A day with Daddy!

Today Ryan and Jeff got to make a "Boys Trip" over the mountains to our farm/Grandma & Grandpa's house to take another load of heifers over. Luckily this time Jeff took the nice Dodge pick up, pulling the trailer, rather than the big, loud semi truck! They left the house about 8am and weren't home until around 7:30pm tonight! They said they had lots of fun and good trip! Ryan told me he got to go for a Gator ride with "Grandma and Auntie Carol". Turns out Jeff's sister and her family went over there today, too, so Ryan got to also hang out with his cousins, Cade & Carissa! On the way home they stopped and got some dinner and "ate ice cream" according to Ryan. Apparently it was a successful and fun trip! Oh and I had a lovely day! I went to a pottery painting place with my sister-in-law and nieces, went out to lunch, did lots of shopping... stuff that tends to be easier when you don't have a busy 2 1/2 year old with you! :) I sure missed my little boy, though, and am very thankful they made it home safe & sound.

By the way, this is Ryan right before they left this morning... he wanted to wear his John Deere hat- I guess he wanted to dress appropriately for the farm trip! :)

"Cozy Blanket"

Ryan has discovered this maroon blanket and just loves to snuggle with it when we're downstairs hanging out. The other morning, I found him laying like this (initially with his head down on the pillow) and said, "Mommy, this is so cozy!" I though it was so cute and sweet. Sometimes when it's close to bed time he'll bring it over to Jeff or I and want to cuddle up in it with us. He's probably just stalling to go to bed.... and it works! ;)

Today I came in the room and found him watching TV like this! Apparently he was comfortable on his "cozy blanket". I don't know why we bother buying comfy chairs and couches when we could just sit in a basket???? :)

Playing at Grandma & Grandpa's!

While all the heifers were being unloaded, we filled up the pool for the kids to play in as it was about 90 degrees! Thankfully there was a breeze which made it pretty comfortable and, of course, the kids were VERY comfortable playing around in the pool, bouncing around every which way! In this picture, Ryan is looking over at the guys unloading and moving the heifers around yelling "Hi Daddy!!".

Jumping and splashing around with Megan & Jordan
Having lots of fun getting very wet!!

Moving Grandma & Grandpa... and the cows!

We had a very eventful day yesterday! We were moving Jeff's parents and 3 loads of cows (heifers) over to E. WA! By the way, I think I've yet to remember to mention that we bought a farm over there! Jeff's parents are excited to be moving over there to raise our heifers and we're excited to be able to go over and visit them at our new farm! It's going to be great for them and for the whole farming operation, but we're sure going to miss having them so close by! :( Luckily it's only about a 3 hr. drive. which is very do-able... even back and forth in one day- we've done it alot recently!! Anyhow, my sister-in-law, Melinda and I were going to go over there also and help move them and get settled in and such, along with our kiddos. Jeff left at like 6am with the first load of heifers in the semi truck and then we left around 8am, along with my brother-in-law, Steve and the load of heifers he was taking. We were in the Snoqualmie area and all of the sudden I heard a weird hissing noise coming from the back and asked what that noise was and just about then we heard the very distinct sound of a flat tire!!! So over to the shoulder we went and thankfully have Nextel phones and were able to beep Steve before he passed by us too far and told him we had a flat. Poor Steve was just going by us when we beeped him so this is a picture of him having to back up along the shoulder of the road (yikes!) to us, with a trailer load of heifers!! He actually stopped at the bend in the road there ahead of where he is in this picture so he had to back up around that corner- Melinda and I were just cringing at the sight, but he made it fine, but it was pretty tricky! (Obviously!!)

Steve to the rescue!!!! :) Here he is putting on the spare. The kids weren't too sure about what was going on, especially with all the huge trucks flying by right next to us so fast! Right about then we decided it might be a good time to get out the DVD player and then they were perfectly content watching a movie while the tire got fixed.
We called and found the closest Les Schwab Tire store and went there and got new tires put on as they were all about needing to be replaced- Steve followed us there since we had the spare on to make sure we got there okay before he went ahead over the pass. Here he is checking to make sure all the heifers were up and doing okay... and they were!
Once we arrived (a bit later than planned!) we all watched the guys get all the heifers into their pins/groups and all situated. This is Jeff trying to make sure one of the heifers didn't get into the wrong pin.
Later in the afternoon, Ryan and his cousins, got to go for a Gator ride around the farm with Uncle Steve to make sure all was well. The heifers looked so content over there at their new home! More space to roam around than they know what to do with! But we like to keep our cows happy so we're thankful that they're over there.

