Fun at the Garden

This morning Joshua and I went to Frederik Meijer Garden with Erin and Owen. Thankfully the rain held off for most of the time we were there. Joshua enjoyed playing in the sand, banging on the drums (even Owen joined in with this activity) and exploring the flowers in the children's garden... but his favorite thing by far was playing in the little water hole in the middle of one of the sculptures as well as their Great Lakes exhibit! We were able to walk around the gardens and check out a few of the sculptures before the rain began to fall. So, we headed back inside and checked out the gallery full of Tom Otterness sculptures. The work of Tom Otterness is being displayed at the gardens as well as all over downtown GR until September and it is some pretty fun stuff! After a tasty lunch and a small walk around the exhibits indoors we headed back home. I think we just may have to get a family membership to the gardens so we can enjoy many more days like today.

First Pair of Jordans!

If you know my younger brother Phil at all, you know he is a HUGE NIKE fan, but more specifically a fan of Jordans. Phil owns I don't know how many pairs of NIKE shoes, but they go from floor to ceiling in his room (apparently this fetish with shoes runs in the family)! Anyway, last night Phil gave Joshua his first pair of Jordan shoes to start out his collection. These apparently are an old style that NIKE just reproduced and released yesterday. Now both Phil and Joshua have the same shoes! It's remarkable to see just how much the tiny little Jordans look like the adult version. Thanks Phil! Joshua will sure to get a lot of use out of is new shoes!

Take Me Out to the Ballgame!

Last night we went to the Whitecaps game. This is actually Joshua's third time at the Whitecaps, but the first two times were last summer and at 2 and 3 months old and he was a bit clueless. This time however he was taking it all in! We actually got to sit on one of the decks and eat lots of free food because this was an invite from a company that Cory knows through work. There were a few other people from Cory's office there as well as tons of other people we didn't know. This didn't stop Joshua from making lots of friends though! It seems our child is VERY social and loves to get people's attention which is just what he did last night! Not only were other children drawn to him, but so were adults - young and old! Since Joshua's interest seemed to be everyone sitting around us he really didn't watch much of the game. We stayed for the entire game which was good, because in the last two innings the Whitecaps won. An extra bonus were the fireworks after the game as well as a visit to manger of the suites (a good friend of mine from graduate school) who showered us with delicious treats to take home! I'm sure these kinds of nights will only get more fun as Joshua grows up!

Early Stages of Writing

A few weeks ago Joshua finally understood that a pen can be used for more than something to chew on. So as he entered this first stage of developing writing I got him some things to help encourage his new interest. He now has his own coloring book and chubby little crayons as well as sidewalk chalk. I also had purchased him a small doodle pro (magnetic writing board) for his long ride in the car to Traverse City a couple weeks ago which was a huge hit. After years of studying about all the developmental things that occur with young children it's really amazing to see things develop with my own child.

Magnetic Powers...

I swear that water has some magnetic power! Every time Joshua sees or hears water he is drawn to it! You name it, the sink, bathtub, washing machine, sprinkler, hose, pool, lake, whatever water it is Joshua has to get his hands if not his whole body into it. In this picture you can see he managed to get soaked just by splashing in the water as I watered the plants on the deck. I guess I should have known this child loved water when he wouldn't come out of the watery womb until he was pretty much forced out!

Beating the Summer Heat!

HOT, HOT, HOT!!! With temperatures in the 90's the past few days we have been spending time either indoors in air conditioning or outside in water. A big thanks to Shawn and Erin who have allowed us to invade their home and use their pool for some much needed cooling off during this heat wave!






Playing in the pool.



Cooling off in the hose!

Joshua Walking Solo!!!

Yes, you read the title correctly! Our stubborn little boy who hasn't been very willing to try to walk on his own has finally been taking some solo steps. With the help of a little motivation called Smarties Joshua has walked on his own many times (apparently he loves his candy as much as his mom does). He has even walked to us a few times. Now this is by no means his preferred method of getting around since he is a speedy little crawler, but at least he is making some progress in the area of walking on his own. Check out the video below to see Joshua in action!

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Weekend in Traverse City

Four adults and two children in car seats along with lots of luggage packed into a Rendezvous...that was the scene Friday morning as Cory, Joshua and I headed up to Traverse City for the weekend with Shawn, Erin and Owen. We arrived around noon after hitting an 45 minute emergency detour on 131 (a tanker truck had tipped over in the median earlier that morning and was leaking ethanol). We spent the afternoon walking around downtown shopping in all the neat little shops and then preceded to the hotel to all take a nap (adults included)! Dinner and sitting in the hot tub concluded our first day. Then came the worst part of our vacation...Joshua has never slept in our room, nor has he spent the night in his pack-n-play so this combined with a new environment made for a very crappy nights sleep for all of us! It really bites when your toddler wakes up at 4 am and peeks over the side of his pack-n-play, sees you and starts to giggle and thinks it's time to get up and play!!! Saturday morning we headed to some of the Cherry Festival activities going on around town and walked throug the zoo in Clinch Park. Our poor little sleeper fell fast asleep in his stroller for a 45 minute nap as we walked around. We ate lunch and hit the outlet mall on our way out of town. With two overly tired children we piled back in the car for a two hour ride home. We thought both kids would sleep on the way home, but only Owen decided to do this, Joshua never closed his eyes! How in the world can a kid who slept so poorly the night before and only took a 45 minute nap stay awake for a 2 hour car ride?!?!?! As Shawn predicted on the way up to Traverse City, "you all know we are going to go home from this vacation more tired than we left" and boy was he right!!!

Packed in!
Taking a break from the detour at a park.
Eating a snowcone at the Cherry Festival
Watching Oscar the black bear.
Joshua wants to pet the coyote at the zoo.

July 4th Celebration

Yesterday morning we went to the Kentwood parade. Joshua had a great time watching all the fire trucks, bikes, cars, and people go by. He got lots of candy thrown his way that Erin and I gathered up for our own consumption. In the afternoon we, along with several family members, went over to Shawn and Erin's house (otherwise known as the 4th of July hangout). We spent the afternoon swimming in the 81 degree water in their pool and soaking in the sun. Of course we had a delicious BBQ dinner with tons of delicious food! The culmination of our day was watching the Kentwood fireworks outside in the front yard. We were worried about how Joshua would react to the loud noise, but to our surprise he sat with us watching and pointing at the sky as the fireworks went off. We looked over at him during the grand finale and he was just reaching for more popcorn. It was a fabulously fun day! Just click on the Play button to enjoy some photos from our 4th of July celebration.

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Sprinkler Fun!

Joshua loves the water, whether it is his little pool, Shawn and Erin's pool, the tub, the faucet or even sprinklers. Since we have a sprinkling system that goes on in the morning Joshua usually doesn't get to play in them. One night this week Cory turned them on for him to explore. Then, last night Cory decided to get out a regular sprinkler to water our side yard that was in need of a little extra water. Well, it didn't take Joshua but a second to make his way over to the water! Fully clothed Joshua and Cory ran and played in the sprinkler. I'm not sure who had more fun, Cory or Joshua!