savannah's birthday

It was Savannah's birthday, so we invited her over for the afternoon to celebrate!  Ledger was excited to have a guest come and visit during the long summer days, and we had gotten her a cute American girl type doll, so he was pumped to give it to her!  she was thrilled with the gift and excited to play with it and introduce her new doll to her other one.
now, with the gift giving and everything out of the way, we all gathered into the car and went out to sandy pines!  savannah had never been there so she was really thrilled with all the cool stuff they have there.  both the kids loved going on a cart ride, going to the water park,  and getting ice cream!  we will definitely need to take her back here again!

reading time

As a way to encourage our boy to continue his education, even though its summer time, we have instituted a new policy of 'reading time'.  During this time all three of us grab a book and spend at least a half hour reading.  Ledge wasn't very excited about it until he learned that we could all jump in to the bed together and snuggle while we read!  Now he's all for it!  That kid is such a snuggler!

summer camp

In the spring we tried to plan ahead a little bit so that Ledger could be involved in a few extra activities over the summer.  One of the activities that we found for him was going to a week of summer camp!  We figured he wasn't quite ready for an overnight camp, so we were very pleased when we found Camp Kaskitowa, a great camp that's only about 10 minutes away.  They do the over night thing, but they also offer what they call 'day camp' for younger kids.  The kids get to participate in the same activities as the regular campers but then head home right before dinner.
I have very fond memories of going to camp when I was young that I really wanted him to have these great experiences too.  I remember going a couple years in a row up to Jack and Jill Bible Camp (since renamed to Pine Ridge) with my cousin Jeff.  We has so much fun and I've got some fantastic memories that I still think back to fondly.
Hoping that Ledger would have the same wonderful time that I was able to enjoy, Diana and I have been talking it up for weeks, getting him as excited about it as possible.  The morning for camp to start finally arrived and he was pretty excited.  I brought him and checked him in for his first day.  He was nervous but looking forward to it.  The day starts at 8am and goes until 5pm, so its a long one.  At the end of the day I came to pick him up and he was not happy at all.  At all.  He was beside himself with frustration and anger!  I asked him what he was so mad about and he was just so flustered he couldn't really put it in to words.  He demanded that there was no way he was going back for the rest of the week.  After we talked him down we found that the biggest problem seemed to be that camp wasn't what he had expected.  He really struggled with the uncertainty and confusion of the day's schedule, which made it really hard for him to enjoy any of it.  We stuck to our guns and told him he didn't have a choice, he was going back on Tuesday whether we wanted to or not.  He moaned and groaned about it all night and all morning, but we dropped him off none the less.  By that afternoon when we picked him up his story had changed- he totally loved it now!  I think once the initial shock and worry had passed, he was able to get comfortable with the situation and really enjoy himself.  It also helps that they got to spend an hour swimming!
The rest of the week went off without a hitch and he loved each day more than the last- especially the day they got to ride horses!  After initially hating it, but the end of the week he was asking if he could do it again next summer.  I'd call that a success!

our artist

Our boy has been spending more and more time with his pen and paper lately.  He's always been an artistic boy, but he's been amping it up in the drawing department.  And you know what? He's really good!  It stands to reason that he would take an interest, I mean I have always loved drawing and even got an art degree from college (ok, art education, but what ever...) and also Diana is very artistic and her dad is actually a professional painter.
Ledger's preferred medium is ink and paper.  He never really had any interest in pencils, instead opting for the unforgiving option of never being able to erase his lines.  It has caused him to be very confident in each line- and a lot of paper making its way swiftly to the recycle bin!  His drawings are always very expressive faces and creatures that are being pretty silly.  His current muse seems to be robots, but it had recently been ocean life.  We definitely see some amazing talent there, so we have been encouraging him every step of the way.  We'll see where this goes next...
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goodbye gull bladder

Diana's been having some serious stomach problems lately.  It wasn't exactly her stomach, but it was something in her digestive track that was giving her major problems.  She would feel just fine, but then all of the sudden she would have a debilitating pain in her lower abdomen.  At first we thought it was just something she may have eaten, but then a day or two later it happened again.  And again! She headed to the doctor to find out what it was and it turned out to be gull stones.  We were told that the pains could keep happening or they could go away for years or forever and she may never have another problem again. They also suggested that she could have her gull bladder removed and it would solve the issue if they came back.  We thought about it for a few days and she decided to wait a little while and see if it returned.  It took about a month and a half, but the pains came back.  We set up the surgery and brought her in.  It was a really quick procedure, they just poke three tiny holes and take it out.  It was an out patient surgery that only took about 15 minutes!  She was back awake and feeling ok only about an hour after we walked in!  She took the whole thing like a champ, making Ledger and I so proud!  There's still some healing to do, but at least the pain will be gone.

sandy water park!

