Ryan's Five!

I must apologize to Ryan. This post is 8 days late. I'm sorry my bubby. As my excuse, we did throw two birthday parties on his birthday. We had a birthday party for his friends during the day and a party in the evening for family. Ryan had over 10 friends show up (I was too busy running around to count). His theme was pirates so we rented a pirate jumping balloon, had a pirate cake and every kid got a foam pirate hat, sword and an eye patch as they joined the party. It was a lot of fun. At the end of the party we handed out water balloons and the kids had a blast soaking each other. The evening party was a little more low key. We just barbequed and watched Ryan open his gifts. He had a great time.

Ryan's birthday cake. It was an awesome pirate ship.

Ryan chasing his friend from AWANA.

And here he is so excited about all his gifts.

That boy constantly amazes me with his inquisitive mind. We went and saw Toy Story 3 today and when we left he had so many questions regarding what make a person (or toy) evil and doesn't God make the choice for us to be good or evil. We went round and round with him that it is his choice to be good or evil, but God wants you to choose to be good. "But why?" or "But how" was his constant response. That's just how is mind works.

A funny thing he does lately is that he will look at his legs and say "these don't look like five years old legs". Or, when he tells me a story, from lets say a month ago, he will say "remember when I was 4 and . . .".

On to El Paso

So we just did our tour of Carlsbad Caverns and decided to head to El Paso to see some family. We spent 2 nights in El Paso at Henry's brother's house. The kids really enjoyed spending time with their cousins (along with Grandma and Grandpa Turtle, Uncle Travis and Aunt Kristy).

Posing with the cousins in front of the house in El Paso.

And enjoying the pool in the backyard.

After 2 very hot days in El Paso we decided it was time to return home. So off we went. Besides the strep throat, it was a fun week of camping and visiting with family. However, when we got home, Toby, our cat, was not pleased with us. How dare we leave her for 8 days (the neighbor went over day to feed him). She meowed at us pretty much for 3 days straight. I think she has finally forgiven us.

On to Carlsbad Caverns

After leaving Alamogordo we headed to Carlsbad Caverns. The plan was to get to Carlsbad (actually, Whites City is where the Caverns are located. 15 miles from Carlsbad) and set-up camp. We wanted to go to Flight of the Bats at dusk at the caverns. However, as we were driving to Carlsbad I started to feel terrible. My throat was killing me and I was feeling so weak. Since Ryan had just got diagnosed with strep I was positive I had it also. So, we decided to head to Jal, where Henry's parents live. It is only an hour from Carlsbad and this way we could relax and just try to get to feeling better. His parents were out of town so we just let ourselves in and made ourselves at home. The kids had fun turtle hunting in the backyard. In the morning I called my doctor in Rio Rancho and asked him to call in a prescription for Strep to a pharmacy in Carlsbad. After lunch in Jal, we headed out to Carlsbad to pick up my prescription and head to the caverns.

We drove to Whites City and headed straight to the RV park to set up the pop-up and cook dinner. There was a tiny, and I emphasis tiny, park by the RV park with a slide so the kids and I started walking to it when the guy who manages the RV park said that I should drive over there due to the fact that there are a lot of rattlesnakes in the area. NICE. So all I could think of was a rattle snake crawling into the pop-up. Oh yeah, I forgot to mention that we were in Carlsbad/Whites City the temperature reached 112 degrees. NICE.

After dinner we headed up to the Caverns to see the Bat Flight. Right at dusk the bats fly out of the caverns for the night. It was pretty awesome to see. After the bat flight we headed back to the pop-up and I went straight to bed as Henry and the kids made smores.

In the morning we woke up early due to the fact that it was all ready 80 degrees and it wasn't even 9 yet. We ate a quick breakfast and packed up the pop up and headed back to the cavern to go hike it.

Here we are getting ready to go hiking.

I had Henry buy the kids safety hats with a light on them just for fun. They ended up being very handy during the hike.

Ryan and Ally posing as rangers.

And finally the entrance to the cavern. We hiked down the Cavern, took the elevator back up and ate lunch before leaving. And off we go......

Continuing Our Camping Trip

The Grace Getaway ended Sunday afternoon, so from there we headed to Tularosa to see my cousin John and his kids. The plans were to go to Tulie, spend the night at my cousins house, then head to Cloudcroft to camp for the night. However, as we were leaving Ruidoso, Ryan started running a fever. By 5 in the evening he was burning up. There were no urgent cares open, and Henry and I were worried about staying the night in Tulie in case Ryan had to go to the Emergency Room. So, we went and got a hotel room in Alamogordo (13 miles away).

