San Francisco Zoo

Ryker LOVES the zoo and it's too bad that we don't live down the street from it anymore. We went to the petting zoo this time, but I think he liked riding the tractor more. We rode both the carousel and train this time. Animals? Oh yes, he did watch the flamingos while he ate his "pappas."

Padrino Marvin's Birthday

Padrino (Godfather) Marvin came to town for his 40th birthday. Ryker made him a mug at Terra Mia.

Muir Woods

Kara, my best friend from high school in Cairo, came to visit and met Andrew and Ryker for the first time. We did LOTS of fun things: Golden Gate Park, Napa, North Beach, Chinatown, etc. Her favorite (and one of ours) was Muir Woods.

Fairyland

We discovered a real treasure over in Oakland. Fairyland is a pint-size amusement park and features Mother Goose nursery rhymes.

Easter

Last year, Ryker was baptized at Easter. It was so overwhelming that I'm not sure he ever focused on the Easter bunny, etc. This year he got an Easter basket, found hidden eggs and discovered "Marshmallow!" Fortunately, he also loves his new toothbrush that plays "Here comes Peter Cottontail hopping down the bunny trail..."

At Mass on Sunday, I was carrying Ryker and the lay minister gave me the wafer. I tried to just get a blessing (since I can't take Communion), but she didn't understand and the line was too long. On the way back to the pew, Ryker was hungry and wanted my cracker, so I gave it to him. "Mmmm. Yummy! Want more!" I told him it was the body of Christ - "Mmm, want more body, yummy!" I nearly died of (surpressed) laughter. Andrew was horrified.

Taos, New Mexico

This is beautiful country! Big sky, tons of stars at night and lots of fresh powder for skiing. Andrew and I have been on the slopes while Ryker is in their camp (which he loves). I put him on his skis and he was dying to go up the lift so he could come down the hill. He needs to learn to stand on his own first. I'll enroll him in the ski school for a class and see how that goes... We went tubing in the afternoon and with the 3 of us tied together, we went really fast. Still, it wasn't fast enough for Ryker. Andrew had to haul the tubes up the hill and I had to drag Ryker up.

Bay Area Discovery Museum

This is one of Ryker's favorite places to go. We went for Chinese New Year and it was SO crowded. Ryker ran ahead of me and when I finally caught up with him, I had to tackle him. In doing so, I sprained my ankle and ended up on crutches. Andrew's TLC and ice water baths healed it in no time. We went to the museum again for "Irish dancing" because Ryker LOVES Irish music; he asks for it every time we get in the car. Still, his favorite things at this museum are the boat he climbs on and the ramp he rides the Tonka trucks down, over and over and over.