Hip Hip Hooray, Dad's Coming Home Today

Seth will be home this afternoon.  I'm curious to see how Ryker reacts this time.  I'm sure he will be very excited.  I haven't told him yet, because I didn't want him confused or excited all day.  I can barely contain myself and make it through the day when I know he's coming.  I'm sure it would be much worse for Ryker, if he even understood.  I'll tell him when we are almost to the airport.  I think he still thinks that Seth is in Bellingham on the boat since that is where we last left him and for days after Ryker would say "Dad, boat."  Seth's only here for a few days, but I'm sure they will be jam packed with dirt digging, bike riding, and running through puddles if Ryker has anything to say about it.  He has a lot of sweet new skills that he'll be eager to show off to his Dad.

Happy Birthday to Me

We had fabulous weather for the weekend.  We spent Saturday at the BEHS baseball games.  Ryker had a great time running around.  We had lunch with friends, then headed home to mow the lawn and play in the dirt pile.  Ryker is going to be very disappointed when all that fill dirt is finally leveled.

Sunday, we had breakfast with Ryker's Grandpa Geoff and Mary.  While we waited for them, we checked out the parking lot and he tried poking me with a stick.  He kept saying "tickle", but he was really just jabbing me with it so I started dodging it and then it became a whole other game.

Next we rolled out to Anacortes for the Waterfront Festival where we met up with lots of friends.  Ryker loaded his wagon with lots of loot.  Here he is launching the boat he made into the pool.

Checking out the other boats.

Ryker and Abby

Ryker, Abby, and Dan.  Notice how the wood pegs on Ryker's boat keep changing position?  He glued them on the bow, but kept completely submerging his boat in the water and the glue wasn't dry so they would come off.  He would gather them all up out of the water and stick them back on somewhere else.

Looks like it passed it's sea trial.  We had to have one more go around in the bathtub once we got home.  He added some bling to the deck with his crayons, then launched it into the tub.  After about 20 minutes, he took it out and drug it around the house.

Favorite Activity of the day #2:  Playing in the water fountain.  Ryker would not leave this thing alone.  Aidan tried to help me get him away, but it was no use.  He'd run right back over every time.

Watching the remote control boats in action.  There was a seiner and a skiff that can actually set a net, but it didn't hit the water while we were there.

I finally had to put him back in the wagon, because he wouldn't stay out of the fountain.  He soon found a way to entertain himself.

What a ham.

Showing off for the ladies.

After two long days of playing in the sun, this kid was out within 3 minutes of hitting his carseat.  He fell asleep with an applesauce crusher hanging out of his mouth. 

Two Wheelin' and a Visit to the Chicken Ranch

We were going to wait until Ryker was 2 to get him a balance bike, but he became pretty obsessed with bikes as soon as the weather got nice and he started seeing cyclists everywhere we went.  I finally just decided to go get him one and the trip to the bike shop was well worth it.  I wish I would have had a video camera with me.  From the second we got out of the car he was yelling "bike" and running toward the door.  He tried out a bunch and tried to roll one out the door before paying.  Once we got his paid for and we were on our way, he had to ride it out and wouldn't let me put it in the car.  He kept trying to escape to the amusement of cars at the stoplight on Commercial in Anacortes.  After a few minutes of trying to explain that we were taking the bike home, I finally just picked him up, bike and all and set them both in the car.  His head was touching the ceiling of the car, because they didn't fit too well together.  He finally decided that with his bike riding shotgun right next to him, it was safe for him to crawl into his car seat.   He patted the seat and played with the wheel all the way home. 

Apparently, this whole bike riding thing is a little too boring for Cosmos.

Ryker disassembled this ham and cheese sandwich and just ate the ham.

Ryker loves the chickens at Liz's house.  The last time we were there, he got to feed them and take home the eggs we collected, minus the one he broke there.

Once we got home, he had to re-examine them again.  I let him play with them for a while, but had to coax him into putting them in the fridge before we had a casualty on the carpet.

Yep, time to put them away!