A birthday, baseball and Memorial Day

A great day for baseball

Just a quick post from a beautiful Memorial Day at the ballpark yesterday. Mom and Dad B had given Joe a family day at the game as an early birthday present, so the seven of us headed out to Target Field to watch the Twins "begainst" the Oakland A's. After a couple of days of weather extremes (cold, windy, rainy and then hot, steamy and windy with even more rain), it was a perfect day to spend a day at the ballpark as a family.

Because it was Memorial Day, the Twins had a number of tributes and memorials to honor and remember our veterans, particularly those who gave the ultimate sacrifice. It was great to explain to Z&A what the real meaning of that day is for. One of the highlights was the National Anthem, when a WWII vet raised the flag in front of his family and wife of 65 years and a pair of vintage WWII fighter planes did a flyover.

Check out the video of the flyover plus pics from the game in the May-June album!

From Lions to Tigers (Scouts)

Alex, Zach and the rest of the new Tiger den

Most of the pictures from the last month are from Cub Scouts events - participating in the city-wide clean up by cleaning up trash at Veterans' Park (on a cold, rainy day!), helping out at a fundraiser dinner, and graduation/rank advancement at the year's final Pack meeting. Zach, Alex and the rest of the Lions Den stood guard during the flag ceremony in their last Lions duties, and then they crossed the bridge to receive their orange Tiger neckerchiefs and the Lions badges they had earned. The boys were SO excited to move up to Tiger Cubs!

The city clean-up pictures are in the March-April 2012 album, while the rest are in the May-June 2012 album.  Also in this album are a couple pictures from Hot Club, the annual Jazz band performance at Cole's school, a highlight for the band members and families alike that is performed at the school in a cabaret-style club.  Cole even performed a trombone solo this year and sounded fantastic!

Easter fun

Alex and Zach: These eggs are
Easter Bunny approved!

Easter weekend is traditionally a weekend of family fun in the Vandermark household, and this year was no different. Zach and Alex started the weekend with an Easter care package from Grandpa Dan and Grandma Marilyn with a bunch of really cool coins from Grandpa's collection and some special Easter baskets from Grandma. Afterwards, we dyed some eggs and made yummy Easter M&M cookies.

On Easter morning, the boys couldn't wait to see if the Easter Bunny had left anything for them in the not one but TWO pairs of buckets they left out. Zach and Alex normally each leave a bucket out, the same ones every year ('cuz the Easter Bunny is all about reusing!), but this year, the boys decided to leave those and the buckets they got from Grandpa Dan and Grandma Marilyn's care package. I guess they thought they'd get more treats that way, and of course, the Easter Bunny obliged by filling all 4. :)

After we celebrated the real meaning of Easter in church, we had a little more fun with an around-the-house egg hunt, where the silver egg is an extra special find. You can find the pictures (as well as a video of the boys talking about the Legos they got from the Easter Bunny) in the March-April album.

Meaghan and Cole

Also in the album is a great picture of Cole and Meaghan, who both looked wonderful on their Prom night!

We've also made some progress on the basement (yeah!). The walls were painted a warm grey with a dark red accent wall where the TV will be. The bathroom was painted the same red and will eventually have some cream wainscoting. The picture in the basement album shows the trim ready to stain (we did that part); that trim is now up so it's time to order the carpet, a patterned mid-tone grey. Can't wait until it's all done!

Jamming to a "Jungle Beat"

Zach and Alex perform with their classmates

The kindergarten classes at Zach and Alex's school put on a Spring program titled "Jungle Beat." Each of the classes was featured for one of the song, performing music about the jungle and the animals who live there. Zach and Alex's class was featured for the title song, "Jungle Beat," using a bunch of percussion instruments for the beat. They did a great job! Video clips and pictures of the performances can be found in the Mar-Apr 2012 album.

Arrgh! We be here to see Pirates!

Also added to the album are pictures from Z&A's spring break, where Zach, Alex and Mommy went all over town having lots of fun. There are pictures from our trip to the Minnesota Zoo and, the big highlight of the week, the trip to the Science Museum to see their special Pirates exhibit, featuring treasures found from a real pirate ship that wrecked off the coast of Cape Cod.

A big month for Cole

The birthday kids get a special treat at Fogo

Cole reached the ripe-old age of 17 in February (still hard to believe - he can't be *that* old!). The weekend of his birthday was a busy one, with our side of the family having a little celebration at our house and then we joined Lisa, Gene and Gene's parents in celebrating the birthdays of both Cole and his girlfriend Meagan at Cole's favorite restaurant, Fogo de Chao. We all had a wonderful time and enjoyed more than our share of so many tasty kinds of meat - yum!



The birthday pics have been added to the Jan-Feb 2012 album, along with some more pictures and videos from basketball, a cool centerpiece craft project for our Cub Scout den, and a pirate-themed birthday party for Z&A's friend, Luke.

Cole's Baptism

In March, Cole became a full-fledged Catholic, getting baptized and confirmed and receiving his first communion. We're so proud of him for making the choice to continue to grow and strengthen his faith! Pictures from the baptism, which was done before Mass, are posted in the Mar-Apr 2012 album, along with pictures and video of the beautiful new piano that we bought (can't wait to start lessons!).

Derby racing and birthday fun

Alex's and Zach's cars

Zach and Alex participated in their first Cub Scouts Pinewood Derby race in January and had a fantastic time doing it. They picked the models for their cars from their collection of Hot Wheels and then helped shape and sand them. The cars did great in the races, and both boys earned trophies and medals! Zach's car placed 3rd in Best of Show, the best looking cars out of the whole Pack, and Alex's car placed 2nd among the fastest Lion Cub racers (our den).

The pics and video clips from the race are in the Jan-Feb 2012 album, along with pictures from a recent den meeting where the scouts built models of special inventions using Legos (as you can imagine, the activity was a big hit with all the boys!).

The birthday kids

Also in January, we celebrated Zach and Alex's 6th birthday and Grandma Pat's (annual 29th?) birthday with a nice family celebration at the house. Zach and Alex also had a Lego-themed party with all their friends from school and a few old friends from New Horizons at a fun place called Jumps and Downs, which had bounce houses and inflatable play areas. Pictures from both birthday celebrations are in the Zach and Alex's 6th Birthday album.

They blinded me with science!

Exploring the Science Museum

OK, so no one was actually blinded, but it's hard to resist a headline like that when talking about a trip to the science museum. :-)

Our first photos of 2012 include Z&A's first season of basketball, which they absolutely loved, and a family trip to the Science Museum of Minnesota for some fun and learning through cool interactive experiments and exhibits. The photos are in the Jan - Feb 2012 album.

More pics coming soon, including the Pinewood Derby, Z&A's birthday and more!