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!