Pool Time

This weekend the weather was beautiful, so we packed up the car, picked up Mike and Amanda, and headed to Arlington, VA to Mike D's pool. We all had a relaxing time hanging poolside, and Ryan loved the water. He was timid at first but quickly warmed up to the water and did not want to get out!! After the pool, we relaxed and the guys picked up some subs for us for dinner. Ryan was a trooper on both the ride down and the ride back, about one hour each, and stayed up way past his bedtime - we didn't get home until about 10:00 Pm Saturday night! As always, great times with great friends and the perfect way to spend a Saturday.

Next weekend we're heading to Albany for the annual 4th of July party at the Doody's. We are looking forward to seeing lots of family and friends. Ryan and I are then driving to my parents' house in Massachusetts and staying for a week. We are also planning to visit with lots of family and friends there, and the week will be capped off by Tim and I, my brother Jim and my Dad going to a Red Sox game with our friends Katie and Frank. Through Katie we were able to get great seats and even on field access during Batting Practice. Needless to say, we are excited! I know we will be posting plenty of pictures from the entire week so stay tuned!!

Happy Birthday Jim!

A very Happy Birthday today to my brother Jim. He turns 29 - one more year until 30!!! I think he is catching up to me in age :) Love and miss you Jim and Ryan misses his uncle! See you in a couple weeks.

Happy Birthday Tim!

Happy Birthday Tim!! Hope you had a great one and I know you are enjoying your new camera :) Love you!

Class Picture Day!

Ryan's Class

Tim's new toy

Tim's birthday is approaching (June 24th) and I gave him his present a little early - I bought him a new camera! We have been talking about getting a Digital SLR for awhile and I finally took the plunge and boght him the Nikon D40. The camera came with two lenses and Tim has been having fun this weekend learning about what the camera can do. He took 200 pictures today without even leaving the house!! You can expect to see a lot more pictures on the blog in the coming weeks, and maybe Tim will even write some blog entries himself!

Father's Day

Today we celebrated Father's Day! First, Ryan and I made Tim a breakfast of Mexican scambled eggs and coffee. This is a big deal because I never cook breakfast and I never make coffee!! Then we went to Ellicot City, where we visited the B&O Railroad museum, walked around the shops, and ended with lunch at the Ellicot Mills Brewery. We had a great time and Ryan was a trooper through all of it, even sitting in the high chair for an hour during lunch! When we got home, we all took a nice long nap and then spent some time enjoying the beautiful summer weather. The day ended with a special dinner I made for Tim of bratwursts cooked in beer. We had a nice day together as a family, just the way Father's Day should be!
On the caboose at the B&O Railroad museum

Mommy and Ryan
Cheers!

Daddy and his two favorite things - Ryan and beer!

Ryan: "jsdfjbwehrasbmBASdg"

Tim: "What?"

Family photo

Happy Father's day!

I meant to post this earlier in the weekend, but we have had a busy weekend! I didn't forget about all the important dads in my life, I just wanted to wait until I had time to thank them properly.

First, Happy Father's Day to my Dad!! I cannot say enough about my Dad and the kind of person he is. He is loyal, honest, hardworking, loving, generous, dependable, the list goes on and on. Growing up, he was always the best example of what a husband and father should be. He worked no less than 3 jobs at a time when I was a kid to provide for us and always make sure we had what we needed. More importantly, he spent time with us and we knew he was always there when we needed him. He passed on his love and knowledge of sports to me and is the reason (or the person you can blame!) that I am such a crazy Red Sox fanatic. When Ryan was born, he called me every day on my maternity leave to see how we were doing and always let me know that he and my mom could be here on a moment's notice if we needed them. He has several good friends and even more acquaintances is well known and respected in many circles. It hit home for me at his retirement party in 2005 how much others respect him as well and I am proud to be his daughter. I love you Dad!

Also, Happy Father's Day to my father in law, Bob. I am lucky to have a wonderful father in law who is also a great example of what a father and husband should be. He has been a hard worker his entire life and everything he has now is the result of his own work. He has a love and knowledge of cars and can fix or build just about anything. Anything in our house that has been fixed, replaced or built is because of him and he is always happy to help us with our home improvement projects. Thanks Bob for being a great father in law!

