Drew = runner

A few months ago I took Drew shoe shopping.  Like all the rest of him, his feet keep on growing and he's been outgrowing his shoes.  As we were shopping, Drew's eyes lit up when he saw a pair of running shoes.  "Running shoes . . . just like mom's!!!" he said.  After quickly determining that he greatly desired running shoes for his next pair, we got them.  Why else did Drew want them?  "I want to go running with mom!"  I knew when he said that, Jana would also be on board with running shoes.

After getting the shoes home, the "running with mom" soon evolved into a desire to "run a race with mom."  We were very supportive of Drew's idea and have been keeping an eye out for a race for Drew to run.  Drew's so committed to the idea that a little after he got his new shoes, we got Jana new running shoes for Mother's Day.

Finally, race day arrived in the form of a 1 mile kid's run at our local zoo, the Potter Park Zoo.  It's part of racing series put on by our local specialty running store and it is fairly popular.  There were HUNDREDS of kids at the race.  We showed up early and got Drew registered.  He was quite proud of his number bib and having it fastened to his shirt.  Before the race he hardly sat still as he showed off how fast he was going to run.

Then the race started (with MANY kids . . . it was insane) and Drew got very overwhelmed by it all.  Also, his shoelace came untied.  Here he and Jana are about 100 yards in and Drew was ready to be done (Jana is in pink, Drew's in white in the middle of the picture).  Well, Jana got his shoelace tied, they walked for a bit, and eventually Drew got going off and on.

It was by no means a "fun" experience though while we were running.  Drew had a wide number of supposed ailments as the race went on.  His feet were too hot to continue, his leg hurt, finally he claimed a sore knee and said, "I think I just need a knee brace."  It was quite the impressive litany of excuses.  After all the buildup though, we pushed him on to at least walk and finish.  About a quarter mile in, I joined Jana and Drew and we did the last part of the race together.

Drew has the classic runner's look in this picture doesn't he?  Pretty good form, slightly pained expression on the face.  Throughout the race, he did not seem to be enjoying it.

Then we finished (in about 16 minutes total, walks and all).  Drew put on a burst of speed at the end and upon crossing the finishing line he received a finisher's medal.  Grandpa Bill and Grandma Sue came to watch the big race and Drew proudly showed off his medal to everyone after the race.  Suddenly, his version of the race began to change and looking back it was actually kind of fun :)

Drew's tune changed to "it was pretty hard, but it was pretty fun too."  He was so excited about his finisher's medal that in the afternoon when I took him and Kate to run errands, he wore his medal to all the stores.  The next morning, he wore his medal to church.  He's now asking when we can run another race!!

We'll keep an eye out for other races in the future so that our budding runner can get some more races under his belt.  For now, we're happy that the memory of Drew's first race has miraculously changed into a positive one and that he's so interested in doing another one. 

After checking out the zoo a little bit, Drew and Kate put their heads in this tiger cutout and gave some mighty roars.

No blog post is complete without a little Kate in it, so I have to include this picture from Father's Day.  The highlight of my day was sitting on the couch with Drew and Kate and watching the U.S. Open golf tournament with them.  For a while, Kate sat on my lap and chatted with me.  I loved it!

Another recent event for us is that our good friends Jeremy and Kristin had a baby boy, Jonah.  He was born in the hospital across the street from our house and several hours after he was born, we had the opportunity to walk across the street to visit Jeremy and Kristin and their new boy.  Drew and Kate had been clamoring to go over to see him and they were thrilled about seeing baby Jonah.  Here they are checking him out.

Vacation 2010, Part 2

There are so many photos from our vacation that I had a hard time paring it down to a reasonable number for the blog.  Here is the second section of our vacation photos and stories, and I'm quite positive that I don't have a reasonable number of pictures.   Oh well.

On another day of our trip we went back to Ludington for some more playing and for one of our rare trips out to eat.  It was a special treat to eat out, but it usuallys reminds us how much easier it is to eat at home!   For lunch we went to a great place in Ludington called Chef John's.  We'd highly recommend it for a great sandwich.

At the park there were a bunch of statues in a grassy area, and we thought it would provide a great photo opportunity.  It did!  Kate had fun strolling around the statues.  She looks like such a little girl in this picture and not as much a toddler!

