winter wonderland

as if i needed any more reason to love this town!  the local theater has been putting on free holiday movies every friday this month, and the showing of rudolph the red nosed reindeer coincides with a special downtown arts and music event.  well, of course we were going to go!  miranda and levi even came down to join in on the festivities!  i got out of work a couple hours early so we could head downtown and go to the show! 
it was the first time ledger had ever seen rudolph, so he was curious and excited.  we got there and found a seat among the packed house, sat back, and enjoyed the show.  ledger thought it was pretty cool and diana and i hadn't seen it in decades, so we enjoyed the nostalgia trip as well.
after the show, miranda and levi headed out.  then the real magic of allegen began...  we walked to the main street downtown and just as we turned the corner, as if it were a storybook, it began snowing huge, beautiful flakes of snow and we saw the dark street lit with beautiful wreath covered street lights, bundled up pedestrians, and a horse drawn carriage waiting for us!  seriously, i'm not entirely sure it was real- that's how beautiful it was!  ledger petted the horse, and we hopped on the carriage and took a stroll through our gorgeous town laced with sparkling christmas lights!  after the ride, we wandered around the different shops and stores, stopping in to see fantastic local art on display and local musicians filling the air with holiday music.  next, we made our way to the griswold auditorium where there were christmas crafts set up for the kids to make, and treats for everyone to enjoy.
no, seriously, allegan is just that amazing!
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crafty barbara

the preschool had a special event where parents and friends were invited after school to make christmas crafts with the kids.  needless to say, barbara was all about it!  she immediately made plans to come up and be a part of the fun.  barbara, diana, and i went to ledger's school and joined the festivities, making several different ornaments by hand.  ledger was all about it- give that kid a craft and he is all set.  include his dear auntie barbara and he is over the moon!
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ledger in a pear tree

we held him off until after thanksgiving, but we couldn't hold him off any longer... ledger finally got his wish and we put up our christmas decorations!  we pulled everything out of the garage and hauled it up, got the christmas tunes playing, and got right to it.  i set up the tree, then ledger and diana put on all the ornaments.  it was super easy this year- we planned ahead last year and got everything we needed for decorating.  up went the tree, with our amazing star that shines on our high ceiling, and suddenly the whole place is ready for the holidays!

thanksgiving at auntie b's

the family headed down to south bend for thanksgiving this year.  we always love to spend the holiday with family, and this year, with barbara and james buying a house, they offered to host the festivities this year!  it was a lot of fun to see everyone, including aunt gayle and uncle denny, and enjoy a huge meal together.  ledger always takes the opportunity to be silly and impress a new audience, so he was thrilled about the whole day.  it was  a great meal and a wonderful time spent with family!
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rental work

it seems like i have to do this way too much- i had to go clean out the rental and find a new renter.  well, it just so happened that jeffry lee had some spare time, so i enlisted his help!
we got down there and got busy making the place look good again.  we got some paint and everything else we needed and got to work.  it took a long time and lots of work, but the two of us got the place clean and shiny again!  we spent the night on air mattresses in the living room, but had a blast staying up late and getting everything done.  other than a stolen lawn mower, everything went well.  we didn't find a renter while we were down there, but i went down a couple days later and found someone, so it has a happy ending after all.  for now...  with our luck, we will be back down there before the end of the year...

trick r treat!

the big day, the one ledger had been waiting for for the last 4 months, was finally here- halloween!  we got back from school and it was time to start getting ready for trick-r-treating!  he wanted to be a pumpkin, but he also wanted to do the face paint thing.  so diana and i tried our best to paint a pumpkin on his face, with middling success, but he was pleased as punch!  we got on his costume, diana and i put on something a bit costumish as well.  and then we were off!
we wondered around the neighborhood and ledger got his first taste of trick-r-treating!  he was a bit nervous at first, asking us a few times what he was supposed to do when he went to the door.  the first house or two he was a bit timid, but that didn't last long!  before we knew it he was running ahead to the next houses eager for more candy.  along the way we even came across his best friend from preschool!  he and royce hugged and laughed about all the fun they were having!  as the sun went down, we called it quits and headed home to take stock of all his sweet loot.
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preschool halloween