Here is a picture of Ryan feeling yucky in the hotel room.

I had my cousin bring over his youngest daughter so Ally could have someone to go swimming with at the hotel.

Here is Ally and Cameron after getting out of the pool.

In the morning we decided to go find a doctor for Ryan. As Henry was hooking up the pop-up, in the hotel parking lot, he discovered someone had stolen the propane tank from it. Grrrrrr. It was even bolted down. They left the two coolers that were in the back of the truck. I guess they needed it more than we did.

Where is the propane tank?

After we loaded up we went to the only urgent care in Alamogordo and they were closed (Memorial Day) I then went to a cousins house and called every doctor in the phone book. Everyone was closed. So, since Ryan was feeling better, we decided to spend the day at Putt-Putt. Candace (whom we picked up from her mom) claimed she had never been putt-putting.

Here is everyone (but Henry, who is taking the pic) watching my skills at putt-putt.

At Putt-Putt we also rode the Go Karts. Ryan was able to drive his own car! It was pretty neat seeing him driving. Ally preferred to ride with her dad.

In the evening we decided to stick around Tulie so we could head to Alamo in the morning to take Ryan to urgent care. We set up the pop-up in front of my cousins house and my family and 3 of Johns 4 kids slept in it that night. It was fun except for the darn rooster in the neighbors yard crowing all night. My dad believes that the rooster is blind and that is why he crows all night (he doesn't know that the sun is not up).

In the morning we packed everything up, said our good bye's and headed back into Alamo to take Ryan to urgent care. When the doctor looked at his tonsils he said "yup, that's Strep throat". He had me take a look and his tonsils and the back of his mouth were splattered with blood. Gross-o-rama. Ryan is such a tough kid. He never let on that his throat hurt. I told the doc that my throat was starting to hurt also. He took a quick look at my tonsils and said "you look good". So off we went to fill Ryan's prescription and get that kiddo feeling better.

Grace Getaway 2010

The last weekend in May we headed to Bonita Park for our second time participating in the Grace Getaway (through our church). This year we were able to arrive at Bonita Park in time to set-up the pop-up, go to orientation, and eat dinner. Last year we were not able to do this since we didn't arrive until 8 p.m. due to the fact that it was my last day of school and I had to work until 4. But not this year. We got there just in time.

Just like last year, it rained periodically through out the weekend. Because of this we were not able to do the Zip Line like Ally and I did last year. It was ok though, because Ally and I were kind of nervous about doing it again. It might be one of those things that you can say "yeah, I've done that" but you never do it again.

Here is Ally enjoying the rain.

We all (Henry, Ally, Ryan and myself) climbed the Rock Wall. Henry had to redeem himself since he did not make it to the top last year. And this was Ryan's first attempt at the Rock Wall.

Here is Ryan climbing the wall. He got pretty far.

Here is Ally climbing the wall. She got to the top again, and in fact, climbed 4 different sections of the wall.

And here is Henry's redemption. He climbed to the top. I also reached the top.

During a break from the rain Ryan and I went and played baseball with a group ranging from 5 years old to about 50 years old. There were a few teenagers who could hit the ball pretty far. I went up to bat once a realized how "old" I have gotten. When I swung I felt like those moms you see on America's Funniest Video's that fall down when the swing. I didn't fall when I swung, but I felt pretty awkward. I am so much better at baseball on the Wii.

Here is Ryan and me playing first base. I will say this: I caught by first ball using a baseball glove!

Here is a picture of Henry and Ryan waiting for dinner the night of the bar-b-que.

And last, but not least, a couple of pics of Ally and Ryan sleeping in the pop-up.

This year we are a little more experienced campers. We had a heater in the pop-up. What a world of difference.

Ryan Graduates (from Preschool)

Ok, this post is a little late. So here it is. The last week of May Ryan graduated from Shining Stars Preschool. He had a small ceremony where he received his diploma then we went to his class for desserts.

Here is Ryan with his friend Cooper, waiting for the ceremony to begin.

Here is Ryan crossing the bridge (it is symbolic of crossing into kindergarten).

And here he is with his teacher, Ms. Khalil.

Even though every morning Ryan would ask if he had Shining Stars, and when I would reply yes, he would break down whining "I don't want to go to Shining Stars", I do believe he really enjoyed the experience. His teacher always assured me that while he was there, he was a happy kid. That's my Ryan.