Vedders Chronicles » Being Vedders

A Visit To the Former Grand Rapids Public Museum

Gregory Vedders — Sun, 18 Apr 2010 01:20:39 +0000

Today we visited Michigan – Land of Riches which is an art exhibit inspired by the spaces and exhibits left behind inside the former Grand Rapids Public Museum. I think it is safe to say that everyone should check this one out. (I apologize for the picture quality in some of these shots, the lighting within the museum was very poor).

See and download the full gallery on posterous

Posted via web from gregvedders’s posterous

Detour Around the Fix On I-196

Gregory Vedders — Tue, 13 Apr 2010 00:26:47 +0000

With the closure of I-196, Nathaniel and I needed to find a new route to his school in the morning. While our usual route isn’t actually closed, it is an unofficial detour for the construction project. With a little creativity, Nathaniel and I have crafted a path that avoids most of the delays and actually comes in very close to the travel time of our usual route. Without further ado, here is our detour around the fix in I-196.

Name:		Track 002
Date:		Apr 12, 2010 7:21 am
Map: (valid until May 12, 2010)		Google Maps
Distance:		7.71 miles
Elapsed Time:		20:32.8
Avg Speed:		22.5 mph
Max Speed:		41.8 mph
Avg Pace:		02′ 40″ per mile
Min Altitude:		505 ft
Max Altitude:		705 ft
Start Time:		2010-04-12T11:21:54Z
Start Location:
	Latitude:	42.966471° N
	Longitude:	85.694251° W
End Location:
	Latitude:	42.994102° N
	Longitude:	85.602305° W

Download GPX

A Spring Walk downtown

Gregory Vedders — Thu, 01 Apr 2010 01:37:07 +0000

A warm March evening inspired the Vedders Family to take a walk down town. The boys started out on their scooters and Mackenzie slept in her stroller while Monica and I walked behind. Other than some tired feet (and some blistered feet ) everyone seemed to enjoy themselves. For our first real walk outdoors we did pretty well, 2.27 miles in 59 minutes. Thanks to Motion-X GPS, some stats from our walk are listed below.

Name:		Track 001
Date:		Mar 31, 2010 6:20 pm
Map: (valid until Apr 30, 2010)		Google Maps
Distance:		2.27 miles
Elapsed Time:		59:00.6
Avg Speed:		2.3 mph
Max Speed:		6.4 mph
Avg Pace:		26′ 03″ per mile
Min Altitude:		404 ft
Max Altitude:		666 ft
Start Time:		2010-03-31T22:20:47Z
Start Location:
	Latitude:	42.966509° N
	Longitude:	85.694228° W
End Location:
	Latitude:	42.966548° N
	Longitude:	85.694108° W

Download GPX

Halloween – 2009

Gregory Vedders — Sun, 01 Nov 2009 14:45:10 +0000

The Vedders Family had a very busy Halloween Day. The day started with a Boy Scout Popcorn sale at Lowe’s on Plainfield Ave. The weather was cold and windy, so not much popcorn was sold, except for a nice couple from Walker who drove all the way to buy some popcorn (thanks Papa and Nani).

After the popcorn sale, we returned home so the boys could play (and to top off Miss Mackenzie). Mommy and Mackenzie then went off to the hospital to visit Noah Andrew, born the day before.

Next, it was time for lunch (actually breakfast for lunch) at Nani and Papa’s house. After lunch, the boys carved their pumpkins. Mackenzie then showed off the first of her many Halloween costumes (she had so many, we ran out of Halloween to wear them).

From Nani and Papa’s house we stopped by Grandma Vedders’ house where the Great Pumpkin had left treat bags for Nathaniel, Zachary, and Mackenzie. The boys then played with their new Imaginext toys from Fisher-Price for a little while.

Because of the cold weather, we decided to try our luck Trick-or-Treating at Woodland Mall. By the time we got there, roughly 1/2 hour after their Halloween Hoopla began, they had all but run out of treats. Though disappointed, we roamed the mall gathering the few remaining treats to be had amongst the hundreds of other people attempting to do the same.

After we had enough of the chaos at Woodland, we decided to eat dinner at Taco Bell. Have to love the prices at Taco Bell, the four of us ate for well under $10.

