Hollywood Studios

With Steve out of town and a totally free day on the weekend, the kids and I headed out to Disney for a day at Hollywood Studios! I've been wanting to take them there for a while and I felt like Mr. Ryder was old enough to hang with the big girls.

Watching the parade

Have I told you how much I love these girls?

Sleepy boy finally passes out for a nap. He was such a good boy all day long!

3D Girlies

Gotta end the day with a Mickey Bar!

Superhero Adventure Race

 In September we got to do an adventure race with four of our dearest friends. The Weeks and the Clines signed up to race Pangea's Superhero adventure race with us.

We signed up as three different teams but we were able to all stick together and race as a group which was a lot of fun!

Here we are plotting our strategy!

Heather and Jeremiah had amazing costumes (we would expect nothing less from Heather.. she IS the costume queen). They were the Mutant Bullfrogs :)

What a fun day! Exhausting of course, but always worth it.

River Trip with Ryder

At about 8 months old, we strapped Ryder into his constricting little life preserver and headed down the river. With his fat little cheeks squeezed together we searched for a clear swimming hole where we could get out of the boat and have some fun!

We found a nice shallow and clear spot and jumped out for some chilly river fun.

Ryder had a blast! He loved playing in the "giant bathtub", splashing and squealing. 

Here's a cute video of him playing with the girls. If the video doesn't show up in your email, just click the heading title above to be taken to our blog and it should show up there.

Ryder's First Trip in the Mighty Minnow

Our Mighty Minnow (the boat) has been out of commission for quite a few months. It has been a source of bad luck for a while (insert stories about coast guard and exploding motors here) but we are hopeful that we are at the end of that run of bad luck. The Mighty Minnow is now back in full operating condition and ready to provide us with more endless hours of river fun!

Ryder got to take his very first ride on the mighty minnow. The poor kid was totally immobilized by his life jacket. It was definitely a "Christmas Story" moment. One thing I'm learning about Ryder is that he is 100% no-funny-business when it comes to new experiences or unfamiliar environments and people. People try to get him to smile when we're at the grocery store or picking the girls up from school and he's just not having it. He has an endless amount of smiles and giggles for his family and other familiar faces. But if you are new to Ryder, you really have to work hard to get his approval. Riding in the boat is no different. He was Mr. Serious all the way. Mommy tried hard to get him to smile but he was too busy taking it all in. I can picture him growing up and knowing that river like that back of his hand, and I'm sure there will be plenty of time for smiles then.

More Butterflies