This is one of our favorite pictures of Kate on our trip.  She loved climbing up on the rock and jumping off.

Drew wasn't as much of a stop-and-pose-for-the-camera kind of guy, so we settled for action shots of him.

I didn't think Kate could jump this high, but she propelled herself up and raced across on the zip line.  Just kidding!  Jana is holding her and pushing her across.

The next morning we ventured into the Silver Lake area and visited a lighthouse.  Drew was super excited about the lighthouse and was thrilled when we found it open and that we could climb to the top.  There was a height requirement to climb up and Kate didn't make it (no carrying kids, either), so Jana decided to stay down with Kate.  Drew and I got about a quarter of the way up, he froze, and we ended up inching our way back down.  In his defense, I was a little nervous myself.   The stairs were a spiral staircase going up over ten stories!  After bringing Drew back down, I climbed up the rest of the way myself and enjoyed the view from the top . . . actually, it was foggy and I could barely see the ground.   Oh well, climbing it was fun.  Would you believe that I've lived in Michigan my whole life and this was the first time as an adult that I've been in a lighthouse?!

While I was up in the lighthouse, our cool dude climbed on the rocks below it.  Drew and Kate had great fun clambering all over the rocks and Drew quickly forgot about the failed attempt to reach the lighthouse summit.

Kate hadn't been to the water yet in her new bathing suit and she was very excited about trying it on and showing it off.  Little girl bathing suits are much more glamorous that little boy bathing suits, so Jana and I were a bit excited about it ourselves.

Kate enjoyed showing off her swimming suit!

I, of course, had to scoop her up and pose for a picture.  Kate woke up from her afternoon nap first, so it was fun to enjoy her and pay attention to her new bathing suit without ignoring Drew.

As you can see, any hesitancy about being in the sand was long gone from Kate!

I found a small shovel outside the cottage and the three kids had a great time building a tremendous fort in the sand.  It was fun (for all three of us) to have a tool and to see how big we could make it.

The sand castle got big enough that there just little heads peeking out over the top of it.

Despite heavy rains the night after we made this, the sand castle stood firm and before we left we had fun destroying it (it lasted over three days!). 

Taking a break from building, the three of us threw globs of sand into the water.  The water was very cold!  (~60 F)

Drew continues to be a pretty good thrower.  It was fun to watch him chuck the sand (as long as you weren't downwind of it).

Kate was fearless around the water.  We had to keep a close eye on her because she'd go zipping in and the next thing you knew she'd stumble and do a face plant into the water.  She'd pop right up though and keep on going.

One afternoon Kate decided the front deck needed some sweeping.  There's nothing like watching a young child trying to handle a full-size broom.  We had fun watching her "clean."

That same afternoon Drew got up and sat on the couch and proceeded to be highly photogenic, a rarity for him.  He so infrequently poses for the camera that we snapped shot after shot of him.  I'm so happy that we may have captured in a few pictures how cute he regularly is to us!

After a little while of sweeping Kate came over toward me to show off.  I love how proud she was of her work and how excited she was to have me watching.  This smile almost says, "Are you watching me dad?"

My two ladies ready to hit the beach for a walk.  Kate is looking quite a bit like Jana, isn't she?

Our annual footprints in the sand picture.  The order from left to right is Kate, Jana, Mark, and Drew.  It won't be long, and I think Drew will catch Jana in foot size!

This is were we headed on our walks.  Due to rains at night, there were several "streams" that fed into Lake Michigan.  The water was only a few inches deep, it was warmer than the lake, and it was perfect for playing.  Drew and Kate had lots of fun running around and messing around in the water.

Drew paused for a bit (from throwing sticks) so that I could take his picture.  He was surprisingly dry at this piont, which he remedied quickly.

Kate wasted no time going right into the water and getting soaked.  It was a little chilly out, but neither child seemed to mind.

Jana and I had fun wandering among the kids as they flew around us running into the water, splashing, and throwing stuff.

On the way back to the cottage, Drew was soaking wet, so we put him in my sweatshirt.  He's such a big four-year-old, but the sweatshirt helps give perspective on his size.  Jana also did the same for Kate and then scooped her up in her arms.  It was a neat moment looking at our little boy and our little girl, safely ensconced in a parent's sweatshirt and totally dwarfed by them.  I'm sure someday we'll look back fondly on how small Drew and Kate were at this time.

