River Poppa's 75th birthday in Shenandoah

 

Washington DC

Cupcakes!

We made LOTS of cupcakes for Ryker to take to his class.  He decorated them with frosting, sprinkles and jelly beans.  He loves black jelly beans.  Strange kid.

Ryker's 4th Birthday Party

We had Ryker's birthday party a little early.  We rented the indoor play space at Upper Noe Valley Rec Center and invited his whole class and all of their siblings.  It was one big playdate!  Ryker dressed up as Buzz Lightyear for his Rocket Ship themed party.  We'll have another, small, family party on his "real" birthday (June 15).

Weekend in Monterey

We went down to the Aquarium.  There is lots for the kids to play on, but the exhibits (particularly the
sharks!) are much better at the Baltimore Aquarium.

Downtown Monterey has a great park, Dennis the Menace Park. It is really big and has lots of slides and climbing things, a huge rope bridge and a big steam engine.  We stayed for a couple of hours even though it was a little chilly.

Laguna Seca Racetrack was also having a big Ferrari weekend. The team was staying at the hotel with us. Ryker got to sit in 3 cars - one was hot off the track (#4)! - and all the big guys were really jealous.  The cars went super-fast!

Vroom! Vroom!

Lisa's boyfriend, Josh, has a motorcycle and even though Ryker thinks the name "Josh" is very funny, he really likes his bike.  Josh even let him get on and go vroom! vroom!

Chocolate Monster!

April 2011 School Photo

Ryker is wearing an Avo original; it matches his eyes perfectly!

Easter in Ireland

Granda Rush had a major stroke last November and we had to move him to a nursing home.  Andrew's siblings, Anthony and Siobhan, came and Keelin turned 7.  We went to the beach at Mullaghmore to check on the house (it was destroyed by a broken water pipe).  We spent 2 days in Dublin, but I sprained my ankle.  We went to MANY parks, the Marble Arch Caves, stayed at the Belle Isle (on an island at the top of Loch Erne), met cousins and got to bed WAY too late every night.  It was a busy week!

The Spider is Gone

Ryker and I had the stomach flu over the weekend.  I tried to explain to him that we had bugs in our tummies and that was what was making us sick.   He slept next to me last night so I could quickly help him when he was sick.  He woke up this morning, smiling, and said, the spider is gone!  Spider?  Yeah, the one in my tummy.

First Bike Ride

One of Andrew's clients gave Ryker his first bike.  We threw the bikes in the bike of the truck and headed down to Redwood City where they close the road on Sundays.  Ryker was SO excited to put his helmet on and get on his bike.  He hopped on and off he went!

Ryker as Dancing Santa

http://www.dancingsantacard.com/en/?santa=601097

Merry Christmas!

San Francisco Zoo, August 2010

Ryker asked Santa for a rocket ship.

Go Giants!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Ryker is a BIG Giants fan.  After winning the World Series, we went down to the corner and lots of people gave him high 5s and took his picture.  Here's a (sideways) clip of him yelling "Go Giants!"  We'll go to the parade on Wednesday when the team returns from Texas.

Halloween & Jack O'Lantern

Ryker is ready to hit Fair Oaks and say "Trick or Treat!"

Halloween at School

All of the kids and teachers dressed up at Ryker's school and we took them "trick-or-treating" on Church Street.  XO Cafe gave all of the kids fresh baked cookies which were promptly eaten - by the adults if we could wrangle them from the kids...  Ryker was Fireman Sam (complete with a Dalmation puppy).  It was a perfect costume since it rained off and on all day.  It seems that other neighborhood kids have figured out they could tag along and get candy too!  The stampede to get candy trampled Ryker at one point and I had to rescue him.

Shark, M&M, Angel, Thor & Cookie Monster 

Trying to gather everyone...

Superheros

Lisa's Birthday

I picked Ryker up early from school so he could help make a cake for Lisa.  He did all of the mixing and decorated the cake.  Lisa even let him blow the candles out with her.

St. Paul's School 2010

This is Ryker's first, official school picture.  He is wearing his Celtic shirt proudly.

Like Father, Like Son

I believe that some behaviors are learned and others you inherit.  Both Andrew and Ryker like to sleep with their hands clasped behind their head when they're very tired.  I'll find them like this in the middle of the night when they're sound asleep.  There is no way Ryker is consciously copying his father at this time.  Sometimes he'll sit in his car seat with his hands behind his head just before he falls asleep.

Growing Up

Early the other morning (and I mean 4 am), Ryker came into our room crying "my legs hurt, I have growing pains, I need medicine."  So, I got out of bed and rubbed an analgesic cream on his legs and gave him some ibuprofen. 

I measured him in the morning and, indeed, he'd grown an inch over the last 3 months.  That's a lot when you're only 37" tall!

Today I offered him his dinner and I guess it was too early because he said "I've had enough of growing up.  I don't want to eat."  Enough of growing up?  Oh, baby, you've got a lot more growing coming your way.