More Mother's Day Pics

Here are the rest of our pictures from our Mother's Day excursion to the animal park. (See also May 10 post.)

There were lots of birds. Ryan particularly liked the macaws.






Attempting to summon one of the funny-looking fuzzy chickens:




Ryan feeding the reindeer a carrot (which consisted of hurling it to the ground inside their pen).




Ryan and the hairy cattle checking each other out:




Another friend:



Ryan also liked watching the coatamundi (a badger-like animal), who he got to feed through a chute:




Feeding the bunnies with Daddy:




Watching the tigers sunbathe:




Naturally, there was also ice cream, this time in the form of a cookies-n-cream popsicle. Ryan is a such a meticulously neat eater that even this made only a minor mess, consisting of a cookie crumb mustache and a few drips on his jacket.






Ryan's fixation with organizing objects compelled him to hang up all the keychains in the gift shop.



Our little monkey:



The other day, Ryan drew his first picture of me (preceded by the announcement "I draw Mommy!") and proudly posed with his creation.



Could I possibly be any luckier that this sweet little boy is my son?

The Ryan Mobile, and Visit with Grandma and Grandpa

Ryan getting ready for his first ride in our new minivan, a/k/a "the Ryan-mobile."



He also had a great time running around at the car dealer:



Playing ball with Grandpa:










Posing with Grandma and Grandpa:



This is one of my favorite pictures of Ryan and my mom.



Ryan loves the "Five Little Monkeys" book Grandma got him.



Kid in a candy store.... A visit to Grandma and Grandpa's isn't complete without a stop at this local chocolate maker for their awesome homemade ice cream.



Ryan is always sad when it's time to say goodbye to Grandma and Grandpa (hence the pouty expression).



Grandma and Grandpa's pretty pink dogwood:



And my new (and first) orchid, which I am hoping not to kill:

April Visit with Family

Finally getting around to posting our pictures from the past few weeks....

The last weekend of April, we visited my sister's family, including Ryan's 3- and 5-year-old cousins, then Grandma and Grandpa joined us for a day. It was an unseasonable 80 degrees that weekend, so we took the boys to a few playgrounds and, of course, out for ice cream.

Ryan and Elliot hanging out:



Ryan and Dylan at the playground:



I like how Ryan appears to have a halo in this one. (On his good days, I might believe it :-)




Ryan was hesitant to go down any more slides for the rest of the day after the very stressful experience of finding a firefly, which he thought was a bumblebee ("bummy bee"), on this one:



He finally went down this one, at the next playground we went to, after a thorough inspection revealed no bummy bees.





Dylan seemed very pleased with himself when he managed to gain control of Ryan's Thomas snack container.





Ryan pretending to suck his thumb, which he does as a joke to get a rise out of us. He cracks up when we pretend to object to it.





Sweaty and exhausted after playing outside all afternoon:







Ryan insisted that Dylan acknowledge his current boo-boo, a minor scrape on his elbow that he claims happened on the "peegom" (playground) at daycare.



Watching "Cars," a favorite of Elliot and Dylan's, which they introduced Ryan to during our family vacation last summer.



When Grandma and Grandpa arrived the next day, Ryan rushed right over to show off his boo-boo as soon as they walked in the door:



Ryan and Dylan playing with the Tupperware:



The three cousins (Ryan loves to pose when other people are in the picture with him):



Ryan checking out the flavors at Coldstone. I had to assure him that they would make cookies-and-cream for him.



The boys at the Coldstone playground:



Watch out, Ryan's at the wheel!



Ryan with Grandma and Grandpa (and a belly full of ice cream):



Elliot, who started playing T-ball this year, showing me his team hat.



He also enjoys performing on the piano.




Ryan had fun playing with Elliot and Dylan's trains (of course) and parking garage.




Grandpa reading to Ryan and Dylan:




The "kids' table":



Ryan is very into "hiding" lately: