its time to say goodbye to another year at sandy pines!  well, we headed up to the ol' pines for out last visit of the year.  we decided to stay there the whole weekend this time, i dont think we even stopped back at mom and papa's house at all!  we spent both nights on an air mattress in the screened in porch- which actually worked great.  it was a great visit, we got to see the kids, the family, all the sandy pines friends, and we got to close out the summer with a bang!
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gatecon- day 2

and so we headed into an unprecedented second day of stargate love!  the convention itself has always been an all-weekend event, but we've never felt compelled to throw in our lot for more than one day until this year.  it was long heralded as the last year they would have the convention, but over the weekend it was announced by the promoters that, due to the overwhelming response from fans, they would actually have one more.  i have mixed feelings about this announcement.  on one hand, i'm glad that i can look forward to going again next year, but on the other hand, jon and i both felt a little bit cheated by their claims that this was going to be the last year...  oh well, we figured we would just kick back and enjoy ourselves and worry about next year when it happens.
again there were some great guests who came to share and talk about all their stargate memories and what they are up to now.  we stopped by the merch tables one last time.  i had a little bit of money left, so i fixed that problem immediately!  we headed out right away at the end of the day so we could hit the road- we both had to work the next day and our homes were a time zone away!
i have a feeling that if they want to keep having conventions, jon and i will keep showing up...
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a knight to remember

with the con over for the day and nothing else to do, jon and i decided to head over to schaumburg for the evening and see what was shakin.  one of the attractions around there is medieval times.  I had never been there before but jon had and was totally up for going again.  he even offered to spring for my ticket as a belated birthday gift.  well, ok, twist my arm!
i kind of knew what i was in for, but the reality of it is so much cooler than i expected.  about the only experience i've ever had with it is what they featured in that jim carrey movie 'cable guy'.  they mocked it pretty mercilessly, so i didn't really take it very seriously.  we got in there and wandered around in the lobby for a while, it was pretty cool, the whole place was decorated like a castle and you could go look at the horses or wander through the 'dungeon' and see different torture devices from the era.  as the showtime got closer, the king and princess came out, heralded by the trumpets, and proceeded to announce different birthday parties- even knighting the birthday boys and girls!  finally, they called in the different groups for their seating areas, and the magic began.  like i said, i knew it would be kind of neat to see the horses and their riders, and i knew it would be kind of fun to see the whole presentation play out, but i was surprised at just how awesome it was!  at the beginning we were instructed to clap for the knight from our seating area, so i did, politely.  but by the time the jousting and hand to hand combat was underway i was swept up in it and cheering and screaming for our guy!  it really draws you in!  the food was good and we had so much fun watching and cheering along to the two hour show!  i am definitely going to have to come back with ledger and diana sometime soon!
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gatecon krispie

on our way to the hotel we stopped at a convenience store to get a few treats for the night.  jon, who always has a flair for the extreme, decided he would get the biggest treat there ever was: a huge rice krispies treat!  he was so thrilled about his find that it became the source of hilarity through out the rest of our weekend.  as you can see by the picture, he was very proud to be the new owner of the most ridiculously large rice krispies treat ever...  sure, i like them just as much as the next guy, but come on- that thing is absurd!  i told him he had to eat the whole thing and he claimed that wouldn't be a problem.  yeah, we'll see...
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gatecon- day 1

we got an early start on the day so we could arrive at the convention before the first scheduled event.  we knew we couldn't check into our hotel room, so we just went straight to the venue and wandered around the merch room for a while.  as the first guest was getting on stage we found our seats, eager for the days' festivities to commence.  there were a bunch of fun actors from the different shows who had come to share some great stories and answer fans' questions.
one of the things that always surprises me about these conventions is the people who attend them.  now, i would assume that i know the type of people who would go to a stargate convention; initially i would picture a 35 year old fat white guys who still live with their parents (...oh wait, this is hitting a little too close to home), but the reality is that its filled with many different kinds of people!  the majority of the people attending are actually women, couples, and kids too!
jon and i attended a few of the speakers, walked over to macs for lunch, then got to hear a few more sessions.  eventually though, we were both too excited about the hotel that we ditched the last one and headed out to check in for the night.  the closest place we could find available and cheap was about 4 miles away, so we headed out and started planning out our night.
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last gate con

 i look forward to it all year and its finally here: gatecon!  i've been obsessed with the show 'stargate' for many years now and five years ago my obsession took its ultimate form- by attending a convention dedicated to stargate!  (yes, they actually exist...) and i happen to live close enough to one of the only ones in the world, chicago.  since the last stargate related tv show has been off the air for over three years now, the guys that put the convention on had declared that this year would be the last one.  after this, no more conventions.  well, when i heard that i knew i needed to make sure this one went out with a bang!  jon has gone with me to the con for the past couple years, so i asked him if he wanted to make a whole weekend out of it and go for two days instead of just the usual one day.  his response?  of course!  so we made our plans and booked a hotel room so we could stay the night.  then we patiently waited... finally the big event arrived and we were thrilled!  jon came down to pick me up and we were on our way!

big jet!

as i was doing a little organizing in the garage i came across a box of some of my toys when i was little.  there was a bag of old transformers toys, so i ruffled through them a bit and found a jet that i knew ledger would love.  ledger found another jet transformer a while ago at mema's house and really loved it- every time we went up to visit he would always want to play with his 'big jet!'  he and that toy were inseparable!  now, finding another one for him at our house, i showed it to him and he was thrilled!  this one is a bit sturdier, so he isnt constantly asking us to 'fix' it because he accidentally pulled on part of it causing it to begin transforming into the robot form.  its such a simple little toy, but it fascinates him to no end.  i kind of see myself in the way he can just completely lose himself in his own little world and play so intently!  i used to do that all the time, loosing an entire afternoon to a handful of micro machine cars!  (alright, if im being honest, i still do...)

