RYAN'S BIRTHDAY, MANISTEE RANCH PARK, BATH TIME
Whoa, what a busy week! Ryan's birthday was Sunday. Saturday, we went out to eat--alone! It was the first time in a long time, and boy, were we ready for it. Ryan had been gone every night for two weeks, and love them as I do, I was about to toss the boys out the window. Or pull out my hair. Or both. Dinner was wonderfully relaxing, and then we picked up the boys from Grandma's and put them straight to bed. Lovely evening.
Sunday, Ryan's parents had a birthday dinner--steak, of course. I took the cake, which thankfully was chocolate inside and out. I bought the frosting (gasp!) and it only took about 10 minutes to frost and decorate. Wow, that's a far cry from Jared's 5-hour birthday creation. Ryan got a hydration pack (known to some as Camelbacks) for hiking, a new thingy to hang the garden hose on, and a rain check for Venturer pants.
After dinner, Uncle Scott discovered a wonderful feature of overalls. Both boys were wearing them, and got toted around the house hanging from their straps.
Monday for FHE we took Ryan to Cabella's to buy lookalike Venturer pants to complete his uniform. They didn't have the right color, so we asked for help. The salesperson absolutely drooled over the boys (she loves babies) and told us that they might have some in the Bargain Cave. They did! For half price! Something about a mismarked shipment--nothing was wrong with them. So Ryan got two pair, one grey for Venturers and one olive for Scouts.
Monday we ran errands.
Tuesday was absolutely crazy. We ran more errands for close to 5 hours! The boys were troopers while we waited for our oil change, etc. We bought bananas and bread shaped like a huge pretzel (Jared LOVED that) and ate in the McDonalds inside Wal-Mart. Good thing Jared doesn't know about Happy Meals yet. Zach was very good at sitting up in their high chairs, a big accomplishment for such a little guy.
Wednesday we scoped out Manistee Ranch park with our friends from down the street. It's an old ranch house with some surrounding acreage preserved around it. They had old farm equipment for the kids to look at, and lots of grass and shade. I am looking for a good place for family photos this Thanksgiving, since all of Ryan's family will be here.


Jared and Zach LOVE taking baths together. For Zach, solitary baths are much more relaxing, but Jared adds lots of excitement and splashing. Jared is such a sweet big brother, and they really really love each other. I got several adorable pictures of them together tonight, a rare occurance.

The reason I typed all this out is because I have photos of the described events here in Yahoo Photos.