About a month ago we went on a family trip to Fish Lake. I was so excited to go this year. I didn't make it there last year because Ryker was still a little too young, (only four months old). Jayson had taken Brody and had tons of fun, but I was so bummed I didn't get to see Brody in action. Brody talked about it for weeks afterward, and then when we told him we were going back, he couldn't wait! I think he asked us every day for three weeks if it was time to go to Fish Lake. He was so excited!
We left on Wednesday morning and came home on Friday afternoon. It was a quick trip, but long enough with a young toddler. I think that Ryker had just as much fun as Brody did. Our trip consisted mostly of fishing and hanging out in the cabin and eating junk food, of course. Ryker loved playing with his little cousins his age...both of which are girls. He doesn't seem to mind though. I think they both love him too. We tried to keep the babies mostly inside the cabin...Ryker's poor white head can't be in the sun too long. He went on one boat ride, but hated the life vest. If the boat was moving fast enough, he didn't care. His other favorite thing to do there was throw rocks and play in the dirt.
Brody also had fun playing with his cousins...they are his best friends. They had fun feeding the squirrels, running in the field by our cabins and being down by the lake fishing. We also had fun one night making a fire and roasting marshmallows, eating s'mores and playing with glow sticks. We had gotten Brody his very own fishing pole and for about a week before we went to Fish Lake he had been practicing casting it out himself in our backyard with the plastic fish it came with. He was doing great and once we were at the lake and had a hook on it, he was still doing fantastic all on his own. He was even catching and reeling in his own little perch. (Tiny fish). One of the last days we were there, it was just me, Jayson and Brody fishing on the shore. He had cast it out a few times and was doing great, but then disaster struck. As he went to cast it out and his hand was coming forward, he caught himself in the cheek, near his ear. At first, it looked really bad. The power bait that was on the hook was bright red and all over his cheek, so it looked like a lot more blood than there really was. He tried to rip it out of his cheek before we really knew what was going on. It really freaked us out and we thought we were going to have to take an hour long drive to the nearest hospital in Richfield. Once we got back to camp and cleaned it up we found out that it was just barely under the skin. Luckily, Jayson's dad had some wire cutters. We were able to cut the sharp part of the hook off and slide it out from under his skin. We got it all disinfected and cleaned up and he didn't even need a band-aid on it!
He was so brave the whole time! He only cried right at first when he realized he had a hook in his face, but he didn't cry once while we were trying to figure out how to get it out. He was even more brave than I was being. I'm so thankful that it wasn't as bad as it could have been. It really could have been a lot worse. The next day, you had to be right next to his face to even notice where it had been. I think he had fun telling people the story of what happened though. Unfortunately, he didn't want to fish the rest of the trip, but I think he'll be up for it next year.
We were sad to leave once the time came, but now we have next year to look forward to! We all love fish lake so much and hope to have many more years of memories there!
Jayson caught the biggest fish out of anyone!
Brody playing with his toy gun. He's shooting squirrels.
Our cute little cabin we stayed in. It had two bedrooms, a bathroom and a little kitchen.
Getting a little practicing in before heading out to the lake.
I love the trees at Fish Lake. So pretty!
Jayson showing Brody how to bait the hook.
Ryker having fun collecting rocks.
Having fun on the boat.
Reeling in a fish!
Showing me his catch! He caught and reeled it in all by himself!
Ryker being cute.
Brody, McKay, and Bryson. He loves his cousins!
Setting a treat out for the squirrels.
Caught himself in the cheek while casting out his line.
Grandma Harris brought bars of soap for the kids to carve.
Campfire. The kids were intrigued.
Playing with glow sticks.
Saturday, July 21, 2012
Tuesday, July 3, 2012
Ryker's Birthday Plate
When Brody was turning one, we went to Color Me Mine to make him a birthday plate with his handprints and footprints on it. We thought it would be a fun tradition to do with each of our kids and then they could have a special plate to use every year for their birthday.
We were a couple months late making Ryker's plate, but better late than never, right? He didn't like having us put paint on his hands and feet, but I think the prints turned out alright. Brody had a lot of fun picking out something to paint. He chose a race car that reminded him of Francesco in Cars 2. He did a great job painting and we can't wait to go back again. It's such a fun place to go as a family.
I can't get Brody to look at the camera while smiling.
My silly boy painting his race car.
Ryker enjoyed running around the store the whole time.
Me and my birthday boy.
My boys and I.
We were a couple months late making Ryker's plate, but better late than never, right? He didn't like having us put paint on his hands and feet, but I think the prints turned out alright. Brody had a lot of fun picking out something to paint. He chose a race car that reminded him of Francesco in Cars 2. He did a great job painting and we can't wait to go back again. It's such a fun place to go as a family.