monkeying around

after we hit up the museum, we headed over to one of the main streets in south bend where they have a few things for the boys to enjoy.  down the way was the south bend chocolate company, a cool little cafe that also has an ice cream shop and a play area for kids!  right outside the cafe is this funny gorilla, which the boys loved!  inside the ran straight toward the play area, but were quite easily coerced into joining us at the table by the ice cream we offered them.  after the ice cream was gone, though, they wanted to head right back to the play area!  tavish was all about the tall equipment, quickly racing around the structure and down the slide, but ledger was a little more hesitant and a little scared by it...  eventually the two of them wore themselves out, so we headed back to the cars and made our way home- exhausted by a fun day!

a day at the museum

one of the days that alanna and tavish were here, the whole family headed out to the health works children's museum in south bend.  ledger had never been there before, so he was thrilled when we got there- the place looked like so much fun!  toys everywhere!  one of the exhibits they had was a food market.  the kids could play with all the different types of food that they had; everything from fruit and veggies to bread and cheese!  with so many options, of course our boy latched on to the grossest and ugliest choice there was: a dumb little fish.  he then proceeded to carry that fish through out the rest of the place, showing it all the different attractions and activities the place had to offer!  by the time we had seen everything and were ready to head out, he was still chatting it up with his little fishy friend...  it took some real work, and lots of distractions, to finally convince him to set down the fish so we could leave.  for the rest of the day he whined about missing his fishy, and then proceeded to talk about him for the rest of the week!  i'm starting to think our boy has a one track mind...
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tavish back in town

as summer begins to wind down, alanna and tavish stopped by for a visit!  it was really nice to see the two of them, and ledger was absolutely pumped to get to spend a few days with his best buddy!  it only took them about 2 minutes before they were back to their old tricks- running around, tavish being chased by ledger who just wanted nothing more than to copy everything tavish did!  the two of them played nonstop- ledger showing off his new toys and tavish showing off the new things he had learned since last we had seen him.  the two of them were inseparable- whether tavish wanted it or not...  for diana and i it was really great to see alanna again!  she has been doing much better, finding some great work thats kept her excited and busy, reconnecting with her old friends, and making some fantastic progress with tavish.
at night, after the boys were put to bed (or watching a movie with their grandma), we got the chance to use the firepit we had put in earlier in the summer.  one night barbara and james were able to join us, another night miranda and levi stopped by for a fire.  since alanna and tavish were only in town for a few days, they made sure to pack them full of fun stuff to do- at one point alanna and the boys met up with one of her friends and their kids and went to a fun waterpark and all the kids got to play in the splash pad!  its always so fun to see our boy playing with other kids and having so much fun!
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fernwood fun

diana has always told me about the fernwood botanical garden and how she and her family would go there from time to time when she was growing up. she has always said that she would like to go there again.  it took far too long, but we finally got the chance to go there for an afternoon!  we gathered up all the troops- diana, ledger, mom, barbara, and james, and we made our way to fernwood.  it was a pretty neat place, there was a visitor center, and then you walk out onto a beautiful trail and field.  as we wandered down the path we came across a fun sculpture garden and cool outdoor train set that ledger loved!  as we got further in to the gardens we got to check out the bird sanctuary and the narrow path through the forest.  we came across an old fashioned water wheel and ledger even spotted a bunch of fish and frogs in the pond!  every stop along the path ledger wanted to show us everything he saw- he totally loved it!
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returning gifts

though we had an awesome long weekend, we were both so glad to see our little boy again!  it was such a huge blessing that diana's mom was willing to take ledger for us and allow us to have a special weekend away- we are so thankful!
while we were up north we certainly didn't forget our boy, we got him a couple things that we thought he might really like.  part of the fun of returning was giving him his gifts!  at one of the stores up in grand marais we came across something that we knew ledger would love.  now, its not even remotely souvenir-ish, but we know our boy wouldn't really care for something that was supposed to be played with...  so instead we got him a double bendy headed flashlight!  strange, i know, but he had recently been obsessed with flashlights and also loves anything he can bend around and mess with, so we figured it was a perfect fit.  he loved it and played with it for a long time- right up until the batteries died, then he lost interest.  go figure.  the other prize we got for him was a little addition to his wind-up toys collection- we got him a wind-up crab!  and, oh boy, did this fascinate him for hours!  unfortunately the gears on it broke, so it didn't last as long as we hoped.  although, that just meant that he got to spend hours telling us about how it was broken instead of actually playing with it.  so... win/win?

spring and out

unfortunately it was time to pack up.  on our final morning we wrapped up our time in beautiful grand marais by cleaning out the hotel room and taking one last little drive through town, stopping for a minute to check out the souvenirs to remember it by.
though it was time to go home, we still had a stop or two along the way- there was one more amazing state park to check out!  levi and miranda wanted to stop by kitch-iti-kipi.  its got a funny name, but it was really cool.  there is a fresh spring that you can go on and look down and see everything in it, the water is absolutely crystal clear.  as we made our way over to the spring we saw the little floating dock type thing that goes out over the water.  its kind of ingenious, really, there are cables set up that go all the way across the spring that the floating dock is connected to.  there's a crack wheel that you turn at it pulls out out over the clear water and the dock has an open middle so you can all look into it and see straight down.  it was really rad to be able to see all the way the bottom which was 80 or so feet down.  you could even see the sand moving around from the fresh water bubbling up from the spring!  definitely worth checking out.
finally all the sight seeing had come to an end and it was time to head back to real life down in the lower peninsula...  we stopped again for lunch in mackinac city, picked up the other vehicle, and made our way through the michigan mitten.  it was really an awesome time; diana and i are already signed up to go again next summer!
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pictured pictures

