Erie and Steph's Birthday
Well, two posts in the same month! You can tell I'm not long term subbing anymore!
First, a few weeks ago Steph and I went to Erie, PA to visit my parents. Not that too many people here probably care, but this is one of the houses that we pass when we go for neighborhood walks. I love it. It has clinker brick (note how the bricks are not in straight lines).
Aundrea enjoys these walks, especially when Grandma starts bouncing her around.
It was kinda wet and rainy while we were there, but we braved the foul weather and went to the Erie Zoo.
They had some animal costumes the kids could wear. Aundrea made a dainty butterfly.
...but she was less than elegant as a horse.
Alas, I didn't get a picture of it, but when we first got to this exhibit, Steph was holding Aundrea right up to the glass, and the mother came right up to Aundrea and kissed the glass closest to her face.
We came back from Erie. This picture has no significance other than I think it's hilarious when Aundrea sleeps like this.
Babies first Easter! He is Risen! (He is Risen Indeed!). Took a picture of my two beautiful ladies in their nice Easter dresses. I took the picture here because I wanted a photo that puts the size of this Walnut tree into perspective (it's right next to our house).
After church we went to the VerMerris's for dinner. As always it was a feast worthy of a king.
Drea loves Tracie. I believe the feeling is reciprocated.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY STEPHANIE! For those of you who may not know, April 26 is Steph's Birthday! (And oh boy, this is one birthday that won't be forgotten!). First we went out to lunch with Nate and Tracie at Wolfgang's, a breakfast place in Grand Rapids. Their food is phenomenal. After that Steph and I continued on to Frederik Meijer Gardens. I had never been there before, and Steph wanted to see the butterfly exhibit.
Then, despite the rain, we strolled outside and saw the sights.
(I think Aundrea looks frighteningly devious in this picture)
The horse statue. Arguably what F.M.G. is most famous for.
If you look, you will see that the horse is anatomically correct. I would be interested in finding out if this statue holds the world record for the largest cojones.
Frederik Meijer is my homeboy.
Now, not that what we did previous to this wasn't fun, but here comes what made this birthday entirely unforgettable. After Frederik Meijer Gardens, we headed over to Steph's parents for dinner. As dinner (which was excellent! Thanks again Tracie!) was being prepared, it started to get a bit gusty, and the rain picked up. I went to the window because the trees were swaying back and forth so much that I thought I might see one fall. Well, the wind picked up some more. At this point I noticed that the water in the horse's automatic waterer was blowing out in large quantities.
"Wow...this is quite the squall." I thought to myself.
It was right as that thought flashed through my mind that I saw Derek's 12 ft. rowboat go flying (literally) through the air at about 50 mph. It missed the window I was standing at by no more than 20 ft. Dad, who saw the boat flying through the air from the garage came in and told everyone to get in the basement.
The National Weather Services came out to see if it was a tornado or straight winds. According to them, a category 0 tornado touched down and increased in strength to a category 1. Apparently, sometimes tornados will touch down, then rise back up, touch down, rise back up etc. This one touched down at a landscaping company next to Greg and Janice's house, rose back up as it went over the VerMerris household (Thank you Lord!), and then touched back down across the road, where it proceeded to demolish two turkey barns that Steph's uncle owns.
Aside from a few missing shingles, the only real damage to Steph's parents place was some porch balusters blown down (This baffles me as the wind resistance of these things can't be that significant).
Here's what was left of the tornado when we ventured out of the basement.
Here you can see one of the turkey barns that collapsed
After all the excitement somewhat subsided, we ate and opened presents.
We decided to check out the turkey barns, and ended up helping to herd about 5,000 turkeys from the barn that suffered the most damage (below), to the one that wasn't damaged at all.
There were several casualties.
The Trail of Tears.
And here's Derek's boat. In the background is Steph's parents house, so you can see how far it flew (it had been parked about 30 yards behind the house).
I was amazed at how quickly after the tornado passed that sightseers came out of the woodwork! That road saw more traffic in that evening than it normally does in a year!
