Weekend Top 5 Written by Gregory Gorilla

Hi, my name is Gregory Gorilla. I go home with a different first grader every weekend and am required to go everywhere with my weekend owner for the entire weekend. This was a crazy weekend to have picked to come home with Noah, but I did. So I decided that since Noah's mom was required to take pictures of me doing all the fun activities this weekend anyway, I might as well write her top five for her.


Well, first I must say that Noah's family sure is a busy one. They kept me running pretty much all day on Saturday. I wonder if they're this busy every weekend. Here are the top five things I noticed in his house this weekend.

1. Weekend Visitor

I came home with Noah on Friday and played with him all day. Noah has to write a report about what we did all wekeend.



















While they were eating dinner, their kitten Pumpkin even curled up in my lap for a nap.













2. Pumpkin Patch

This was the one time this weekend that I saw Noah's mom get really upset. She took a cute picture of me with Noah when we got out of the car headed for the pumpkin patch and when we got there to start the fun, the tab on her camera (actually her dad's camera) was gone, making the camera virtually useless. Apparently, for a mommy who is addicted to taking pictures, and a trip that requires pictures of a certain gorilla having fun, this can be very upsetting. Thankfully, the other members came through and took a lot of pictures of me. I think most of the 20 people that attended the orchard this year on our annual trip held me at some point.



They wouldn't let me be in the annual photo of all the cousins at Post Family Farm...what a crew. The only one missing was Cousin Sara who was in a band competition all day.









Here are Noah and Aaron with their Daddy and Grandpa on the hayride














Here I am in the pumpkin patch with Aaron and his Daddy.


















I even had a chance to give Kristi a hug











3. New Camera

After the pumpkin Patch, where Noah's grandpa's camera got broken, Kristi knew that the evening activtivities (see below) were going to REQUIRE a reliable camera, being the main photographer for the event, I was left in the car while the whole family RUSHED into the mall to get a new camera at Sears. From the amount of pictures that Kristi has taken since the purchase, I can only assume that she absolutely LOVES it. She took 95 pictures at the party, and only had to throw away three from blurriness.

4. Party Time

I didn't get to go to this one...so I'll let Kristi take over for this one event.

My dad and step mom celebrated 25 years of marriage this week. About two months ago, several of our siblings/step siblings wondered if we could pull off a surprise anniversary party for them. I never dreamed that we would actually have it remain a surprise. But we did it. Two of my stepbrothers have opened a restaurant, a sports bar in an old renovated building in downtown Muskegon Michigan. (Shameless plug...if you live in the West Michigan area, check out Muskegon Athletic Club "The MAC" for their signature gourmet mac and cheese...it was awesome!)

We sent out invitations about six weeks ago to our family and their closest friends. About two weeks ago, when we were talking about our annual pumpkin patch trip (see above) Nancy suggested that maybe we could go to the MAC for dinner afterward since we hadn't seen it yet since it opened. She even went so far as to say she was going to make reservations for us (snicker snicker). I will spare any more details and show you some pictures of the highlights.




Nancy making the discovery














Dad making the discovery (holding Cousin Annabelle)










None of else ever knew (until last night) that they had never had a wedding cake. they got married kind of as an elopement when on a trip with their friends (who played a key role in pulling this party off). So when they were so excited about cutting the cake together, we were so happy that we had gone with the traditional wedding cake style.












The toasts were really neat. My brother Matt was the only one who actually spoke for us kids. He actually respoke the toast that Dad gave at his and Jenny's wedding 6 years ago. It was kind of neat to see it come full circle. What was the neatest one (and the second time everyone was crying that night) was when Nancy stood up and said "We have been so worried watching the stock market lately and I am just here to say I was wrong. We're the richest people in the world!" Of course, not a dry eye in the entire room.


There were a lot of other fun moments, but this entry just got really long, so here are just a few quick pictures that showed the merriment.



Uncle Andy teaching Noah how to play bowling on the HUGE Wii they have on one wall.












