Team Beat Kiddos

We've talked for a long time about getting a group picture of the kids of Team Beat (the guy's cycling 'club'). Seeing Lauren and Logan (the oldest 2) will be leaving it was time to get the picture done. Thanks to Nikki for organizing, we took pictures today. The setting was Bryan's porch which is where the guys meet to begin and end their rides as well as where they sit for hours and drink home brew and eat chips (healthy huh?). The yard is huge so it is great for the kids to ride their bikes and run around. (We must look like real hicks, hanging out on the porch - most of whom are in Lycra!) Anyways, many fond memories are shared on this porch....

Trying to take pictures of children is just a real joy! Having a bunch of adults jumping in the background, calling out names, asking for hands to be removed from the mouth, telling kids they can get the dirt out of the eyes later (that was my favorite!) and trying to get them to say pink marshmallow had to have been quite the site. Lucky for me, I have a great brother who does a wonderful job of 'editing' pictures. So even though this might be the best one for 1/2 the group, I hope to have one in which they are all looking forward and smiling! Amazing what technology can do :)

We didn't warn Bryan we were coming and using his porch. He walked out to find a bunch of kids taking over his porch. So we thought it would be fitting if Bryan was in on the photo shoot too. Anders (bottom left) has had enough and eventually slid out of his brother's arms, and Gerrit and Abby (right in pink) had had enough time in which their hands couldn't be in their mouths.

Bryan is awesome for putting up with our children and picking up after them after our time on the porch. (Usually one of them has spilled lemonade and left a trail of potato chips on the porch -- GERRIT??)

Proof!

Yep, Gerrit is coasting!

Go Fly a Kite!

We bought a kite when we were at the toy store Memorial Weekend and Adam has been itching to try it out. One night after dinner we headed over to the football field and give it a rip.

Gerrit loved running after the kite. (I totally needed my other lens tonight - bummer about just taking the camera - don't always have the right parts with you then!) Unfortunately the wind wasn't the greatest for flying a kite. Of all the nights this spring, we've had very few calm nights (and when we did, Adam was usually on his bike). Lucky for us, he was late coming home so no bike ride this night!

We went on Sat. night again but went down to the park instead and had a very successful kite flying experience. Gerrit even held the kite string (and didn't let go!).

Sunday after church in the park, Gerrit recognized where we were and wanted to fly the kite. Unfortunately (or fortunately?) we didn't have the kite with us. I'm sure we'll have plenty more kite flying days this summer.

Dad's Excitement...

Tonight Gerrit rode his bike a long time (well, longer than he normally does) and even COASTED! Yep, no feet and balancing! I think it brought a tear to Adam's eyes! He did it a few times for 3-5 feet in distance. We were pretty impressed. Of course when I went to get the camera, he had had enough of the bike and was on to something else...still, we saw it - it was real. Adam guesses he'll be riding a bike before he's out of diapers...here's hoping that isn't true!

In all the excitement Adam didn't realize that we didn't get new toothpaste for Gerrit -
he put Desitin on his toothbrush tonight!
Time for a new toothbrush.

The Porch

After many hours of sanding the porch is finally ready to be used! (We still need to paint and do a little decorating, but it is usable and we love it!)
The view looking west:

The view looking east:

Memorial Day Weekend

We had a busy weekend! Grandpa Bob and Geri came for a few days. Here are some highlights of the weekend:

We went to a cool toy store where Gerrit rode the carousel and we got him to try on a hotdog hat. He didn't like that much.
They saw the flags in town in honor of the holiday.
Grandpa Bob brought a cool wooden rocking air plain that he painted MSU style.

We went to the big parade today - not really, 2 bands and some service people and that was it! Following the parade we did some yard work and headed next door to a great BBQ with the neighbors. Adam rode to Northfield with a few guys and I followed behind to get him. We hung out at our favorite watering hole for a bit and headed home.

Getting Ready

I have the urge to potty train Gerrit (this summer). So, I felt we should get ready and get him some:

Seeing he likes his Cars movie, we thought we'd go with that theme. I left the package on his changing table knowing I'd need to wash them in the future but was in no hurry. Gerrit noticed the 'cars' and pulled them all out of the packaging. He proceeded to try to put them on himself but became easily frustrated. He needed some assistance especially because he was trying to put them on over his diaper and shorts!

The finished look (don't worry, I did get them off before we left the house that morning!)