Sanibel

We took a mini vacation to Sanibel Island for Father's Day weekend. Hopefully this will become an annual tradition, because they have really good ice cream!

There are lots of shells on the beach there, which were super fun to collect. My favorites were the kinds that look like angel wings and butterflies. Ryan liked the black/gray ones.

Mom and I had special time at night after Ryan was tucked into bed and Dad was tucked into the couch watching the Bruins play for the Stanley Cup. We took sunset strolls on the beach. The sky turns pink, it's amazing! 

The best part of the trip was our sunrise walks to the beach IN OUR PAJAMAS. Dad is the one who noticed that only people with young kids were up at 6:30am walking on the beach, coffee in hand.  

He taught me how to throw a frisbee, and I'm getting better at catching one, too.

This is how Mom and Dad will remember me from this weekend, running down the beach with pure joy. 

And this is how they will remember Ryan.

On this particular day, he was upset because he didn't understand why we wouldn't let him swim in his pajamas.

So, he angrily, silently, marched all the way to the dunes, then turned around to glare at Mom.

He wanted to be sure she got the message.

Happy Father's Day!

We have the best Dad in the world. He hugs us, kisses us, plays Red Sox games on TV for us, and lets us listen to "real" music.

He does other invisible stuff, too, like working to keep a roof over our heads, food on our table, and dollars in our college fund. He reminds us to put our money in a piggy bank, because the piggy will take better care of it than the Disney store. 

But, mostly we love him for the important things, like frantically searching the playroom at bedtime to find our favorite blanket, dinosaur, or stuffed elephant to sleep with. And always agreeing to cook macaroni and cheese for dinner when Mom is at work. 

We could give you an endless list of Dad's superior qualities that would rival any of the effusive Facebook posts, but we need to finish these chocolate chips that Mom gave us to sit still for the picture so she can frame it for his Father's Day gift. 

Reading To Baby

Buddy loves his blanket, baby, and books: Reading To Baby.

Ice Cream

Dad and I introduced Ryan to the thrill of ice cream on a hot day. Really, any day is a good day for ice cream.

Ryan really likes to have the big cone like the big kids.

He just hasn't quite figured out the mechanics of it yet. 

Ryan at 23 Months

Mom thought this picture and these videos capture our boy more perfectly than words: Animal and I GOT IT!

Little Nudist

This is what Mom and Dad found when they went to bed one night. They had 2 questions:

1. How?! He's never taken off his clothes or diaper before.

2. Why?! And why fold everything neatly in the corner? 

Popcorn

These are more pictures of me laughing at the clown who lives in my house. Here is a video of him "sharing" popcorn with me by shoving handfuls into my mouth, then using my face as an arm rest: Popcorn.

And this is him with a mouth full of doughnut right before he crammed in another munchkin. He kills me.

Toy Box

Murphy's Law states that you cannot have two perfect weekends in a row. So we knew that we would have to pay for the peace of  Memorial Day. And boy, did we. Poor Ryan is cutting his upper molars and it has been BRUTAL.  He definitely likes to project rage when he feels yucky, so Mom is teaching me how to recognize when he is possessed by the toddler devil, and stay the heck out of his way.  

We know our happy, sweet little buddy is still inside, and we have these old pictures from a fun time in the playroom to prove it. 

This is where having an almost 2 year old in the house gets really fun. He loves to play along with any games I make up.  He climbs in, head first, in his characteristic clumsy-but-determined way, then waits for my signal to tip over the box. 

 I don't know what I loved the most, crashing the Toy Box a hundred times with him, or

 styling his hair.