I'm going to Daloof!

Grandma and Grandpa Loken took Ryan to Duluth this weekend for his birthday gift from them. He had been looking forward to the trip all week and kept telling people, "I'm going to Daloof." I tried to correct him the first few times he said Duluth wrong, but gave up and just laughed along with others as they heard all about his upcoming trip. A recap of the trip from the grandparents lets me know that he had a blast. Ryan got picked up at 8:30 Sunday morning and from that time to 2:00 Monday afternoon when they returned, it was go, go, go. There was lots to do and see, and only a day and a half to get it done. Here is a recap of their trip told through pictures and some words.

Stop #1 - a train ride by the lake

Stop #2 - the freshwater aquarium

Ryan got to pet this snake - not my idea of fun, but he talked about it constantly when he got home so I'm assuming he really like it.

Stop #3 feeding the seagulls

Ryan's feeding schedule . . . one piece of popcorn for the birds, one for himself. I'm surprised he even throw popcorn considering it loves it so much.

Stop #4 Watching the boats come in

Apparently the boats weren't running on schedule so it took a while, but they did get to see a big one come in. The final picture is from Monday morning - does he look tired to you? Grandma and Grandpa let Ryan have his own queen sized bed while they squeezed into a bed together - what more could a kid ask for?


It was great to have Ryan back, but being one kid down for a couple of days is always a nice time to take care of some household chores. What did I get done while he was off having fun, not much, just some power washing and redoing the deck - not fun! It was two days of washing, scrubbing, painting, staining, and re-staining and when it was all done, I could barely stand upright. It is amazing what can get done when you have one less little one to look after. All in all, everyone got what they wanted this weekend- Ryan saw Daloof and I got the deck looking good again.

Meet McGruff

Our Friday fun day continued this Friday with a visit to the local police station where Ryan got to tour the station, sit in a squad car, and meet McGruff, the crime fighting dog. The tour started with all the kids (about 30 kids ages 3-5) in one room listening to an officer talk about his job. That lasted for about 30 seconds before the kids lost interest and started getting restless. The officer must have picked up on this and cut his talk short and got the kids going on the fun stuff. Our fist stop was in the holding cells. Ryan of course was at the front of the group and had to crawl on the bed and touch everything in the cell - gross, god knows who has been in there. Luckily I had some handi-wipes and cleaned him off the best I could (his clothes came off right when we got home). After that, we had a quick visit with an officer who showed the kids all the "tools" on his belt and gave each of them a sticker badge - a big hit with Ryan. In fact, he called himself Officer Ryan the rest of the day. With his badge on, we made our way out to the squad car and Ryan crawled right in as the officer was telling the kids about the car. At one point, there were 5 kids locked in the back - all of the parents were hoping this would be the only time they would ever see heir kids in a police squad car. The final stop on the tour was a visit with McGruff. Ryan caught a peak of him before the doors were opened and was very excited, but once he actually got in to see McGruff, he just kind of stood there and stared at him. After a couple other kids gave McGruff a high five, Ryan took his turn and warmed up very quickly. He proceeded to poke McGruff's nose, arm, pretty much anything he could get his hands on. Poor McGruff just sat there and took it as all these little fingers kept poking and prodding his big, fluffy outfit. When the tour was done, Ryan wanted to drive home in the squad car. when I told him we couldn't, he of course cried, but stopped the instant a police officer asked him what was wrong - do you think I could get one of them to come to my house full time to put an end to any future tears?

As usual, a token photo of Lauren

Busy day

We had a very busy day yesterday with Ryan's last day of karate class, a family lunch out to celebrate, and a neighborhood pool party. We started the morning off with Ryan's karate class. Trav joined us as parents participated in the last part of class when the kids were taught how to get out of certain holds (choke hold, wrist grabs, etc.). Trav did this with Ryan while Lauren and I sat and watched. They both did a great job and Ryan loved showing Daddy all of his "friends" and teachers - he was talking a mile a minute and not really listening to the instruction - oh well. Here are some pictures from class.

Running some warm-up laps - he was so fast I could hardly get a picture in time!Breaking out of the wrist grabRyan giving Dad an extra punch for good measureLauren is amazed by her brother's skills

After class, we headed to Perkins for a celebration lunch. What were we celebrating exactly? I guess Ryan's last day of class and Daddy being home for lunch - both excellent reasons don't you think. When lunch was done Daddy headed back to work and the kids headed to bed. Both of them were exhausted from the busy morning so nap time was longer than usual (yeah for mommy). After naps, you would think our day of fun would be over, but it wasn't. Our neighbors had their kiddie pool setup so we joined them in a pool party. Everyone swam and played good for about an hour then both girls (Marley and Lauren) got fussy and went back to bed. That left just the adults and Ryan so we broke out the beers, kicked back, and soaked our feet in the pool. I wanted to take a picture so bad because Emily (neighbor) is pregnant (due in Sept) and looked just hysterical. She was relaxing in her chair, boobs and tummy popping out of her suit, she had some crazy hat on to cover up her greasy hair, and she was slamming an O'Douls non-alcoholic beer - she was the picture of perfect pregnancy bliss! I tried hard to get a picture, but she was having one of it as she doesn't ever want her unborn child to see that image of his mommy. I personally think he would have loved it! Because Ryan was playing so good and keeping us all entertained, Scott (Emily's husband) gave Ryan a tractor ride before we all called it a night around 6:00pm. A quick dinner, baths to get all the sunblock off, and back to bed for everyone.