Aaron being silly













I couldn't get done with this point without Gregory taking back over...so here he is:



When they all got back into the car after the party, they were very tired. Noah used me as a pillow to fall asleep in the way home. It feels so good to be useful.














5. Playworld

Noah and Aaron were quite wild on Sunday morning from the crazy day on Saturday, so Kristi decided that I wasn't going to church that day. As a matter of fact, she left all of us home and went by herself. By the time she got home, we were all REALLY ready to burn some energy so we headed to Playworld. I had so much fun.

Noah pushed me around in the little cars


















I even had a piece of Steve's pizza











I am so sad that I have to go back to school with Noah, but I know I will have more adventures at someone else's house next week. Now here's a word from Kristi...


I hope you enjoyed my guest writer this week. If you actually made it all the way through this post, congrats. I hope you consider posting weekend top five. If you do, please add to Mr. Linky so I can visit soon.

Have a great week.

Weekend Top Five 9/28/08/

Disclaimer: Sorry about all the blurry pictures. I am having a VERY hard time with the camera I borrowed from my dad until I can get one of my own again.


So, here it is...Monday again. Lately I have been struggling to think of five interesting things we did within the weekend. I didn't struggle so much this time. We kept pretty busy.

5. Child Safety and Fire Safety Day

Steve discovered on the computer Friday night that there would be a safety day at the children's museum for a few hours on Saturday. Well of course we NEVER pass an opportunity to go to the children's museum.

There was a firetruck and ambulance for the kids to sit in and explore and a lot of rescue exhibits. The neatest one was an imaginary house. In the kitchen was a tic tac toe game where the kids could identify items that were potential fire hazards



















and then through the door was another room with a pretend bedroom and an actual fire alarm on the wall. The boys would lie down on the bed and practice different techniques of what to do if there was a fire. They practiced crawling instead of walking and also feeling a door to see if it is hot















but my most proud moment was when the fire fighter told Noah to have a meeting place if there was a fire and even though it has probably been six months since Noah and I talked about it, he still remembered that our meeting point was the fire hydrant a couple of houses away.

And related to #5..

4. Fun with Cousins

About five minutes after we walked in the door, Aaron came running up to me shouting "Mommy, my friend Jamie is here!" Sure enough, my sister had brought her kids to the museum as well and the kids were so excited to play together. All of the boys hugged each other when they first saw each other.



All 4 boys "treating" a patient in the pretend ambulance















3. Mommy/ Daddy Date night

As I've mentioned before, we like to periodically split up with each of us taking one boy and doing something one on one. I think the boys cherish this time as much as we do. So Steve took Noah to Wall E (for the second time thanks to a gift card Noah was given at church a few weeks ago...thanks Jen) and I took Aaron to the toy store.

I had an ulterior motive. Aaron's birthday is in a few weeks and we have no idea what he wants. So though I would take him and take pictures of things he wanted like I did with Noah. It was a bit less successful than Noah's.



Aaron and the jack in the box he wouldn't put down for 20 minutes









2. Apple Orchard with grandparents

I warned you the pictures were coming...

After church on Sunday, we drove about an hour northwest to an orchard that we hadn't been to before. We didn't tell the boys that Steve's parents would be there too. They were very excited to see them waiting when they got out of the car. The visit was PACKED with activities...





feeding the goats










Noah on his pony ride


















Aaron picks apples










they both loved the big tube slide















especially climbing up on top
















They even got mommy down the slide















wagon ride to the pumpkin patch...I love this smile on Noah's face








there were a ton of other activities too, but #2 got a little long

1. Tackle that will take several days (or weeks) to finish.

I won't share any pictures yet, but after six years of living in a REALLY yucky kitchen, it is time to do something about it. So after I put the boys to bed Sunday night, I started the first wall of painting. It really is going to take quite awhile and I don't want to share pictures until the entire thing is done. So hopefully mid-October, there will be one heck of a Tackle It Tuesday post.

