(Mother's) Day out with Thomas!

Today we surprised Ryan with a visit to the B&O Railroad museum for Thomas' Day Out. It was also Mother's Day, and I couldn't think of a better way to celebrate the day then watching Ryan have such a great time! We rode on Thomas, the carousel, the teacups and Ryan also rode on a kiddie train ride, on a real live pony, played in the bouncy bounce, walked through a hay maze and just had a great time! We met up with the Gerardis there and Ryan loved being with Sam and Annie. I think his favorite part was the teacups, he rode on them twice and probably would have ridden on them several more times if we had the time and had let him! He certainly doesn't take after me, legend has it that as a kid I asked (well, screamed) on several ride for the operator to stop the ride. I may have even yelled "Get me off of this ride!!!" I'm glad he is so much braver than I was :)

Ryan and Lizzie

The family that runs together...

Today the Doody/Hansen families went down to the Corning Preserve in Albany, along the river, to run a 5k and 10k in support of the St. John's/St. Ann's Outreach center, where my mother in law Judi works. The center provides services to those less fortunate including a food pantry, clothes closet, meals, and a college prep program, and is a great cause. I had also been wanting to do a 10k for awhile, so this was my chance to run a race and support a good cause while I'm at it! Several members of the family ran the races - my sister in law Lynn and I ran the 10k, while my mother in law Judi, brother in law DJ, sister in law Amy, nephews Colin and Alec, and niece Kayla, all ran the 5k. Tim;s Aunt Sheila also ran the 5k. Everyone did great!! This was Colin and Alec's first full 5k race - They are only 7 and 5 years old and they kicked butt! Colin, Lynn and Judi all won prizes for finishing first in their age group. I'm so proud to be part of a family that loves to do races together! Hopefully someday Ryan will get in on the action too. As far as my race - I was incredibly happy with my results! I finished the race in just over one hour. There was a little extra mileage due to a last minute course detour (the river had flooded part of the course a bit) so it ended up being 6.39 instead of 6.2, and my pace came out to be average 9:27. not bad for my first 10k! It was a fun morning full of family and running and I can't wait for the next race!

Cookies with Grandma

Post Easter Dinner Wii Dance Party

Easter Morning

Coloring Easter Eggs

Today Ryan and Ava had a special date coloring Easter Eggs - They both loved dropping the eggs in the different colors and then adding stickers when the colores had dried. They took turns and were so patient! And what do you do once Easter eggs are done? Have a dance party of course!

Unconditional Love

"Mommy, I love you. And even when I am grown up and in college, I will still love you."

Road Rage

Ryan: Mommy, why are all of these people not going if it's a green light?" Me: "Ryan, the traffic is just backed up a little bit so they can't move." Ryan: "These people are acting like they have never gotten in their cars and driven before!"