So yeah, it's not every birthday that you narrowly escape death. So not a birthday to be forgotten any time soon!
First, a few weeks ago Steph and I went to Erie, PA to visit my parents. Not that too many people here probably care, but this is one of the houses that we pass when we go for neighborhood walks. I love it. It has clinker brick (note how the bricks are not in straight lines).
Aundrea enjoys these walks, especially when Grandma starts bouncing her around.
It was kinda wet and rainy while we were there, but we braved the foul weather and went to the Erie Zoo.
They had some animal costumes the kids could wear. Aundrea made a dainty butterfly.
...but she was less than elegant as a horse.
Alas, I didn't get a picture of it, but when we first got to this exhibit, Steph was holding Aundrea right up to the glass, and the mother came right up to Aundrea and kissed the glass closest to her face.
We came back from Erie. This picture has no significance other than I think it's hilarious when Aundrea sleeps like this.
Babies first Easter! He is Risen! (He is Risen Indeed!). Took a picture of my two beautiful ladies in their nice Easter dresses. I took the picture here because I wanted a photo that puts the size of this Walnut tree into perspective (it's right next to our house).
After church we went to the VerMerris's for dinner. As always it was a feast worthy of a king.
Drea loves Tracie. I believe the feeling is reciprocated.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY STEPHANIE! For those of you who may not know, April 26 is Steph's Birthday! (And oh boy, this is one birthday that won't be forgotten!). First we went out to lunch with Nate and Tracie at Wolfgang's, a breakfast place in Grand Rapids. Their food is phenomenal. After that Steph and I continued on to Frederik Meijer Gardens. I had never been there before, and Steph wanted to see the butterfly exhibit.
Then, despite the rain, we strolled outside and saw the sights.
(I think Aundrea looks frighteningly devious in this picture)
The horse statue. Arguably what F.M.G. is most famous for.
If you look, you will see that the horse is anatomically correct. I would be interested in finding out if this statue holds the world record for the largest cojones.
Frederik Meijer is my homeboy.
Now, not that what we did previous to this wasn't fun, but here comes what made this birthday entirely unforgettable. After Frederik Meijer Gardens, we headed over to Steph's parents for dinner. As dinner (which was excellent! Thanks again Tracie!) was being prepared, it started to get a bit gusty, and the rain picked up. I went to the window because the trees were swaying back and forth so much that I thought I might see one fall. Well, the wind picked up some more. At this point I noticed that the water in the horse's automatic waterer was blowing out in large quantities.
"Wow...this is quite the squall." I thought to myself.
It was right as that thought flashed through my mind that I saw Derek's 12 ft. rowboat go flying (literally) through the air at about 50 mph. It missed the window I was standing at by no more than 20 ft. Dad, who saw the boat flying through the air from the garage came in and told everyone to get in the basement.
The National Weather Services came out to see if it was a tornado or straight winds. According to them, a category 0 tornado touched down and increased in strength to a category 1. Apparently, sometimes tornados will touch down, then rise back up, touch down, rise back up etc. This one touched down at a landscaping company next to Greg and Janice's house, rose back up as it went over the VerMerris household (Thank you Lord!), and then touched back down across the road, where it proceeded to demolish two turkey barns that Steph's uncle owns.
Aside from a few missing shingles, the only real damage to Steph's parents place was some porch balusters blown down (This baffles me as the wind resistance of these things can't be that significant).
Here's what was left of the tornado when we ventured out of the basement.
Here you can see one of the turkey barns that collapsed
After all the excitement somewhat subsided, we ate and opened presents.
We decided to check out the turkey barns, and ended up helping to herd about 5,000 turkeys from the barn that suffered the most damage (below), to the one that wasn't damaged at all.
There were several casualties.
The Trail of Tears.
And here's Derek's boat. In the background is Steph's parents house, so you can see how far it flew (it had been parked about 30 yards behind the house).
I was amazed at how quickly after the tornado passed that sightseers came out of the woodwork! That road saw more traffic in that evening than it normally does in a year!
So yeah, it's not every birthday that you narrowly escape death. So not a birthday to be forgotten any time soon!
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