Now we're talking!  It's finally warm enough to make our way to the Sandy Pines water park!  Ledger is such a confident swimmer now that he doesn't need any sort of swimmies or close supervision, so he was so excited to be let go on his own there!  we all hopped in the pool to cool off and enjoy the park, but he quickly started asking about going on the water slide.  I went down with him the first time, but we told him that he's big enough now to go on it by himself if he's brave enough.  Well, that's all the encouragement he needed!  After a minute or two of waffling, he decided he was in fact brave enough, and waltzed right up there to take the plunge by himself.  And he did great!  He came down and was laughing and smiling like a champ!  'I wanna go again!' he exclaimed.  No problem buddy, hop back in line!  I think he ended up going down it 10-12 times!

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allegan's 4th

This story doesn't end well.  I was really excited for the 4th of July this year.  With my unusual work schedule I never get the chance to spend summer holidays with the family.  I always work Memorial day and Labor day, and usually the 4th of July as well.  This year though, it worked out that I was actually going to have the day off!  I was pumped, so we made plans to enjoy the festivities downtown Allegan!  They were having a big celebration with the splash pad, food trucks, live music, and of course- fireworks!  We headed downtown around 6pm to meet up with Savannah's family.  We found a great place to park over by the library and walked the boardwalk over to the splash pad area.  The place was packed with so many people enjoying the beautiful weather and the wonderful location.  Ledger was willing to give the freezing cold splash pad another try, so he was in his bathing suit.  The kids were busy playing in the splash pad when some reckless teens came barreling through, paying no attention to the other dozens of kids playing.  One of the teens rammed chest first straight into Ledge, pounding him to the concrete.  He immediately started crying and bleeding.  He had a huge bruise on his head and scrapped up hands and knees.  The teen stopped for a second and said 'oh, sorry'.  He clearly felt bad about it, but the damage had been done.  Ledge was a mess and in need of some bandages and tending to.  All our big plans thrown out the window.  We gathered our things and headed home.  I was totally disappointed that our rare opportunity to take part in our town's festivities were cut short.

There's no way we will ever get Ledger to try that splash pad again now...

gatecon '19

I eagerly await this weekend all year long: its time for GateCon! I think this is the seventh GateCon I've attended. The first one was back in 2010 and I've been going every year since. There were a couple years that they didn't have one, but due to popular demand, they brought it back, baby! The first one I went to by myself, but by the second year I had roped Jon in to the nerdy fun! by the 4th year we got Jeffery Lee to come too (he was never really interested in Stargate, he was just up for the adventure). This year is now the first one since we lost Jeff, so it was a little bittersweet. Jon and I made the most of it and had a grand old time! The speakers were great and the merch room is always fun to poke around in. This year I planned a head and brought extra money so I could splurge on a few extra Stargate items!

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so we bought a house...

One of the main reasons we finally sold our rental property in Indiana was for the chance to finally have a house of our own.  Diana and I spent a lot of time talking about what our next step was.  We've now got an opportunity to change our lives in some very big ways.  We talked about moving to a bigger town, maybe up to Grand Rapids, or moving down to the South Bend area.  There were many nights and weeks of going back and fourth about what was next for our lives.  Through it all we realized that we both really love it here in Allegan and don't actually want to leave.  So, that means that we were going to take a big step: buy a house here.  We got in touch with my brother-in-law Tim, he's a real estate agent, and asked him to do his thing for us.   The market right now is really tough, the asking price is just the starting point.  Any of the houses we had looked at earlier ended up going for 5-20 thousand more than their asking price!  We were initially put in a bid for a place downtown Allegan.  We fell in love with the old home and were excited to fix it up.  we put in for ten thousand below asking price, figuring that we would get the ball rolling with the bidding process.  they came back with a counter offer, but after some serious thought, we kind of decided that maybe an old house isn't the way we wanted to go after all.  Those repairs take a lot of money, and we aren't exactly what you would call 'rich'...  We withdrew our offer.  Feeling defeated we took a couple weeks off of searching.  Finally we tried again and found a few we liked.  Tim took us around to check them out but they were all duds.  One Wednesday morning Diana opened the real estate app and spotted one that she really liked.  We talked to Tim and he set up a chance for us to see it that day- it's first day on the market.  We walked in and fell in love!  We immediately put in a bid for more than they were asking, hoping we'd save ourselves the frustration of loosing it to a higher bidder.  Wednesday night Diana was tossing and turning about the offer.  In the morning we talked about it and realized that the higher bid was just more than we could afford so, reluctantly, we asked Tim to change our bid down to the asking price.  He did, and told us that it doesn't mean we are out of the running.  Feeling dejected, we both gave up hope and went about the rest of our week.  

