52 week project - Week 23 - Sports

I already wrote about tee-ball but since the theme is Sports and baseball is the only sport in season we care about in our family, I am going to have to write about it again. 

Last week was the last week of tee ball and while I am happy it is over and our Saturdays have freed up again, Ryan did enjoy the season and some great experiences came out of it.   At the end of the last game, all of the kids got a trophy and Ryan was really excited about.   

 

He was also thrilled that he no longer needs to get up early and walk to tee ball anymore lol.

Participating in tee ball provided some great times over the past few months.  Tee ball gave us the opportunity to meet more families in the neighborhood and Ryan got to make some great friends.   Because our league is specific to the small area of the city where we live, the community is actively involved with the league and we participated in the neighborhood little league parade, grand marshalled
 by Dwight Gooden.

Ryan was pretty excited because he was one of the few kids in tee ball that made a banner to carry in the parade and the Rangers were definitely the best represented of the teams.  (also, he realized on the way to the parade that there were 10 baseballs on the banner - coincidentally **wink wink** Ryan is #10 which he thought was the coolest thing!)

The highlight of the tee ball season though was being invited to go to Citi Field last week for a Mets vs. Reds game and Ryan got to walk in a parade around the warning track.   I know that Ryan will one day understand what a great opportunity that was, especially at such a young age, but Jay and I were definitely more excited about it than Ryan was.

It was the first time any of us have been to Citi Field and there were a few hundred kids from little leagues around the area (Manhattan, Long Island and Northern Jersey) so it was pretty exciting.  The kids and "coaches" assembled in the tunnel and got to walk from left field to right field. 

Ryan and his "coach"

Jay and Dylan were in the stands and although Jay told me exactly where he would be, I could not find him.  

(hilarious that I am not looking in the right direction AT ALL)

 I have no idea how but Ryan was able to find them and had to point them out to me.  lol 

Although I will never convert to being a Mets fan, I do think the stadium is fantastic.   In the 5th inning, we took the kids to check out what the Fan Fest area was and found that there were three interactive areas: a small batting cage, a mini field where kids got a chance to hit off a tee and field, and also a dunk tank.   The kids were dying to go on the mini-field but the line was so long, we convinced them to try out the batting cage instead and they did great and had a blast.

After that, Ryan begged to try the dunk tank and in a great treat for all of us, Jay was able to dunk the guy on his turn!!!  Ryan was so proud of Jay and I admit, I thought it was super exciting too.  The crowd went wild and Ryan immediately declared it was the best part of his day!

**Bonus** - not related to sports but at the end of the game, as part of the Mets summer concert series, REO Speedwagon performed.  Kind of funny because not too many people stayed for the concert and those that did moved to the infield.  The kids ran around for a bit and they definitely had plenty of room.

I was definitely the only one that cared about it and Ryan was so bored by the concert that he preferred to occupy himself by playing chess.

I had a good time though and once I heard the two songs I knew, I put everyone out of their misery and said we could go home

Sports are a big part of our lives - I love sports, Jay does and so does the rest of my family.  The boys are starting to get more and more in to sports and I know that we will have a lot more sporting events in our future.

Kids Write the Darndest Things....Updated with pictures

from June 14th - Updated to include pictures 
Last night, Ryan asked Jay if he could play the ipad and Jay told him that before he could play, he had to write some sentences in his notebook.  Jay told Ryan, "You can write about whatever you want"

Sentence #1

Oh boy.  I have not blogged about it yet but we went a few weeks ago to Atlantic City and clearly, Ryan had as much fun as I did.   We spent the whole day on the beach and the kids LOVED it.

The water was freezing but that did not stop the kids from running in full speed.   They would run in to the water up to their waists and then run back to the shore just as fast.   The two of them did the same thing over and over again for about two hours straight and laughed the entire time.

 When their lips finally turned blue and they couldn't take the water any longer, they played in the sand and took turns digging, building castles and burying each other.

 It was so much fun, Dylan wore himself out.

We all had a really fantastic day but I didn't realize that the trip would make Ryan's new favorite place AC. I can just see it now, when Ryan starts the 1st Grade and the teacher asking the class "What did you like best about your summer vacation?"....

52 Week Project - week 16 - Rain

Let the rain kiss you.  Let the rain beat upon your head with silver liquid drops.  Let the rain sing you a lullaby.  ~Langston Hughes

I think that I hate rain more than the average person. My hair gets frizzy, I don't like getting "misted" on, and frankly, sometimes I feel like I will melt on the sidewalk, just like the Wicked Witch of the West.   The kids seem to love the rain though, especially when they are allowed to jump in the puddles (which is pretty much never, unless they are with one individual who shall remain nameless).   