The final activity of the evening was a visit to the City of Walker’s Fire Station Number 2 in Standale. They had their annual Halloween Open House with free treats and tours of the fire trucks. Nathaniel and Zachary had a lot of fun climbing in and out of the fire engines.

When all was said and done, I think Mackenzie enjoyed her first Halloween and so did everyone else.

Zachary & Nathaniel At the Fire Station

Mackenzie Smiles In Her Winne the Pooh Costume

Announcing A Change In the Lineup

Gregory Vedders — Sat, 28 Feb 2009 17:30:47 +0000

The Vedders Family is proud to announce a change in our lineup. Be sure to checkout http://www.b2b09.com for more information.

Letter From Santa

Gregory Vedders — Thu, 25 Dec 2008 13:00:26 +0000

Merry Christmas everyone!

The Vedders Family had a quite a surprise when we awoke today. Down stairs waiting by an empty plate of Christmas Cookies we found a note from Santa himself. It read:

Merry Christmas Nathaniel and Zachary! The cookies you left for me were very yummy in my tummy…I can tell that you made them fresh for me just before I arrived. I know you two have had trouble listening to Mom and Dad a time or two this past year, but for the most part you were very good. I know you guys will work on it for next year. Thank you for taking the time to visit me at River Town Crossings Mall. I really enjoyed talking to you. For being so good this past year, I’ve brought you just what you wanted…Zachary, a guitar and crash car and for Nathaniel some animal daycare things. Just so you know, the blue paper and the green and white Santa paper are Nathaniel’s presents and the green paper and the red Santa paper are Zachary’s presents. Well boys I have to run, I’ll be sure to say hi to Rudolf and all my reindeer for you. Keep up the good work and I’ll see you next year.

Love,

Mr. C

That Mr. C, you really can’t get anything past him. It’s almost as though he sees you when you’re sleeping, he knows when you’re awake, and he knows if you’ve been bad or good. All I can say is, be good for goodness sake!

Knapp Charter Academy’s 2008 Holiday Program

Gregory Vedders — Tue, 16 Dec 2008 16:03:05 +0000

Nathaniel preformed with his classmates from Knapp Charter Academy on Monday December 15. This part of the program featured the first, second, and third graders at the school. Nathaniel and his fellow classmates did a superb job. I must apologize in advance for the poor video quality, the lighting was not overly conducive for recording. At any rate, enjoy!

Blue Elmo

Gregory Vedders — Fri, 12 Dec 2008 01:30:48 +0000

As previously twitted, tonight as Zachary was getting ready for bed he pulled out his Cookie Monster stuffed animal turned to me and said, “Hey Dad! Look, it’s Blue Elmo.” Knowing that 1). Zachary has seen Sesame Street on too many occasions to quantify and 2). Zachary really loves his cookies, I would have thought he would have known right away as to who Cookie Monster was. Apparently the older Sesame Street characters don’t get as much attention on TV as they once did. Perhaps kids don’t remember him as well as previous generations do because of the continuous featuring of Elmo or maybe it’s because of the shift in focus behind his new campaign that says “Cookies are a sometimes food.” At any raite, tomorrow I’ll be pulling out one of my all time favorite Christmas specials, the classic Christmas Eve on Sesame Street so that I can reintroduce the characters to him.

See Who made Santa’s List

Gregory Vedders — Tue, 09 Dec 2008 19:53:42 +0000

Just the other day I was wondering how Nathaniel and Zachary were doing on Santa’s Naughty or Nice list. It just so happens that the Jolly man himself happened to send me a video explaining how they were doing. Feel free to check for your self to see how Nathaniel and Zachary stack up on Santa’s list. Oh, and one more thing, you better watch out I know Santa is watching you too.

Happy 7th Birthday Nathaniel

Gregory Vedders — Fri, 29 Aug 2008 07:06:19 +0000

It’s hard to believe, but our our little Nathaniel isn’t quite so little any more. After starting his Summer Camp Sleepover as a 6 year old last night, today he wakes up a whole year older! Next week he starts his third year at Knapp Charter Academy. Yep, that’s right…Nathaniel is now a Second Grader.

As always, I will post some pictures and videos as the weekend’s birthday extravaganza progresses.

Be sure to wish Nate a Happy 7th Birthday!

Update: Yes Brad, you are right…he has been slowly aging over the course of the past year and he did indeed wake up a whole 1/365 year older.