Just Let It Ride

Saturday, December 28, 2013

Ryder's 3rd Birthday Party

Since Ryder's birthday is on Tuesday, we decided to celebrate today with a cookout at his favorite playground. He fell asleep in the car during the 5 minute drive, so here is how he started his party:

We let him take a quick 20-minute power nap before waking him up to join in on the fun!

Pops, just relaxing before dinner

always missing one shoe!

swinging while Daddy cooked dinner

After dinner we headed back to our house for presents and a Dairy Queen ice cream cake (yum!) Ryder got some new trucks, a movie, clothes, legos, and a cash register with play money.

My boy is a goofball!

While we sang "Happy Birthday" he sat so intently, just staring at the candle.

building with his new Legos

Steve and Ali had to fly back home on Friday, so they gave Ryder his present before they left for the airport. Ryder spent a chunk of the afternoon outside playing with his new stomp rocket! Within minutes of being outside he had already launched two of the rockets onto the roof; we finally convinced him to aim away from the house!

having a blast!

Look at that vertical jump!

Friday, December 27, 2013

December recap

This month absolutely flew by, and I just didn't make the time to blog about anything we did. Here's a quick recap!

Mommy's friend
My friend Kathryn came to visit the first weekend in December, and it was great to have a few days to catch up and show her some of the sights. Ryder immediately warmed up to her but still called her "mommy's friend" instead of actually using her name. We relaxed by the pool and visited the beach, the playground, and some shops downtown. She was a trooper as we worked around the kids' nap and meal schedules; I know she was worn out by the end of each day! The only pictures of Kathryn and me together were taken with her camera, so here are some of the kids from our morning at the beach.

Ryder was seriously into the story!

Andrew's birthday

being cheesy for the camera :)

Winter Solstice
What better way to celebrate the first day of winter than by fishing in a kayak in 80 degree weather? Pops and Grann agreed to watch the kids for us that Saturday morning so that Andrew and I could go on a little fishing "date". It was peaceful and absolutely beautiful on the water. Andrew caught a small lizard fish and I managed to hook an old sunken barge--ha! I came home with a nice sunburn because who wears sunscreen in December?? I learned my lesson.

Christmas
This Christmas was so much fun because Ryder is at the age to really understand and get excited about everything. He loved the decorations, the lights, and even made some homemade Christmas gifts. Harper was happy just to be in the middle of everything; she didn't care at all about opening presents. We opened presents from Grandma and Grandpa on Christmas Eve, did our own family thing Christmas morning, and then exchanged gifts with Pops, Grann, Steve, and Ali that night.