I needed a little pick me up a few nights ago and nothing can do that like listening to the kids laugh - they did not disappoint and they couldn't believe it when I told them to get dressed because we were going out to play in the rain (very very unlike me). 

Luckily for the boys, we seem to get pretty good puddles near the corner but there was some flooding right in front of the building and the boys didn't even want to go to the corner

 The boys decided to line up against the outside of the building to get a "head start for a better splash" and of course, I stood in the middle of the road to make sure no cars were coming and to take pictures. 

More than once, Dylan screamed "THIS.IS.AWWWWESOME!! and Ryan was laughing so hard at times, he was bending over holding his belly.   The kids were laughing so hard and having so much fun that a bunch of people actually stopped to watch for a few seconds and all of them left cracking up laughing too.

Of course, my children never do something "a little bit" and it was not long before their pants started getting wet.  Reminiscent of my childhood trip in Hawaii and swimming in the ocean at night with Erika and Michael, the more one boy got wet, the other wanted to be wetter.   Eventually, they both "tripped" and ended up laying in the water and that is where I definitely draw the line. 

I have to admit,  I felt a lot better by the time we got upstairs and the kids laughed about it for an hour.  Maybe next time, I will have to rock my awesome Jets rain boots and jump in some puddles too!

Anyone who says sunshine brings happiness has never danced in the rain.  ~Author Unknown

Tooth # 2

from June 6
When we first realized that Ryan had a loose tooth, we noticed the one next to it was a little loose too.   Well, once the first one fell out, the second one started to become considerably looser.   On Sunday morning, Jay felt the tooth and said that it was getting looser and would probably fall out that week.   We went to Michael and Jasmine's that day and by the time we got home, the tooth was completely crazy.  I didn't think that there is anyway it would last through the next day and I was worried that if it fell out at school, it might get lost.   Ryan said that he didn't want me to pull it out but he would rather take it out himself - so I went to the kitchen to get a paper towel in case it started bleeding.   By the time I got back from the kitchen, Ryan was digging through his play tool box.   When I asked him what he was doing, he pulled out a pair of plastic pliers and said "I am going to pull my tooth out with this".  (should have taken a picture of that but I was laughing too hard and was too horrified at the same time to go get the camera)  Probably good that I didn't go anywhere because as Ryan tried to pull out his tooth, Dylan started to dig through the tool box too.  He pulled out the plastic hammer and said "Ryan, THIS is the tool you need.   I will help you - let me just hit you with this in your mouth and your tooth will come right out."  At that point, I decided it would be best to put the tools away and leave the tooth alone.   It fell out at school first thing on Monday.

Picnic in New York CIty

How do New York City kids have a picnic when they can't get to the park?

They order chinese food and eat it on a roof deck of course!  

Thanks Colleen, Katie and Abby for a great night!

Five

( from October 9, 2011 - i wrote this then and had it in draft form - not sure why I never posted it)

Ryan is five. FIVE.   The past five years have flown by and I just can not get over that my first baby is 5.    This past week has been filled with birthday excitement leading up to yesterday's birthday celebration at the park.  

Ryan's birthday was on a Friday this year and I took the day off so I could bring cupcakes to school and finish up last minute things for the party.   I decided to make some fun cupcakes for Ryan's class and was pretty happy with how they came out.

At 1 in the morning as I was icing the second batch of cupcakes(made 24), I was really wondering why I didn't just buy them at the store like everyone else. I was also thinking how thankful I was that Jasmine was kind enough to make some cupcakes too and I didn't have two make four batches.  When I saw how excited Ryan was though about all of the special cupcakes, I knew it was worth it!!

At the end of the school day, I headed over to the school with Grandma and Dylan for the birthday celebration with the class.  Ryan was so excited to show off all of the cupcakes and made sure that he picked out a great one for Ms. Morris.

Ms. Morris gives all the birthday kids a ribbon and Ryan kept his on until the second he got in bed.   October is the most popular birthday month so the day of the party, there were four other kids having birthday parties the same day - I don't mean to brag but Ryan's cupcakes were by far the best!!! yippee.

 Dylan insisted on sitting next to Ryan for the party, lol, and kept insisting he was in kindergarten too

 
I am really loving Ryan at this age - He loves school and is really enjoying all the new things he is learning. He is so smart and we have so many hilarious conversations.  Ryan is very inquisitive and for every question I answer, he has 5 followups.   He is the most outgoing kid I know and is not afraid to make new friends, try new things and is very adventurous.   I feel sorry for anyone that messes with him or Dylan though because he can turn very quickly.   He is really turning out to be a great kid and I am loving watching him grow up - I just wish I could slow time down a little bit.
Happy Birthday Ryan - I love you
xoxoxo