Quad Reunion Weekend

I am blessed to have three wonderful ladies in my life who have been close friends of mine since middle & high school. In high school, the four of us were more or less inseparable, and so some other friends of ours started calling us "the quad" - while we disliked it at the time because our goal was not to be exclusive, it stuck nonetheless and now, 10 years later, we embrace the name for our special bond :-)

A couple of weekends ago, my dear quadettes came to visit for the weekend, and we had so much fun!! Mason was sweet to watch Ryan for parts of the weekend so that we could have girl time, but we spent plenty of time hanging out together too. Ryan loved having 3 extra women around to pay him attention, and he quickly went into show-off mode... for an entire weekend! It was a blast :)

They came from all different directions by 3 different modes of transportation. Here we are at the train station waiting for Amy to arrive:


On Saturday, we all went to the beach at Jordan Lake to hang out and play. Ryan loved playing in the sand and the water. Mason had to tear him away to take him home for a nap, and then the rest of us girls got to tan & chat some more!

couldn't wait to play in the sand

playing with Daddy in the water

Our family

We like to call these the paparazzi photos since Amy took them from far up the beach & they look like they came straight out of People magazine!

Ryan vs. the giant apple - it won

Quad on the beach: Amy, Abby, Caroline & Lucia

On Saturday night, we gave Mason the night off & had a ladies' (+Ryan) evening out:

The group

Ryan insisted on carrying Abby's purse around all evening - I guess he had too much girl time that day!

Amy is my personal photographer. Ryan & I spent much of the evening walking circles around the fountain - he loved it!

The evening concluded with a Quad tradition, Ben & Jerry's pints - we didn't finish the whole things in one night like we used to in HS, but we enjoyed them just as much!


Ryan got in on some of the action, too!

showing off our pints

being goofy

On Sunday, the girls wanted me to show them the town where we will most likely be living in a few years. We had a blast wandering around downtown and eating lunch outside.


Sunday night, Mason was kind enough to grill out for us in the rain. We had a toddler-style dance party to Ryan's hamster dance card that he received for his birthday, and took lots of group photos. It was a great way to finish off the weekend :-)

dinner chez nous

dance party (aka four grown women acting like fools to entertain a 2-year-old)

Ryan with his new best friends


Love you girls! Thanks again for all the years of friendship and yet another weekend of fun.

Ryan's Birthday Recap/Beach Trip

Ryan's 2 year photo with Tubby Teddy

We enjoyed a wonderful weekend of celebrations for Ryan's 2nd birthday.

It began with a play group party on Friday morning. Most of Ryan's closest friends were able to come, and we had a wonderful time just playing and enjoying one of Ryan's favorite meals: pasta with veggies, and lots of fruit. And, of course, we had Elmo cupcakes for dessert!

The bubbles were a big hit!


Ryan & his friends, having fun outside


the best group photo we could get


Ryan and his girlfriend


Mommy with her birthday boy :-)


Elmo cupcakes :)


Friday afternoon, we left for the beach to spend the rest of the weekend celebrating with Mason's parents and my brother & sister-in-law. Ryan's favorite parts were riding on Grandaddy's boat and, of course, eating his much-anticipated Elmo cake! Since he was surrounded by six of his absolute favorite people all weekend, I think it's safe to say that Ryan had an awesome 2nd birthday!

Happy boy on Grandaddy's boat


Checking out the sights & enjoying the boat ride


We stopped at a sandbar and Ryan was not excited about touching the sand


The rest of us loved it, though!! See those cute little pregnant bellies? :-)


B. came to Ryan's rescue & he was happy as could be in her arms

"Auntie & Bret" on the deck


"fishing" with Auntie


Ryan was very cranky during our visit to Fort Macon, but he did get interested in the cannon (especially since it had water inside!)


No reason to be cranky when you have Elmo cake!!


He loved his new Thomas duplos train set! (still does as a matter of fact)


Hanging out on the beach - he was scared of the waves, but once we distracted him with sea shells, Sophie (the dog) and Daddy hugs, he was quite happy

2 years ago...

my sweet baby boy was born:

One year ago, we celebrated one amazing year of life:






And now, we celebrate another:




Happy Birthday, my sweet bugaboo.
You have brought more joy to my life than words can possibly express.

Strawberry Picking

Strawberries are in season in North Carolina :-) Hooray!

This morning, Ryan & I went to pick a bunch, and we had so much fun. The entire 20 minute car ride there, he kept saying "pick strawberries... pick strawberries" and he wasn't disappointed.

I did discover that it's pretty hard for a toddler to pick a strawberry without either crushing the strawberry or taking half of the bush with him. So, we developed a system and it worked great. Ryan found them, I picked them, and he put them in the bucket. He even patiently waited until we were all finished to eat one. And then he devoured it in about 3 seconds :)

Here are some pictures of our little adventure:

ready to go with his "bucket"

finding strawberries


showing off the prize

finally getting to eat one
happy boy with a strawberry face!

Ring Bearer (alternately titled Kyle & Debbie's Wedding)

bride & groom leaving the church

On April 24, Ryan had the honor of being the ring bearer at my brother's wedding. It was a very special occasion & we were all thrilled to be a part of their celebration.

Ryan did as well as I could have expected. He made me a little nervous during the rehearsal when he had a complete melt-down walking down the aisle once everybody started looking at him. But we practiced a few more times and he seemed okay with it. When it came time for the real thing, he took one look at the church full of people, grabbed on to my leg and said "up!" So instead of holding my hand & walking down the aisle on his own, I carried him. He still did his "job" and carried the pillow to his Uncle Dain, and he didn't cry once during the ceremony, so what more could I ask? He even chimed in with his very own, very loud "AMEN!" at the end of the prayers. :-)

Unfortunately, I realized after the fact that we never actually got a picture of him with the pillow, but we'll hope that the official photographer did.
Until then, here are some photos of the big event:

Ryan, all dressed up in his tux, goofing around at the reception

Our family - the best one we could get with a rather squirmy little boy

because we almost never take pictures of just the two of us anymore!

Ryan had loads of fun playing on the stairs with his Papa

Impressive (to me) dancing by the bride & groom

At a certain hour, Ryan turned into a zombie. We thought maybe he had fallen asleep with his eyes open. It was a big night & he was so tired!
This is him (sort of) watching the dancing with his Nana

Cake time. Isn't it gorgeous?

Ryan with his Uncle Kyle & (officially) Aunt Debbie, at brunch the next day

Congratulations, Kyle & Debbie! We love you! Thanks for letting us be a part of your big day :-)