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Grandpa Dan and Grandma Marilyn with their grandsons

We were thrilled to have Grandpa Dan and Grandma Marilyn come to town to visit us for the weekend a couple weeks ago.  It was so wonderful to see them!  We all had such a great time.  Zach and Alex showed off their Lego-building and lightsaber-fighting skills to Grandma and Grandpa, and they had Grandpa read any book they could get their hands on.  On a rather chilly Saturday, Grandpa Dan helped Joe and Cole with a little yard work.  That evening, the adults, joined by Grandma Pat and Papa Bob, went to nearby Suzette’s to celebrate our 6th anniversary.

The next day was spent at the Minnesota Zoo, where Grandpa Dan and Cole had the amazing opportunity to spend 3 hours backstage with the dolphins.  They got to interact directly with the dolphins, work with them on their tricks by giving commands and rewarding them with a treat for a job well done.  Pictures (and a couple video clips!) from the weekend, along with a few other random pictures from the last month, can be found in the May – June 2009 photo album.

In other family news, we were excited to hear that Cole’s band and jazz band both won first place at a recent competition.  We were also proud of Cole himself, who sounded great in a solo at a recent concert.  His baseball team is off to a great start this season too, with an 8-2 record.  Way to go, Cole!

Tags: Cole, family outing, Grandma Marilyn, Grandpa Dan, zoo

Wow, it’s crazy how fast a couple months can fly by!  I’ve finally gotten around to posting all the photos from the past couple months.  Some have been up on the site for a while, as you may have seen from the changes in Recent Photos, but I never got around to publishing the links to them.  The highlights:

• Cole’s 14th Birthday: Grandma Pat and Papa Bob came by to celebrate with us, and after having cake and opening presents, we all went bowling, a fun birthday present courtesy of Grandpa Dan and Grandma Marilyn. Even Debbie and Ben joined in the fun.
• Mar – Apr 2009:
  - My birthday, which I celebrated by making a donation to Locks of Love with 11 inches of my hair.  We also spent a day at Mom and Dad’s house.
  - Trip to the Children’s Museum to see the Clifford the Big Red Dog exhibit along with the usual fun stuff. It was Cole’s spring break, so he joined us, as did Grandma Pat.
  - Easter: the egg hunt in town, a visit from the Easter Bunny, and special Easter baskets from Grandpa Dan and Grandma Marilyn
  - Baseball: Zach & Alex get their first gloves, and Cole’s first game of the season
  - Alex wears big boy underwear for the first time after staying dry for 2 days!  He was really excited to wear his new Star Wars underwear.

Tags: Alex, baseball, birthday, Cole, Easter, family outing, Grandma Pat, milestones, Papa Bob, potty training, Zach

Cole is one more year closer to getting a driver’s license, turning 14 yesterday. He got all sorts of great birthday wishes from what we heard, with a singing voice mail from Grandma Pat and phone calls from (among others, I’m sure) Grandma Marilyn and Grandpa Dan, Grandpa Bob, and of course us.  Zach and Alex even sang “Happy Birthday” to their big brother, which made Cole giggle.  Cole’s got a pretty fun weekend lined up to celebrate, with a birthday party with his friends on Friday night and a party with our side of the family on Sunday. 

Tags: birthday, Cole