And this is the word of Riley...

She continues to say things that make us laugh...it's never-ending, I'm convinced.

Riley: Oh my gosh, momma, Ronan said the 'F' word!!!
Me: What?
Riley: Fries!

I'm hoping that she doesn't know that 'F' word actually means something else -- but the fact that she doesn't, makes the 3-second conversation even funnier.

What will she say tomorrow?

The face of OLD.

Apparently, I can't come to grips with the fact that I'm getting old.  My friends have accepted their 30s, but me?  Nope.  I'm not there.  In my mind, I'm still that 20-something, who isn't thinking about fat retention or wrinkles...and I guess lucky for me, I have friends that like to snap me out of that daydream and back into reality.

This weekend, I spent a few hours with my friends on Saturday at a skin-care class given by my friend, Nikki.  Nikki sells Mary Kay and thought it would be nice to have us over to her beautiful home and show us some products.  Clearly, I was unaware that all the products began with names containing the phrase "anti-aging," because I would have never gone -- I mean, do I really need "anti-aging" products?  (I'm kidding, Nikki, I would have come anyway...at least for the food.)

But there I sat at her table, listening to her tell us about how we shouldn't pull our eyelids to apply eyeliner because it would quicken the wrinkle process and how now is the time to be using products that are going to slow down the aging process and I  looked at her like she was nuts.  Well, my facial expressions must have spoke a million words because both Kristina and Mandy looked at me with this 'get with it' look and out of Kristina blurts the truth I have been refusing to accept:

"Maria, face it.  You're getting old.  You're in your thirties."

Me, old? I'm in my thirties?  No, sister.  I'm only 30...right?  And 30 is supposed to be the new 20.  Right...?  

Am I wrong to be in denial?  I mean, don't we all want to hold onto the fact that we aren't getting older and believe that we are just getting wiser?  I haven't had issues with birthdays up until last year...and now this year...and probably the next 9 years until I turn 40 and that will be a whole new ball of problems to worry about, huh?

Mother of the Year Award

...is probably not going to go to me this year...

Yet another funny conversation to share with everyone and if you have your little ones around, this probably isn't a post for them.

The other day, Riley and I were in the living room, watching Ronan freak out.  Riley looks at me with this serious face and this is the conversation we had:

Riley:  Momma, Ronan is being a little shit, huh?

Me:  *I spoke no words, I only looked at her with a my stunned and shocked face.*

Riley:  Uh, I mean, Ronan is being a little s-h-i-t (spelled out), huh?

Me:  Riley!  Where did you hear that?

Riley:  Well, daddy says it and you always spell it.

Me:  We are to never speak of this again, okay Riley?  

I couldn't believe it, but I could.  Since as far back as I can remember, I have been spelling things out, so she wouldn't understand.  I'd say things like, "don't say that when R-i-l-e-y is in the room" or if we didn't want to upset her, we'd say "should we go to the p-o-o-l or should we just go h-o-m-e?  

What's funny is that I don't think it ever occurred to me to stop spelling things.  I remember the one day I said, "Hey Ryan, should we take R-i-l-e-y to the m-o-v-i-e?"  And without a second hesitation, Riley jumped in and said, "Yeah, I want to go to the movie!"  Duh, mom.  Duh.

So is this my cue to stop spelling?  Maybe I'll do sign language or something...

"I'm not being dramatic, momma."

Riley is at gymnastics camp again this week and when I came to pick her up, this is what I saw...Riley sitting between two of the coaches, rubbing her knee.

When she finally looked up and out into the glass, I waved at her to come out and tell me what was going on. The first thing she said to me was, "I'm not being dramatic, momma. My knee hurts. I have a rug-burn."

Of course she said it loud enough for all the other moms to hear, so they started laughing... But it WAS funny, because it's exactly something I would have asked her the minute she walked out, so she beat me to the punch.

He wears his sunglasses at night...

It wasn't exactly nighttime when I took these pictures...it was this morning, but you get where I'm going with it...

