Raingutter Regatta

Today we spent the day building and decorating Zane's boat for the Rain Gutter Regatta at church. He attends AWANAS on Sunday nights and this was their end of session activity. His theme for his boat was the song "Jesus Loves the Little Children" and he wanted LOTS of little children on his boat (I'm pretty sure he drew a few hundred little colored stick kids). He and I did the decorating (we are both very colorful with marks of stray marker/paint) part and Jer helped him to construct it. To race them they used straws to blow them down a rain gutter filled with water. He won both times and was very excited because I had tried to prepare him to lose since we had never done it before. I was honestly impressed that it floated upright. The also presented awards for the most artistic, most colorful and best Christian theme and he placed in all three categories with a third and 2 firsts, respectively. I only had to lecture him a bit about winning with more grace. He had a blast and can't wait for it to start up again in the fall. And is already trying to think up a theme for his next boat!!!

Zane's 1st Football Game

Zane was a bit disappointed this spring when we went into CYS to sign up for sports and they were having football (yes, I know it is soccer in the State, but "when in Rome")and baseball at the same time and you had to pick only one. He said that even though he prefers baseball he was going to play football since his age group still plays t-ball over here and he has had enough of that. He finds it strange that they call cleats here "football boots". He said they must be confused because boots are what you wear on the farm with jeans, not with shorts to play sports. They had their first game after only 2 practices and were a bit rusty, but they seemed to have alot of fun. Zane is about the youngest on the team, but does not have trouble keeping up with the others. He is a bit frustrated that they seem to be better at it than he is, but he needs to realize that there are only 2 Americans on his team and all of the others were practically born with footballs at their feet. So, we told him he needs to work hard and try to learn from them. He seems okay with this. He and another boy together made a goal. He was very excited, but bummed that he did not get to play goalie (reminds me of cousin Mark), but maybe next time. There was a very small boy on the others team that was very "intense", Zane spent most of the game looking at him like he was out of his mind, but it was fun to watch.

Logie Had a Little Lamb

If you asked Logie how his trip to the garden was, well he would probably babble and throw something at you (because Logie doesn't talk unless he really wants too). For him all traveling is a mixed blessing. On the down side he has to spend alot of time in his stroller and car seat, but when he does get to get out and do his thing he makes the best of it. Like Zane he loved the petting zoo and would probably have taken the littlest lamb and goat home if anyone would have let him. There was also a time when he was petting the lambs and one of the donkeys came over and was munching crumbs out of his stroller seat. The look he gave it was hilarious (by the way, there will be more pics to see soon, I'm going to post them on shutterfly and link it to my blog). He was also a big fan of the playground and went up the stairs and down the slide over and over. He actually stopped on the platform on his way to the slide one time and let me get a great pic of him looking at me from between the slats. That doesn't happen very often. I think he thought the flowers were pretty and possibly even edible. If you got him too close he attempted to behead them, but he never got away with it. He was very entertained by an oversized wooden shoe that we found along the way. I tried to get him to stand in it so that I could take his pic, but he thought is was much more amusing to sit in it like it was a boat. I took him away from it for a minute and when he went back a little boy way playing in it. He threw a very impressive fit (which I got part of on video). Also, like his brother he enjoyed the large chess board, but he seemed most amused by trying to pick up the pieces that were as big as him as soon as Zane had put them where he wanted them. But, I guess all in all it was a pretty good day for him because he was crashed almost the entire way home and peaceful trips equal good trips!!!!!

Zane in the Garden

If you ask Zane about how his day at the Gardens was yesterday he will tell it was such a day. But then if you question him further he will excitedly tell you about the great wafle (that is how they spell it there) he had for breakfast and he might even remember the bright orange tulips that he found shortly after entering the park. He pointed out every orange one that he past and stated often how much better the red ones would look if they just weren't red (no, he's not brain washed at all). He was very excited by the petting zoo (they had donkeys, a calf, goats, lambs, a lama, ducks, chickens and rabbits) and loved that he could pet all of the animals and they did not try to get away. He then discovered the obstacle course and quickly conquered it, next he was off to the zip line of which Jer took a movie and I'll try to post it later. The only pic Jer got of it was of him falling off at the end. After that he found a woven tunnel that led to a maze and he spent at least 30 minutes getting us lost in it before we gave up and left the way we entered. His favorite part of the day was walking on the water on these pads that were built up from the bottom. He would have spent hours jumping from one to the next and back, but I finally had to make him let other people play on them. He was very unhappy with me and again very bored until he found a very large chess board that he was determined to put in order and prepare for a game, but Logie and some other little kids had a different idea and would move the pieces every time he put them in place. It was very amusing to watch, even if he didn't think so. So, anyway he might tell you how boring it was, unless you ask the right questions.

Keukenhof Gardens

I'll give you forwarning that our trip to the Keukenhof Gardens is going to span 3 posts there was just too many pics to choose from for one post. The gardens are in Keukenhof, Netherlands and are an amazing site to see (even if we were a bit late). They are divided into 5 areas and each exhibits a growers best bulbs and new hybrids, so it is something new each year. If you look at the picture of the fields that I took from the windmill you will see that most of the bulbs have been deadheaded. We were a little late to see them all, but the park itself was still in full bloom when we got there. There were tulips of every shape, size and color that you could imagine. It was really cool to see one of the old windmills up close (we saw a few others on the way up from the car windows). At one time there were over 9000 of them in Holland, now there are less than 1000. There was a guy at one of the shops carving wooden shoes by hand. Zane was convinced that they would not be very comfortable. I found an airial photo of the fields in a souvenior shop they looked like a patchwork quilt. I can understand now why Jeremy's sister Jessica says she could go back every year. It took us over 4 hours to walk the park and I think we might have missed a small bit of it. It is an amazing display of God's wonders and everyone should see it.

The Easter box

I found these pic today when I was looking for some others and could not resist posting them. Jer and I laughed because he said they acted like he did when he was deployed.... tearing through that box like they hadn't heard or received anything from home in 6 months. Not that Jer ever went that long, he was a bit spoiled!!!! My mom put together a box full of Easter goodies from them and her parents. The boys were reaching in with both hands and clearing it out as fast as they could. Then they tore into the chocolate before I could stop them. Zane had his new Lego sets put together by the end of the day and Logie spent forever putting Lenny (from the wonderpets) back into and the out of his egg. I'm sure he will now be forever convinced that guinea pigs hatch from blue eggs and possibly that rabbits are chocolate and filled with peanutbutter!!!