Fifteen candles makes quite a glow

According to Wikipedia, the age of 15 is considered the beginning of adulthood in many cultures, so last week on Feb 17th, Cole officially became a young adult.  Like his little brothers, Cole celebrated his birthday over the course of a whole week  He celebrated with friends with pizza and bowling the weekend before.  Lisa and Gene treated him to a surprise lunch at his favorite restaurant, Fogo de Chao, a Brazilian steakhouse and a meat lover’s paradise; joining them were Joe and me, Grandma Pat and Papa Bob, and Gene’s parents.  And we had a little celebration for him at our home that included a meal that was all about bacon and a chocolate birthday cake.  (Hmmm, did you catch the common thread of food in all of this?  Yep, he’s a teenager!)  The photo album includes pictures of him trying out his new Xbox 360, getting his proper adulation from his little brothers, and a couple of the treats: a cheese-stuffed, bacon-wrapped meatloaf (could it get any better??) and of course, his chocolate birthday cake.  A very happy birthday, indeed!

Shaggy and Daphne

This Fall has been a busy one for the Vandermarks, but it’s been a lot of fun – trips to the zoo, a couple of football games, the circus (and not just the one at our house!) and a couple of Halloween parties.

Joe and I had a great time at our friend’s Halloween party.  The theme was 80′s TV characters, so we went as Shaggy and Daphne.  There were some really great costumes there – the Love Boat, Who’s The Boss, Falcon Crest, the Jetsons, Baywatch and more – even Clara from the Where’s the Beef commercials and the Trix bunny.   We made some Jello shots to share, including a special chocolate-covered cherry one that we chronicled in the photo album (Yum!!).

Zach and Alex went as Thing 1 and Thing 2 this year.  It’s the perfect “twin” costume, and well, it really fits them. They were particularly excited about their blue hair and really loved it when people commented about it.  They got to wear it two days in a row, going to Joe’s company Halloween party and visiting Grandma’s office one day and then to the HallZOOween party at the MN Zoo the next.  Cole reprised his costume from years past as a Roman soldier (why change when it’s a great costume, right?).  Check out the Sept – Oct 2009 album for pictures from zoo, plus other Fall fun, like pumpkin carving and more.

Zach, Teacher Becky and Alex

It’s September, and as in most households, that means it’s time for school!  Cole started in 9th grade this year at his junior high (yep, you read that right: he’s a freshman already!), while Zach and Alex started preschool.  As you can imagine, Zach and Alex were just a little more excited about going to school than their big brother – but then, they didn’t have homework looming over them like Cole did.   The little guys really had a great time at school.  They played with cool toys, read a story, sang some songs and even had a popcorn snack (does it get any better?). They had so much fun that they were totally worn out and quiet the whole way home.  We don’t have pictures of Cole’s first day (for which I’m sure he’s grateful), but we do have pics from Z&A’s first day in the Sept – Oct 2009 photo album.

Also in that photo album are a couple of pictures we took when my cousins Angie, Josh and Aubrey came up to visit us and go to the “Great Minnesota Get-Together” – the State Fair.  I think Angie and I had both planned on taking more pictures than we did, but somehow we were too busy eating all the yummy foods on a stick.  We don’t have many pictures to prove it, but we all had a great time. They hope to come back another year if for no other reason than Josh needs to get his deep-fried pickles again (my faves too)!

The July – Aug 2009 album also has some new photos, including some food fun, a trip to the zoo, a visit to the BP Fire Station for their open house, and the cool Star Wars ships Z&A earned with potty training.

Zach and Alex were really excited to play sports this summer, joining a Preschool Sports program where they get to play a little bit of soccer and a little bit of tee-ball.  They had soccer the first couple weeks and just loved it.  They both looked really good and had a blast doing it.  They were just non-stop all over the place (not a huge surprise, knowing them).  The tee-ball portion started this week, and again, they had a ton of fun.   I think they’re especially proud to be out playing baseball just like their big brother.

Speaking of big brother and baseball, Cole’s baseball team had a great regular season, finishing first in their league!  The playoffs are this week, and they won their first playoff game tonight!  Yeah, Cole!

In totally separate news, both Zach and Alex are finally potty trained.  Yeah! No more diapers!!  Zach was finally motivated to do it once he realized that he had to use the potty if he wanted to go to preschool in the fall.  It’s funny what motivates kids sometimes, but hey, whatever works!

