Jump Trampoline

After playing on giant trampolines at a few different houses this summer, we decided Rya should have her very own. She loves to jump! We found a nice trampoline on Craigslist and set it up in the backyard. These pictures were taken before the net was assembled, so don't worry, we have a fully enclosed space for her to jump safely.

We took her to get her two year old pictures taken since we needed some photos for her birthday invitations. It was disastrous. We couldn't get even one good photo. She was being clingy and whiney. Ugh. Jason was kind enough to get some photos of her jumping for her invitations instead of professional portraits.

We hear the following request many times during the day: "Jump trampoline?" Rya is so happy when she's jumping, it's worth the monstrosity in the backyard. Come on over and jump with us!

Camping

I grew up camping every summer and I love it. Jason didn't have the same experience growing up, but he was game to give camping a try. There was, of course, one more person we had to think about when asked to go on a group camping trip this summer... Rya. Would she sleep? Get dirty? We decided that she was old enough for us to give it a try.

The first evening went pretty well. We had dinner, s'mores, and then put Rya down for a good night's sleep. We were in a group campsite and apparently the group next to us thought it was a good idea to party all night long. They were so loud- music, generators, etc. Poor Rya couldn't sleep and neither could we. When she got up in the morning she went straight to the car and asked for home. It was really sad. We wanted to make her happy, but we also didn't want to give up on our trip.

That day was a big World Cup game- US v. Ghana. Jason did not want to miss the game, so we drove into Truckee and found a place to watch the game. Though the US lost, it was still an exciting game. After that, we headed back to camp and went to the lake. Rya loved splashing around in the water. She also spent some time with the other little kids coloring and playing.

We had our fingers crossed that the second night would bring some relief to our tired bodies. Once again we put Rya down and thought we were free and clear from the partying neighbors... until just after midnight. We had to endure another night of noise and in the middle of the night I announced that we would be leaving the next morning. Our entire group decided to leave the next morning- we weren't the only ones suffering from sleep deprivation.

Overall, we had a good time with friends. Next year we'll bring ear plugs!

Here's Rya in the tent with Gymbo!
Mmm... snacks!
We couldn't get all the girls to sit still and smile at the same time. Oh, well, they are still super cute!

Fourth of July 2010 with the BFF

We started this year's Fourth of July with play time at the park and ended with a lovely barbecue at the Matulich's house.

Rya loves Addison. They're BFFs! It's funny that Rya has latched onto one friend so much more than others. They are only a month apart and have known each other since they were about six months old. We're happy they are friends because it means we get to hang out with Mark and Kristine. We're even happier that we found out they aren't moving! We were so upset at the possibility of Rya not being able to grow up with Addison. Here are some pictures from the day:

New Shoes- Cool Shoes

Do you see this face? You would think something terrible had happened to her for her to be so upset. This is mild compared to the fit she threw every time we mentioned or held the new shoes.

Kids' feet grow. It's a fact. Rya, however, cannot be reasoned with about this issue and doesn't understand why she can't always wear her same Nike tennis shoes. I realized one day as I was trying to get her shoes on that they were tight and her toes were touching the ends of the shoes. It was obviously time for new shoes. And when girls need new shoes what better place to go than Nordstrom, so off we went. Rya is usually pretty good about tagging along with me in the mall. Mostly because she knows that I'm a sucker for the carousel and will take her on the ride at some point during the trip.

We reached the third floor of Nordstrom after climbing "the magic stairs" as Rya calls the escalator. I found a few pair I liked (because let's be honest- she's not even 2! She doesn't know what she likes, so I will continue to take advantage of dressing her my way until I can't any longer) and asked the sales woman to get them in Rya's size. So far, so good. I took the shoes out of the box and Rya's shoes off her feet. Then all hell broke loose. I have been the onlooker many times when a child is throwing a fit in a store and always felt sorry for the parent. I guess it was my turn to get the unwanted attention. Rya screamed and the girl has lungs. She threw herself onto the floor in a far too dramatic movement. She proceeded to kick, scream, and then run away. Not even a balloon would make her calm down. What kind of girl throws a fit about new shoes... from Nordstrom? I was too embarrassed to continue the fight I was not going to win with Rya, so I bought the shoes and we left. She was a giant mess. I couldn't get her to calm down the whole ride home.

For weeks we tried to put on her new shoes with the same reaction I got the first time. We talked about the shoes often and called them "cool shoes" in hopes of enticing her to put them on. Finally I had to explain to her that her Nike shoes were too small and she couldn't wear them anymore. That seemed to work. She walked around telling everyone her shoes were too small and let us put on the new shoes. Is it too much to ask that her feet stop growing? I'm dreading this whole process which is inevitably going to occur again. Wish me luck.

Friends

We're still alive and well! I know it's been some time since I last blogged. You would think having most of the summer off of work would have given me plenty of time to blog away, but we managed to stay pretty busy. I will try to catch everyone up with the next few blog entries.

Rya has had a fair share of strawberries this summer from the farmer's market. Berries! She is so cute when she tries to attack an entire strawberry instead of having us cut them up for her.
Uncle Kenny and Kyle (her cousin) came over for a World Cup game. Rya's not so great with strangers at first, but she eventually warmed up to Kenny. It helped that he had one of her favorite books. Who can resist books? I'm glad Rya likes books just like her mommy!
Rya has made many friends during her (short) lifetime, but the interaction between them is changing as she becomes more verbal. Rya is pretty good at sharing- with the exception of her pacifier. It's funny to watch her "play" with Landon. Poor Landon is a good sport for having to hang out with a girl who is so much younger and can't play on his level. He is very sweet about sharing with her. Although he gets pretty annoyed if Rya doesn't put his alphabet magnets back in the correct order. I should point out that his correct order is exactly that- his. It holds no rhyme or reason to me and certainly doesn't to Rya. Rya loves letters and numbers (she knows them all, so now we are working sounds) so much to Landon's disliking, they don't always get put back in Landon Order after she's done playing with them. We are thankful that Rya has a boy friend (did you see the big space? It's there for a reason! No boys for Rya... ever!) who is kind and whose parents are raising him to be a gentleman. Thanks, Holmes family! We can't wait until Grayson is old enough to play!

Rya has other friends she has made through us and also some from Gymboree. See one of the future posts for more information on Rya's BFF. We are so thankful to have wonderful friends ourselves and that our friends have adorable kids for Rya to play with. We like you single and kid-less friends too!