ledger's favorite holiday is quickly approaching- halloween!  this year he decided he wanted to be a pumpkin, so we found him a great costume.  preschool even has a special day on halloween, the kids got to dress up in their costume and go to the different classrooms and get candy.  the parents were even invited to come and join the class for the afternoon and take our kids around to get candy!  well, there was no way we were going to miss out on that!
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storytelling about daddy

adam, a friend of mine since grade school, was in town doing a storytelling gig.  it was only 20 minutes away, so of course ledger and i headed over to see him do his thing!  adam often does his storytelling thing for the summer programs at the local libraries in west michigan, so it was really great to have ledger come and see him perform.
this particular show included a halloween story that adam himself had written based on his own life.  his story was about going trick-or-treating when he was in junior high.  what was especially fun about this particular story was that it involved two of his junior high friends- one of which was me!  yes, i was featured in this story, which he called me out by name, and ledger got to hear it!  it was kind of strange for me, but really cool to hear a professional storyteller turn a night in my life into a riveting story!  ledger was amazed and i was thrilled- thanks for the fun night, adam!
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pumpkin carving

ledger was so excited to carve his pumpkins- he was almost vibrating with anticipation!  i cut open the top and he was both thrilled and disgusted by what was inside.  at first he didn't want to touch the pumpkin guts to clean it out, but once he saw daddy do it, then he really wanted to dig in and get nice and messy!  we carved both pumpkins; ledger drew the faces and i did the cutting.  the final product shows that we make a pretty good carving team!
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pumpkin patch

ledger had been waiting for this day for months: it was finally pumpkin day!  we told him that today was the day that we would go and get some pumpkins to decorate our home with and he was so thrilled!  we found a nice little spot in allegan that was selling pumpkins and let ledge pick out a couple of big ones.  he had so much fun looking around the yard and picking just the right ones.  he was disappointed that we could only get two- he wanted to bring them all home!
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football game

mike, one of the guys at work who i've gotten to be good friends with, has a couple boys.  one of them, mikey, is only a year or two younger than ledger, ant they have become fast friends!  so, when his older son aiden had a football game, we were more than happy to tag along and let the boys have some fun while mike and i had some fun too!  this was ledger's first sporting event and he had a great time.  he didn't much care for the game that was going on, but he and mikey had a blast running around the stands and playing with the other kids.  which is exactly my experience with going to games as a kid as well.

ledger's nibble bob

so there's this character i made up back in high school: nibble bob.  i've been drawing him ever since i first created him in 9th grade science class.  he's a little creature i made up and has been very special to me- a sort of spirit animal that has been a part of my life for over 20 years now.  whenever i have a blank piece of paper in front of me, my first impulse is to draw him.  well, recently my son asked me to draw it for him so he could try and draw it.  i did, and this is what he came up with.  the pure joy i felt seeing his first attempt at nibble bob is almost something i can't put into words.  looking at this picture right now is even getting me a little choked up.  i can't explain why or how, but this was one of the most profound moments i've had as a father; passing a part of myself to my son. 

orchard field trip

since i've got some extra days off during the week, i've been able to volunteer for any of ledger's school stuff.  the kids had a field trip to the apple orchard, so of course i'm going to go along! 
it was one of the first times ledger has ever ridden the bus, so he was very thrilled about the whole thing.  we got there and hopped on a trailer attached to a tractor and made our way to the apple orchard.  he picked a few apples, laughing and smiling the whole time.  it totally didn't matter that it was raining and miserable out- he was having a blast!
we also checked out the petting zoo, had a donut and cider, and wondered around the whole place having a ton of fun.  he was so thrilled and in awe of everything that it didn't really matter what we did, we were loving life and having a blast!
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out fishin'

we finally made it home from the nash to our little boy!  and what do we find him doing? why, fishing, of course!  we make it back to diana's mom and david's house and when we got there we wondered why ledge wasn't at the door to greet us excitedly.  turns out he was at the dock trying to catch a big one!  when he finally saw us he went nuts- it had been a week since he last saw his mama and daddy, so he was super excited to see us, immediately telling us about all the fun he had been up to since we left!  it was good to see our little fella again, but he kept telling us about how much fun he had with grandpa and grandma!