Our friend, Joni, spotted some Build-A-Bear clothes for Riley and one of the outfits came with a pair of sunglasses.  Well, instead of putting them on her bears -- where they belong -- she outfitted her brother in the glasses and proved to me that Ronan has a tiny head.  The glasses fit him perfectly.  

Remind me who summer vacation is for again?

When we lived in San Diego, there were schools in our neighborhood that went all year long...meaning that they would have longer spring breaks and holiday breaks, but basically school doesn't end for the summer.  I thought it was crazy and felt bad for those kids -- but now that Riley is home this summer, I know why they do that and wished they did that here.

When she is home, she thinks she has full reign of the tv and that she can watch the Disney Channel whenever she wants.  It has truly gotten out of hand.  I bought her books to practice reading, writing and math and when I ask her to get her practice books out, she says, "what books?  I don't know where they are."  

Our friend, Shelley, challenged her to read a book a day.  This isn't a big challenge.  If you look at our library, you know that there are plenty 'level 1' books she could choose, but she'd rather dodge hits from her brother.

This morning, I had had enough.  I asked her what book she read yesterday, knowing full well what the answer was and now, she has to read at least 2 books today.  She has zero tv time today and guess where she is going next week...

Back to CAMP!

I love spending time with her, don't get me wrong.  She and Ronan just go at it all day long, it's almost become more of a chore than anything...so if she can at least have fun half the day at gymnastics camp without having to fight with her brother, we'll take it.

Sugar Bugs Can't Hold Us Down!

Ahhh, talk about relief! No cavities for either of the kiddos today!
Riley did great, as expected, and did everything the dentist told her to. She made it through a set of x-rays, or "pictures," and doesn't have to go back for 6 months!

Ronan...well...EXCEEDED expectations. At first, he wouldn't go back with the hygenist... so we sat in the little room, waiting for Riley to finish up. I think they have this all figured out...because we sat for a good 20 minutes and Ronan got so antsy, that by the time the hygenist came to get him, he was out the door, looking for Riley. He did great, they said. He opened his mouth, they counted and 'cleaned' his teeth and isn't due back for 6 months!

I was nervous for no reason at all. I thought for sure I'd be standing next to an 18-month-old freaker outer and here he was, charming all the ladies.

All good...until next time, right?!

When Riley Speaks, We All Listen...

Riley is a funny little chick. She entertains us and we laugh -- although she doesn't like that we laugh AT her and not WITH her...

Here is a funny Riley quote of the day:

"I'm doing free massages. You just have to pay me in Disney Dollars. I can massage arms, feet, shoulders, backs, and legs. Daddy, I can give you a massage for free, since it's for Father's Day. You can still give me Disney Dollars, though."

And Riley's joke for the day, as she tells it:
(She's told us this joke several times and every time, it's funny.)

"There was this kid who said he wanted to be a hawk, so he jumped off a cliff and became a hawk. Then there was another kid who wanted to be an eagle, so he jumped off a cliff and became an eagle. The last kid jumped off the cliff and said 'oh crap' and he became a piece of crap!"

(Now, apparently there is a non-G-rated version of this joke, but the fact that this child still remembers it cracks us up.)

A Cuddler and a Gamer

And they both belong to me!

Since birth, Riley has always been a cuddler and a hugger. She's the baby nobody ever put down and wanted to hold. She was just an angel, all the time. And almost 6 years later, she's still the same cuddler and hugger that I brought home from the hospital -- except this time, she's the one holding the baby!

You might remember our neighbors had their baby, Thalia, about 2 months ago. My children have been enamored by her since the day they saw her home from the hospital...and now that Thalia is sturdier and stronger, her parents have allowed Riley to hold Thalia with some supervision.


Riley was so excited and would tell Becky where to place Thalia on her lap. When the baby finally fell asleep, Becky set her on Riley and this is what we got to witness:


Now, for my gamer. The apple does not fall far from the tree in our little family. Ronan can't quite play Grand Theft Auto IV, yet, but he CAN play a little Wii Fit! We were at Shelley's the other night for our weekly dinner and she has a Wii Fit that needed set-up...and in order to get it all ready, we had to play, of course! Riley had a blast with it and Ronan was not about to let everyone else have all the fun. He got on that board like he knew what he was doing, swinging the controller all around. Then he settled down a bit to watch and chill with Shellwii.