Just a couple more pictures to go, and in this one you can get a sense of Kate's fearlessness in the water.  Keep in mind, the water is cold!!  Kate marched right in though and splashed and played in the water like it was eighty degrees.

Drew had no trouble with the water either, especially when he found a stick to play with.  It's amazing how much fun a little boy can have with a stick!

On our way home from vacation we swung through Grand Rapids for a visit with GG and Papa (Great-grandma and grandpa Vryhof).  They have a pool in their complex and to sweeten the visit we made a trip to the pool.  Drew and Kate were so excited about it.  We don't often get to a pool in Lansing.  Papa gave Kate some swimming lessons and helped her maneuver around the pool.  Both kids had a blast in the pool and enjoyed swimming.

Vacation 2010, Part 1

This year for a family vacation we again rented a cottage on Lake Michigan just south of Pentwater. It was a fabulous time! We took so many pictures that I'm splitting them into two installments to make the whole phlog thing a little more manageable for me.

The week before we were due to leave on vacation the owners of the cottage called us and offered that we could come a day early (for no charge). Um . . . .yeah! That was a no brainer, especially as Jana and I sat down on Friday evening after putting the kids to bed and looked out to this: The next day we went into the "big city," Ludington, to get groceries and check out one of the kids' favorite playgrounds. They especially loved this "bumpy slide," as they called it, which consisted of rollers that formed the slide. You can tell it was early in the trip because Kate was allowing someone to hold her hand. Our independent little girl didn't want or need that help for long.

Tons of cool things to climb up and slide on and run over and yet these simple toys that go back and forth remain highly popular. I think they should have these for adults and you could have fun and get a workout on it! :)

We did a lot of messing around enjoying the relaxed atmosphere of the cottage. While we were having lunch Drew and Kate got a little silly.

Kate started to show off her muscles. She flexes like this and says, "Muscles! Muscles!"

The next day Grandma Lynn and Grandpa John visited. Unfortunately, the weather wasn't the greatest, so we spent some time in Pentwater and indoors. We finally got to the beach in the afternoon. Kate was quite hesitant about the sand at first. It's fascinating how that texture takes a little getting used to. After some coaxing and patience from grandma though, she started to venture out.

After a little while, Kate was having great fun in the sand!

The next day was beautiful in the morning and that morning Grandma Sue and Grandpa Bill arrived for a visit. We walked along the channel in Pentwater and Drew helped point out the incoming boats to grandma.

A rare Aupperlee family photo! We have all together too few of these, so we used my parents to get a picture where we're all looking at the camera and look reasonably sane.

At the end of the pier Grandma Sue made sure to hang on tight to Kate. It was a tough job to hold her, but someone had to do it.

Drew pointed Grandpa Bill back toward the shore and gulls flying around.

Another rare photo . . . just me and Jana. Who even cares about the parents?

Back to Drew and Kate now (I promise). Drew and Kate loved this slide in Charles Mears State Park in Pentwater. It's one of those old metal slides that used to be in playgrounds. I camped here when I was little, so I may gone on this slide when I was Drew's age. The slide was super-fast and both kids could hardly get enough of it.

The three Aupperlee women walking along the channel in Pentwater.

Kate also enjoyed the swings. She's looking pretty sweet in those sunglasses, isn't she?

Drew started walking on the wall next to the channel walk and had great fun on the "balance beam."

What big brother does, Kate must do also, so she also got in on the act.

Again, we were able to make it to the beach in the afternoon and despite it being a little cool (as evidenced by the hooded sweatshirts), it was still a nice afternoon at the beach. Drew and Kate were very busy with their buckets. Grandma Sue filled them with water, then Drew and Kate filled the watery bucket with sand.

For some reason we got lots of pictures of Grandma Sue and Kate. I think they were the only ones looking at the camera and smiling! :)

The next day we went back to Ludington again for lunch. While driving through town we saw this fire truck, which was incredibly exciting. It was parked in front of the firehouse with the ladder fully extended. We parked across the street from it and the kids gawked from the backseat for several minutes.

That's it for this post. We're about halfway through the vacation. When I get a chance, I'll get more photos and stories up.