The Beach

During our Disney trip we planned for a day at the beach. Unfortunately Ryder did not love the beach. The water was very cold. I mean freezing. I think the waves scared him a bit and he didn't like the sand sticking to his hands and feet. He was saying "beach" and "ocean" which was very cute. And he did enjoy chasing the seagulls around.

J and I both love the beach, so I know one day that Ryder will love it too.



his first look at the ocean










the first feel of that cold ocean water

DISNEYLAND! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! !

Disney was having a special promotion called "give a day, get a disney day" All you had to do was sign up for a volunteer activity, there were 100's to choose from. We signed up, did our activity, and about a week later got our FREE Disney tickets. Disney was giving out 1 million tickets and about a week after we got ours they ran out!

We redeemed our tickets and took Ryder to DISNEYLAND! ! ! He loved it! On our way in we mentioned that it was Ryder's 1st time and they gave him a special 1st visit button to pin on his shirt. We wanted to make the most of our visit and see everything so we were go, go, go. September must be the slow month at Disney, the average time that we waited in line was about 15 minutes, it was perfect. We managed to go on every ride and meet lots of fun characters. Ryder's favorite rides were dumbo, the teacups and the Buzz Lightyear ride (he liked that little gun). He met Pluto, Goofy, Mickey, Pooh and Tigger, Mad Hatter and the princesses (he cried when he met them, some day he'll love those pretty girls :) While on It's a Small World and Pirates of the Carribean Ryder was in awe he just looked around at all the sights. He took a good nap which gave J and I time to go on some fun rides together.

To end our Disney day we watched the parade, which Ryder loved! He learned some new dance moves and was gettin' down. By the end of the night he was pooped, he fell asleep hugging his little Mickey that Grandma got him.

We are already planning our next trip! !

Phoenix Children's Museum

I took Ryder to the Phx Children's Museum a couple weeks ago and the only complaint I have is that I didn't take him sooner. This place is awsome! It's 3 stories of FUN, FUN, FUN! The first floor is a huge jungle gym climber, the second and third floors consist of a ball room, baby room, art room, noodle forest, car room, grocery store room and kitchen room. Everything is special for baby so you can let them run free and make a mess and get into anything they want.

playing with the flower garden ^
< noodle forest

^cute little ice cream stand

August Camping

We finished out camping season with a bang! We took our last camping trip for the year (at least until dunes season begins) at the end of August. It was a nice long trip and even though I thought that I would get sick of being out there for so long, I loved it! Fresh air, camp fires, family time, smores, rhino rides, picnics, what more could a girl ask for!?

Some FUN facts about our trip:

*We celebrated J's birthday and grandma's birthday in the woods. My mom brought a homemade apple cake, so good! With all of the birthday exictement going on Ryder said "Happy Birthday!" for the 1st time. So cute, my mom loved it!

*Ryder discovered his pockets for the 1st time. He walked around with his hands in his pockets like a big boy and was putting all kinds of boy treasures in them like rocks and sticks and dirt!

*Our daily schedule pretty much consisted of wake up, have breakfast, play, have lunch, take nap, wake up, go for a looooong rhino ride, have dinner, bathtime, bedtime....no wonder I love camping so much!

*J was actually hunting this trip. He's developed an interest in bow hunting, so he would go out super early in the morning and just before dark at night. I was a little scared about being at camp alone, but I did OK, afterall I had my guard dog with me. He didn't have any luck, but I'm sure he will get better with time and the hundreds of hours of hunting shows he's been watching since we got home. Ryder called daddy's hunting bow "the boat"

*We had visitors come and go. J's friend Brad came up a couple days to hunt. Our friends the Rayburn's came up a couple days to camp and my parents came for a couple days.

*The weather was beautiful....most of the time. It rained really hard 2 days that we were there. Our friends were staying in a tent that flooded, so we had a big slumber party in our trailer that night. To keep the kids occupied while stuck in the trailer we played Winnie the Pooh DVD's and fed them nutter butters:) !

*We found our camping spot on our trip in July. It was the best spot we have ever stayed in, our trailer was in the shade trees all day and there was a huge grassy area that Ryder could run and play in. This camping spot is now "our spot" and we plan to return every year!

LOVE his faces! !

The Rayburns

Having some birthday cake with grandma :)