heading home

phew!  after an action packed week, it was finally time to head home and reenter the real world!  we had such a great time getting away and enjoying our time with friends.  we were sorry to see it come to an end, but all the great memories will hold us for at least a few months.
the way home was fairly uneventful, which is a good thing!  it was sad to say goodbye to everyone, but we know we will do it again sometime soon- but the question is: where do we go next time!
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i scream

for the last night of our visit to the nash we went to some of the more touristy places (as if we hadn't been doing that the whole time...), so we went to go find the parthenon and wonder around for a bit.  we did find it but unfortunately it was not open, so we just walked around it and the park it was in.  at the end of the night we went out and found a really cool home made ice cream shop.  of course james and barbara suggested the place.  i say 'of course' because the place was so hipsterish that it hurt! they had some crazy flavors that sounded like they would be gross, but all of us were pleasantly surprised by the unusual concoctions that they came up with.  it was a delicious and fun way to end our fun in the nash.
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third man

when we first started exploring nashville as a vacation destination i came across third man records as a place to check out.  it was the only place that i really wanted to go.  it's the personal record stored owned by jack white, of the white stripes fame.  apparently he has been known to jump behind the cash register from time to time, so i was pretty excited to check it out.
unfortunately we didn't end up seeing jack white, but we did get to wander around the record store for a bit!  the place was really cool and packed full of rare and limited run vinyl printings- and you could even open any of them up and give them a listen on the record players in the sound booths.  barbara and james got ledger a cute little 'third man records' shirt and everything!
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nash night

we decided to go downtown one last time.  who knows when we'll be back in the nash so we might as well enjoy it while we're here, right?
we started our night grabbing a bite to eat, and then made our way down the strip again.  this time aaron and i were able to direct everyone to some of the cool places we checked out last time we came down just the two of us.  not everyone lasted very long, and before we knew it, almost everyone was ready to head home for the night.  everyone except aaron and i...  so we waved them off as everyone else went home, and the two of us stayed out for another night on the town!  (as i'm writing this i'm definitely realizing that i spent way more time with aaron than i did with diana... oops.)  we both had another super fun night and really enjoyed our last night in the nash- living it up!
the highlight though, was when we got home.  aaron decided he wanted to fry up some bacon!  he then proceeded to fry up the whole thing and pretend to be some sort of baking show host the whole time.  it was so funny!  after he got it all fried up we ate about 2 pieces each and then went straight to bed.  sorry for whoever woke up first to our fried mess...
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opry backstage

this lunch stop became, unexpectedly, the highlight of our trip.  miranda and levi wanted to go out for a special meal, just the two of them (it was their anniversary while we were down there), and barbara and james just wanted a quiet afternoon, so diana, lissa, aaron, and i headed out for lunch.  we decided to go to the opryland backstage restaurant.  it was a nice place, the food was pretty good, but the amazing part happened as we were leaving.  they had a gift shop that lissa wanted to check out.  as we were at the cash register, lissa struck up a conversation with the guy working there.  he said that he was one of the 'singing waiters' at the restaurant.  lissa asked what that was, and he told us that he's usually a waiter but sometimes goes up on stage and plays his guitar and sings for the customers.  well, lissa was all about that and asked if he could go up and play for us.  he said 'sure' and proceeded to strap on his guitar and walked up on stage!  we headed back in and grabbed a seat to enjoy the improptu show.  he started playing and all four of us were shocked at how fantastic he was- like really really good!  the best part of the show? we were literally the only people there so it was a show just for us!  as he was on stage he just kept talking to us and giving little stories about his life and different songs he would then perform.  his musical tastes run similar to mine (keeping in mind this is nashville)- he loved 90's country and garth brooks.  he asked if we had any requests, so of course i called out 'blackhawk'!  he was absolutely thrilled with that one and told us a whole story about how much he loved blackhawk!  he dared me to try and stump him, so i called out 'thinking problem' by david ball.  well it worked, he was stumped- and felt really embarrassed about it!  he asked for another request, whatever i wanted.  since he had mentioned michael jackson earlier, i told him i'd love to hear a countryfied version of a michael jackson song- he then proceeded to play the coolest 'man in the mirror' cover i've ever heard!
finally, after about an hour, he wrapped it up saying that he really should get back to work.  oh, that's right, he was actually on the clock this whole time!  oops!  well, we were absolutely amazed with his talent and willingness to humor us for so long.  like i said, this turned out to be one of the greatest part of the whole week in nashville!  thanks again for the amazing concert, bradley brassfield!
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distillery

