Summertime Fun!

Last night we had a cookout with some friends and here is a few pics of how we spent our evening!

Hamburgers and hotdogs over the fire

Daniel, Abby and Bradyn waiting waiting for supper.

Playing kickball - parents vs. kids

Even the little kids joined in and everyone had a blast....until the mosquitos started eating us alive!!

Storm damage

This is the aftermath of when the storm came through last night. I was getting ready to get in bed when I saw something fly past the bedroom window and then heard a loud "thud". I ran into the family room and looked out the window to see the neighbor's trampolene on top of our deck! This happened one time last year and they decided to bolt it into the ground so it wouldn't happen again....well unfortunatley that didn't help. Their tramp is the one with net sides so the kids can't fall off and those support bars are pretty badly damaged but luckily it doesn't look like the actual tramp part where you jump on was damaged! We thought one of the supports underneath the deck was cracked but luckily it's not, just some broken spindles and a few knicks in the wood - all of which can easily be fixed :) And one more note if you will notice our backyard (which there isn't one!!!!). The county came in a moved the drain about 10 feet or more into our backyards so now we don't even have room to put a swingset or anything else!!!!!!!! So our backyard is about 5 feet off of our deck now!

Haircut

I had a friend try to trim Bradyn's hair just over a month ago and he was throwing a fit about it. So I finally gave in and decided he needed a full cut so last night we took him to Great Clips and here are the results! The picture above is what it looked like just before she started cutting.

This is what he looks like now!!

When she used the shaver around his ears it was tickeling him and he was giggling!! He sat so nice during the whole haircut and now he doesn't look like my little baby anymore, he looks like such a little man with his new haircut!!

Saturday Events

I thought I'd better throw in a picture from Easter. Grandma got each of the boys their own Easter basket filled with candy and a little gift...as you can see from the picture Bradyn got a new pair of shoes!! Grandma even hid some easter eggs around the basement and Tyler found them all with a few surprises in them!!

This has become Bradyn's new favorite thing...riding his bike on the deck. Luckily the bugs aren't out in full force yet so I can leave the slider door open for him to come in and out on his own (and leave the screen door open so he doesn't break it down!!) Dragging him inside at night is like torture and he go through about 15 minutes of a screaming/crying tantrum!!

Today in Zeeland it was "The Day of the Young Child". It was a pretty neat event and the weather was absolutly perfect! There was a firetruck, tow truck, police car & boat, school bus and some other events outside. Tyler loves monster trucks so he was pretty excited when he got to sit inside of it.

Inside of the school, the gym was filled with different booths of information and activities and crafts. Tyler made a visor and stamped/painted a gift bag. Bradyn got a balloon which made him pretty happy the rest of the day and Alex refused to even get near one. It was a great afternoon and I would definitely recommend it to anyone with young kids if they have it next year!!

Oh...I can't forget to add how excited I am that the garage sales have started. I went to a big subdivision sale in Zeeland and scored some pretty good loot!! Yeah for garage sales and the season has just begun!!!! If anyone hears about good ones make sure to let me know!

What we've been up to

Sorry for the lack of posts lately but I have been locked out of my own site for some reason and it just decided to work tonight! So anyway....here's a just a quick update on what's new around our house. We (actually my mom) have painted the living room area in my house, it's about time I got some more color on the walls!! It turned out awesome! Just like everyone else it seems, we've been battling colds over here but hopefully the germs are out of the house now. Bradyn is growing and learning new things everyday...especially the whole climbing thing. As you can see on the pictures below he climbs on just about anything, and yes he has fallen many times but just keeps at it. The newest trick happened this evening in the tub when he decided to stick his face under the water - and kept doing it over and over without getting any water up his nose!! I think we're going to have water rat on our hands which will be a little scary when we go to the lake this summer!! I've added just a few pics of my little monster!!

Aunt Amber & Bradyn

The first thing he learned to climb up on was the kitchen chair!

Last night he discovered how to get on top of his activity table and completely stand up straight - and he didn't even fall!!

Frederick Meyer Gardens

Today we took the boys to Frederick Meyer Gardens to check out the butterfly exhibit. Tyler's birthday is on Monday so this was a little outing especially for him. The only downside of going today was that it was such a gloomy day so the butterflies weren't very active. So if anyone plans on visiting their, make sure it's a nice and bright sunny day!! Overall the boys seemed to like it and that's what counts!!

Here is the birthday boy (actually on Monday) and he will be 3 years old!!

Chucky Cheese!

Friday night we went with some friends to Chucky Cheese. I was a bit nervous at how the evening was going to turn out but the kids had a blast. Bradyn loved the rides and threw a fit when they stopped moving and he had to get off. He got to ride on Scoop (hopefully that's the right name...I'm not an avid Bob the Builder watcher) and there was even a Barney car. Oh...and if you're kid doesn't like pizza you better pack your own food. I thought there would at least be chicken on their menu somewhere and there was only hot wings and some mini subs as other options, all of which Bradyn doesn't eat. So my poor kid only ate Cheerios and fish crackers for dinner - sorry buddy!!