after checking out a few local parks, it was time for the main event: pictured rocks!  levi, having been here many times before, knew that the best way to enjoy the national park wasn't by boat tour, but by renting our own boat and wandering around by ourselves for the day!  we got there a bit before our scheduled rental, so we grabbed a bit to eat at a really cool homegrown cafe.  after a light snack, we walked over to a little shop or two and got a couple gifts for ledger- well, we couldn't exactly come home empty handed, could we?
finally, it was time to get our boat, so we headed over.  levi took care of the paperwork while the rest of us loaded up our supplies for the day.  they had a bunch of great boats, but we lucked out and got the best, newest one in the fleet- what luck!  after the safety rundown, we were off- out on the open water with an awesome powerful boat to go play on!  as we pushed off the dock it really felt like we were kids again and we had just gotten away with something- how could anyone trust us with such an awesome ship?  it baffles the mind...
for the next five hours we were on our own- free to check out all the sights for ourselves!  we wandered around in the bay for a while, stopping over at a shipwreck to check it out.  the water was so clear we could see the remains of the ship that sunk back in the 1800's.  after that we headed down the coast to see the amazing cliffs and waterfalls that lined the coast of lake superior.  i tell ya what, we could not have possibly gotten a more beautiful day- we started off in hoodies, but within an hour the sun had warmed us up enough to enjoy the trip in shorts and t-shirts.  the sky was clear and the water was warm... ish.  well, it is lake superior after all, it doesn't really get warm.  to be honest, the next several hours are some of the greatest of my life- out on the open water with my beautiful wife and a couple great friends, we just got to soak up the unbelievable views and experience total freedom!  it was so amazing that i am kind of at a loss for words, actually.  at one point we pulled into the shore, pulled out the coolers, and had a nice lunch together.  well, levi and i did anyway, the two girls were too busy collecting shiny rocks from the beach to waste time eating!  after the shore visit, which involved dropped sunglasses and a totally soaked miranda who retrieved them, we continued on our way down the coast.  finally, after seeing an amazing waterfall that shot off the cliff into the water, we realized that it was time to head back.  so we pulled around and were on our way.  just for fun we decided to take the long way around the island back to the rental place.  oops.  turns out the island is a lot bigger than we had anticipated... we ended up getting back to the dock about an hour later than we were supposed to.  they were totally cool with it, so everything turned out ok, but we were getting a bit worried about the clock as we kept rounding what we thought was the last bend in the island... only to see another one appear!  i guess next time we will have to rent it for longer! (oh, darn!)
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u.p. park and rec

the next morning we were up and at 'em, we made a quick stop at another local restaurant for breakfast, and then we were on our way!  along the winding path to our destination there are a bunch of different awesome sights to see, and since levi had been up here many times before, he knew which ones were worth our time.  we got the chance to see an amazing waterfall and a beautiful beach.  we just took a couple of quick stops, only about a half hour or so at each, and then kept on truckin'.  both stops were really cool to check out.  the first one was a path in the woods that lead us to a bunch of stairs that brought us to a really fantastic waterfall.  the path continued but levi told us that this was the best part, so we didn't bother checking the rest out.  and honestly, we didn't need to, the view that we saw was worth the effort it took to climb back up those hundreds of stairs!
the second location was a really great little beach.  i would have thought it was rather out of the way, that is until we pulled in and couldn't actually find a parking spot- the place was packed!  we eventually found one and made our way to the shore, playing in the sand and rocks for a while in the freezing cold lake superior water!
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around grand marais

after the scary off roadin' portion of our stay was over, we payed a visit to one of the local restaurants.  it was a great little place where levi and i got a homemade pizza to share.  we wondered back to the motel and quickly decided it wasnt time to be stuck in our room just yet, so diana, miranda, and i took a little walk to the shore to just enjoy the fresh air and beautiful landscape.  it was cool to see some of the locals playing at the park and the different types of boats that had tied up for the evening.  i tell ya what, this sure is a great small town.  if it weren't so far north i'd love to live there!  well, actually the location wouldn't be a problem for me, but diana would never survive in a place that stays cold for 11 months of the year...
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off roadin'

one of the things levi was so excited about was doing some 'off roadin'.  now, i have in my mind some idea of what that means.  to me it means driving around on some trails and checking out the cool scenery.  well, i was wrong about that one...  to levi it means making his own trails, taking the vehicle to its limits, and getting us in some sort of life-threatening situation or two!  i think i like his version more than mine, that's for sure!  we started off pretty mellow, just trekking around on some two track trails, but then he started veering off the beaten path- and right into huge sand pits that threatened to suck down the vehicle forever!  we were tossing and turning inside that thing as we went down hills and missed trees by inches.  for some reason i couldn't fathom, miranda thought it would be a good idea to rock out with her seat belt off- she regretted that when we took a bump and she went flying into the air and bonked her head on the ceiling of the fj!  the crazy trail that we had taken eventually opened up so we slowed down- and its a good thing we did because the ground suddenly dropped down- about 100 feet straight into lake superior!  this was exactly the kind of trail that levi had wanted to find, a cool place to stop for a while and wander around checking out the amazing view.  we walked around for a while and enjoyed the pit stop.  but once my heart had returned to its proper rhythm and the blood had returned to my knuckles, we were off again- back into the chaotic 'path' that took us there!  i would have loved to take some video of the crazy path we were taking, but i was much to busy holding on for my life...
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hip- hip- marais!

