Adventures of Patricia, Brian and Riley

Tuesday, August 2, 2011

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.

Friday, June 24, 2011

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!

Tuesday, June 7, 2011

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 :(

Tuesday, May 10, 2011

Mother's Day

Another Mother's Day and it still feels weird that I am a mom. I do, however, enjoy the benefits of Mother's Day. Homemade brunch, massage, time by myself to go shopping. Oh yeah, I did spend some time with the kiddo too.

Crab cakes with hollandaise, seared scallions, poached eggs and toast
(someone please tell me the secret to proper lighting for food pictures)

Riley and I enjoying the fruits of Daddy's labor

Some park time with Janna and Teddy.
The boys had fun, but not willing to show us

Trying to look nice, before heading our for a dinner barbeque

Easter in West Virginia

Rob and Janna let us tag along on Easter to Janna's family get-together in West Virginia. We had just moved into town the weekend before so it was nice to have somewhere to go. What does a little country mean on Easter?

If you smile, you will get a present.

Ok, not too bad

Riley's first Easter basket/bucket

Tractors (Teddy steering)

Flowers on the hill

4-wheeling of course!

And Easter egg hunt, Riley made out with $8.60!

Last Hike in Colorado

We went on a hike with Annabelle, Brian, Sophie and Sarah for our last outing in Colorado in April. Apparently with 2 cameras we didn't manage any pictures of the group together or any evidence we were with anyone. The really awesome pictures below (3 out of the 6, you'll know which ones) will be our proof. There is no way that Brian or I have a camera nice enough to take them. Thanks Annabelle for the pictures. We went to El Dorado Canyon, I don't know why we never went there before since it's only 15 mins from our place. Oh well, too many things to do in Denver when you're dead.