the ladies went off to do their own thing, so levi, aaron, and i decided to check out a local distillery.  nelson's greenbrier distillery was offering tours (with free samples), so we went and checked the place out.  it was really cool to see how it was all done and hear about the 100+ year history of the place.
at the end of the tour we got to try some of the tennessee whiskey they had made.  levi and aaron were all about the samples but i was not so excited- that stuff hurts as it goes down!  i wasn't too thrilled with the whiskey, but seeing how its made was really interesting!
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nash boys

after a long day of checking out the nash, almost everyone was planning on a night in.  well, everyone except aaron and i!  after getting a taste of downtown earlier in the week, the two of us decided that we wanted to check it out again.  we called an uber and off we went!
the two of us had a blast checking out some of the bars that we missed the first time out.  some of the highlights include the rooftop bar we started the night at, and ending with an amazing chocolate milkshake as we closed the bars down!
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hotel nash

man, this place is weird.  there's this hotel in nashville that has a small town inside of it.  yeah, i've been there and i don't get it either...  the opryland hotel is like a circle of hotel rooms surrounding a strange rain forest/water ride/victorian era houses sort of place covered with glass.  we checked it out and wandered around a bit, but it totally felt like a strange twilight zone area that shouldn't actually exist.
we stopped at one of the restaurants in this fairy tale land and got some really yummy pizza.  it was a pretty cool place, but i still don't know why it even exists.
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the nash: first night out

now that we were in the nash, it was time to get rockin!  we put on our fanciest duds and headed downtown.  aaron and i seemed to be the only ones who knew how to party 'nash' style- no one else was wearing their cowboy hats!  and when i say no one, i mean no one- the locals, the other tourists-- no one!  but don't worry, we wore them proudly and only got embarrassing looks from 2/3rds of the people we saw, so everything was a-ok.
we drove down as a group and spent the night wandering up and down broadway street, thats where all the bars and music are downtown.  we stopped first at rock bottom, a fun bar and grill that has a really cool patio on the roof which was perfect for seeing the whole place and figuring out our plan of attack!
the rest of the night was spent wandering down the strip poking in and out of different bars checking things out.  the best one we went to was actually a food place that specialized in tater tots!  don't worry, we made sure to visit that place another time or two while we were down there...
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plantation visitation

after we made it down to the nash and settled in to our rental house, we took the evening to enjoy ourselves.  we picked our bedrooms (i was lucky enough to get to shack up with aaron... meow!) and unpacked.  we headed to the local grocery store and picked up a bunch of food to last us through the week and then played games and hung out for the rest of the night.
the next morning we were up and out of there, the ladies had made plans for us to visit the belle meade plantation, one of the old plantations in nashville that has been preserved.  we spent the afternoon on a tour of the grounds and just generally enjoying ourselves on vacation!  the whole place was really cool, the main plantation had been restored and displayed as it had been when it had been built in the 1820's.  diana and i have a love for old houses, so this was right up our alley!
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louisville sluggin'

on the way down to the nash we were just going to quick stop at a restaurant by the highway, but james insisted that we check out what louisville had to offer.  we drove down around the university but that was way too busy because they had a game going on and so there were about 50 thousand people in the area...  instead we ventured down by the fourth street area and checked it out.  we ate at the gordon biersch brewery restaurant for lunch (it was very good) and then headed back out on our way!
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a trip to the nash