as we got into the upper peninsula we knew we were going to be in for some gorgeous scenery!  i've been to the u.p. before, but its been 25 years or more since going up there with my family.  diana had never really been up there before, so we were both in for a new experience.  after a long drive we finally made it to our destination: grand marais (pronounced 'muh-ray') right on the coast of lake superior!  levi and miranda had been there before, in fact, levi's family has been making this trek since the 50's!  we had gotten a room at one of the little motels and, after a scenic drive around the town, we checked in for our two night stay.  you can tell this is a really small town- when we pulled up to the motel levi walked over to the office and taped on the window was the key to our room and a sign that informed us that the caretakers would be back... eventually!  so, we grabbed the key and unloaded the vehicle.  after getting everything in its place, we took a quick look around and i was amazed at how cool this little town is- it really feels like some sort of cape town in new england.  just a real quaint little village with a great view of the water- so beautiful!
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da yoopee

it being summer, we figured it was finally time to go on a summer vacation!  miranda and levi had been planning on going to the upper peninsula for a while and they really wanted us to join them.  well, twist our arms... ok- we'll go!  we made plans for ledger to be watched by his grandparents, and the four of us headed off for a long weekend away!
levi had some work stuff up in mackinaw city, so the three of us, diana, miranda, and myself, all headed up to join him and head off from there.  with a little time to kill before we headed up, we checked out the sights while we were there.  everything was so beautiful we knew we were in for a great time together!
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engaged in fun

my brother has been in the military for over a decade now and despite his best efforts, finally succumbed to falling in love.  while stationed in japan he found the girl of his dreams!  it took a little while, thanks to visas and international paperwork stuff, but he is finally able to make her his wife!  in celebration of the engagement, my aunt and uncle hosted a special family get together to for everyone to welcome her to the family!  of course, diana, ledger, and i wouldn't miss it- so we headed up to grand rapids for the festivities!
we had a great time seeing them again- ledger always loves to see 'aunt' miyuki and even got to spend the evening playing with his second cousins!  it was a wonderful time with everyone there thrilled with the newest addition to our family.  we hope to see them again soon!
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birthday treat

when its diana's birthday or ledger's birthday we make a big deal of it, but for me?  well, i'd rather mine pass without much fanfare.  all i really want for my birthday is some time with my beautiful bride, and perhaps a tasty meal!  well, thanks to her mom, both of those birthday wishes came true.  she was willing to babysit so that diana and i could go and enjoy an evening together and have a lovely romantical dinner at the ol' re-lob (that's 'red lobster' for the uninitiated...).  it was exactly as i had hoped: a beautiful woman beside me, a bubbly child at home, and a belly full of delicious food.  now that's how you welcome in 35!

our beautiful lake

sometimes diana and i just sit on the back porch and enjoy the view- and what a beautiful view it is!  we have been so lucky to spend this last year with diana's mom and david just enjoying the lake and raising ledger in such a beautiful place!

spooky nerds

one of the things i like most about when kate and jared visit is that it gives me an opportunity to revel in my nerdiness!  jared is definitely a nerd and so when he comes by he and i allow our nerdy powers to combined and the result?  this.  he brought with him a roll playing board game and we were able to talk the girls into playing a game of it with us to try it out.  well, it didn't take long and they were hooked too!  it was a 'haunted house' type game where we were roaming around the house looking for the scary stuff and working together to fight it off.  super nerdy stuff- but so much fun!  over the course of the weekend we were actually able to pull it out two more times!  at one point, as they were deciding if they should try to head out before or after liam's nap, it was suggested that if liam takes his nap here, we could squeeze in another game...  well, that's all it took- the kids were in bed and the game was out!
i'm pretty sure we need to find this game so we can play it again soon...
(a few more pictures from their visit)

go hawks!

go silverhawks!  all the way back in october we had been invited by some friends to join them for a silverhawks game.  rob and veronica had reserved a box almost a year in advance to a south bend silverhawks game and we got to enjoy it with them.  diana's mom and david agreed to watch ledger for the evening so we could go out and have a fun time with some friends, and it certainly was a lot of fun!  miranda and levi joined us, along with a bunch of other friends, in the box at the game.  we got all the perks of being in a box seat at the stadium: all we could eat hot dogs, brats, and hamburgers, as well as chips, popcorn, cookies, and soda!  the weather was perfect and we got a chance to catch up with friends and just have a fun time together.  oh, and i think there was some sort of sporting event going on as well, i'm not entirely sure...
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double the fun

for days ledger had been excitedly asking 'is liam coming today?'.  david's daughter kate, her husband jared, and their little guy liam had made plans to come and visit for a weekend.  we were all very excited to see them again, but we made the big mistake of telling ledger a few days before that his cousin was coming to see him.  finally they arrived and ledger was thrilled to have someone to play with and share all his great toys with!  they are only a couple weeks apart in age and two of them were just so funny to watch.  liam was loving all the toys, just quietly digging around in the toy boxes and checking everything out while ledger was talking away telling him about anything and everything!

lucky's back!

