Peds Hem/Onc Picnic

Two weeks ago we went to the annual DeVos Children's Hospital Peds Hem/Onc Picnic. As soon as we got there Beth had to get in the dunk tank.



After all the poking and prodding that the doctors do to these kids, nothing do the kids love more then to be able to dunk them.

The theme of the party was pirates. Libby loved her sword, eye patch and hook hand. This picture was put on tee-shirts for Libby and Reagan to bring home.



Reagan seemed more interested in the bottle then her eye patch.
The highlight for Libby was when the fire truck and helicopter came. The kids got to climb in them and explore.

Even Reagan got to climb up onto the firetruck.

Crazy Bed-Head

Futures so bright

Gotta wear shades.

That's What She Said

This evening Beth, the girls and I went to the mall, while there we went to Pottery Barn to look for some new floor lamps. Here is a conversation I had with the saleswoman.

Saleswoman: "Do you know where the back door is?"
Me: "Ummm yes. (me giggling quietly) I think you guys should think of a better name for the pick up area."
Saleswoman: "You mean like the instant gratification door?"
Me: "I don't think that is much better."
Saleswoman: "Well you can pick you lamps up at the backdoor near Dick's"
Me: "You said dicks."

Print Work

On Wednesday, Libby, Reagan and I met Beth at the hospital to participate in a photo shoot that would help new patients coming into the hospital. Libby played a patient, I was a deaf parent, Reagan played a sibling of a patient and Beth played a doctor. I had to do the most acting. Libby did a great job, we were very proud of her. She can sometimes be very shy, but she did an amazing job of interacting with the photographer and nurse. They got tons of great pictures. We look forward to seeing the final product sometime in October.

Face-plant

Libby went down the slide face first, it didn't work out real well for
her.

It's huge...that's what she said.

My Dad and Mr T with Dale Jr.

I love Hummers.

NASCAR

New door mat

I think the new door mat is to small, Beth disagrees. What do you
think?

From the Mouths of Babes

For the past few weeks we have been letting Libby watch a few music videos from "On Demand" before she goes to bed. Today I chose Micheal Jackson's Bad.

She asked Beth

"Momma, who is that lady?"

Millennium Park

This afternoon we took the girls to a new park in Grand Rapids called Millennium Park. There is a great beach area and sprinkler park for the kids.

Both girls had so much fun playing in the sand and wading in the water, which was as warm as bathwater, or maybe a lot of people were peeing in it at the time we were there.
The sprinkler park was great fun also.

Reagan looks sad in the is picture, but I think the sun was just in her eyes because she was having a so much playing in the sprinklers, she didn't even mind when she got sprayed in her face.

Here is Libby collecting water in her bucket with a cheesey smile on her face.


Last but not least, here I am with my littlest princess


Here are a few things we learned while at the park:
1) Getting a lot of tattoos may seem like a great idea, but it really isn't. There seemed to be many people there who have gotten "drunk" tattoos.
2) I may not be in great shape, but am in better shape then most.
3) When finished the park will be twice as large as Central Park in NYC.

Eating a cupcake

How Appropriate

The caption over Reagan could not be more appropriate. About 5 weeks ago Reagan decided that she didn't need to eat anymore. She went from being a great eater who would try anything to eating only crackers, yogurt, frozen waffles (toasted), and miscellaneous pieces of bread. Not only would she not eat anything, she would take whatever you put on her tray and immediately throw in onto the floor with a look that said "screw you". And since we took her off the bottle cold turkey two weeks ago, she would barely drink anything out of her sippy cup.

All of the sudden on Sunday, she decided she was hungry again. Now she is eating and drinking like a champ. Hopefully now she will start to gain some weight and people will stop mistaking her for an 8 month old, or as my sister thinks, my grandma.

The Great Mustache Race of '08

Last week my entire family went up to Higgins Lake for a week of fun in the sun. My Dad rented two cabins for us and we all had a ball, even though the weather didn't always cooperate. You can read more about the week here. But the most important thing that happened was my brother Dave and I decided to grow mustaches. It was dubbed the "Dirty, Dirty, Mustache Race".

My brother connected his mustache to his sideburns while I went for more of an old fashion "zapata".

Here are a few things I learned about having a mustache:

• It never hurts to ask for a mustache discount. We got extra laps while go-carting and 2-for-1 miniature golfing.
• I tend to wear more denim when sporting a 'stache.
• My wife was sorta able to fulfill her teenage dream of making out with Burt Reynolds by kissing me.
• Women don't like it when you offer them free mustache rides.

All in all having a mustache was a great experience. I look forward to next years race, we are considering doing it for charity.

The mustache is now history as Beth made me shave it before our 12th wedding anniversary on Sunday.

We're moving!

We had hoped that we would be spending the next 15-20 years in this house, but it looks like that won't be the case. We will be putting the house on the market soon.

On Sunday I looked out the window and saw a wild turkey. For those of you who don't know I have a completely irrational fear of all birds and won't live near such a wild beast.

In this picture you can better see it's beady eyes and it's razor sharp beak.

The Jon is right dance

Monday was Beth's first day at work. All day Sunday I bugged her about picking out her outfit to make a great first impression. I thought she should either wear a suit or slacks and a nice blouse. I told her that you never know when you might get a picture taken or who you might meet on the first day. She said no, all she will be doing is Human Resources orientation, so jeans and a shirt will be ok.
The first thing they told her is that they are going to have to send her home because she was in violation of the dress code. After informing them that she was never told about a dress code and that the physician recruiter, who was Beth's main connect, didn't know about it either, they let her stay.
Other then that her first day went great. The second day Beth wore a suit.

Outages

Last Wednesday during heavy storms we lost our cable and internet. We now know how the Amish must feel. After five days of total isolation Comcast got everything back up and running on Sunday afternoon.

All things Aussie

My brother-in-law Rudi and his wife Erwin came to visit us on Thursday for their bi-annual 6 hour visit. While they were here Rudi mentioned how much he appreciates it when I call him anytime I see anything even remotely related to the Australia. Things like:

• Going to his favorite restaurant Outback Steakhouse
• Seeing a grill at the store called the "Aussie"
• Any sort of show on television at all related to Australia or Koala bears
• A man on a motorcycle with two stuffed kangaroos on the back
• An article on the web about how Australians create more green house gases per capita then any country
  

So next time you see a dingo or an Aborigine, be sure to give Rudi a ring.