Jay Date: Day at the museum

Those few of you who are faithful blog followers will see, once again, the cycle that repeats itself...this is year two...or is it three? Well, we've had at least a couple sets of pictures of Jayden at the Children's Museum downtown in Grand Rapids. Each time he's a little bigger. Each time, his interests have changed or the way that he plays in certain areas is more sophisticated. He is now able to conceptualize how to set up the ball maze or how to put the train tracks together. When we first started coming to the museum, Jayden simply ran from one spot to the next with hardly a pause. I see so much progress in his attention span and thought processes. Makes Granny proud...and I said that to Jay several times today. At one point he stopped what he was doing and asked me, "Gramma are you proud of me?" So, I guess he even understands the value of having someone be proud of your accomplishments. We enjoyed the day together, just Jay and I. Later, we stopped at home to pick up Ty for a run to the grocery store and to shop for new tennis shoes. This is at least the third pair of Spiderman tennis shoes he's had. Bonus, they had some Spiderman flip-flops too on closeout for $4 so who could pass that up? It amazes me, but Jayden never gets tired of Elmo's Potty Time so, of course, we had to watch it. Jay loves to feed the cats and dogs and help Gran water the flowers. Good times!

Pig Roast

Here's a little ditty about Chuck and Diane~had a pig roast at their house and it was grand!



This annual pig roast and lawn party was once again a resounding success~our very own Bob DeVries DJ'd the event and specializes in oldies and classic rock(you can connect with Bob to DJ and/or his band, FULL COUNT at bobdevries49@hotmail.com) and there was plenty of intense fellowship...including the "f" thing that rhymes with skirt...A good time had by all.Our group has some pretty good dancers...I wonder if we'll see some of them on Dancing with the Stars?? You just never know. Thanks again to Chuck and Diane for their warmth, generosity, and wonderful hospitality! Next year, Bob, Molly Hatchett, OK?

Welcome Home, Derek!

A picture is worth a thousand words...Lets just say, parties at Derek's are legendary and this one was no exception! A good time was had by all~many thanks to Pam, Tom, and everyone who helped make this a fun evening. Great to see everybody!

At the Zoo

Our annual trek to John Ball Zoo happened today. We are used to a much larger zoo when we go to zoo Oregon. But our little one in GR has it's own funky hometown charm. New on the agenda, we stopped and got Jayden an airbrushed tat. He chose the snake himself. Then we also petted the sting rays this year. Jayden did the passport activites along the nature trail, too. Missing from our adventure this time was the camel ride. Nobody quite felt like it by the time we got there. He did the petting zoo. We saw all the exhibits. Jayden didn't make it to the swan boats again this year...maybe next year.Again this year, the two semi-finalists for the stinkiest animals were the Flamingos and the Bears. Last year I would have called it a tie but this year I would say the Bears won, hands down, for the most unGodly, foul stench! They need to change their diet! We got really close up to the Mountain Lions. Such beautiful animals. We saw the lions and tigers, too. The African exhibit has come a long way since they put it in-really grown up and filled in as far as the vegetation goes. Jayden was a funny little guy this year though...he kept saying such hilarious stuff.. Like answering "absolutely!" and "whatever" to almost everything! Another thing he kept doing is telling Tyler "that's a bad word" or "don't say that word" even when it wasn't a bad word~drove Tyler nuts and it was really funny after awhile. Then Jayden decided it would be cool to call his dad by his first name. That really didn't go over well with Tyler! When we were leaving the zoo, Jayden was looking at the bronze statue of John Ball and he asked, "What happened to him?" And Tyler told him, "They dipped him in Bronze!" We all got a good laugh out of that one :)

Night at Sapphire Lake

The SBD folks gathered at the home of our very own Johhny B. for a potluck and campfire on Sapphire Lake. Perfect weather, gorgeous setting, great company, wonderful eats, a few adult beverages, and a rip-roaring fire after the sun set. At some point we got John to give us the tour. His house is so cozy~classy but comfortable. Very nice. So, after that, at some point during the course of the evening, and after spending some time with Leinenkugel, we hatched out a plot to secure our place in this lovely residence so we never have to leave...It went something like this...We decided to become Mormons. That way, John could marry all of us and we could be sisterwives just like on the HBO show Big Love. Diane, in true form, and the leader that she is,decided our work assignments: I'm in charge of all the sex and bedroom activities (why would she pick me???), Diane's gonna clean the place and Deb's in charge of the kitchen. Well, we tried to sell the idea to John but he said the prospect of having the three of us around was just too overwhelming. So, we had to concede defeat for the moment. But we asked him to just continue to consider the offer. Meantime, we had an incredible night by the lake. That is, until the mosquitoes got the better of us. Even if John doesn't accept our offer, we do genuinely thank him for his gracious hospitality at this most lovely of settings and hope that he will consider having us all back again next summer~I will bring my fishing pole and swim suit next time!

Dueling Pianos

Gotta love those Friday night concerts in Kollen's Park!We had such a beautiful night and the music was awesome. All standards that we knew, loved, and could sing along with. These two guys are great! They are available for parties and special events:

http://www.piano-party.com

As usual, Boatwerks afterwards...the band there was great, too, but nothing compared with the wonderful companionship of friends :)))

Take me out to the ballgame

Here's another family tradition that I am now enjoying with Jayden the way I did with my two boys~going to the ballpark, complete with all the sights, sounds and smells of a real, live game~nothing quite like it!Another tradition, we went to AJ's before and after the game to do gokarts, kiddiekarts, the bumper boats and some of the arcade games.Jayden got to do his first "driving" in the kiddiekarts and then Granny and Jayden faced-off with Dad, Tyler, on the bumper boats. We ran into the waterfall just for fun and got soaking wet! Stopped at the Main Street Pub on the way home for dinner on the patio. Then watched a little Elmo's Potty Time, Jayden had a nice bath,on with the Thomas the Tank Engine PJ's, and a long nap with Gran...Gunther, Patches, and assorted cats who rotate guard duty throughout the night. These are the good old days. How wonderful to get another chance to relive these special times over again with a whole new generation and to see these "old experiences" through new eyes.

Kollen's Park 4th of July Fireworks

Second year in a row (so now it's a tradition)I went to the firework display at Kollen's Park accompanied by the usual suspects, as you can see! I met up with Mandy in the Morning JQ99 DJ and personal friend from church. Ran into the rowdy singles bunch from CWC ;) Hung out with Carrie and Jamie, Bonnie and Annie~no pictures of them cuz they arrived after dark...The music was good with various groups entertaining until the 10:20 start time of the fireworks.Then the B-BOP (Big Band of Praise)took the stage and we did a group version of God Bless America and The Star Spangled Banner before the show began. We had live music and songs all the way through the fireworks and it was an especially spectacular display this year. Sooo...since they decided to have the firworks on the 3rd instead of the 4th, I guess it'll be some other activity tomorrow. Wait and see. I think it's a toss up between Whitecaps baseball and going to see The Proposal.