Has HOA gone too far?

We moved to the area a little over a year ago. We found a beautiful new development and a house we have made into a home. We have our own little piece of land and it's ours. Well, at least it felt like it until our first notice came in from the Managing Agent for our HOA.

It started off as a courtesy notice for the garbage cans that were on the side of our house. They needed to be out of sight and we were instructed to put them in our garage. I refuse to put them into the garage and thus, a fence was built to hide the ugly cans. Problem 1 averted.

Then, a few weeks later, we got another courtesy notice for our recycle bin needing to be put away. I'm sorry that I didn't drag the dumb thing in within the 15 minutes of it being unloaded into a recycle truck, but come on...at least I'm recycling. So yes, we pulled the bin in and and problem 2 was dodged.

Soon after that, we get another letter regarding our yard and how the grass needed to be edged along the driveway. So what do we do? We pull the cars into the street, edge the grass and hope that we don't get in trouble for having such an unruly yard (can you detect the sarcasm). Now mind you, at this time, we had a lawn service coming to fertilize our yard, making it green and lush and we were told by this company to let the grass grow out a bit so it fills out. We followed the company's instructions and it leads us to get reprimanded by HOA.

Now a few months ago, I get a letter warning us that we were in violation of parking in the street. PARKING IN THE STREET. We never park in the street. We always, always park in our driveway. We fear that our cars would get swiped if in the street and thus, we never park in the street. I was completely surprised by the letter and blew it off, knowing we did nothing wrong.

Boy, was I in for a shock. Yesterday, I get a CERTIFIED LETTER, one that cost the Management Company $5.32 to send me, stating that it was a "final notice" for the same parking violation I had received months prior, and that if it was not remedied, I would be subject to a fine. I don't think I have ever been so upset. Who are these people to tell me that I haven't remedied a situation that never existed.

I promptly made some phone calls to the HOA company and it felt as though I was participating in a prank call on the radio. Although the person I spoke to was nice, she had no answers for me -- none that were acceptable and this has pushed me to the breaking point, where I am ready to contact newspapers and news stations and have them do some sort of special on corrupt HOA's.

I was told that perhaps it wasn't my car parked in front of my home that instigated the letter. Hmmm, it could have been a neighbor's car, or a friend's car... I asked for a solution. What should I do if I have friends come over for lunch or dinner? Can they not park in the street?

Answer: No, they can't park in the street, they must park at the CLUB HOUSE. (The club house is 0.4 miles away from my home.)

I'm sorry. I couldn't take that answer. You are telling me that my friends who might be bringing there tiny children over, are going to have to park their car 0.4 miles away, walk to my house in the 95 degree heat, stay for an hour, and then walk back to their car that may or may not be there? Un-freakin' believable.

We finally find a neighborhood we love, and that euphoric feeling has to be tarnished because someone has too much time on their hands and has to (cover your ears, kids) bitch about a car being parked in front of my house for an hour? Give me a break. Do I date complain about the dead grass lawns with the weed infested landscaping? No. Do I cry over the fact that a neighbor down the street can't pull all the way into the driveway and blocks the sidewalk, so when we take walks, we have to go into the street? No. Do I have hissy fits over people having parties and cars all over my neighborhood? No...instead of whining, I'm wishing I was invited.

Can't people just be happy? Why do they have to rain on everyone's parade? I get that HOA would need to do something if a trailer were parked in my front lawn. Or maybe if I started placing pink flamingos and fake penguins in my yard. Or even if I had my Christmas lights strung up past February. But I'm not. We follow the rules, we maintain our yard, we want our house to look nice and we want to be in a good neighborhood. But it's almost like HOA infringes on the livelihood of neighborhoods and it frustrates me.