its been a while, but lucky the horse is back!  ledger got lucky for christmas from mom and david and he absolutely loved it! he would often spend hours on it each and every day.  at first it was a little big so he needed our help getting on and off of it, but as he got bigger and more comfortable with it he started to get himself on and off without any help.  well, one afternoon he was getting off lucky and he slipped and fell.  he didn't hurt himself, but it did totally freak him out.  no matter how much we encouraged him or tried to get him on there, he just wouldn't get back on that horse.  (i know, we even tried explaining to him the old adage that if you fall down, you need to 'get back on the horse', but he wasn't buying it...)  so there lucky sat for a month.  ledger would still pet him and talk to him, but he was not at all interested in riding him anymore.  so, one evening, after ledger had gone to bed, i brought lucky out to the garage, effectively retiring him from active toy duty.  the next morning ledger didn't even notice, in fact it went unaddressed for about two months.  and then one afternoon ledger asked 'daddy, where's lucky?'  i told him that lucky had to go away for a while, but if he wanted, lucky could come back home to see him again.  ledger got really excited about the idea of seeing lucky again, so he said 'yes!'.  the next morning lucky was back in the living room, and ledger was thrilled to see him again!  he hopped right on, forgetting the fear that kept him off lucky for so long.  and ledger has been hopping back on lucky for rides every day ever since!  i guess nothing can break the bond between a boy and his horse...

learning to swim

we live in a beautiful home with an amazing view of a gorgeous lake.  we totally love it.  with water so close, we knew it was really important to get our son used to being in and around it, staying safe by knowing how to swim.  so, we decided to make sure that he begins learning now!  there just so happens to be a fantastic community center pretty close to us that has a huge swimming area and cheap swimming lessons, so we signed him up.  the class ran for eight lessons over two weeks.  we told ledger that he was going to get to play in the water every day, so he was thrilled at the idea!  that first day diana and i went together, it was a really small class, just ledger and one other girl.  on that first day he did amazing- he was absolutely fearless!  it was a child and parent class and each day they started out without a life jacket or swimmies.  he did really well, right up until the part where he had to actually put his head under the water- oh boy did that freak him out!  over the rest of the lessons we took turns working with him in the water, even having his grandma and auntie come along for a lesson or two to cheer him on!  he got a little more nervous being in the water without swimmies as the lessons went on, but he stuck it out and passed his first class.  we will soon be enrolling him in the level 2 classes which are independent- no mama or daddy allowed in the water!  we'll see how that goes...
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hosed

diana's dad sure does spoil his only grandchild!  at the beginning of the summer he got a couple lawn play sets for ledger- a little one with a slide and door, and then a much larger one with swings and a big slide.  as if ledger needed any more reason to love to see grandpa!  every time we go over there ledger runs to hug grandpa, pets poco and the cat, then immediately asks if he can go in the swing.  we all spend the next 45 minutes taking turns pushing him back and forth on that thing!  its really funny when he gets into the rhythm of the swing, he almost goes into a sort of daze...  he is the most talkative boy on the planet, but when he gets into that swing he goes dead silent, almost like its meditative for him.  on this visit i was pushing him on the swing and his head kind of started to droop- i'm pretty sure he had gotten so zen that he actually started to fall asleep!
finally, we convinced him to get off the swing and join us for lunch.  dad had prepared us a fantastic meal, as always, and as soon as we were done, ledger was asking about going back out on the swing!  we told him that we would go back outside, but we weren't going back on the swing.  instead, we checked out some of the other fun things in grandpa's yard.  ledger wanted to go exploring in the garden, poking all the different veggies, telling us what each of them were and asking if he couldn't figure it out.  he also found his new favorite thing in the world: the garden hose!  at first he asked 'what this?' and after grandpa showed him how it shot out water, he was hooked!  he spend the next 10 minuted drowning everything in the vicinity with a heavy mist of hose water.  after 'accidentally' spraying us for the fourth time, i finally wised up and snuck over to the faucet and turned it off.  when the water stopped coming out of the hose he was absolutely crestfallen!  all he could do was sit and pout.  poor fella!  eventually we got him out of his funk by checking out grandpa's art studio and playing around with some charcoal and paper, but that moment where the hose stopped working was one of the most sincere expressions of heartbreak i may have ever seen in my life!  next time buddy, next time...
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cookies!

so there i was, just sitting around with nothing to do.  ledger and his mom had both laid down for naps and i wasn't tired at all.  so, for some reason i decided that i would take this opportunity to do some baking.  that's right, baking!  i found a cookie mix in the cupboard a few days ago and i just had this strange desire to bake up a batch of cookies.  i figured no one would complain about having some fresh made cookies to eat, or would mind having that delicious smell in the air for the rest of the day, so i dug in and made a batch of cookies.  i cant even remember the last time i baked- could it have really been as far back as my own childhood?  the last time i remember baking cookies was with my mom!  with so little experience to draw from, i hoped i would mess it up big time!  turns out those 'easy bake' mixes live up to their name, it was really easy to whip together and plop down on a few cookie sheets.  a half hour later i was hip deep in soft warm cookies!  not surprisingly, diana got up soon afterwards (the fantastic cookie smell must have made its way down the hall and into the bedroom by then, huh?) and the two of us enjoyed some pretty tasty treats!  a little while later ledger got up from his nap and we figured we should keep all this fresh baked goodness for ourselves... we don't give ledger sweets very often, so it was a special treat for him, and boy did he love it!  immediately after finishing his cookie he was asking for another!  i'll admit, he might have had more than one that day, but then again, so did we!
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random ledge

i may be a bit bias, but i think i have the cutest son in the world!  (honestly, look at that photo and tell me i'm wrong.  you can't, can you?)  because of that fact, i make sure to take a lot of pictures of him just being cute!  no really, i have thousands and thousands of photos.  most of them are just him sitting there in the living room being cute.  hey, i'm a proud dad, i can't help it!  sometimes the pictures i take don't really demand a whole post of their own, so instead i've been just dumping them all in my photo page.  if you ever have a desire to check out all the random pictures of ledger, this is the best place to go- enjoy!

