Denver Aquarium

We took Ryan to the aquarium while we were in Denver. I wasn't sure how much he would enjoy it. The last time we took him to an Aquarium I'm pretty sure his favorite thing about it was the snow cone that we ate before we went in.  This time he really enjoyed it!

Thumbs up for cool fish!

Trying to do a scary pose.  I think the only thing that I scared was Ryan.

Funny face

Waiting for the Mermaid show to start.  They even taught the kids to recycle.

He was pretty mesmerized by the mermaid.

Awkward picture of me....

...and one which Roo doesn't like.  I figure we'll both be embarrassed together.

If only Ryan was looking at the camera!

Ryan being a pirate.  Aargh.

Ice skating

We bought a Groupon to take Ryan ice-skating while we were out here. We figured that he'd either really love it...or really hate it. Go figure that he'd go to both extremes.  It started off kind-of shaky because they didn't have any of the two bladed skates left so he had to use a single blade.  Awesome.  Roo and I both held onto a hand and drug him around the lake.  He did well for about 20 minutes and then started to have a melt down.  I'm not sure what he wanted...but I think it was to do exactly the opposite of whatever we were doing.  We dragged him off the ice as quickly as possible. 

Looking cute all bundled up!

Getting ready to brave the ice

 



Roo did a good job at skating with him...it's just that doing it that way really hurts your back.

 



The end result.  Not sure that we'll be taking him again anytime soon.

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas

 Ryan enjoying the first snow of the year

 Roo just thought it was funny how the yard was completely dry.  Hard to believe that they cancelled school on this day because of the snow!

 Last week we took a bus tour of the town's Christmas lights.  It was interesting.  We thought that there would be whole neighborhoods decorated...instead the bus just drove around until we saw a house lit up, which there weren't too many.

Praying

It's good to know that we do something right.  And this was the second prayer (the first one I didn't have a camera ready...of course).  In that one he said thank-you for the Penguins.  I couldn't make this stuff up.  PS--you can't really hear it--but I'm sure the Grandparents will still love it.  

Phone pictures

Here are some pictures that I've been collecting on my phone.

Just hanging around after church.  PS--that's not a scream, that's a laugh.  He loved it!

Don't worry Mom...I was close by.

Working on his muscles

So strong!

He LOVES Santa!  

Nothing like watching a garbage truck on the IPad with your garbage truck next to you.  What a lucky boy.

The awesome wreath that my SIL Nikki made me.  I LOVE it!  

Ryan just loved playing in the packaging.

He made such a mess...I was just trying to remind myself that we were making memories.  We are still finding remnants of the peanuts.

Bike riding

Ryan is getting so good at riding his bike. He goes so fast that sometimes I have to jog to keep up with him...where has the time gone?!

Kids Christmas Party

Last weekend the base had a kids Christmas party that we took Ryan to.  It was right during nap time (not that he really naps anymore...sad, I know) so it took him a little while to warm up to the activities...but he had a great time.

He really LOVES Santa.  He kept trying to cut in line to sit on his lap

Blurry picture...but he was having fun jumping in the bouncy castle.

It was all fun and games until a kid head butted him

He had such a fun time trying to throw the rings onto the trees.

It's the thought that counts in these games...as he didn't make it even close.

We were able to wrap a gift that Santa gave him.

His new dump truck!

Thanksgiving

I figure that before I start posting about Christmas I better post about Thanksgiving.  We had a nice relaxing one this year.  I made a turkey and ham (we were pretty tired of leftovers by the time we ran out).  I think that overall things turned out ok...I just need to work on my timing.  I didn't realize that I should have started the pies first and that mashed potatoes take as long to cook as they do.  I'm kind-of glad that we didn't have company because I wasn't too impressed with my skills.  I can definitely see why people just eat out.

Our lovely turkey.  

Our ham.  Overall I think this was my favorite.  Thanks to Nikki for the great recipe!

We had a few issues with cutting the turkey...as you can tell by our lovely shirts.  

Our feast!  No picture would be complete without the garbage truck in it. 

Raking

Ryan LOVES to help raking the leaves.  And when I say help, I mean undo everything that you do.  It's the thought that counts though.  I'm just glad that the weather is warm enough for us to still play outside.

Roo was smart and decided just to mow over the leaves...definitely much easier than putting them in the trash can.