After I huffed and puffed on the phone with Ryan, he told me to just forget about it and blow it off. I know, I should. I'm going to let it go after I'm done with this post (I think). I'm just so over the fact that this association, who collects at least $60 a year from each home in my development, has so much power over what goes on. Don't you worry, I'll make sure I'm at the next HOA meeting and I'll be darn sure to speak up regarding this issue. (And that should be a shock to most of you, because honestly, I hate public speaking...but this would be worth the stress.) I hate that we have been a target for all these notices. I hate that HOA is so reactive and not proactive. I hate that I can't know who is reporting us because I would love to know why they have all this extra time on their hands.

Happy Father's Day Album

Since Ronan graced our lives, I've had very little time to dedicate to my second favorite hobby, scrapbooking. What's my first you ask? Well, collecting scrapbooking supplies, of course! Anyway, I've made lots of friends who are quite crafty and whether they make cards, crafts or scrapbook, I have inspiration all around me to get me back into something that I really enjoy.

I started an album for Ronan and will soon work on a Disney album...but until then, I have found that I get lots of satisfaction from making accordian albums. Maybe it's the fact that once they are done, they are done. They aren't works in progress. I can see a finished project. Which, if you are a scrapper, you know that those "finished projects" are hard to come by. Riley's scrapbook (she's 5 now) is still a "work in progress" and probably will be until the day I die. I just hope that I will someday have enough time to get Ronan's life down on a 12x12!

So, for Father's Day this year, rather than get Ryan something he really wants, I made him something that I'll give to him and then take back from him. (I'm kidding. He can keep it.) The photos in this accordian album are from our first Disney trip and are all in black and white.

Supplies:

9x9 Accordian Album (CTMH), title done with CuttleBug (You're Not the Boss of Me), paper (g.c.d. studios - planes & trains collection, paper trey white cardstock, Stampin' Up! Wild Wasabi), faux stitching using Stampin' Up! white signo gel pen and paper piercer, CuttleBug Hippie Chick font used inside.

The last photo is one that I had Riley draw our family. I just love her artwork and even though it wasn't her usual medium (of crayons and markers on white paper), she adapted well and made us look good. The "L" on my skirt and her shirt stands for "love" she says.

One more word!

I don't consider Ronan to be much of a talker...he's more of a do-er...but lately, he is starting to add a word here and there to his little person vocabulary...



Last night, he was reaching for Ryan's XBox360 controller while Ryan was playing Grand Theft Auto IV and screamed (clear as day!) "Mine!"



Not exactly one of the words I would prefer for him to have at 18 months, but I'll take it...



So now, we've got:
Ma-ma (that's me!)
Da-da (Ryan, of course)
Da (Riley -- makes perfect sense, right?!)
Ca (Car)
Da (Truck)
Bah (Ball)
Hey-woh (Hello)
Hey-woh (Bye)
No with the a head shake (No)
Mine (self-explanatory)

I'm still worried about his speech progress and at his next doctor's appointment, I'm going to get him evaluated for speech therapy. I'm not even sure what they would even do with him at this age, but I'd rather be proactive about it than wait much longer. It's hard because he gets so frustrated when he wants to tell us something and we have no idea what he's saying. He uses lots of gestures and signs, which is good, but I would love for him to string a few words together. I know there is a lot we can do with him at home, which we try to...but I am very guilty of just knowing what he wants and simply getting it for him before he even asks. That's probably where it all started because I don't think he truly ever had to ask for anything...

I know, eventually it will come and we won't be able to get him to shut up, but I'm ready for some deep conversations with a 2-year-old...bring it on.

Funny "Conversation"

Some of you might know that my mom is here visiting for most of the summer. It's been great for the kids to have their grandma (ngoai - in Vietnamese) around and it's been nice for Ryan and I to be able to go out to dinner on occasion sans kids.

My mom has been living in the U.S. since 1975 and has picked up very little English. It has been something that has always bothered me, but not a subject I could do much about but live with it. I basically grew up having to translate everything to her and instead of HER helping ME, it was the reverse. Although she is an adult, I have found that she has very little independence -- a quality, a necessity, I want instilled in my children. With that being said, my kids are learning a lot from her in other ways.