Then Friday afternoon we got a call from Tim- our offer was accepted!  So, we seem to have bought a new house.  Now the fun begins...

summer pines

It's easy to know when summer is here, because it's Sandy Pines time!  Mom and Papa invited everyone to come by their place for an inaugural grill out for the start of the Sandy Pines summer season.  It was still a little cold, so we didn't make it out to the water park, but we did partake in a golf cart ride through the park.  Ledger was so excited to see his cousins and to be back at mema and papa's trailer!

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the projectionist

Our little movie theater here in Allegan is pretty special. It's one of the reasons I fell in love with this small town and planted my family here to live. Turns out, I'm not the only one who really loves that theater. A filmmaker recently used it as a location to film their short film 'the Projectionist'. He finished the movie and as a thank you to the Allegan community, he held a free screening of the movie for anyone who wanted to check it out. A movie premiere? count me in!
The place was packed with friends and those who worked on the short. The director was there to introduce the film and talk a little about the work that went into making it. It was really interesting to get a little peek behind how much effort and creativity must go in to pulling off a film on a tight budget. The film itself is about a little boy in World War II Germany who want to reopen the movie theater in town but the only ones who know how to run the projector were the jews that had been run out of town. After the film there was a Q & A and discussion. A fun event that could only happen here in Allegan!

last day of first grade

Today was a big day for our little guy.  Today was the last day of first grade!  He was understandably pumped from the moment he first popped out of bed in the morning.  It was only a half day with a special picnic for all the families at noon.  Unfortunately Diana was feeling really sick, so I went to see him alone.  All the fast food places in town are packed with parents who are picking up food for the picnic, so I knew not to even try that route, instead I planned a head and picked him up a special meal earlier in the week when I got groceries.  He had a special lunchable and juice, which he was pleased about.  He was kind of too excited to even notice though, this was the last day of school, after all!  We ate quickly, then Ledger ran around playing with some friends for the last time this year.  Soon after, everyone was beckoned over to the basketball court where the kids were treated to a real live magician!  As if Ledger could even get more excited!

Finally it was time to head home, another successful school year behind him- only 11 more to go!

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aladdin again

I'm always a sucker for going to see any movie in the theater, but sometimes it takes a little more convincing for my wife and son.  It wasn't very hard to talk Diana into going to see Aladdin, but Ledger was a different story.  He was not at all interested in seeing this one.  I asked him why and he said 'it's not animated, I don't like movies that aren't animated!'  I distinctly remember him saying that he didn't want to watch the animated Aladdin a year or two ago, so I wasn't really believing him this time either... We told him that we were going and if he wanted to he could stay home by himself while we went. I knew that wasn't going to be ok with him, so he pouted for a minute, but came along. He still wasn't sold on seeing the movie as we found our seats, but he's a lot like Diana- good snacks can go along way in changing his negative attitude! All three of us ended up enjoying the movie by the time it started rolling and we had a very nice family night out at the movies!

grill house papa

After visiting with Chad and Miyuki for a while, we brought Ledger over to a friend's house for a couple hours so the adults could go out for dinner.  Due to his medical issues, we hadn't yet had a chance to get together for Papa's birthday, so he and Mom had made plans for all of us (sans kids) to go to the Allegan Grill House for a birthday meal!  It's a pretty cool place- you pick a piece of meat and actually grill it yourself.  Now, since Diana and I don't actually eat meat, we hot veggie skewers and a skillet of mushrooms to grill instead.  The whole thing was a lot of fun- it was great to have an interactive meal.  Tim and Chad kind of fancy themselves as grill masters, so it was amusing to me to watch them try to out grill each other...