Now it is Friday, and the fun starts all over again. We are visiting the police station today to meet McGruff and get a tour of the station and the police cars. Ryan has been looking forward to this for a few days now so it should be good times.

Family Fun

We took the kids to the community pool last night for an evening of fun and cooling off. Ryan of course was excited and couldn't wait to get there. Lauren was clueless about where we were going, but she was squealing as we got her dressed in her pretty little bikini. Here are some pictures of the kids getting ready to go. Don't these kids know that eating before swimming is never a good idea - where is their mother?Both of the kids enjoyed the water. Ryan was more adventurous than last year and Lauren was kicking and screaming the minute her feet hit the water - she loves water! We swam for about 45 minutes then got out and played with some of the toys they have on the beach - it was a fun night for everyone.
A follow up to Ryan's first movie theatre experience - he really liked it! When the boys got home, Ryan ran right up to me and started talking about all the neat things he just saw. I couldn't understand half of what he said because it was coming out so fast, but the parts I did catch sounded very fun. The highlight of course was the popcorn that he and daddy shared - he loves popcorn! Today is Ryan's last day of karate class. The whole family is going to watch. I'll post pictures tomorrow.

Everybody was kung-fu fighting

It seems as though we may have a little kung-fu fighter on our hands. Ryan started "Little Tigers" karate camp on Monday and so far he loves it! When I was looking for activities for the summer, there were only two options for 3 year-olds; arts & crafts camp or karate camp. We decided on the karate camp as we do plenty of arts and crafts at home and the karate camp would be a chance to burn off some energy and learn some basic punches and kicks - talk about fun! I was a little concerned on Monday when we got there and we (the parents) were told that we would be watching from a balcony above the gym where the kids wouldn't be able to see us. I wasn't sure how Ryan would do with this, but once the kids got in line and started walking away, he never once turned around to see if I was still there. I really shouldn't be surprise, he is a social butterfly and would pretty much go with anyone - although, that is a problem in itself as I don't want him to walk off with just anyone. Anyway, the first day, Ryan did a lot of watching and not much punching. I think he was just taking it all in. The instructors, the "black teacher" and "lady teacher" as Ryan calls them - and no, the black teacher isn't called that because of the color of his skin, Ryan calls him that because he wears an all black karate outfit - did a great job of helping the kids get involved and by the end of day 1, Ryan was getting more into it. By today, Ran was running out the door ready to get to class. He was much more active and tried to do all the punches and kicks - it was pretty fun to see him and the other little ones doing all these big kid moves. They all try so hard, but most of the time half the class is keeping up and the other half is still 2 or 3 moves behind. There is one more regular day (kids only) and then on Thursday, the parents are invited to participate with their kids. Trav is taking off the morning to do this with Ryan so I'll be sure to take lots of pictures of the boys in action.

In keeping with the Kung-Fu theme, Trav took Ryan to his first movie theatre experience tonight to see "Kung-Fu Panda." Ryan was super excited to get going and have some popcorn and juice while watching the movie. When they get back, I'll get the details from Trav on how everything went although I assume they will have a blast!

Daddy and Ryan ready to go to the movies

With the boys at the movies, Lauren and I are having a quiet girls night in. She is actually sleeping already and I'm catching up on some blogging and tv - a perfect, quiet night - just what the doctor ordered. Lauren has also made it to another mile-stone; she is eating "real" food now. She was dabbling in some basics before - bananas, potatoes, and a few other basics, but now, she eats pretty much anything you can get in her mouth - lasagna, cheesy potatoes, strawberries, eggs, and even some ice cream cake (for Ryan's birthday). As I've said before, she is going to be our good eater.


I think I'll call it quits on the blogging tonight - I've been thinking about a chocolate shake the whole time I've been writing so I better go and make one.

Photo shoot

I got the pictures of the kids back. Here are some of my favorites for your viewing pleasure.

Weekend in review (via pictures)

We had such a blast this weekend and took so many pictures I figured I share some with everyone. Here goes . . .

Taking a ride in the Porsche with Grandpa

Driving the tractor - look at his concentration

Lauren chillin' by the pool in her new swimsuit

Uncle Aaron and Auntie playing with the kids in the pool

Grandpa and Aaron teaching Ryan how to shoot ants with squirt guns - talk about fun!

Lauren's first ride on the floatie

Lauren is all smiles watching Ryan drive the tractor

Grandpa roasting the perfect marshmallow (this was the first time he ever made smores!)

Lauren enjoying her first campfire

As you can tell, we had a fun-filled, action-packed weekend. Happy 3rd Birthday to Ryan and Happy Father's Day to all the dads out there! I hope everyone else had a great weekend as well.