I haven't really tried too hard to teach the kids Vietnamese. I swore I would when they were born, but being that Ryan doesn't speak it, everything just was easier in English. I do say things to them in Vietnamese and they understand...but a full conversation isn't something that is going to happen anytime soon. Since Ngoai does not speak English well (think-Jackie Chan broken English but even less vocab), conversations between her and the kids has been, VERY ENTERTAINING!

Riley often looks at me and asks me what Ngoai is saying and she'll repeat it in Vietnamese and then in English, as if she is trying to teach my mom how to say it. Ronan, who isn't talking much but the occasional "no" has been using sign language and gestures to get my mom to do things he wants. It's funny how kids can figure it out.

But the best has been listening to Riley try to have "conversations" with my mom. She not only speaks slower, she raises her volume (as if my mother is deaf) and starts cutting out words in sentences and then she adds her own "Asian accent."

It generally starts off like this:

Riley: Hey Ngoai, can you get me an apple?
Ngoai: Oh, I doh-no (I don't know.)
Riley: (slower and louder). Can YOU get me APPLE?
Ngoai: (looking at me for help and translation) Ah, o-k.
Riley: (still slower and much louder) Can you cut apple small and put on plate so I can eat?
Ngoai: (not having any idea what Riley said) o.k.

The entire time she has these conversations, she does motions to show what she is saying... you can tell she is adapting to try and communicate with my mom. It's just hysterical that she somehow gets this broken English accent when she starts a conversation with my mom and eventually, my mom gets what Riley wants and does it.

Playing at the Park

The kids were in need of some major decompression time this afternoon.  Ronan was having a 1/100th life crisis and wouldn't stop crying and Riley was losing brain cells from sitting in front of the tv this afternoon.  We are lucky to live close to a park that has lots of slides and climbing attractions.  

Lately, I have been trying to take the kids there in the morning, so I can get a workout in with the kettlebell.  It's actually given me an opportunity to pay attention to myself AND provide the kids with some sort of entertainment.  This morning, we stopped at the park and because we couldn't get enough -- we had to drag daddy along after dinner.

Ronan has no fear.  He climbs up and down everything without a second glance.  Riley is so cautious and I love that about her because I can pretty much focus my attention on Ronan when it comes to avoiding injury.  Ronan and Ryan went down the big slide a few times together (and it goes so fast because it's steep) and after a little while, short man attempted it on his own. He went down on his belly and continued to go back up for more until we told him we had to leave. Riley braved that slide, too, and shocked us by going on it at least a dozen times.

It's awesome how being outside can calm a kid down.  You would think it would get them all crazy -- running around in an open space -- but it's definitely therapy.  Now if only there was a snack bar stand right next to it that sold glasses of wine or pitchers of beer.  We'd all be soaking up a piece of heaven...haha...

Olympics 2020, Here We Come!

Ronan had his first official gymnastics trial class this morning at 9 a.m.! Okay, it didn't go quite as smoothly as I had anticipated. He has never been one to sit during 'circle time' at Gymboree, so I don't know why I thought he would do it at gymnastics, but he tolerated it for the 3 minutes it lasted. The good thing, is that it's more stretching and warming up, than it is 'circle singing time' and there aren't any balls to distract the little man from the various activities.

I started off and did the circuit with him, but he didn't go full out until Ryan and I swapped and Ryan got in there with him. He was bouncing on the trampoline, hanging on the bar and from the rings, running across the long trampoline and jumping into the big pit of foamy things.

If his 1 1/2 hour nap thus far is any indication of how worn out he is from this morning, well then sign us up!

We decided we are going to get him into it after our summer vacation. It was more active than Gymboree has been and it's a nice INDOOR sport for us to enjoy during the hot, sweaty, humid seasons we endure here in Tampa.

Here are a few pictures from this morning:

Sweet Sounds of Riley

This morning, I was nudged awake by this little voice coming from Riley:

"Momma, momma, are you awake? I wasn't asleep last night when you came in and gave me kisses, I was pretending to be asleep."

In my sleepy stupor, I didn't answer with anything coherent...so she went on to say:

"Momma, I love you and daddy and Ronan and I am just sooooooooo lucky to have all of you."