for the past couple years diana and i have been going on different summer vacations with her friends.  it started two years ago when we tagged along with miranda and levi to grand marais in the upper peninsula of michigan for a short weekend.  then the following year we rented a house and went up with a bunch of people including lissa, aaron, and barbara.  well, this year we wanted to do something different but weren't quite sure what.  remembering all the fun i had with different friends through out the years, i suggested we go to nashville (or as we like to call it: 'the nash')- its always a blast!  well, everyone seemed to like the idea because we all agreed and set it as our destination!  we planned it a bit later than usual- we made plans to go down together in september.  everyone was on board and really excited.  we rented a house and made our plans.
the big trip finally arrived and we were ready to head down.  diana left early so she could bring ledger to her mothers and get him all situated.  aaron and i had to work, so we headed down later on friday.  he came to my place and picked me up.  on the way down, though it was getting late, we wanted to grab a bite to eat.  we stopped at benton harbor for a late dinner and had a great time being silly and getting ourselves in the vacation mood.  apparently that includes getting hit on hard at applebee's...
we finally made it down to diana's moms place around 11pm and promptly went to bed.  we had a week ahead and wanted to get a decent night's sleep to start it off!

hand print board

for some reason i got it in my head to make a special craft for ledger's first day of preschool.  it was totally a 'pintrest' sort of thing...  before the school year started we went to home depot and got a six foot board and some wood stain.  we went to the craft store and let ledger pick out a paint color that he liked, and then once the first day of school arrived, we went to work making a hand print board.  the idea is that at the start of each school year, from preschool all the way through 12th grade, we are going to have ledger make a hand print on the board to show his growth.  its kind of cheesy, but for some reason it really struck me as a great marker of ledger's school life.  as soon as he heard that he gets to put his hand in paint, ledger was all about it!  i know this 'craft' will take a long time to really be anything, it will be interesting to see how he grows and i'm glad i was cognizant enough to start it at the very beginning instead of coming up with the idea later and wishing i had done it!
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first day of preschool

well, its finally here: ledger's first day of school.  ever!  he was so excited that he woke up early to make sure he didn't miss it!  don't worry buddy, your mother and i are just as excited for you as you are!  we got him ready, talking through the day, trying to calm his anxiety, and then it was time to go.  well, not before we took lots of 'first day of school' pictures!  as you can see from the photo, he almost exploded with excitement before we even got out of the house...
we took him to school and went in the room with him to get him all situated, backpack on his hook and all that, then the teacher welcomed everyone.  soon after, we bowed out and left him there.  it was really strange to us- it was the first time we had really ever left ledger to anyone who wasn't family!  we went to the car and headed off.  what, now, are we to do with all this free time?  we have had a child centered existence for four years now, and suddenly we are given 6 hours free for 4 days a week?  diana and i just drove around for a bit, went for breakfast together (just because we could), and headed home.  it was pretty great...
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preschool open house

as our little fella gets older the creeping reality sets in: he's old enough to go to school now!  that's crazy!  we enrolled him in the spring and how is the first time we get to see his preschool.  diana and i are both very excited and nervous, but not as excited as ledger is!  they had an open house before school started, a chance to meet the teacher and check out his classroom for the first time.  as we first walked in, ledge was excited but also a bit confused by the whole thing- having never been to school before he had no idea what to expect.  he was pleased to see that there were toys and books and fun things to do, so that made him feel a lot better.  he was really excited about the teacher and aids, and even hit it off with another student or two.  he wasn't exactly sure what to do while we were there, but we weren't either...  eventually a few parents took the kids to check out the playground and we followed.  we got a chance to chat with a few of the parents, which helped us feel more at ease.  on the way home ledge said that he thinks he's ready for preschool now.  you know, i think we are too!
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lunch

ledger's two favorite foods in the world are macaroni and cheese, and peanut butter and jelly sandwiches.  i know is not unusual for a little kid, so we just go with it, mixing in some more unusual stuff from time to time.  when we give him new food we have the rule that he doesn't have to like it but he does have to try it!
sometimes he decides to help out with making lunch- so we gave him a butter knife and had him make his own sandwich.  sure, it got a little messy, but what else would we expect?
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seeing movies