Believe it or not, this is just a smattering of pictures from this weekend. I actually downloaded over 100 shots (after erasing probably 50 more)

As always, I wish you would share your top five with me. I also wish I could finally learn (hint, hint...Deb) how to do a Mr. Linky for weekend posts like KC did. It is such a fun idea.

Happy Monday!

Photot Story Friday: The "Big Lake" and Mama Mia

We live less than 45 minutes from Lake Michigan, but very rarely make it to the "big lake". We have a man made beach right near our house and another up where my in laws live where we have gone a couple of times this summer. Not to mention the city pool that once discovered, has been frequented every weekend for the last couple of months.

But, there really is nothing like the "big lake". Somehow, digging a hole, jumping waves, and making sand moats just has a different feeling when you can't see the other side of a lake...probably because the "big lake" is all we ever did when I was growing up.

So yesterday morning, I realized that we hadn't had a visit with my parents in several months that didn't involve a ton of family and I wanted to get one in before school starts (sob sob). So we got up and headed up to Spring Lake for our adventure.

When the boys hit the lake, first they enjoyed just playing in the water

















Grandma and Aaron then grabbed the buckets and headed back to the water again















Meanwhile, Noah saw a boy getting himself buried and wanted to try it too.



Does anybody remember that Friends episode where they buried Joey and gave him the big gazongas? That's what I was thinking the whole time I was doing this.













But the kid just wouldn't sit still. So my thought, let's make a big hole and sit him down into it.




Digging the hole was actually A LOT of work!









After getting a deep enough hole, Noah slid right in and Aaron was fascinated.



















So after he broke out of his entrapment, we were ALL sandy and headed back to the water. The water, although a little brisk, was just perfect and the boys and I had a blast...thank you to Grandma for taking pictures...I never have any pictures of me playing with them.













Then after a quick snack break...














The boys were off to play at the playground with Grandpa. I was rearing for more lake time but the boys were done and ready to move on.

After getting back to Grandma and Grandpa's for a bath (of course, Grandma's specialty) and some instruction from Grandpa on the fine art of how to play War














We were headed to Aunt Shannon's to pick up my Mama Mia soundtrack and head home.

You've never seen anything until you have experienced a three year old dance in the car to ABBA songs. It's only 30 seconds...you gotta look...



The "jump in the water one" that Aaron is referring to is the clip from Mama Mia that I showed him on the computer from "Dancing Queen" in the movie.

A fun day to be had by all. Have a great weekend everybody.

How Precious Is This?

There's finally a picture of Grandma and Grandpa with All 11 Grand kids. My two are Noah on the top right with his arms on Grandpa's shoulder and Aaron in the striped tank top in the front.










Getting the picture was quite another story. The first attempt was trying to put them all on the slide in the park...just wasn't gonna happen. Then, when the kids settled onto the table, a little girl (of course, a girl) that Noah had made friends with had slipped into the side with her dog and we caught her in the nick of time.

Something I learned for Steve's family at the first Christmas gathering I ever went to, the reward of a good family photo is always the opportunity to follow it with a silly one. So here it is:














Thank you to Jenny for sending these to me. I had forgotten the memory card for my camera. Imagine me without my camera...not a pretty sight!

#1 Flashback Friday 1974

I know others have done this meme and I just have so few pictures from before Noah was born that are on the computer that I have never participated. I actually don't even remember how these ones even got on here.

I was the youngest of three and there were very few pictures taken of me, even when I was very little. I really only have about a half dozen total. I can't really do that "I think my kid looks like me" because I don't have the resources.

My great aunt recently cleaned out some old pictures and sent us these. I still don't know when they got scanned but I am glad they did. I think I must be about 18 months old or so in this shot.













I really don't see either of my kids in me as I sit with my brother on my Grandma's knee. I know that I must have been a ham from the beginning, and my boys seem to be following suit. I kind of love my brother's expression...it seems to be saying, "EWWW...a girl"

Happy Friday, Everyone.

