The Vandermarks recently got some opportunities to get out and have some fun with some friends – Alex and Zach with neighbors Brooke and Stella, and Karen and Joe with friends (and Joe’s co-worker) Phil and Heather.

Last weekend, Zach and Alex attended the birthday party of sisters Brooke (5) and Stella (3), and they had an absolute blast.  The birthday girls celebrated with pony rides and a little petting zoo complete with chickens, ducks, guinea pigs, rabbits, and a hedgehog.  The animals where huge hits with the kids, although Alex preferred to look from the outside and spent most of his time playing with the girls’ toys.  Check out the pictures in Brooke and Stella’s B-Day photo album.

Karen and Joe actually got a little playtime too recently when they joined friends Phil and Heather Rodemann on a trip out to Treasure Island to eat, drink, and laugh our booties off with comedian Ron White.  We spent a couple hours playing the tables (blackjack can be a mean, mean game…) and then went on the casino’s dinner cruise for a nice relaxing dinner on the Mississippi River (check out our pictures).  To cap off the evening, we saw Ron White perform. He is one incredibly funny person, but I think the funniest parts where when he screwed up his jokes and then just went with it.   We all had a great time!

Tags: animals, birthday, friends, playtime, Ron White, Treasure Island

Over the 4th of July weekend, Joe put up a playground for the boys with the tremendous help of Papa Bob and Uncle Bobby. Zach and Alex had so much fun watching their daddy, grandpa and godfather build (or rather, slave in the sticky heat) their new playground, and they are thrilled to have a “park” in their own backyard. It’s an awesome playground with a tower fort, a slide, swings, monkey bars, a climbing wall and tunnel, and a sandbox. It even has a telescope and a steering wheel. The guys did a fantastic job! Check out the progress pictures in the July 4th Weekend photo album.

As you can see from some of the pictures, it wasn’t all work that weekend. We had a great time on the evening of the 4th with Bobby and Kwo Ue, who came over for dinner and some boom booms. We shot a few of them off early so Z & A could see them – they totally loved it, especially Alex!

Tags: Alex, friends, home, Papa Bob, Zach

Here are the photos we’ve added from the last month or so:

• Karen’s day at the MN State Fair with Mom and Dad B: Family July-Aug 2007 album
• A new Family album – Sept-Oct 2007 – which includes fun with hats, shoes, brooms/vacuums, shades, magnets, climbing and noisy kitchen stuff
• New pics in the 2007 Friends album from the birthday party of one of Karen’s college roommates

Tags: family outing, friends, Grandma Pat, Karen, Papa Bob, playtime