Budding Game Designer

Ryan has been talking about making up a game for a while, and when Gramie was here he finally decided to do it. She wasn't clear on the rules, so she had him write them out before she agreed to play it with him. It's called "Hurricanes and Tornadoes," and it turned out to be fairly playable (much to my surprise).



It wasn't his best penmanship, but what it tells you what happens if you roll each number:

Roll a 6: Tornado and Hurricane-Lose house and car
Roll a 5: Tornado-Lose house
Roll a 4: Hurricane-Lose car
Roll a 1: Lose turn
Roll a 2: Get house back
Roll a 3: Get car back

Park Playdate

While Gramie was here we had at least one day of nice weather, so we took advantage of it by meeting some friends at the park. It was sunny and dry, but still a bit chilly, so we didn't stay as long as usual. Ryan still had lots of fun with his buddy Frankie

Easter with Gramie

Though Easter kind of crept up on me quickly this year, we did still manage to do most of our usual activities. Ryan loves to bake cookies, especially roll-out ones where you get to cut them out and decorate them. So we made a batch of sugar cookies, and they turned out quite pretty!


We had the special treat of having my mom visit for Easter. Before picking up Gramie at the airport, we had enough time to do a few geocaches. We haven't been for months due to the wet weather, but it was finally dry enough. We put Ryan up in this tree for a picture and he tried his best to be brave, but you can tell he's clinging to the tree and can't wait to get down!


Next we headed to the airport where the kids waited impatiently for Gramie to arrive. It was a fun reunion!


That evening we colored eggs with Gramie.


Then Sunday was Easter! Ryan looked rather handsome in his vest and slacks.


Trying on Abby's Easter bonnet...silly boy!


Ryan and Abby each got two baskets this year: one from Mommy and Daddy and one from Gramie.

The Month in Photos

Ryan has made such progress with swimming, not only
in skill but in overcoming his fears!




Daddy took the kids to a fire station tour with our
homeschool and playgroup kids. They got to walk through
the fire engine and ambulance as well as see the fire station.
The best part was that there was an alarm while they were
there so they got to watch the firemen in action!



Inside the ambulance with his friend Vincent from
across the street.




Enjoying our Valentine's Tea Party.




Ryan had been complaining that he had way too much
responsibility, so we let Abby and him be the parents
one Saturday. They lasted all of about 90 minutes
before wanting to be the kids again. Here is Ryan
trying to decide what to make all of us for breakfast.




Ryan loves doing crafts, and when I saw this cute little
wood model at Michael's for $1, I picked it up to give him
some rainy day. Well, it's been raining plenty around here,
so he got to do this project this month.




With the exception of helping with an obstinate axle and
the cloth cover, he pretty much did the whole thing himself.
It turned out really cute.




Fishing, but not catching, at Vernonia.




Reeling in a "salad fish," aka weeds from the
bottom of the lake.




Daddy is teaching Ryan to fly cast, and he's
finding harder than it looks!




In order to break up the monotony of memorizing math
facts, Ryan loves to do word problems (go figure!). I
found a good basic word problem book at the learning store
a few weeks ago, and he has almost finished it already.




We have been getting together once a week with some new friends from church. They homeschool as well and have a boy and girl just about Ryan's and Abby's age. Keston is about six months older than Ryan and doesn't let Ryan boss him around, which is just what we were looking for!




Making light sabers from modeling clay.