Happy Birthday (Party) Dear William

Today we had a big birthday extravaganza for William. It is his 5th birthday after all! We had a nice birthday lunch with family. Grann, Aunt Maran, Uncle Josh, Allie, Grandma, Grandpa and Aunt Mara all came over to celebrate. William received a lot of wonderful gifts and enjoyed spending time with everyone. Then we all went over to Kids Gym so William could celebrate with his friends. We had some friends from his class, the neighborhood, and Grand Rapids at the party. They started the party with "free play" in the small gym which had a bounce house, foam pit, trampolines, and other gymnastic equipment. Then we went to their party room for cake and ice cream. While the kids let the cake settle, William was able to open gifts on the gym floor. Then they got to spend the last half an hour running through an obstacle course. Everyone had a lot of fun - there were some sweaty kids at the end! After the party, family and our GR friends came back to the house for pizza and some more play time. Both boys went to bed and seemed to fall asleep instantly!

William's new air hockey table

What a lucky boy!

Goalie Stick

He asked for a three tiered Lightning McQueen cake

Enjoying the sun

Neighborhood Buddies

T Ball

Will started t-ball this week. We signed up kind of last minute at the prompting of some of our neighbors. He did do a t-ball clinic in East last spring, but this is actual teams with practices and games. On Monday, Phil and William went shopping for some baseball gear. They picked up a new baseball glove that Will can actually close on a ball, a batting helmet, baseball pants, and a baseball belt (William really wanted the orange one). Phil was in Savannah this week so he missed his first practice but Alex and I got to go. Unfortunately, only 2 other kids showed up... we think there might be an issue with the league email system. William was able to meet his coach, hit a few balls off the tee, and practice fielding grounders. He seemed excited and is looking forward to next week. Alex was very sad that he did not get to play...

William's first hit

Running the Bases

"I wanna play baseball!"

Happy Easter!

We had a very fun, but very busy Easter weekend. Phil had the day off on Friday. He took the boys to the Kalamazoo Nature Center in the morning so I could run some last minute Easter and Birthday errands. Then we met for lunch. In the afternoon, Will joined a neighborhood t-ball game. We also managed to install the screens on the porch and get the rest of the weather proofing done. In the evening, Will wanted to see if his friends on the block behind us could play. They played over there for a while and then everyone came back to our house for s'mores. 

On Saturday morning, we planned to go to the Boy Scout trails across the street. But then Will started playing baseball with our neighbors. We were able to get our outdoor furniture set up. After lunch, he ran back over to the block behind us and ended up playing for a few hours. Phil went over, too, and they ended up playing baseball in the park behind their house. Before dinner, we made it to the Boy Scout trails and found a cool swing in the middle of a big field. 

On Sunday morning, the boys enjoyed an indoor Easter Egg hunt. Then Grandma, Grandpa, Aunt Mara, Uncle Ken, and Aunt Katie came over for brunch. The boys did an outdoor egg hunt and enjoyed spending time with everyone.  We spent the rest of the day outside. 

Big Boy Room

Alex has been sleeping in a toddler bed since January. While we were in Florida, he slept in a twin bed at Mimi and G-Bob's and also at the beach. When we went to visit Grann, he also slept in a twin bed without any trouble. So we decided we would give his room an upgrade. The boys helped us move out the old toddler bed. Alex was pretty excited to see his new bed. (which was actually Will's bed - pre bunk beds)  We think his big boy room is pretty cute!

Warm Weather + Sun = Mulch!

The weather has been great this week. The boys and I had a play date on Wednesday at the playground with one of Will's new classmates that also lives in our neighborhood. He has twin brothers that are three so Alex had friends to play with, too. We also went to Will's future elementary school to check out the play equipment. On Friday, the boys eagerly waited for the delivery of 15 cubic yards of mulch. We were invited to our neighbor's house on Friday night for a cookout. They set up the fire pit in their driveway and the other neighbors came over after dinner for s'mores. The boys had a great time running around with all the kids and stayed up way past their bedtime.

On Saturday, we started mulch spreading mid morning. It was a perfect day for it. The boys helped a little, rode bikes, played in the sand table, etc. while we were working. We wrapped things up late afternoon. It feels good to have that checked off our "to do" list.

At Moorsbridge Elementary School

King of the Mountain

Good Helpers

Legos and Football

We spent last weekend making 4 trips to Home Depot. We built a vegetable garden (complete with rabbit fencing) for the back yard. We also rented a power washer and cleaned the interior of the screened porch, the patio, the garage floor, our Adirondack chairs, and some of the siding. We also removed the screens from the porch and rebuilt the frames. We are not in the process of weatherproofing the new frames so we can take them to be rescreened. On Monday, the boys and I went up to Grand Rapids since William was on spring break. The boys went to Calvin with Grandpa to walk the skywalk and visit the pool and indoor track facility. Aunt Mara and "Ankle" Ken came over for pizza dinner. 

On Tuesday, we took the boys downtown to the museum to see the Lego exhibit. It was crazy! There were so many people. The boys really like the model of downtown GR because it had working trolleys. The other buildings did not impress them much. I think it was hard to tell they were made of legos! They did, however, really enjoy their 2 rides on the carousel. Grandpa also got them a football tee and they had a good time playing football with him.