YIPPEE! Ryan’s 3!

Can it be? 3 years since this little boy joined our family?

 

After only 3 short years I feel like he has been part of this family, and a part of me, forever.

Ryan’s birthday is September 2nd and falls in the midst of Labor Day weekend celebrations. The last 2 years we made plans to spend the long weekend in the White Mountains. I convinced Jeremiah that we needed spend all of Friday (Ryan’s birthday) in Mesa so we could celebrate.

We opened presents in the morning before Simon went to school He got “Moon Dough” and new paints and markers.

Then we juggled naps and fun. Me, Mason and Ryan went to the Arizona Museum for Youth (AMY for short). It was just perfect for a 3 year old! They had all kinds of hands-on fun activities for little people. Including an exhibit all about Charles Schultz, the creator of Peanuts.

 

Of course Ryan doesn’t know anything about Charlie Brown, Snoopy, Schroeder or the rest of the gang but I have a soft spot for Peanuts characters since I worked for a MetLife Insurance company.

They also had tons of art projects and a whole wing of the museum was dedicated to little kids, 4 and under. Ryan played with play food, making me all sorts of yummy concoctions, and his favorite part was building with these gigantic puffy blocks.

He would build them up as high as he could reach then crash into them and knock them over! It was so much fun he got the other kids doing it too. 

We didn’t get to stay nearly long enough. Before we knew it, it was lunch time and time to pick up Simon from school.

Ryan didn’t take this news well. I had to drag him away from his blocks and he cried. Yes, I made my son cry on his birthday and it broke my heart.

But once we were in the car and on our way to get his free Krispy Kreme doughnut he was just fine. I bought a few extra to share with our visitors (Grandma and Papa Hall) and we picked up a hamburger kids meal for Ryan, per his special birthday request.

Then we picked up big brother from Kindergarten and Ryan took a much needed siesta.

After Ryan woke up I took the boys to Toys R Us so Ryan could pick out a Thomas train. This was the only thing he wanted for his birthday.

and he enjoyed a pretend ride in Lightning McQueen.

That night we had an impromptu birthday party. We had Grandma and Papa, Karissa, Cabrena, and Talyn, Ezra and Allison (Dana’s kids). And Ry got some great gifts, like a new wooden Thomas train track set, a giant coloring book, and an Iron Man car.

We ate yummy train cake and ice cream.

 

Ryan picked out all of the candy for his cake. Oreos, bottle caps, and “sweetest fish”.

Then we all went to bed to get ready for our next adventure, Labor Day in the mountains.

 

We love our sweet little Ryan. He is so smart, funny, and he is very emotionally sensitive. He can always sense when someone is feeling upset or if they need a hug. He is a wonderful brother to Simon and he loves giving both of his brothers hugs and kisses. I really don’t know what I would do without this amazing little boy. He keeps our house lively and fun!