Whitecaps

We spent an afternoon as a family at a Whitecaps baseball game in Grand Rapids just before Levi's birthday.  Upon walking in we each received free t shirts and a coupon for free kids meals.  We had decided to splurge for lunch at the stadium and Nathan was quite excited about that!  After eating our food at some picnic tables, we found our way down to our seats.  And then discovered that it felt like it was 100 degrees in the full sun.  The boys lasted about 5 minutes before I took them out for a walk and decided to get some ice cream, not because we were hungry, but because we were hot and needed something to do while Nathan watched a little of the game.  :)  While walking around after that, Levi did get a signature from the Whitecaps mascot!  We certainly didn't make it through the whole game...maybe in about 5 years they'll be more interested in the actual game.  :)  But it was a fun outing nevertheless!

Memorial Day

It's been a tradition of ours to watch the Memorial Day Parade in Holland.  Thankfully the rain had stopped just in time.  Dorian and Levi both LOVE parades!

And it's also a tradition to head out to the beach! 

Mom, Dad, and Grandma left on Tuesday after shopping downtown and eating lunch together.  We're thankful for a blessed weekend!

Sunday

It was fun to watch the boys walk up to the front of church together for the blessing before Children's Church!  Then it was off to our house for some more quality playing time.  :)

After dinner, we enjoyed celebrating Levi's 3rd birthday together!  We sang Happy Birthday, ate Dirt Cake, and opened presents!  It was fun because we had all afternoon and evening to play with all of the new toys! 

Mom made a blanket for Levi.  Homemade gifts are always special.  It was funny because when he opened it, he immediately laid it out and hid under it.  When you're 3, that's the perfect use of a blanket.  :)

I enjoyed singing songs from Wee Sing, one of the books that Grandma gave to Dorian.  Dorian was enjoying it so much that we sang nearly every song in the book and by the end, we had to keep him from falling asleep.

Memorial Day Weekend

Mom, Dad and Grandma decided at the last minute to come out for the holiday weekend!!!  The following weekend was Caden's baptism so they drove out for that also.  They drove all day on Saturday and arrived in the late afternoon.  The boys immediately soaked up all the attention!

No training wheels!

And he's loving every minute of it!

preschool graduation

Congratulations Dorian!!!

Grandma Shirley from church came to celebrate with us!  Ever since Dorian was an infant, he would always go to her and he's always excited to see her.  :) 

The children were given gifts to take home from Mrs. Algra and Mrs. Houskamp!  I thought they were excellent teachers and overall the year went very well.  Dorian made some new friends, learned new songs, learned how to write his name, learned to add more detail to his drawings, and I'm sure there is more.  :)   

 Dorian's first diploma!  :)

Unfortunately, Nathan was unable to join us for the graduation since he had planned a trip to a conference before we knew of the graduation date.  I set up the tripod and video taped it all so we can watch it together later!

It was a beautiful day so we stayed outside to enjoy it!  Dorian couldn't wait to break open his new bubbles.  :) 

 Dorian was proud to have caught a bubble with his wand!

It's so much fun to see him learning and growing.  He discovers new things every day.
 
Which reminds me of a story.  A few days ago I was in the kitchen when Dorian walked in from outside with his shoulders down and looking very sad.  I didn't know what he was going to tell me.  He said, "I'm so sorry mom, because I knew that you'd want to see my roly poly (a bug), but I dropped it."
 
I'm so thankful that he loves sharing all of his new discoveries with me!

Sunday, the 15th

On a typical Sunday afternoon, as it was on this Sunday, Nathan watches sports and when Levi wakes up from his nap, he joins daddy on the couch.  :)  Nathan looks forward to it!  Levi usually has an opinion about which sport he is interested in watching.  Today it was golf, which was fine by me.  I'd actually prefer watching golf over most other sports, but usually I don't watch enough to make my vote count.  :)

Dorian was outside playing with the neighbors most of the afternoon, which is what he does most days!   

I love having our fridge decorated with Dorian's artwork that he takes home from preschool!

After Levi climbed out of his crib about 4 times in 2 days, I started looking at toddler beds.  But then thankfully I remembered that our crib is meant to convert to a toddler bed!  He is still getting used to it.  Most nights this past week we've had to pick him up off the floor a couple of times and put him back in his bed.  The teddy bear which has to sleep next to him on the floor (even when it was a crib) thankfully breaks his fall.  Hopefully he'll be used to it soon

Fox In Socks is one of Levi's favorite books for the last month.  He picks out 2 stories to read before bed and this one has been chosen nearly every night.  I actually heard him a couple of days ago reading some of it himself!  :)