Meijer Gardens

This morning we made a family trip to the Meijer Gardens to see the butterflies.  We saw a lot of different types and Esther kept using the guide book to tell us the names.  It was a beautiful, sunny day so we ventured out to the big horse and the children's garden for a while too.  It feels like spring is finally really coming!

Father - Daughter Banquet

Every year one of the local Christian radio stations (WCSG) hosts a Father Daughter Banquet. It's grown to be quite the event over the years, selling out two nights in a row at the Pinnacle Center.

This year I thought it would be fun to take Esther. We invited our friends, Rob and Ally to join us as well. (I mean, Dad is cool, but it's still nice to have a friend along.)

Last weekend Esther and I went shopping for a new dress for the occassion.....a first for Daddy. Esther and I stood in the little girl dress area at Kohls for quite a while, having a discussion over what color shirts I have and what would match with a dress. It was quite the planning event for a guy that stands in his closet every morning and simply chooses the least wrinkled shirt and tie he can find. I am also hoping that Esther's fine conservative taste carries over well into her teens and twenties.....I'm sure they will, right?

We had a great time at the dinner, this was Esther's first formal dinner. Esther was quite impressed with the fact that she had three forks to use and that the wait staff kept taking her empty plates. When Don Michael (the MC and radio DJ) took the stage, Esther whispered to me "He sounds just like the guy on the radio!"

The last part of the evening included a concert by Heather Williams. It was wonderful.

The evening ended with one tired little girl falling asleep in the car on the ride home.....we'll be putting it on our calendar again for next year!

Butterflies!

Today I took Peter, Miriam, and Peter's friend Simon to see the butterflies at the Meijer Gardens.  Despite the gloomy, rainy weather, there were a lot of very active butterflies flying around.  We also walked out to the children's garden to do some of the indoor activities that they had.  The kids built butterflies out of wooden pieces, dressed up as butterflies, and heard a story about monarchs.  Hopefully we'll get a chance to go back a couple times in the next 2 months!