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chad visits

We don't get visitors very often, especially a visit from my brother!  He's been in the military for over 15 years now, so he's never in town.  He and his wife stop by in Michigan only once or twice a year.  With them in town we actually convinced them to stop by our place before going out to dinner.  It's been forever (or at least feels like it to Ledger) since he saw him, so he was really excited to see his uncle and auntie!  They came down and stayed for a little while.  We got to show off our place and do a bit of catching up with the two of them.  As expected, most of the time was filled with Ledger wanting to show uncle Chad all his stuff and his drawings.  Chad and Miyuki were appropriately impressed, which sated the boy, allowing the adults a few minutes to chat and catch up without interruption.

walk in the woods

Around the apartments where we live are a series of trails.  There is a woods surrounding us on three sides and there are a bunch of biking and hiking paths through them.  Ledger asked if a friend from school could come over; she lives in the apartment complex too, so she came over and the two of them played for a while.  It didn't take long for Ledge to get bored with his own toys, so I suggested the two of them go wander around the trails.  We hadn't been on them yet this year, so it would be the first time out this season.  Ledge was all for it, but his friend was a bit more hesitant.  It became obvious that she had never walked through the woods before, because she was so terrified of the bugs flying around and any branches or leaves that touched her as we walked.  I always thought Ledge was pretty nature averse, but this was a whole other level!  Her fear gave Ledger a chance to feel brave, shooing away whatever spooked her.  By the time we made the whole circuit, the two of them were quite exhausted and thankful to make it back to the apartment.

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frozen splash pad

downtown Allegan has been making some improvements lately.  They updated the parking area by main street, expanded the library, and now just completed an new splash pad down by the boardwalk.  it was a pretty warm day for the spring, so Ledger and I headed down there to check it out  he was all gung-ho about it, ready to play in the water with the rest of the kids.  His excitement soon vanished once he ran into the water.  It is ice cold!  he was not ready for that.  the weather is kind of warm, but with the water he was immediately freezing- this water was so cold that it would freeze you on a hot august day!  needless to say, our visit was rather short.  He was a bit disappointed about the whole thing, but I just reminded him that Sandy Pines will be open soon, and they've got a water slide!

I'm sure we'll try the splash pad again this summer, but if the water stays this temperature, then we'll bring a scarf and gloves...

game on!

The Regent Theater downtown Allegan apparently had a back room that went unused for years and years.  They recently decided to clean it up and open it as an arcade- filled with pinball games!  When I heard about it I knew we needed to go and check this thing out.   I grabbed the boy and a roll of quarters and we headed down to see this place!

Ledger had never played a pinball machine before so he loved to see all the cool stuff they did when the ball rolls around.  They also had a couple video game cabinets too.  One of them played Pac-Man, so Ledge was all over that one!  They have a really cool Avatar pinball game, so that's the one I kept pouring quarters into!  There's a concession stand and everything, so of course Ledge got himself some candy.  Treat yo self, right?  It's really cool that our little town has it's own old school arcade.  I'm sure we will find ourselves dropping in to play a few games, that's for sure!
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walking around downtown

We love our little town of Allegan.  Ledger and I will often go downtown after school, when the weather is nice, and just walk around the boardwalk.  We usually end up stopping at the library to get some books, and then we make our way past the candy shop for a little treat (don't tell mama...).  During our latest walk we stopped for dinner at On the Grid.  After we ate, we came across a bunch of people getting things ready for the introduction of the latest addition to the downtown scene: an arcade!
we were walking past and saw that they were gearing up for the grand opening.  for some reason they had sidewalk chalk by the door.  Ledger, of course, noticed this and asked if he could do a few drawings for them.  'certainly!' they said.  well, he then proceeded to fill the sidewalk with video game characters in celebration of the arcade!  They were very pleased and got a good laugh at the fun scenes he created.
We are totally going to have to check this place out when it opens!
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officially named 'best snugger ever'

I'm sure this will disappoint a lot of other fathers out there, but it's time to face reality: you lost. Many of you gave it a good try and performed admirably, but the results are in and you didn't quite make the cut. My son recently informed me that I had been awarded the much-coveted title of 'Best Snugger Ever'. I even have the plague to prove it.
I'd like to thank all the cozy evenings on the couch and the times we laid on the floor reading books.  Also, a shout out to Diana who did all the heavy lifting on this one.  She was busy keeping the household together while I was in training.  Being the best snugger ever does not come easy, there's at least 2-4 hours of practice every single day.  She really has been a trooper while I've been going through the rigorous snugging in preparation.  Again, I'm amazed that I won the award, I mean, it's just an honor to be nominated.  There were some strong contenders this year, but it looks like I was able to pull out the win.

Better luck next year, guys!