New photos on the site include pictures from our camping trip, all three boys playing their sports, a fun afternoon playing with squirt guns at Grandma Pat and Papa Bob’s, and more.  Check them out in the May – June 2009 photo album.

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!

• 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.

Alex, Cole & Zach at the concert

Zach and Alex turned 3 on January 29th, so we all helped them celebrate the big day.  The Sunday before their birthday, Grandma Pat, Papa Bob, Debbie and her boyfriend, Ben, came over for a little party.  The boys had a ton of fun opening their presents, although they were a little confused as to why no one else had presents like at Christmas.  They got a bunch of great games, cars and other toys and even got a set of their very own tractors! After opening the presents, the boys went downstairs to try out the tractors and some of the games. To cap off the day, we had a chocolate chip cake with chocolate frosting that was decorated with Star Wars figures, which they thought was pretty darn cool.

Their checkup was on the 28th, and they are doing great, although they are of course still skinny.  Zach measured in at 25 lb 15 oz (under 5th percentile) and 36.75 inches tall (30th percentile).  Alex was 26 lb 8 oz (under 5th percentile) and 37 inches tall (30th percentile).  Both of those marks are pretty consistent for them so far.  They are doing great in development too – they exceeded most of the development marks expected at their age, esp with speech and reading, and the only thing on the list they couldn’t do yet was pedal a trike, which they are close to doing.

On the day of their birthday, Debbie surprised them with a breakfast treat of donuts and then Joe took them to the Children’s Museum.  They wore little “Birthday Boy” buttons that they had picked out at the store – they were SOOOO excited to wear them (their “ties” as they called them).  They’ve been working really hard at holding up just three fingers and telling people how old they are.

We of course have a ton of pictures that we took, and they’ve all been posted in the Zach and Alex’s 3rd Birthday album.  There are also a number of pictures in the new Jan – Feb 2009 album, including photos from Cole’s recent band concert.  Cole’s band did a fantastic job – we were all so proud of him!

Also, I never posted the link to it, so if you’re interested, you can check out the Christmas 2008 album to get a peek at our celebration.

Our Handy Mannys

Cole the Roman Soldier

This year for Halloween, Zach and Alex dressed up as their favorite character, Handy Manny, complete with their own tools. They were so excited! To celebrate, we went down to Joe’s office to join their Halloween party and then stopped by Grandma Pat’s office to say hello before we picked up Cole on our way home.  After dinner, we went to visit Dar and Gary, Debbie’s parents and two people that Z & A love to visit, for some Halloween treats.  Then Joe and Cole, who wore his Roman soldier costume from a couple years ago, took them out trick-or-treating for the first time; they didn’t go to a lot of houses, but they had a lot of fun!

Check out all the great pics from when Z & A got their new toolboxes and from Halloween itself starting on page 4 of the Sept-Oct 2008 album.

In addition to those pictures, a ton of others from the past few months have been added, pictures that Debbie took with her own camera.  In the July-Aug 2008 album, you’ll find a few trips that Debbie, Cole, Zach and Alex took to the pool, a trip they took to the Children’s Museum, and a visit to a fire station with one of Debbie’s sisters and nephews, as well as some just general playing-around pics.  In the Sept-Oct 2008 album, there are a couple trips to some parks, including a set that Debbie took as a photo shoot to make special Autumn/Halloween present for the boys’ grandparents.  Those pictures are just adorable (OK, so I’m a little biased on the subject matter).

We had a fantastic time playing at the resort’s indoor and outdoor waterparks, where they had all sorts of cool water slides for big and little kids. Unlike last year, Z&A were thrilled to play in the water – especially Alex, who seems to be a natural in the water (he was trying to swim on his own by walking on his hands). This made our time in the water a whole lot more fun. Cole really had a good time too – his favorite slide was the 8-story tall straight-drop body slide; he went on that over and over.

This year we also went on a tour with the Wis. Ducks, which takes you on a land and water tour in an old army vehicle called a Duck, drove go-carts at Riverview park, got in a little mini golf, and of course visited the Riverside & Great Northern Railway, where we got to visit with longtime family friends and train buffs, the Chmuras.

Check out the pictures from the trip in the Dells 2008 album in the Vacation gallery.

In unrelated news, check out the photos from a recent golf outing Joe went on for work. He and a couple co-workers decided to have some fun as a foursome and dressed up in costume. You can tell they had a great time.