Fun Times with Doni

Doni and Ry Ry had a GREAT time at the Children's Museum recently...

In case you haven't heared, Ry Ry LOVES TRUCKS!

... and Charlotte and Doni had a special girls night out (meaning Charlotte's Parent's did too!) which included ICE CREAM! Fun Fun Fun!

Our Little Mermaid

Grandma Mary Nana visited this past weekend for Ryan's birthday, and she also had a very special gift for the girl of the house... Yes, you guessed it, a MERMAID CERTIFICATION BOOK! Everything you need to know and wear and do to become a Mermaid. It even has a certification of completion if you can pass all of the sections. After about 2 hours of dressing, hair combing, and even Mermaid swimming practice, we are proud to announce that Charlotte graduated Mermaid School!

(click to enlarge)

Here she is all Mermaided out and ready to roll. The shades really make the outfit if you ask me.

After a morning of Mermaid instruction, Nana had to grab a bite with Ryan.

Birthday BOY BASH!

Ryan turned ONE this past week, so on Saturday, we gathered the family and celebrated his tremendous first year.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY RYAN!

(click to enlarge the collage)

Greek Festival

Charlotte has been talking about the Greek Festival (an annual party just down the street at the St. Demetrios Greek Church) for an entire year. She had such a fun time dancing on the stage to Greek music when she was almost 2, that she KNEW she would have fun dancing on the stage when she is almost 3. She was not disappointed...

She even met a few friends while bogeying it up on the dance floor...

Her folks and Grandma Nana Mary didn't make it up to dance, but we LOVED the Greek food and beer. Even Ryan joined in the fun by making a meal of Greek french fries.

Birthday Boy!

Ryan turned 1-year-old this past week! We are so proud of our little non-zero-year-old. He is FINALLY sleeping through the night with nary a peep, is super happy, and is starting to chat up a storm. His main loves in life right now are his sister CHARLOTTE, DOGS, TRUCKS, and AIRPLANES. Oh and he really like crawling under and in things.

Ry look! Airplane! Look up here!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY RY! His traditional (monthly) picture with Coconut the Bear turned into a big BEAR HUG (see above)... and you can see below his mommy being so so proud of her little guy.

Grandma Lee Ya-Ya and Papa Mike brought over a super cool birthday gift... TUNNELS TO CLIMB THROUGH!!!!

And Ryan even got a balloon from Doni with both a DOG and a TRUCK on it! It's like she knows him!

School Girl

Charlotte began her first day of REAL preschool last week.

She waited very patiently for the doors to open. She picked out the dress (on backwards) and the Tutu for this special occasion.

We even got a few pictures of her playing before we left her for the day. She goes twice a week from 9 to 2!

Bay Area Visitors

Cousins Kyra and Ailee visited from Piedmont last month, and stopped by for the afternoon. Charlotte was in heaven...

Somehow Charlotte let her guard down for a minute, and Ryan got in on some of the fun too.

We miss our Piedmont cousins!

Happy Labor Day

We threw a little get together for some of Charlotte and Ryan's friends and their folks to celebrate being laborers for most of the year. I think we had about 10 kids, and as many adults; we drank some wine, drove some bikes, grilled some hot dogs, and played a lot. Happy Labor Day everyone.

Charlotte, Riley, and Abby eat some lunch.

FUN FUN FUN

Charlotte LOVED eating the cookies...

...and Ryan LOVED eating the chalk.

Summer Fun

Charlotte and Ryan are having a lot of fun playing together these days.

They drive around together...

... or sometimes just crawl.

They love going on strolls together too.

They also have been enjoying playing with their other buddies. Ry-ry and cousin Connor...

...and Charlotte with her neighborhood friends Katherine and Max.