Ryan "waking up" David.

#eff

Animal sounds by Ryan.

Cousins

Jenny, Jack, Luke and Grace flew into Seattle last night, and left this morning. The trip was not nearly long enough. Ryan was so excited to see them, and so mad to be left behind with his Daddy this morning. The 4 kids were running around like wild animals last night, having the best time. Ryan had the hardest time going down for bed. He kept saying, "Luke" and "Jack". I finally convinced him Jack and Luke were sleeping. We are looking forward to seeing them again in Minnesota in 6 weeks!

Look at that hair!

I couldn't resist snapping this shot of Ryan's hair. He woke up from his nap with a mop of curls on his head. Too cute!

Long Beach, WA

David and Ryan just spent 3 days at the beach house with the Boehms. Ryan had so much fun with Uncle Michael and Bumpa (aka Grandpa Bill). It was quite windy so they didn't get down to the beach much, but they did play hard in the yard. They had a blast playing baseball with the bubbles and rocking on the chairs. The new game was to throw Ryan's blankets so they would stick to the rough wall. Crazy kids...

The big boys got lots of dungeness crab and salmon while on the water, so it sounds like they ate well too! David just informed me that Ryan now knows the letter "M" from all the M&M's Grandma Karen gave him. I guess that is what happens when Mom's not around!!

I enjoyed my 3 days of peace and quiet, but was very happy to see my silly boys home again!

Birch Bay Getaway

We left around 4:30 Tuesday night for an overnight getaway to Birch Bay, WA (about 90 minutes north of Seattle). Ryan did great on the trip, and we only had to listen to "E-I-O" a couple times! We headed for the beach right when we got to our destination. Ryan was very focused on throwing rocks. He could stand there for hours and throw rocks!

This morning we headed for Birch Bay State Park. I love the beach combing for rocks, and well, Ryan loves to throw rocks. David got bored with our rock obsession. He should have brought a book! We did have a few other places we wanted to get to, so we did move on. Our next stop was Grace Harbor Farms, a goat farm. It was awesome. Grace, who used to live in SE Alaska, started the farm in 1999 with 2 goats. They now have a lot more than 2 goats, plus horses, turkeys and chickens. Ryan loved it! David and I both enjoyed talking with Grace and seeing the baby goat (less than a day old) and the baby chicks. Grace makes her own goat cheese, which is amazing and bottles her own lotions and soaps. It was definitely the highlight of the trip! Our next stop was Million Smiles Park in Lynden, WA. This was another recommendation from the hotel. The park is amazing! There is something for every age group. Ryan loved it. He played a little too hard, got overtired, then got crazy. He climbed the huge hill next to the park and started running down it, like he does at home in the driveway. This hill was twice the size as the one at home, and he fell really hard in the dirt. He broke open the sore on his arms (from falling down the hill at home), starting bleeding and cried. The crying didn't last too long, but then he pushed a swing and forgot to move out of the way, so it came back and hit him...and he cried again! It was time to go home! The trip home was not fun! Ryan could not calm himself down, and it took his Dad to get him to sleep. David and I did a Chinese fire drill to switch drivers. Once David was in the backseat next to him, Ryan was asleep. We'll definitely remember that for next time!