splish splash

its summer, its hot, lets go in the pool!  ledger has been playing with his water table recently out on the back deck, so mom figured she should get his little pool out and filled with water as well!  we put water in it, let it sit for a while in the sun so the hose water would heat up a bit, and then let him loose!  he was so excited to get out there that he didn't even have time to put his swim suit on- it was just bare diapers for him!  his favorite thing to do in that pool, by far, is to stomp around and splash as much as humanly possible- i'm pretty sure that there wasn't any water left inside the pool by the time we headed back in!

backyard fire

one of the improvements we wanted to do around yard this year was to put in a fire pit.  diana has been pining for one for years.  she would always talk about how fun it was to have fires at their house in buchanan and how much she missed it.  we also have been building up a huge collection of branches and wood from the many summers of cleaning up and trimming the plants around the yard.  so we figured it was about time to do something about it!  david and mom had been strolling around the home improvement store when they came across a fire pit assembly that they really loved.  so david and i went back recently and picked it up.  we unloaded all the stones and mapped out the spot that we wanted to put it.  once the weather was good i got to it and dug out the grass, leveled out the spot, and put the thing together.  after checking with everyone to make sure they liked the placement and look of it, i glued all the pieces into place and we are now ready for a fire!

the rocket's red glare

even though its really late for him, we kept ledger up so he could see the fireworks for the 4th of july.  he came along with us last year too and really loved it, so we knew he would be up for it again.  it was a bit of a cold evening, so we wrapped him up in a hoodie and brought a blanket along too.  the fireworks can be awesome to see, but for a little guy like ledger they can be a bit too loud, so papa was planning ahead and grabbed a pair of sound dampening ear muffs for him.  he really seemed to like having them on!  when we first put them on he thought it was really neat, he started going 'ahhhhh' just because he thought his voice sounded silly with them on!  there was an extra little chair for him at the beach, so he hopped in and enjoyed sitting on his own like a big boy, but as the fireworks started he wanted to sit on my lap so he could tell me about what he was watching.  he wanted a turn on mema's lap and mama's lap too!  after a while though i think the late night got to him, he stopped paying attention to the fireworks and instead nestled his head into my neck and just wanted to fall asleep- so cute!  after a minute or two i told him that he was missing out and that he should watch the fireworks, after all, he doesn't get to see them very often!  he listened and fought off the sleep through till the end.  when the show was over and we got back to the trailer he didn't put up any fight at all when we told him it was bed time!
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wander and sparkle

ah, the tradition continues!  just like on memorial weekend, my parents have everyone over for the 4th of july as well.  what has been fun the past few potlucks has been the fact that everyone's kids are getting bigger!  ledger fits in to the line-up, there are a few kids older, and a bunch of kids younger too.  he does ok playing with the other kids, but he seems to mostly keep to himself.  when the other kids were running around and playing, he would wander off, walking around the bushes and playing his own little games.  we would keep wrangling him back to the other kids, but he would loose interest pretty quickly.  although, he did think it was pretty cool when they took out the sparklers!  as a little preview of the fun fireworks they would see that night, the kids had a chance to play with some sparklers!  ledger didnt hesitate, he was all about them.  he did pretty well with them, but he kept wanting to touch the sparkling part- at one point he grabbed it, then shrieked when he realized how hot it was!  careful boy!
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swimming with daddy

diana, mom, and ledger headed out to the beach for the afternoon.  i stayed back to take care of a few things, but told them i would stop by and pick up ledge for his nap.  that way they could stay a bit longer and enjoy the sun in peace.  i decided to surprise everyone by putting on my swim suit and playing it the water with my boy!  ever since his swimming lessons, he is a lot more comfortable and sure of himself in the water.  we headed out there and had a blast just floating around and playing.  he always had to keep an eye on the seaweed, but other than that he doing great out there.  after playing for a bit, we went back to shore and i took him back to the trailer.  he must have exhausted himself pretty well, because it didnt take long for him to fall fast asleep!

rescue grabber

one of ledger's favorite things about going to visit mema and papa at sandy pines is all the fun toys they have!  there are tons of toys there, but not all of them are actual toys... ledge gets a bit creative with his play things- he was rooting around in the shed and came across this fun little thing.  its a little grabber to extend your reach, but to him it was the greatest toy discovery of the weekend!  after allowing me to show him how it works, he was all set.  at first he struggled a bit with getting the thing to grab, but after a few minutes, he had it all figured out and was actually able to pick up other toys with it!  he asked what is was called and we told him it was a 'grabber'.  i guess that name wasn't good enough for him, so he added a little to it, he called it his 'rescue grabber'!  all weekend he was playing with his rescue grabber, even after it had been put away multiple times!

in case of fire

we had been bragging about our new fire pit for a week or two, so miranda and levi decided to take us up on the offer.  they stopped by, along with barbara, to have our inaugural fire.  so far i had gotten it build and then we mostly just looked at it saying 'we should really have a fire, huh?'  in preparation of the first fire, i picked through our branches and lawn waste pile to get some good ones.  we pulled out some paper and cardboard from the recycle bin, and set out the grill lighter.  i tried to start it and failed miserably (big surprise there...).  giving up, i walked around the house to the garage to get the lawn mower gas tank- that aught to get it going, huh?- levi steps in and gets that thing going just right.  all that eagle scout training really helped out!  we were able to sit out there for the rest of the night enjoying the beautiful weather and the great big fire.  i'm pretty sure we will be doing this often this summer!

