Memorial Day with the Ryans

When I first told Jackson that we were taking a trip up to Uncle Rusty's house in PA, he had one question.... 'My tractors gon be dere?'  These 'tractors' were once Rusty's special collector's items that his kids weren't allowed to play with.  But somehow, now that his boys are grown, special nephews like Jackson get to play w/ them when they come over.  And trust me, Jackson thinks the tractors are pretty special, too.  As soon as we walked up and Brendan opened the door, Jackson said, 'You get my tractors out yet?'  Not at all a shy kid who takes a minute to warm up.  Nope, he gets right to business...

Kate's little loveable self was all about business, too... Snuggling up with her Pop-Pop. :-)Before the cornhole tournament began on Sunday, there was an high stakes game of Duck Duck Goose.  Okay, maybe it wasn't high stakes, but it was definitely high energy!

Get her Jackson!

Even Stella got all dolled up for the big party -- courteous of Ryley and Aunt Cheryl.  Stella looks like she may be a little unsure.  Maybe pink just isn't her color?

We'll call this next series of pictures, Hugs with Pop-Pop!

Once Rich arrived with his mic and guitar the party really got started.  His first song was dedicated to Mamma and Papa who were celebrating 35 blissful years of marriage!

The most requested song of the day was the kiddos' favorite dance tune (with Papa of course), Soul Sister.

This picture of Amy and Brendan and the next one of Ryan and Kate were two of the few candid shots I got of all the party goers.

Anytime there's a bouncy house around, you know the kids are going to have a blast!

Watch out, Kate, here comes Emma!

TACKLE!

Timeout -- Kate's got something on her foot.  Heaven forbid this little girl get sand between her toes!

My favorite part of the day was one the crowd packed the dance floor (patio) for the summertime favorite, Chicken Fried.  It was awesome to have Pop-Pop out there dancing with us!

Before Emma went off to bed, she shared one more special Soul Sister dance with Papa!  

We had a great time seeing all the Ryan crowd and spending the weekend in PA.  Lots of thanks to Rusty and Cheryl for letting us invade their house with our crazy little ones!

School's out for Summer!

Jackson just finished up his second year at Faith and had the best time in Ms. Elizabeth's three year old class.  I'm sure he'd say that his favorite part of the class was his 'best fwend Landon'.  Those two were buddies from the very start and stuck together all year.  Every day Jackson would come home talking about Landon.  And if he missed a day, the first thing Jackson would say is, 'Landon not be der today.'  Landon is also the reason Jackson wanted cowboy boots for Christmas.  Watching him develop such a fond friendship was definitely a milestone.   The class had their end of the year party at a park with a picnic and some play time.  It was so funny to watch how all the boys teamed up together and were off doing their own thing.  

Jackson and Landon.

Landon and Grayson S. 

I tried to get a picture of Jackson like this, but he wouldn't cooperate.  Landon was a ham in front of the camera, so he was all smiles! 

Grayson S. was all smiles, too! 

All the boys from Ms. Elizabeth's class, except for Logan. 

Like I said, Landon was the little ham!  I can see why he and Jackson made such good friends!  Two little nuts!

Kate made sure she was part of the party too -- especially when she saw there were cupcakes!

Easter Fun

We celebrated Easter down at the beach this year!  All the kiddos were excited to find their Easter baskets Sunday morning. 

Emma was especially excited to find some candy in her basket!

And it didn't take her long to have a little taste!

All Kate was interested in was finding someone to help her get into the egg of jelly beans!  

After the kiddos were all sugared up, we got dressed in our Easter best for a little photo shoot before heading off to church.  

Click here to view all the pictures from our Easter weekend.

Strawberry pickin'

Before summer officially arrives, let me tell you about one of my favorites things to do with the kids in the spring -- taking a trip to the strawberry patch!

Kate wasn't at all into it last year, but this year, she was on a mission!

You never know when strawberry pickin' can get dangerous, so Jackson was prepared with his hard hat.

Oh, I found a good one!

Look at this big one!

My little Strawberry Shortcake!

My Farmer Brown.

Sweet as the berries she's picking!

They were both very proud of the yummy, juicy goodness they'd just picked.  Jackson was really inspecting our berries to make sure we'd picked the best ones!