I can't get Brody to look at the camera while smiling.
My silly boy painting his race car.
Ryker enjoyed running around the store the whole time.
Me and my birthday boy.
My boys and I.
Sunday, July 1, 2012
15 Months Old
My little cheeser!
"Playing" Wii with Brody.
Coloring...
He loves Dexter so much!
Ryker is 15 months old today! My little man is growing up too fast. He's learning something new everyday. It seems like only yesterday that he was a tiny little newborn letting me cuddle with him as he would fall asleep on my chest. Those days are sadly over, but I absolutely love the age he's at right now too.
Even though he's not as cuddly as he used to be, he is still a mama's boy. I'm not complaining at all. He'll still cuddle at bedtime while I'm reading him books and rocking him, but throughout the day he is busy, busy, busy. I cannot take my eyes off him for a minute. He is a climber! I can't believe I already have to worry about it. Brody was never a climber and so this is new to me and he seems really young to be climbing on EVERYTHING! I turn my back for one minute and he's on Brody's bed trying to climb onto his nightstand to turn his lamp on. Another time I found him on Brody's train table. He can climb onto the couch and dining room chairs. The only thing that gives me a little comfort is that he does really well getting down/off whatever he climbs on. This surprises me too. He can come down the stairs like a champ and he can get off the couch really well too.
My Ryker D. is such a sweet and friendly little boy. He acts shy sometimes and will put his chin down and look down and act shy, but once he warms up he is so friendly and will just smile non-stop. Even at complete strangers. We get comments all the time about his smile. It is so contagious. Sometimes I wonder if his cheeks are always sore because of how much he smiles. He often makes little short laugh noises while he smiles too that just make my heart melt. I hope he is always this happy throughout his life. He makes everyone around him happy and in a good mood as well. Someone can be having a really rough day and he'll smile at them, and no matter what, that person always can't help but smile back. I love this about him. I think this is one of the gifts he was given. To be happy and to make others happy too.
He is also a little jabber mouth. He can say, "more," "mama," "dada," "dede,"(Dexter), "da,"(Brody), "dat,"(what's that?), and "hi." Everything else is just gibberish, but he thinks he can talk. I love his sweet voice. He still does a few signs. I'll admit I haven't been as consistent with teaching him sign language, but he still seems to be able to communicate what he wants just fine. I'm hoping with how much he tries to say that he'll be an early talker. He'll still sign, "please," "thank you," "eat," and "grapes." The sign for "grapes" is his go-to sign. If I tell him to say something, he'll do that sign. Haha. It's pretty funny and it makes me wonder why he chose that one sign.
What once was my perfect eater has become quite picky. He goes through spurts. One day he'll eat everything in sight and everything I give him and the next he won't touch anything. Oh well, he's gaining weight and that's all that matters. He loves any fruit, especially grapes and blueberries. He also loves raisins and granola bars as snacks. His favorite breakfast is a muffin and yogurt. He also has a big sweet tooth and will eat pretty much every dessert that is given to him. He loves anything that has chocolate and ice cream. Some things he's tried and hates are: broccoli, and green beans. His two favorite vegetables are cucumbers and tomatoes.
Ryker loves to do anything that his big brother is doing. He loves to wear a cape like Brody and pretend to shoot guns...(I know I'm a great mother...they're boys, what can I do?). He also loves to play cars and trains. He loves to sit on the couch with Brody and "play" Lego Batman on the Wii. Brody loves it too. He isn't actually playing of course, but Brody is such a good big brother and will randomly say to Ryker, "You are doing such a good job, Ryker. You're playing video games with me." Ryker will look at him and smile like he's so proud of himself and like he's so cool like his brother.
They have such a special bond. I love that Ryker already looks up to him and wants to be just like him. This is also good leverage for Brody when he's misbehaving. He wants to be a good big brother...and he is. The sharing is getting better and they play so well together. They also like to gang up on me already. They tackle me to the ground and "tickle" me. They like to color together and run together. I hope they can always be best friends and watch out for each other. Just a little story: I teach nursery at church and I have Ryker in there with me. Jayson had picked Brody up and they came into the class while I was waiting for all the kids parents to come and pick them up. One of the bigger nursery kids came and pushed Ryker down and was completely on top of him, smothering him and purposefully being mean to poor little Ryker. Jayson whispered to Brody, "Are you gonna let that kid pick on your brother?" Immediately Brody ran over and picked the kid off of Ryker and pushed him away. Haha. I shouldn't be prompting Brody to push other kids, but I know he would never let anything happen to Ryker even if we aren't around to see.
Happy 15 months Ryker! We all love you more than you'll ever know!
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