i know i've said it before, but it bares repeating: i love the regent theatre in allegan!  all summer the regent shows kids movie matinees for free, so ledger and i took advantage every chance we could!  i'm always a sucker for seeing movies in the theater and it would seem that my son is taking after his dear old dad!
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christmas in august

sandy pines has a tradition of celebrating christmas in the summer.  mostly this is just to people have an excuse to put up their christmas lights at their trailers, not that i'm complaining!  mom and papa reminded us that it was coming and asked if ledge would like to come out and enjoy all the beautiful lights and fun.  well, of course he would!  so we headed out there so we could ride around and see all the displays.  needless to say, he absolutely loved it!  he was beside himself with excitement the entire time!
every once in a while its so great to step outside of myself and live vicariously through him and just enjoy his wonder and joy- its like a perspective reset.  it reminds me what is most important!
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exhausting

so my car wouldn't exactly be considered 'cherry', but it gets me where i need to go.  as someone who doesn't really care about cars, i dont really ask for much more than just something that gets me from point a to point b.  there's so much wrong with it that i've often felt like my car is like mr. burns on that one episode of the simpsons where he goes to the doctor and is told he should be dead- he actually has every disease there is but they are all fighting each other and miraculously he is still alive.  everything is wrong with my car yet somehow it is still alive!  and thriving- that thing gets 37 miles to the gallon!
sometimes something goes a little out of whack though.  this time it was the exhaust pipe.  i was driving home from work and started to hear scraping on the road- that's never a good thing...  i pulled off on a side street and took a look at it.  yup, the exhaust pipe broke off from the engine and was hanging down.  i was a bit worried, so i did what i always do when i have a car question- i called aaron!  he was kind enough to walk me through the issue and come up with a solution.  he asked if i had a duct tape to fix it temporarily so it didn't break off completely.  miraculously i did!  there was a little roll in the emergency kit in the trunk!  lucky me!  i taped it up and it held the rest of the trip.  i set up a time later in the week to have aaron take a look at it (cause he is an amazing friend).  i made it almost all the way to his house that day with the duct tape still holding- about a mile from his house the pipe gave out and started dragging again!  i got my fair share of looks from the pedestrians on the side of the road...
i made it there and aaron worked his magic- he actually had an extra tail pipe that he cut a section off of and made it work on what was left of mine.  i was truly amazed- he fixed the whole thing and somehow we didn't even have to go to the car parts place!
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bush!

i was hanging out late one night with jeffry lee and we found ourselves down a youtube rabbit hole and noticed that the 90's band 'bush' had a new single out.  we checked out the video for 'the only way out' and thought it was amazing- both the video and the song!  we got talking about how much we love that band and then realized that they were coming to down in a couple months!  we did the only logical thing- we bought tickets to see them at the orbit room!  we talked jon into going as well.
the day of the show i got out of work early, met up with the guys and we headed out.  after a stop for dinner, we made our way to the show!  i haven't been to a concert in a very long time, and especially someone as big as bush, so i was really thrilled.  we had so much fun, it was great to hear the hits from gavin himself!  it was fun to see which songs he seemed most excited to sing- the ones that got him going and got his energy up the most were 'swallowed', and 'the only way out'.
we totally had a blast!
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meeting mikey

one of the guys at work, mike, has a little boy about the same age as ledger.  we decided it might be fun if the two of them met each other- maybe they could be as good of friends as mike and i!  diana, ledge, and i met up in south haven with their whole family and went to see 'the secret life of pets' together.  everyone had a great time at the movie and afterwards we wandered down to the pier together.  it was great to meet his wife and kids- and ledger and little mikey had a blast together!  we are going to have to do this again real soon!

