Halloween

I attempted to make costumes again for Halloween. 

Things I have learned during this endeavor:

• Procrastination does not work for costume making, so I ran out of time and didn't get to make my costume.
• I cannot sew well by hand, get a sewing machine.
• A hot glue gun is a good friend.
• Need an airbrushed abs onesie? Pittsburgh has 3 specialty air brush stores, who knew!

 Riley as.....SPARTACUS! (or a Gladiator for those who don't know Spartacus)

 

Trying out the double sword fighting

Batiatus and his slave Spartacus

 

Music time with Teddy

Ending the night hanging out with zombie baby

Rollercoaster Time!

Pittsburgh has it's very own amusement park: Kennywood. We got to all go this summer for Brian's company picnic. We were pretty worried that Riley would be too scared to ride anything. But, boy were we WRONG! This kid loved every ride and asked for more almost every time. Sometimes, we had a hard time getting him off the ride. We ended the day with a nice splash from the log ride (twice) - well just Riley (don't worry we waited as close as we could while staying dry). Here's my 2nd attempt at imovie, slowly improving my video editing skills...slowly.

Willie and Ji Young's Wedding Weekend Part 1

We got to go home last month for Willie and Ji Young's wedding. They decided to be crazy and asked Riley to be their ring bearer. So we got to be part of the wedding which was really cool for me. Willie and I have been friends since high school and I definitely consider him a close friend. Ji Young is one of the nicest girls I have met and I couldn't be happier for both of them!

Now, here's the thing: I had to ensure a 2 year-old would make it down the aisle (which he didn't) so we have no pictures of the wedding and then we realized we only had the video camera and not the camera - so no reception pictures either. I also had to stand outside with Riley for him to walk through the door and walk down the aisle, and then I had to run back inside and walk into the ballroom at the Peabody to see if he made it. Well, what do you think happened? I am not sure either, but in the 15-20 seconds I was gone Riley had managed to steal the show and stall the wedding. Apparently he did a partial walk with the flower girls and then decided it would be more fun to lay on the floor and try out a new dance spin/move.

Luckily it was funny to everyone (minus me who was hoping for a perfect performer, idiot mom.) and a great laugh. I did get to see the video, but blogspot won't let me post videos - any advice for that fellow bloggers? Anywho, I am learning how to get a still picture from video and that will have to wait until another post.

L-R: Ji Young, Me, Willie, Sylvia and Dao

Brian and I

L-R: Me, Shren, Muhammad, Sylvia and Dao

L-R: Ross, Shren, Muhammad and Me

The Caviness Clan (almost a Riley smile)

The boys

Dad and Riles

Riley's 2nd Birthday

Thomas, Thomas, Thomas. The theme for his 2nd birthday went off a HUGE success. Brian took on the feat of making him a train table and we got a bunch of new Thomas the Train tracks, trains, puzzles, bath toys, etc. etc. etc. I am going to bleed blue here pretty soon. I thought that Riley would be too young for the train table, but everytime he went down for a nap or bedtime he would ask me about choo-choo, and go running to the table to play when he woke up.

Laura, Baba (my Dad), Grandma and Shaelyn all came into town to celebrate his birthday. Baba and Laura hadn't seen him since November so it was nice to have us all together. I also learned for maybe the 10th time to NOT wake up Riley from a nap. You would think I would have learned this by now, but each time I say, maybe this time he won't be cranky.....WRONG. Oh well, he still had fun, just not without some mini-tantrums. Sorry Riley, that was my fault.

North Carolina Beach Trip - June

Riley and I got to go visit Grandma and Papa in Raleigh before I started my new job. Grandma was nice enough to take me (well more for Riley) to the beach for the weekend while we were there. I am a beach person for sure, while Brian is the mountain person. Riley which parent will you vacation with when you are older?

Riley LOVED the ocean. He pretty much loves water in general. We got him one of those swimsuits where he can float in the water and he has learned to jump off the edge and diving boards by himself now. Meanwhile his head isn't getting far enough away from the edge/board to ensure me that we won't be visiting the ER soon.

Anthrocon 2011

Riley and I were at the park today and ran into some interesting characters. There was a limo and out came about 5 people dressed up as animals (dogs, cat, fox, cheetah). They were playing with the kids and Riley was a having a blast. I asked someone what this was for and the guy said 'Anthrocon'. What is this awesomeness you ask? Direct from www.anthrocon.org:

"Anthrocon is the world's largest convention for those fascinated with anthropomorphic, which are humanlike animal characters"

Anthrocon 2011 is going in Pittsburgh this weekend. That was definitely NOT what I was expecting. It just made my day, and Riley's!

Playtime with Daddy

Since it has slowed down on the raining here, we have been exploring the city and finding great parks and water fountains. Oh yeah, and we found the Hofbrauhaus! Brian and I went to the one in Munich and were very excited to find one here in Pittsburgh.

A little 3-shot series of Riley getting thrown in the air.

And he's airborne folks!

Nothing like running through water on a hot day.

I think he could have done this for hours.

Cheers: Play hard, and get rewarded with 1 L beers, or water :(