Hail to the Victors!

Continuing with the summer vaca picts (2 months later)....
We ended up in Michigan where we took the boys & Uncle Kevin to visit the U of M campus. We roamed around town commenting on how things had changed, where we had our first date, first class, etc. Andrew piped up and loudly said, "Why do you keep telling us about all these old places that you used to go to?" Guess it's not as exciting to an 8 year old! We took them into a lecture room so they could see the size, visited the new stadium (biggest in the country again), dragged them all around looking for sweatshirts, stopped at Geddes park to rent paddle boats, and hit a glow in the dark mini golf place. At one point, we took a break in the law quad, where Alex was getting tired and weepy. He started crying when I showed him the dorms. "I don't want to live away from you when I go to college!" Oh how he'll change his mind in 10 years. :) The day ended with a trip to Cottage Inn to see Jen & Kevin & Nora and eat delicious pizza (oh how I've missed you, Cottage Inn). Stuffed and exhausted, we headed back to Grand Rapids. Andrew can't wait to go to Michigan when he's 18 (hello, out of state tuition!), but Alex is thinking "the Unviersity of Cape Cod" (which there is not) or "the University of Texas." Hook 'em horns! :)

family love

Did I mention that we're a touch crazy? :)
(Notice that Amy, the craziest of us all, is looking like we're the crazy ones, and Ross just keeps on smiling....)

Phase 2: Marshall family reunion!

At the end of week one, we headed to Peoria, IL for a Marshall family reunion. Grandma Marshall turns 90 this fall, so we were getting together before all the teachers go back to school in August/September. Since we were all in one spot (for the first time in almost 9 years), we had a baby shower for my sister, Amy, who is due at the beginning of October. Cousins got to meet each others' kids, grandmas and grandpas got to snap a zillion pictures, food (yummy bad food) was consumed in mass quantities...we were all exhausted by the time is was over (and we probably scared all the spouses who married into our loud, chatty family!)!

Family Roadtrip 2010!

After spending the last 2 weeks traveling around the midwest (IN, IL, & MI), I'm going to have to split our adventures into multiple posts. There was too much fun to be had, and I'm too tired to type it all up tonight! :)

So.....
Week 1--Indianapolis with Grammy & Grandpa Marshall
We hit the Children's Museum of Indianapolois b/c it's too much fun to pass up! It was also 90+ degrees, which we did not bargain for. When we travel in the summertime, it is to AVOID the Texas heat....not drag it around with us! Needless to say, we saw enormous dinosaur bones, a Star Wars exhibit (still our favorite craze), rock & roll cars & guitars , and of course, spent quality time with Grammy & Grandpa! In fact, we left the boys in Indy for a few days so Ross & I could celebrate our 10th anniversary (May 6) in Chicago....alone! We hadn't been away together w/o the kiddos in years! Grammy took the boys to Beezus & Ramona (which I still need to see myself) and the bookstore and McDonalds. The boys did their best to wear her down, but she survived (thanks, Grammy!), and we met up with them in Peoria (IL) for phase 2 of our trip....

Fun on the Fourth

We spent this 4th of July playing at our friend's pool, enjoying the sun that we hadn't seen in days b/c of hurricane Alex (and the tropical rain it sent to Houston). Alex, by the way, was super excited that a hurricane was named after him this year. He ran to the tv every time coverage came on. :) We went to the neighborhood parade the night before, where the boys caught bags of candy & mardi gras beads, and proceeded to get canker sores from their stash! We made yummy marshmallow pops for a special Fourth of July dessert for the kids, and it turns out, they're nicer to look at than eat.....

Finally, after our day of swimming and napping and eating way too much, we drove to the community college where we saw a giant fireworks display. Alex plugged his ears the whole time (not a fireworks lover AT ALL), and we made it home just late enough for the boys to be excited that they stayed up late. All in all, a very low-key, relaxing 4th of July! :)

Alex's 6th!

It's hard to believe that 6 years ago, this big boy:


Was just a 4 lb. 13 oz. little bundle of baby:


Time flies when you're growing up! Alex has had a crazy 6th year! He started kindergarden in the fall and quickly became Mr. Social. "Everyone loves Alex" was frequently heard during the year. He LOVED big-kid school, LOVED his teachers & principal, LOVED his new friends, and was so excited to learn to read chapter books and write books (all spelled phonetically, of course)! He wasn't wild about drop off after Christmas break and, in fact, had to be carried back to his room more than a few times, kicking and screaming. But once he got settled, he loved his school experience! He had a rough year with sickness, starting with the swine flu in September, and ending with asthma & sinus infections in the spring. He journaled many pages about all the medicine he had to take and all the procedures he'd been thru (blood draws, upper GI, allergy testing, etc). He's resiliant, though. He bounced back with a smile and giggle and was quickly pacified with a trip to Target for Legos! He continued his obsession with Star Wars & Legos and spent countless hours battling Andrew with a light saber or two. He also got a DS and Wii for Christmas, so he is now a video game crazed boy, hoping to sneak in as much time as possible with Lego Star Wars!



For this next year, I think he'd probably like a little less illness, a little more friends & fun, and lot more Star Wars and Legos. :) Let's see if we can't make that happen......

Springtime fun!

In the spirit of updating this blog, here's what happened this spring:

Alex had his kinder spring program (Bugz!) and PARTICIPATED! For years, he has avoided singing or even looking at the crowd at his preschool programs. He has turned to the side and ignored us all. We've even had to bribe him onto the stage with Star Wars toys. This year, he was a little nervous, but he sang, did the motions, and even smiled and bowed at the end! We were so proud of him!!

Ross & I celebrated our 10 year anniversary on May 6! I pulled out all of our wedding memorabilia (including the bride & groom ears from our honeymoon to Disney), and the boys had a blast watching the wedding video and running around being husband and wife. They will hate me for this picture someday, but it's so stinkin' cute!Daddy had to travel to Germany over Mother's Day, so he helped the boys learn how to make me breakfast in bed. This is the recipe (resapy):
This is the end product. I could hear them banging around the kitchen for awhile and had to warn them not to come into my room until 7 am. They were hoping they could wake up at 5:30 and get working, but I told them 6:45 would probably give them enough time. :) Sweet boys! They were so proud of themselves!