grand day out

in order to give diana a little break, ledger and i spend the day out and about! on these special days, as is so often the case, we just headed out with no real plan of what we were going to do to fill the hours.  we decided to head over and see if jeffry lee was up to anything.  he didn't have any plans, so he joined us on our grand day out.  we drove around for a bit, stopping at meijer and getting drenched in a flash rainstorm!  we ended up making our way to chuck e cheeses, which is always a hit with ledge!  jeff was feeling a bit weird about the whole thing, being a childless adult at that place, but eventually he got over it and felt comfortable playing around with ledge and i.  after going through all of our coins, we went out driving again.  this time our drive took us to aaron's house!  he happened to be out working on his car so we stopped in for a minute to pester him and check it all out.
what an unexpectedly fun day we got to have!
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sandy guests

from time to time i will take ledge in to grandville and the two of us will meet up with jeffry lee for an afternoon of errands and fun.  i gave jeff a call to see if he was up for doing the usual and he said that he actually had his nephews for the day.  well, we decided to make it a special day for all three boys- we took them to sandy pines!  i told them about the water park so they packed their swim suits and all five of us had a great time playing in the pool and enjoying the water slide.  afterwards we went and got some ice cream and played for a bit on the beach.  it was a pretty special day for all three of them; jeff and i had a lot of fun too!

putting up pictures

i've always felt like real families have pictures of themselves up on the walls.  we always had a few up in our home growing up, but for some reason, i've never really put pictures up in the different places i've lived.  sure, i've put stuff on the walls, but that was mostly posters or artwork.  now that i've actually got my own family, and our own place to live, we decided to finally put some pictures up!  now, making that decision and actually being able to do it had one major hurdle to overcome: we don't actually have any pictures!  actually we have thousands of pictures, but just the digital kind.  a little while ago i came across a website where you can order prints of your digital pictures for free!  its actually pretty great, you can pick up to 85 prints and all you have to pay is the 10 dollar shipping cost (i know, that just means that the pictures are 10 bucks, but even that is a really good price!)  so we have been compiling some photos for the past couple of months.  we stopped at the dollar store and bought some cheap picture frames and got to work putting them up.  as you can see by this picture, i had a small and cute lil helper!  we got them up and i'm so proud- now we feel like a real family!
(what the pictures look like up)

fun 4th

i got some of the weekend of july 4th off, so we made a special trip to sandy pines to enjoy the time off.  mema and papa were thrilled to spend some time with their littlest grandson!  we always love the chance to go on a golf cart ride and we even got to see a parade and watch fireworks.  its always a great time with the family!
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cards through time

you guys, look what i found!  i used to collect these things back when i was a kid, so i was really excited when i found these at the local shop downtown allegan!  ledge and i regularly wander around downtown, walking the boardwalk and checking out all the different shops and stuff.  one of them that i really love to check out is a consignment/antique place called 'little shop of hoarders'.  we happened upon one area that had these beauties featured and i couldn't resist!  it was such a trip down memory lane opening these packets and checking out all the cool cards inside.  the indiana jones chronicles pack even had a 3D card with glasses!
i sent this picture to a couple friends to see if they had the same nostalgic flashback and it turns out i wasn't the only one who collected these.  jon was just as thrilled as i was about these cards!  i made sure to go back and get him a few packs so he could enjoy them as much as i did!

k-ville reunion '16

most people have school reunions once every 10 years.  not us- we have them every summer!  and to make it even stranger, its not a high school reunion- its a middle school reunion!  this year we met up at janna's house and had a great time catching up on what's been happening over the past year and welcoming anyone who may have missed the get-togethers in years past.  adam always lines up a special guest, and this year it was sarah!  it was her first time attending since she lives out of state but happened to be in town when we were meeting.  my favorite part of the reunion was when sarah asked aaron and i 'so, do you two, like, hang out in real life?'
as you can see, we ended the night with a good ol' fashioned hymn sing!  and no, that photo is not staged at all...