How could I not wake up at that point and hug and kiss her! Such a sweet and lovey girl. And then at that point, Ronan woke up and tried to hit her. Dream over, I guess.

Really, though, Riley is such a sweet girl. No matter how much her brother tortures her, she always tells us how much she loves him and she still wants to hug him as hard as she did the first day she met him at the hospital...

Maria's Movie Review

I didn't just get to see ONE movie this week, I saw TWO! And in this segment of my weekly blogging, you will get to hear my official reviews of:

Indiana Jones and some big glass ball head (you can see where this review is gonna go...)

Sex and the City

Indiana Jones:

On Friday night, Ryan and I were on a date down in Ybor City and decided to go see Indiana Jones at the theater there. The movie theater is awesome -- not just because of the leather stadium-style seating, but because before you walk into the movie, you can load up on alcohol and be on your way! I didn't drink that night, but had I known how the movie was going to go, I probably would have had a few beers beforehand.

Ryan was shocked to hear that I had never seen the first three Indiana Jones movies. Yes, I have never seen them. BUT, the reason I agreed to go to see #4, was because I heard it was good. Oy vey. Within the first 5 minutes, I was ready to leave. If you haven't seen it and want to, skip this part of my blog... Harrison Ford is old. I give him kudos for trying to be the star of this movie, but puh-lease! All the stunts were obviously done by someone else and I felt like I was watching some cheesy movie on TBS. Now, perhaps my neglect of seeing the other three didn't lead me up to what I was going to see in this one, but there was nothing remotely interesting about this movie (except for maybe the fact that this group of grown adults went chasing around for 2 hours over a glass head shaped like an alien.)

Ryan and I left when the movie ended and were so disappointed. Happy to be on a date with my hubby, I didn't dwell on it too much. I wished there was a way I could have gotten 2 hours of my life back...but Ryan was ready to sue George Lucas for producing this awful movie.

Maria's Review: Thumbs Down

Sex and the City:

Last night, Mandy, Becky and I trecked out of Riverview and headed to Brandon for a short girls nights that consisted of dinner at Moes and a movie.

We were told that this movie is everything you want it to be and ends in a way that leaves the viewer completely satisfied and THEY WERE RIGHT!

I laughed, I cried, I was happy, sad, shocked and grossed out -- and there was truly not one minute where I wasn't glad I got to see this movie. I don't want to ruin it for anyone who hasn't seen it...so I will leave it at that. Go see this movie. (Even if you haven't watch all the seasons, you will still enjoy the movie.) I'm still laughing in my head about various parts of this movie -- I might have to go see it again!

Maria's Review: Thumbs up!

Happy 18-Month Birthday, Ronan! AND Happy Last Day of School, Riley!

I can't believe that 18 months ago, I was propped up on a hospital bed, pushing this little person out of my ************ (haha, I bet you thought I was going to get all nasty-nasty on you! Just kidding!) Honestly, though, the past year and a half have flown by...so much faster than I remember with Riley. Ronan is just so non-stop, and I'm thinking that helps time fly by.

[Here is a picture of Ronan just a few days old.]

Yesterday, we were out at Costco picking up my contacts and I found these tiny little person glasses and could not help buy try them on him while we were waiting. Not that I would ever wish for him to need glasses at this age, but man, was it cute!





And last night, we spent a couple hours playing in the lanai and believe it or not, Riley and Ronan were actually getting along. I got them to pose for a few pictures together and Riley had to get all silly on me.


Today was Riley's last day of Kindergarten. Crazy. She only has at least 12 more years to go! I'm happy we all made it through her first year. She learned to read, add/subtract, cooperate with friends and utilized her artistic abilities with all the projects they did -- and I learned that it's okay for her not to win EVERY award, that I can let her walk into the school building without me escorting her to the door, that one minute she might be best friends with someone and the next minute they tell each other they don't want to be friends...and that I'm only 12 years away from having to pay for college.

[Here is a picture of Riley on her very first day of school. She looks like such a baby doll...]

