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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