his first parade

one of the reasons we wanted to make sure we got to sandy pines the night before the 4th was so that we could take ledger to see the parade in the morning.  its a sandy pines tradition, a bunch of people decorate their golf carts (or kids deck out their bikes) for the parade, the local fire department brings their fire engine, and a few other fun sights to see, and they all drive around the main street of the park and throw candy.  its pretty low key, but the kids love it- and ledger was no different!  this was his first parade, and boy did he have a great time!  his eyes were as big as saucers as everyone drove by, waiving and throwing candy.  we had brought a bag for him to collect it all in, and he had so much fun picking up the pieces and collecting as much candy as he could!  he would comment, saying how he saw different things, decorative stars, a dog on a cart, or let us know that he had seen a truck (saying it as only he can...).  we let him have a couple pieces of candy when the parade was over, but the rest we will have to space out over the next couple days- we certainly don't want to deal with that kind of sugar rush all in one go- yikes!
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boo boo

either i'm a glutton for punishment, or i really love my wife, because we did the tent thing again this time at sandy pines during our stay...  papa had gotten us a new air mattress, this time one that was queen sized so we could actually sleep under the same covers!
anyway, as we were setting up the tent in the empty part of the lot right next to the garage.  ledger got a bit excited about watching the tent building and must have wanted a better view, because he climbed up the one foot tall mason stone wall papa had built by the garage.  he was having a blast walking up and down the top of the wall- right up until he fell off it anyway!  he scrapped up his leg pretty good.  nothing serious, just some scratches.  one of the scratches down by his ankle was bleeding a little bit, so we took him in, cleaned it up, and put a band-aid on it.  this was absolutely thrilling for ledger!  he wasnt bothered at all by the scrape, in fact when he fell off he got right back up saying 'i ok!'  this was ledger's first band-aid, so he was loving it.  at first he was a little concerned because he didn't understand what it was that we were doing, but he soon figured it out and for the rest of the weekend loved to show off his 'bandage'!

green little boy

with the 4th of july upon us, we headed up again to enjoy the festivities at sandy pines.  the 4th fell on a friday this year, so we headed up thursday so we wouldn't miss any of the fun.  we got up there (after a short bout of car sickness) and gave big hugs to mema and papa, who were thrilled as always to see us (and by us, i mean ledger).  once we were all settled in, we had a little while until dinner was going to be ready, so ledger and i went on a short little walk down the road.
when ever we are at sandy pines and we take ledger for a cart ride, he always spots these little 'children at play' signs, they are in the shape of a person, usually holding a red flag or something.  every time he sees one he says 'look! it's a little boy!' (which he says in some sort of strange accent that we have no idea where it came from!..)  well, the neighbor a few lots down got one recently, so i figured i'd walk him down to it so he can meet this little boy that he keeps talking about!  he was very excited about it and walked around it petting it on the head.  'little boy!  i found it, little boy!'.

boat power

we have a pontoon boat to tool around on the lake.  all the neighbors have boats too, but for some reason they put these big motors on them even though there is a 'no wake' policy on the lake.  figuring there's no need for power, we opted instead for an electric motor that is strong enough to get us around the lake easily and doesn't create a wake.  its perfect: we never have to worry about breaking the rules, it does a great job of getting us around, and we never have to worry about filling it with gas!  the bother though is that it needs to be plugged in to recharge the batteries after every time out.  that means that there has to be a cord cutting across the backyard to the dock all the time.  this isnt too much of a bother except when its time to mow the lawn!  well, we figured out a great solution: bury the cord!  we had been talking about it for a year or two, so we finally did something about it.  david and i went and got an industrial strength cord, some pipes, and all the rest of the stuff we needed to make it waterproof.  that meant all that was left was digging up the lawn!  that sounds easy enough, so i got everything ready and took a shovel to the grass, digging out a path for the corded pipe, bringing all the way to the dock.  it turned out to be pretty easy and now we dont have to worry about chopping up the cord when we mow the lawn- not bad!
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time out

for a while now we have been doing the 'time out' thing with ledger.  ever since he turned two he's been able to understand what it means to get a time out.  we had a pack-and-play type crib set up in the dining room corner where we would bring him when he was being naughty.  we have a two minute timer that we start when he is put in it.  oh boy, does he hate it!  when we put him in there he would whine and scream and cry!  i guess that let us know that it was working, right?  well, now he's getting old enough to take responsibility for himself.  when he's being bad he knows it, sometimes when we reprimand him he asks us 'i get timeout?', so clearly he understands the idea.  well, with that level of understanding, he should also be able to be responsible for his behavior during time outs.  that means its time to put away the pack-and-play and just give him a time out chair.  he's been doing very well with it, he actually stays in the chair when he has been put in it!  i'm so proud of him!  well, i'm not very happy that he needs to be put in the chair, but i'm impressed that he stays there.  oh, conflicting emotions...

the reading couch

in our dining room we have a 'reading corner' for ledger.  its got a couple of bookshelves and a couch for reading.  he spends most of his time in the living room, you know, where the tv and all his toys are, but lately he's been loving going over to the 'reading couch'!  we have been trying to instill in our boy the fun of books, and it seems to be working.  he loves to pull out a book or two and have us read it to him.  though we have hundreds of books, he always seems to go for the ones with a robot in them.  hmm... we always ask him questions about each page.  'whats this?', 'what color is that?', 'how many are there?'  and he always does so good at answering us!  he's gotten more and more interested in the books, maybe because now he can answer our questions much better, or maybe because of the fun and silly voices we add to the characters, but either way, we love to sit on the reading couch with him and watch him learn!

dive in!