Aaron's Birthday Reaction and a New Gift

I know this week has been somewhat Noah heavy. What can I say...the boy turned six! Deb's post yesterday summed up Noah's birthday party from Sunday and I am quite sure I cannot say much more. So now I want to take another angle...

As I was talking to my sister-in-law at the party on Sunday, she commented that she and my brother realized they had never attended a birthday party for Aaron and several for Noah. I told her I always feel bad because since Noah's birthday is a holiday every year, it turns into a multi-day event, as opposed to Aaron's birthday in October when life is happening. He gets the typical one day little party.

I hope to do better for him this year. I have never been one of those parents that gives presents to the other siblings on a birthday. And true to the course, Aaron sat through FOUR DAYS of Noah getting spoiled for his birthday. He handled it so well, never once asking why he didn't get anything. That's amazing for a three year old. For that reason, I was very happy for his excitement when my parents delivered a surprise for him after Noah's party on Sunday.

They bought a condo a year or two ago and bought bunk beds for the downstairs bedroom. After seeing this report on the TODAY show, they decided to restructure that room for safety reasons. Aaron came out on top in the deal (pun intended). While we were finishing up at the party, my parents and Steve came back to our house and put together the entire top bunk for Aaron. It is so cool. It is only about 18 inches off the ground and has a railing all around.

Until now, Aaron has been sleeping on a mattress and box spring on the floor and the mattress was terrible, squeaking and bouncing and I am quite sure, affecting his sleep. We had been wanting to get him a new bed for quite awhile now. On top of that, ALL of Aaron's clothes were upstairs in Noah's room because there was no space in his tiny bedroom for a dresser.

So I was able to go to Target, get several drawers for under the bed and put them together yesterday. Aaron kept showing up in the living room in different outfits yesterday because he was so excited to have access to his own clothes. Although we have to curb that, his delight was unbeatable.














On top of that, the boys had a blast making a hiding place after the drawers got put into place while I was babysitting.














And best of all, he has taken a nap in his bed for two days in a row (as opposed to my bed) and has slept past 7:00 AM several times this week. Woo Hoo!

Thank you Grandma and Grandpa for a very generous gift and for making everyone in this house very happy!

Funny or Scary?

My mother called last night. As I have mentioned before, I don't really have much of a relationship with my mother but since it is Noah's birthday on Friday, she wanted to be sure that his present arrived. Since we were putting the kids to bed, I was thankfully able to cut it short. But before she hung up, I mentioned to her that we were going to go see my grandma this afternoon, but we were all fighting so much (it was just one of those days) that we figured we probably should save it for another day.

If you remember this post, it was about how amazing my grandmother is. She will be turning 92 in a few weeks.

My mother had just gotten off the phone with her and this was the conversation starter from my 92 year old grandmother...

"I just renewed my drivers license this morning. I won't have to renew it again until I'm 97!"

Ay-yi-yi

Daddy's 6th Father's Day

This Sunday is the day we honor our fathers. I know I posted a bunch of pictures of Steve on his birthday back in March, but I thought it might be fun to do a few more. I ran into a little trouble at one point, not sure which baby he is holding in a few of them. It's a good thing they were dated.

2002: Daddy with Baby Noah. He wasn't comfortable holding newborn Noah without the boppy in his lap, but look at that smile.














2003: Playing with Noah and a big ball














2004: A lot more comfortable swinging a newborn around with Baby Aaron



















2004: Toddler Noah at the beach



















2005: Geo Trax with Noah.














2005: Vacation snuggle with Aaron














2006: Pool with Noah














2006: Beach with Aaron














2007: Parade with Noah



















2007: Apple picking with Aaron



















2008: St. Louis Zoo with Noah



















2008: Playing with Aaron















Grandpas are daddies too



Grandpa B with Baby Noah


















Papa W with Noah














Grandpa B with Aaron
















Papa W with Aaron














Happy Daddy's Day, Everyone!