Red Bull Air Race in Detroit

The boys, Daddy and Papa Mark went on a roadtrip yesterday to Detroit to see the Red Bull Air Race on the Detroit River. No adventure to Detroit would be complete without a journey to Coney Island! After lunch, they watched the races at the river and then went over to Comerica Park for a shot with the Tiger who is rooting for the Wings (kind of has to the way the Tigers are playing this season).

We're off for our first beach day of the season!! Stay tuned for pictures tonight and, oh yeah, GO WINGS!!!

Whitecaps game

Went to the West Michigan Whitecaps game last night with Papa and Grandma and cousins Romey, Jamie and Emma. It was Superheroes night so the boys wore their Batman and Robin costumes but those didn't last long, it was warm sitting there in the sun. The game was fun, the boys enjoyed the food, the play area and the ice cream more than anything. They had fireworks to end the evening and it was quite a show. We haven't been to that ballpark to see a game before but you can bet we will be back!

Jeff had to keep plugging his ears to not hear the Wings score at the game and we rushed home to see the Wings win game one of the Stanley Cup finals, pretty great day!

VFW Ribfest and sand angels

Yummy ribs galore and a little candy too were had at the Ribfest. Then, we wandered down to the beach and the boys made sand angels. Not quite warm enough for beach days yet. The water was a freezing 47 degrees but the boys wiggled their toes in it anyway.

And, yes, Jeff has more clothes than just his Wings jersey but it's that crazy time of year. GO WINGS!!

A trip to the pony farm with school

The boys school had a dinner picnic at the pony farm last week. Only four more days of preschool!!

A few more pictures from Shanty Creek

The boys had a wonderful adventure with Grandma and Papa while they were up north. They fished, they found a "pet" caterpillar they named Sherman, they rode bikes, they played and they had some quality time together. What lucky boys!!

Windy weekend

Too windy to hit the Kite Festival on the beach (it was great weather to fly kites but the sand was blowing too) so the boys went to play on the playground at the school where they will go this fall.

They also had their last day of Sunday School with Daddy as one of their teachers.

Back to our regular schedule for a couple more weeks now until summer vacation begins for them.

Busy, busy May boys

We're kicking into spring/summer modes and have been crazy trying to keep up with all the activities all of a sudden. The weather is getting to be beautiful, the boys are loving outside time and bike rides. We're almost ready for our first beach day!!

The boys made door hangers for all of their grandmothers and their special Aunt MareMan and their Mama. They each decorated a side and are very proud of their work.


We had an adventure and went up to Shanty Creek with Papa Mark and Grandma Kris last weekend. We went for a walk at a beautiful nature center, had a picnic by a lake, played on playgrounds, toasted s'mores in the fireplace and watched the Red Wings in the playoffs of course! Papa and Grandma are into geocaching now so we also spent some time finding hidden caches and there were lots up north.







We had a wonderful Mother's Day breakfast and then went off to play some putt putt golf in Traverse City before lunch and then Jeff and I came home and the boys stayed for the week with Grandma and Papa.








The boys had lots more adventures during the week and came home safely today. They stopped by dispatch to see me and give me lots of hugs and kisses. We all missed each other. When I got out of work they had alreay headed off to a picnic at the pony farm with their school. They were excited to see their friends. I will have to get Grandma to send some pictures.

Their summer calendar is already filling up QUICKLY!! There will be lots of fun times ahead.

We'll update again ASAP!!

A blustery day at the Zoo

The boys' preschool class went to the zoo yesterday. We had had 80 some degree weather the day before but a cold front blew through overnight with thunderstorms and it was only 40 some degrees at the zoo time but we went.

The boys were not so patient, they were more in a hurry to get to lunch but they made it through the zoo. They rode a camel and made faces at a tiger who kept coming to the glass to look at them. Matthew held his water bottle up to the glass to show a monkey who ran up and tried to grab it and they loved that!

The zoo has a new lion exhibit opening in June so we bought a family membership so we can go back more often this summer, hopefully during warmer weather!

We didn't stick it out for the group picnic lunch, we had a quick lunch in my car with Grandma and Papa and headed for the warmth of home and a Red Wings playoff game.

Go WINGS!!

A letter for Grandma Cindy

The other night Jonathan came to me and said he had written Grandma Cindy a letter because he missed her. How could I say no to that?? He had something in an envelope and it was all sealed so I didn't know what we were sending but I agreed. He wanted to address it himself so we spent awhile writing out her address and then he did his return address on the back side. It wasn't easy but he got it done and he was so proud.

Grandma Cindy called last night to say how happy she was to get the letter after a long day. She got rewarded by two boys who were eager to stall bedtime and actually spent quite a while filling her in on their day at the zoo and all they have been up to. It's a rare day that one of them, much less both, feel like talking for long on the phone so it was a real treat for Grandma.

We have a feeling that letter will be stored away safely somewhere and that Jonathan will see it again someday. Grandma Cindy is good with treasure keeping like that.

Summary of April

We're quite a bit behind here, sorry about that. Spring has sprung and things get busier and busier around here.

This month the boys have really been working on their bike skills and spending a lot of time cycling around the driveway and the house. They're getting ready for lots of bike rides this summer with Grandma Cindy and Papa Terry.

We've all been enjoying the warmer weather and spending time out in the yard, especially Hayley who is eager to catch any ball thrown for her.

We celebrated my birthday with a nice day for Mom. I had sweet presents from my boys and Jeff and Hayley too.

Grandma Kris and Papa Mark made their long-awaited return from a winter in Arizona. The boys were thrilled to see the coach pull up in our yard and eagerly took off to "help" Grandma and Papa go unpack a bit. The next day they went off for an adventure in Papa's little red car to try their hand at geocaching. No caches were found but the boys had a ball playing on a pile of snow they found in Duncan Woods. Hopefully, that is the last snow they will be able to play with this spring!

Last night they had a final birthday celebration with Papa, Grandma and Great Grandma and they had a cake that looked like a burger! They loved that.

A couple of weeks ago Jeff and I went to kindergarten orientation for the boys. We are still having trouble trying to decide if we should keep the boys together or separate them next year. There are pros and cons for each way and I have just resigned myself that no matter which way we choose it will be wrong in some way. Parenting is hard that way!

The boys are ready to go, they want to start school now and be on their way! The other morning I asked Matthew what he had for breakfast and he said, "French toast sticks mom and I had three of them, you know, the kind that is six minus three or two plus one"!!!