tammy's wedding

my eldest cousin on my dad's side recently got married.  she and her husband have an amazing story of finally finding love together, so we were all thrilled to be able to share this special day with them!  diana and i had a wonderful time, and the whole thing couldn't have been more beautiful- congratulations to the two of them!
it was also a big day for us: it was the first time we ever got a babysitter for ledger!  with the whole family going to the wedding, we had no one to watch ledge.  my sister called up one of her babysitters and she watched ledge for us.  it was a little nerve-wracking, but it actually turned out pretty good!  you know, other than him being a holy terror for her, but we won't go in to that...
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letterbots

when we lived in kentwood we would regularly visit the public library.  they had some fun kids play areas and a bunch of fun toys there, ledger's favorite among them were the letters that transformed into robots.  even after we moved he would still bring them up regularly and ask if we could go to the library with the 'letterbots'.
i happened to see them online for a very reasonable price, so i though i would surprise him with his own set of letterbots!  needless to say, he was thrilled when he opened them up!  he lined them all up as he practiced his alphabet, then he would transform them and line them back up again.  his favorite was the 'l' bot because his name starts with an l.  its been fun spelling simple words with him with the robots, it makes it so that he really loves to spell!
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cool tools

ledger's favorite time: craft time!  we found this cool craft kit for making a 'tool box' at aldi the other day, so we got it and put it together.  ledge had so much fun making his designs and playing with the paint!  and of course, since it's ledger, he wanted to paint a smiley face on each side of it.  he even wrote his name on it!  he's getting to be a big boy, that's for sure!
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brother's back in town

i see him so rarely, so its always a treat when my brother comes in to town!  he took a bunch of time off so that he and his wife, miyuki, could spend some time traveling and enjoying themselves.  one of their first stops before heading into the great north was to spend a few days visiting all of us.  i really want ledger to know his uncle and aunt, so we made sure to take some time and visit with them while they were passing through.  we all had a great time catching up and hearing what has been going on with the two of them over the past few months.  ledge loved checking out chad's motorcycle and even got a little ride on it!
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doggy do

after having so much fun with the dogs last year, my aunt and uncle asked us to dogsit for them again this year- and we jumped at the opportunity!  we had a blast spending the week with their cute dogs and enjoying their beautiful home.  ledge loved the chance to have dogs in the house too- he wishes so bad that we would get a pet.  some day, buddy, some day...  it was also nice this time because i didn't have to run off to work every afternoon so i could actually enjoy the time with my family and those cute pups!  being so close to sandy pines, we also took advantage by stopping over at mema and papa's trailer to help out with rebuilding the deck and going for cart rides!
my aunt and uncle went on vacation and watching their dogs allowed us to go on a sort of vacation ourselves!
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aladdin

for some reason ledger has not been interested in movies lately.  he loves to watch tv show and other videos on tv, but he has recently been putting up a stink if we even mention watching a movie.  well, diana and i were growing quite tired of the shows he watches, so we told him that we were going to sit down and watch 'aladdin'.  he threw a fit and was yelling and crying and just being generally ridiculous.  we told him he was welcome to go to his room and pout it out, but we were watching the movie, with or without him.  after throwing an even bigger fit in his room, he decided to come back out.  he was still trying to talk us out of it when he started looking at the tv.  it took him watching for about 10 seconds- he then forgot what he was saying and sat down.  he stayed there for the rest of the movie!  so, maybe he doesn't hate movies after all...

civil war

as i've written about before, one of the things about allegan that i really love is the regent theatre!  i go as often as possible, and every once in a while i am able to bring friends along too!  well, they were showing 'captain america: civil war' and none of us had seen it yet, so i invited the guys and they took me up on the offer.  the movie was great, and so was spending the evening with these two guys!

allegan walk

with the weather being so beautiful out, the three of us decided to head downtown allegan and do some exploring down on the boardwalk (yes, we did sing that song the whole time...).  ever since we moved here i have a hard time explaining to friends and family why we love it in allegan so much.  its afternoons like this that are the reason why!
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drawing skills

our little guy keeps getting better and better at drawing!  he's gotten over his phase where he would get mad and throw his paper on the floor if he didn't draw something just right.  now, he's been using his easel, doodle pad, and paper to create some impressive drawings (you know, for a 4 year old...).  this one i thought was especially well done, he set up a still life of his toys and then drew them.  there's quite a bit of detail and he included all the little characters and everything!  before you know it he'll be better than his poor old dad!
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