Party Fun

Ryan and Abby were invited to their friend's 5th birthday party last week. Ryan was so excited! Frankie, the birthday boy, seemed a little overwhelmed by the whole thing. This was his first party, and he was thrilled to find out he got to open ALL the presents! Very cute.


Since the hostess didn't know if it was going to rain or not (an Oregon hazard most months out of the year), she got a pinata with pull strings instead of the kind you have to hit so it could be done indoors if necessary. Thankfully, the day turned out to be lovely, and the kids all had fun pulling the strings. Ryan had no problem getting his share of the candy. In fact, we still have some left in the cupboard.


After the party, the kids ran around their one-acre yard chasing the chickens, the dog, and playing with the adorable baby bunnies. It was a fun afternoon party!

Summer Freebies

Ryan is getting very close to promoting out of his Level 2 swim lessons, but our last session ended about a week and a half ago and we haven't yet determined if we're going to spend the money for another round of lessons next month. So I made sure to take advantage of the free lessons offered this week at our local pool.


We got there a little early to make sure we got our names on the list, and then we went next door to play on the elementary school playground until it was time for our lessons. Ryan begged me to join in pretending it was a tall ship (I even got to be Captain, a huge concession by Ryan's standards!) and we were being attacked by the enemy.


Then we went for a short walk around the school and pool before going inside to wait our turn for lessons. It was pretty crowded, but from what I could see, no teacher had more than three kids, which is a pretty good ratio. There were only three in Ryan and Abby's class, and though I don't think they learned anything new, they at least were practicing and not losing skills they already have learned.


Just before their lesson was over, a pool employee announced that they still had spots available for the next session and we could sign our kids up for the next session if we so desired. I immediately got in line! Ryan was thrilled when he found out they got to get right back into the pool for another half an hour.


It worked out well too because the instructor the second time was much better. Also, most of the kids in this second session were rank beginners, so the instructor moved them to the deeper half of the pool, and they had that half almost to themselves!


Ryan showing his new gap off!
They were starving after swimming for an hour, so we drove over to the middle school where the free lunch program was being offered, and the kids had fun eating at the "real" school. Money has been really tight here lately, so I enjoyed this completely free morning tremendously (Okay, not really free since we pay taxes, but you know what I mean)! I'm not sure I'll feel as joyful after a full week of this, but today it was great.

Lost His First Tooth!

One last picture with all his baby teeth intact!
Friday the kids had their biannual dental appointments, and both had great reports of no cavities! Ryan has had a loose tooth since his last exam and cleaning in December, but over the last couple of weeks it has really become much more wiggly. The dentist said his new tooth is coming in behind the baby one and that we need to get the baby one out as soon as possible to allow the new tooth to come forward.


So with encouragement to wiggle away, Ryan has been messing with his tooth a lot. This afternoon I was looking at it and accidentally bumped it a bit which caused it to be so loose that I knew it would come out easily. As I was holding a tissue on it to stop a small amount of bleeding, I casually gave it a tug and out it came! Ryan didn't even know I had done it till he felt the hole with his tongue. He is now the proud owner of a smile with a hole in it!

Swordplay

Ryan invited his friend over to play last week, and they spent most of their time sword fighting and defending the fair Princess Abigail!