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.

Oh, Brothers!

We've had a few spring-like days lately so we've been able to spend more time outside. We took a walk/bike ride to the frog pond. It was still 95% frozen but the boys were able to throw in a couple rocks right at the shore line. The boys are still very into sports - both outside and in the basement. We play a lot of hockey, basketball (running and throwing a small ball into an ottoman in the basement), t-ball, and soccer. Shadow boxing is also a "favorite" pastime. We know we shouldn't encourage it, but it is so funny to watch. Alex is the one that usually initiates it with an air punch. We had a 60 degree day this week and of course, the ice cream truck came by. Alex was still napping but Will did his ice cream dance at the end of the driveway to flag them down and got a treat.

We are in the process of getting things ready for Alex to move out of his toddler bed and into his big boy bed.  While in Florida, he slept on a twin mattress without any problems.  At Grann's last weekend, he was in a twin bed as well and slept great.  On Wednesday, he and Will were playing in his room.  He hopped up onto the lower bunk.  Will brought him big lovey and he fell asleep and ended up napping there for about 2 hours.  Today, he brought his blanket and lovey into Will's room at nap time again.  We think he's ready! 

Napping in William's room

Happy 2nd Birthday, Allie!

This weekend, we went to Detroit to celebrate Cousin Allie's 2nd birthday! We drove down late afternoon on Friday and stopped in Northville so the boys could get haircuts. On Saturday morning, we went to Aunt Maran and Uncle Josh's new house to help set up for the party. We brought a long the bounce house which was a big hit. The boys had a lot of fun playing with Allie. After the party, Phil took the boys back to Grann's and I met up with Katie to go bridesmaid dress shopping. We found a bunch that we liked and I was able to get mine ordered. Check! On Sunday, Maran, Josh, and Allie stopped by to play for a while before we got on the road. It was so nice to have sixty degree temperatures. We spent a lot of time outdoors.

Another Wii Bowling All-star in the Making...

Alex has figured out how to play a few of the Wii Sports games.  He doesn't play them well but he can at least swing the golf club, tennis racket, etc. Bowling had caused him some trouble. You have to push down a button, swing your arm, and then release. It was a bit too much for him to do at first. But now he seems to have the idea:

Kindergarten Screening

Today, William had his Kindergarten screening at Moorsbridge Elementary school. Phil took a couple hours off work so he could take him. Although William is a clear cut Kindergartner based on his age (as opposed to Pre-K), the Portage schools do the screening to see if the kids may benefit from a year of pre-K. They give the parents the results and let them make the decision. William went to different stations where they tested his fine motor, gross motor, letters, ability to follow directions, etc. and he tested as a solid 5 year old/kindergartner. They said he needs to work on his fine motor skills - specifically holding a pencil. They also think enunciation may be an issue with him.  Those are things we can work on over the summer.   Although it wasn't part of their testing, they were impressed with his math skills.  He seemed to enjoy his time at school - it was nice for him to get to see the inside.

Registration Paperwork

Goodbye, St. George's Island! We hope to see you again!

We had a perfect last day on the island. We woke up to perfectly clear skies. Alex and I ran into town so he could buy his souvenir (snow globe with palm trees and a small soccer ball) and then joined everyone on the beach. We went for a nice long walk, saw some dolphins, looked for treasure, built some sand castles, jumped in the water, and did some fishing from the beach. Alex was so tired he fell asleep in one of the chairs. Then William, Grandpa and I did some swimming. After Alex's nap, we went to climb the lighthouse again but it was closed on Thursdays. So we went down the street for ice cream instead (which was always part of the plan). Then we came home and ran down to the beach to say "good-bye." After dinner, William got in one more swim before calling it a night. We hit the road at 5am tomorrow. We are sad to leave Florida but are excited to see Daddy again!

Dolphins

A boy and his pail

Fishing with Grandpa

Last trip to the beach

So tired!

Cheeseburger in Paradise

William and I started the day by going to the bakery to redeem the coupon for a free asiago cheese bread he won at bingo last night. Then we went to a couple souvenir shops so he could use some of the spending money he brought along on the trip. Then we went down to the beach. Uncle Ken brought his brother's metal detector along and Will had so much fun treasure hunting. He "found" a lot of pennies that were mysteriously near the surface of the sand and very close to our chairs. We thought there was something buried in the hole we had started but we dug down to water without finding anything. Then Will went in the pool for a bit. We all went to the Blue Parrot to have dinner on the beach. Phil was able to look at their live web cam and saw us enjoying the sunshine. After dinner, we walked to the lighthouse/playground for a while. Then the boys and I went in the pool. Alex didn't last long, but William stayed in for about an hour.

Treasure Hunting

Panorama of the Beach Houses

Panorama from the Boardwalk

Dinner at the Blue Parrot

Cheeseburger in Paradise

St. George's Island Lighthouse