It has definitely been an experience. I know Riley enjoyed it and she's made some amazing friends. I love how innocent it has all been and how when they are that young, everything rolls off their back and they really know no stress in life. I fear the day that she will have to make tough decisions about classes she has to take and the moments her heart may be broken by people who decide they don't want to be friends anymore (we all know how catty girls can be!)

[And here is Riley this past weekend. Looks like such a difference than just 10 months ago!]

I'm so proud of her for doing so well and I am excited (I'm not being sarcastic, I promise) to be able to spend the entire summer with her and Ronan before she has to start *gasp* the FIRST GRADE!

Spontaneity...

How lucky are we to be able to live an hour away from Walt Disney World and decide last minute that we are going to go for the day! We just came back on Sunday from an overnight trip to Disney. We were able to get last minute reservations at Port Orleans French Quarter (POFQ)and tickets to the Pirate & Princess Party at the Magic Kingdom.

If you have never been to POFQ, it's such a quaint resort that resembles New Orleans -- according to Ryan (since I've never been to NOLA). It was excruciatingly hot there on Saturday, so we were more than excited to enjoy the resort and the pool in the afternoon. Port Orleans also has another side to it, Riverside, which is a lot more spread out and larger, but we didn't get to venture over there to sight-see. We'll have to check it out again someday.

We were only there for the night and opted to eat off-site for dinner. Where else would we go, other than HOOTERS! Okay, so not the most appropriate place to bring your 5-year-old and your 17-month-old, but it's a fun place to be. The servers LOVE Ronan. I mean, how could you not love the little dude. I think the fact that he was sporting his "Ladies Man" t-shirt helped him get the ladies talking to him. The funniest part about being there, was the fact that they had a bean bag game on the one wall and the girls had both kids standing there, tossing bean bags into the holes. Who woulda thought you could get that kind of babysitting service at Hooters.

After dinner, we headed over to the Magic Kingdom for the P&P Party. We did this our first time at Disney and although we had to pay for separate tickets, it is totally worth it. We literally got on every ride we wanted to get on with no more than a 5 minute wait. Ryan and I were able to get on Big Thunder Mountain and Space Mountain with NO WAIT. And if you have never done a 'baby swap' before, I highly recommend it. You can both stand in line together and when you get to the front, one parent waits with the kids while the other one rides and then you switch. It cuts out the extra waiting time and saves you from having to navigate through any waiting you might have to do alone.

The kids just love the Tea Cups. I don't think we saw the kids smile and laugh all weekend, like they did on that one ride. Amazing how intentional vertigo can make kids happy. Who needs Disney when you have a spinning office chair in your house!

It was a fun trip and I was sad to leave on Sunday and head back to reality. Now that our season passes are blacked-out until the fall, we can go until after Riley starts the 1st grade (boo hoo) but it gives us more time to plan out where we are gonna stay and what we are going to do!

Just being...

together sometimes and not fighting can make for some of the greatest moments. Riley and Ronan are not known to be completely cooperative when they are in the same room. Ronan doesn't really enjoy it when Riley gets any attention from Ryan and I, so a pushing fight ensues and we get forced to split them up into different rooms. BUT, when they do get along, it is so stinkin' cute. We have gotten to the point where we can tell Ronan to give Riley a hug and if he is feeling like a lovey dovey, he'll do it and Riley just eats it up.


Ronan has also started hamming it up for the camera because he knows he can see a picture of himself right afterwards. This was him smiling, knowing that seconds later, he would be able to see himself in the digital camera!

We also had a Shelley dinner night last week and with Shelley, always comes Elsie and the now beloved "En-tendo DS" that Riley just loves. She has been playing Nintendogs or something like that and her excitedment has gotten Ronan excited about it too...this is a picture of them watching the dogs dance:


And here is Shelley guiding Riley for part of the game...

And Ronan, playing with Elsie:

And of course, what week would be complete without a picture of Ronan freaking out! We went to Riley's award ceremony at school and he did so well sitting there, until literally, the last 3 minutes. He had a mini-breakdown and since I had my camera, I thought, "hey, I should take a picture!" He was not happy I was taking pictures when I should have been holding and cuddling him....