The best part about our Dads is that they have all the same basic important qualities, but their different interests mean that they will be able to teach Ryan different things - he will learn about cars and fixing things from Bob, and about the Red Sox and Patriots from my Dad. I love that they will pass on a little of themselves to him and he will learn about different things from both of them.

I saved the best Dad in my life for last - my husband Tim. Ryan and I are so lucky to have him in our lives. He is so caring and patient with Ryan (and me). Watching the two of them together just makes me love him even more! He never thinks of taking care of Ryan as "helping" or of staying home with him as "babysitting." He loves spending time with him and teaching him new things and i know as the years go on, they will become the best of friends. Happy Father's Day Tim - I love you and Ryan loves his "Daddeeeeeeeee."

Nana and GaGa

This past weekend my parents came for a visit and I didn't take a single picture!! Ryan had a great time with his Nana and Grandpa (or, as he calls him "Gaga!) On Friday when I was driving him to school, I told him that later we would be picking up Nana and Grandpa at the airport. He then pointed next to him in the backseat of the car and said "Nana!" and then pointed to the front passenger seat and said "GaGa!" That little smarty pants remembered that when they are in town, Nana usually rides in the back with him and GaGa sits up front with me!

We had a great visit with them and they had plenty of quality time with Ryan while Tim and i did a few things on our own. Then, Saturday afternoon we all went to the Gerardis to celebrate Annie's 2nd birthday and Sam's 4th birthday. Ryan had a blast playing with all the kids, on the slide, and especially bouncing in the bounce house set up for the party. He was the youngest of the kids in there and had no fear, laughing when bigger kids fell on top of him! The highlight of the afternoon was the pinata, all the kids waited patiently for their turn and only took 3 swings. Tricia has the magic touch with the kids, must be her backgroound as a teacher! I am hoping someone sends me pictures of Ryan swinging at the pinata and bouncing in the bounce house.

We were all very sad to see my parents leave, Ryan has been asking for them since yesterday afternoon, yelling their names in the car and again asking for them this morning when he woke up. This afternoon on the way home from school I think he realized they were gone, he started saying "No Nana. No Gaga." :( Luckily we will see them in a few weeks at the Doody family 4th of July party in Albany. Thanks for another fun visit and for making the trip!

Elmo is everywhere!

Ryan is currently obsessed with Elmo. To the point where where he wakes up in the morning and immediately points downstairs to the TV "Ehgo!" On the way home from school he is already saying "Ehgo!" in the backseat because he wants to watch it when he gets home. The other day, after I picked him up at school, I heard him saying "Ehgo!" and thought nothing of it, since it's a familiar chant. This time he was pointing outside. I said, "There is no Elmo around here Ryan." He kept pointing and saying "Ehgo!" and then said "Eye!" I looked up and saw this billboard...

And he was right! It did look like Elmo's eyes!

On the telephone

I talk on the phone a lot, mainly to my mom. Sometimes she will talk to Ryan as well, so between him talking to her, and seeing me on the phone with her, he has just come to associate the phone with Nana. Now whenever the phone rings, he points and yells "Nana!" If I am texting or on the phone with someone else, he points and yells "Nana!" Thank goodness for free nights and weekend plans :)

How we roll...

We are winding down after a busy and fun weekend! Saturday morning we hosted playgroup at our house - Ava, Emily, Jake and another little boy named Ryan all came over to play. The kids had a great time together and I am enjoying getting to know the kids and their moms. In the afternoon, Laura, Dave and Mike D came over to watch the Belmont Race. Mike surprised us with lobsters for everyone, and a bottle of Cristal - b/c that's how we roll :) Ryan loved having his adult friends over too and was very entertained by both the lobsters and the Cristal. Thanks Mike!

Cheers!

Good times with good friends

Today we went with friends to the pool they belong to. Ryan had a blast playing in the kiddie pool and it was the perfect way to spend a gorgeous day. Thanks Will, Beth and Sawyer for inviting us to the pool!