Just Ryan... :)

Yesterday, Ryan was playing around, being silly so I thought I'd snap a few pictures of him. Amazingly enough, two of the three of them he was actually smiling and looking right at me! Lately he likes to say "cheese", but tends to be looking another direction. Anyhow, here's our little man just lookin' cute! :)

... and silly
Muah!! We love you to pieces!!!!

Here's my nephew, Austin playing water basketball with some of his friends...

while Shelby & Ryan are having a good time hanging out in the water playing with their toys
Ryan just all of the sudden decided to get comfy and sit in the water! It was getting pretty hot so it probably felt really good!
He was totally content sitting in here playing with a little boat water toy- it was pretty cute. He was totally out in the car about 5 minutes after we left! Very fun day!!

Beach time!

Today Ryan and I met my sister-in-law, niece, nephew, another friend and her two kids at the lake! The weather was looking a little grey this morning, but it was perfect by the time we go there. Here's Ryan playing in the sand with my friend, Tracy's, kids Elliott (5) & Mabel (3).

I remembered to bring his dump truck and loader and he was so excited when I got them out of the car- they definitely got lots of use today in the sand!
Then it was time for a little break and a cool treat. The girl held up a bunch of different kinds and asked Ryan what color he wanted and he said "John Deere!!" We all just had to laugh!
Hanging on on the swing with his cousin Shelby
There were these fun slides- the red one is for little kids and the blue ones are for bigger kids. Ryan went down the red one and my sister-in-law caught him at the bottom, but he wasn't too excited going down it. He LOVED the waterslides when we went a few weeks ago on vacation, but I wondered if he didn't like this one because it is covered and the ones at the waterslides were open. Anyhow, he thoroughly enjoyed everything else about being there!

Play Date!

Yesterday Ryan had a little play date with his buddy, Craig! (and Mommy got to visit with her friend/ Craig's Mommy, Karen!) Craig, whose just 11mons. younger than Ryan, got this cool water table toy recently so Ryan had to come over and check it out for himself, being a lover of any toy that involves playing in the water!

They were laughing and splashing... and splashing.... and splashing!
In this picture, Craig was laughing so hard it was hilarious- he's got the sweetest giggle!
Then they went into Craig's play house and made Karen and I some "coffee", "juice" and I believe some "milk". It was all very delicous! :)
Working together! I think shortly after this picture, Ryan picked up the blue cup thing by his left hand and poured the water over Craig's head. I have no idea what provoked him to do that exept that they were having so much fun splashing in the water and getting wet, but luckily Craig loves getting wet and thought it was actually pretty funny... after the initial shock of cold water on his head!

Picking Corn

It's that time again for fresh, sweet, corn on the cob! The other day when Ryan and I were leaving from my parents place, they headed out to start picking corn! (Ryan and I ran over and grabbed a few ears for dinner, too! Yum!!) Every year they pick corn and sell it to local produce stands/neighbors to sell and it's typically sold out that same night! A hot item this time of year.Anyhow, here's some pictures of Ryan's Papa, Grandma & cousin Austin, whose driving the tractor... yikes! ;-) He's probably a little pro by now, actually.

So back in the day, when I used to be the one driving the tractor, I don't recall getting to eat a snack while driving- here's Austin eating a Ding Dong and a drink next to him. Must be a grand child thing. :)
Austin appearing to be checking out the view to the south...
Oh, now it's time to get back to work! I can't believe how big he's getting.

Hair cut... and bath time

Ryan got another "big boy" hair cut this morning! He disagreed with me about needing one, saying that he "did not need a hair cut!", but once a treat was involved, his decision was swayed.... :)

He did great and didn't shed a tear- in fact, I think he actually enjoyed it!

Anyhow, here's some pictures of him in the bath tub tonight sporting his new look. Well, I should say looks.... hair cut and dirt (although the dirt part isn't anything too new! :) It's just amazing how fast this kid can get dirty!
After dinner tonight, the 3 of us went for a walk and after we came back, Ryan rode around on his little loader tractor and managed to find all the puddles on the yard (there weren't many, but he found them!) and decided to clean off his little slide on the deck with his hands, of course! Hence the proceeding bath time shown here! :) Anyhow, just thought these pictures were too cute not to share. ;)