can you believe it- june is almost over and i still haven't gone swimming off the boat!  we as a family decided to correct that.  we got our suits on and grabbed some towels (and sun screen), and made our way to the boat.  ledger had only ridden in the boat so far this summer, so when we told him that he was going to go swimming he was thrilled!  we put on his life jacket and rode out to the middle of the lake, the whole way he was squirming and wanting to go swimming.  finally we put down the anchor and told him it was time to get in the water.  he couldn't wait!  david and mom hopped in first, then i lowered ledger down to them.  he was so excited!  diana and i jumped in soon after and all had a blast in the water.  we passed ledger around, giving him a chance to swim with all of us.  it was funny, he kept gettin annoyed that we wanted to hold him- he was ready to head off on his own!  now, keep in mind, he has no idea how to swim; but don't think for a minute that would stop him!  i would hold on to the back strap of his floaties and let him go to town.  he hardly noticed that i was still holding on to him, so he was all set.  he actually did a great job for his first time out, he was paddling his hands and kicking his feet like a real swimmer!  we are planning on getting him in swimming lessons this summer, but from what i saw, it looks like he will be a very fast learner!
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the lake effect

i was busy working in the front yard and garage when diana came to find me.  she said that mom was playing with ledger in the lake and i could come and check it out.  it was the first time ledger had been in the lake this summer and it was so cute to see!  mom had him on the steps, life jacket on, playing in the shallow water.  he was loving it, kicking his feet around and splashing!  'i in the water, daddy!' he said when i came around back to check out the scene.  he was having a blast!  i asked him if he wanted to walk around in the shallow water, but he was not at all interested- there was seaweed!  we tried to calm him, telling him the seaweed wasn't so bad, but he didn't fall for it.  we even tried to tell him that seaweed is just 'water grass', but he wasn't buying it.  oh well, he was having fun with grandma just playing on the steps!  maybe next time we can convince him to explore further...

upgrade

david had an old laptop sitting around his office and offered it to diana if she would like it.  of course she would!  she was thrilled to have a laptop of her own.  she gave up on using mine years ago (granted, i should have given up on mine years ago too- i think its from the paleolithic age...).  it was fun to use, but super slow.  david offered to bring it in to have it cleaned up so that it might go faster.  we brought it in and were told that they couldn't do much to get it going faster- it was just really old!  diana was disappointed, but david had another idea in mind: how about he just get her a new one?  um, ok!  david has been working on getting his new business off the ground and wants diana to help him with it, and in order to do that she will need a good computer, so he figured he might as well make sure she has one.  diana wasnt about to tell him no, that's for sure!  well, he ordered it for her and when it came she opened it.  she was like a child on christmas morning!  its really fast and its got a touch screen!  she has been having a blast playing with it ever since!  along with loading her music on it and picking the perfect background for it, she has also been familiarizing herself with all the programs she will need to help with the business.  she's ready for the challenges ahead, able to figure out all the programs to help out.  thanks again david for the new computer- she totally loves it!  ...oh, and she's ready to work!

castle clearance

the other day ledger and i were wondering the isles of meijer.  this is not an uncommon thing; whenever there is grocery shopping to do, i always volunteer.  for some reason i really love grocery shopping, especially now that i've got a partner in crime- ledger!  the two of us will head out to aldi or meijer at the drop of a hat, we love it!  its gotten to the point that when i tell ledger that he needs to put his shoes on because we are going somewhere, he will ask 'aldi? m store?'  (we call meijer 'm store'.  if you want to know why you will need to ask papa...)  well, this particular afternoon we headed to the m store to pick up a few things.  before we start filling the cart with food, we usually like to stroll down to the other end of the store and maybe take a quick look at the toy isles...  well, this time we found something pretty amazing.  we happened across an amazing deal, a whole castle play set for only 8 bucks!  i knew we couldn't pass up a deal like that, so i picked it up for him.  granted, he has more than enough toys already, but for 8 bucks?  well, it really would be foolish not to, right?  we got home and opened it up.  it was pretty cool, if i may say so myself.  it had a bunch of extra stuff to go with it: a knight, his horse, a catapult, a treasure chest, and a few other fun bits to spark his imagination.  this boy was so thrilled that he could hardly contain himself!  that castle kept his interest for a good hour or more!  the next morning it was the first thing he said when he woke up- 'castle?'
what a great find!  sometimes it pays to walk past the clearance section in the toy isle, that's for sure!

baking creamer

the other night diana and i were cleaning up the kitchen and we came across her mom's coffee creamer.  it was mint chocolate flavored.  i hadn't ever seen that before, so i popped open the container and took a whiff of it- it smelled really yummy!  as diana and i were talking is said 'you know, this would be really great for baking something, just use this instead of milk!'  diana thought about it for a minute and said, 'your right, lets do it!'  so we pulled out a brownie mix we had in the cupboard and had an impromptu baking session!  we gave the creamer a try, replacing it with the milk in the recipe, and put everything together, popped it in the oven, and waited.  when it was done we pulled it out, let it cool, and then gave it a try.  would the minty part be lost in the ingredients or would it shine through?  turns out, the mint was strong enough to be noticeable!  it wasn't very strong, just a hint- which made the brownies all the more delicious!  especially at 11:00 at night!  so, here's a little word of advice next time you bake: replace the milk with a flavored coffee creamer- its amazing!

ledger's lawn care services

one of my parents friends at sandy pines works at a company that makes leaf blowers.  while we were out there he stopped by and dropped off a special gift for ledger: his own leaf blower!  apparently the company also makes a novelty toy blower- so he gave us one!  my mom always pulls out her little battery powered leaf blower to get rid of all the leaves and pine needles off their deck and ledger always loves to watch her as she does it.  he has always been enthralled with the blower, and now he had a little leaf blower of his own!  it even has a switch that turns it on and it makes blower noises and has a tiny little fan in it that blows a little.  ledger was so thrilled, when mema got hers out, he would follow behind her blowing the leaves while she did!  what a fun toy for him to play with- helping out with the cleaning!
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