There's a monkey loose!

Ryland loves to climb and usually it's on my furniture. So today I decided to take him down to a rock climbing place. He did a super job and climbed some pretty high walls.

Trick or treat

Ryland really had the whole vampire act down. He'd walk up to a door, stand like the first picture and then scare the people handing out candy. He really wanted to make it back home in time to hand out candy, but by the time we got home everyone had already come.

Pumpkin fun

Ryland picked out the first dracula stencil. After approximately 2 hours of cutting it out and trying to tape it on the pumpkin, Ryland announced he was bored and probably would not stick around for the cutting of the pumpkin if we chose to continue with the pattern. We decided to switch to this easier pattern.

The three pumpkins all carved. Dracula, a spider and Ryland's very own creation.

Has anyone seen the tooth fairy?

Ryland has published his Christmas list for this year and in the number one slot is......his two front teeth.

Life question #1 - Does free equal good?

So I've now worked for Carondelet Hospital for about 4 years and every year they throw this party at the water park here in Tucson. This year I decided that maybe I should take advantage and go with Ryland. Or maybe not? It somehow reminded me of a mix between the open swim days at Kennedy and Marcus pools and a 2nd ward potluck. Once again I'm reminded that free does not always equal good.

This perhaps was the most exciting thing to Ryland as evidenced by "jumpy." He was fascinated with the trash guy's forceps that he used to gather trash. Ryland would follow him around just to show him where trash was.

This is Ryland eating his corn on the cob, which is interesting because he won't eat frozen or canned corn; he has totally convinced himself that they are two different things. If you notice, he's gingerly eating this corn with his side teeth because his two front teeth are very loose.

This is what happens when Ryland tries his "serious" dance moves on the wooden stairs up to the slides. Notice the bloody leg wounds. He sat on the steps sobbing, "Will you get me some help, I can't move?"

Ryland had fun on the slides and in the wave pool.

Cooking 101

Ryland got his 10th sticker on his chart, so he was able to make cookies. He basically made these all by himself. Of course I helped with the oven and the salt.

The next Jack Hannah

Ryland has found his new passion. He's going to be a zookeeper. This is him holding a legless lizard and another type of lizard on his shoulder. He liked to let the legless lizard kiss him.

Michelle, we went straight through a waterfall

So this is Ryland, Nana, and Papa on the Shipwreck Rapids ride at Sea World. To totally appreciate these pictures, you have to understand the story behind them. I'm deathly afraid of riding rides that have a potential to go really fast or make big drops. I also hate cold water. Anyway, I was fully aware that this ride did not fit the first two of my fears, however, I was 100% confident that I would not leave this ride without getting seriously wet with what I was pretty sure would be freezing cold water. So the first two pictures I took as the ride first began, at which time my mother was yelling, "Chicken, chicken" to me as I was snapping them. The third picture was at the end of the ride and you'll notice my mother's hair is not dry. The last photo was taken right as they got off the ride, as my mother is saying to me, "Michelle I saw this waterfall, and I thought there is no way that we're going straight through that"....as I'm laughing...."Michelle did you know that they was a waterfall?"

Got fish?

This is Ryland feeding some sting rays. Ryland said these guys were "slimy". Ryland learned quickly to get the fish under the water so the rays could suck the fish off his hands. If he didn't get the fish under the water, a seagull would swing by and snag the fish right out of the water.

FLIPPER

Ryland spent a long day at Sea World. (Believe it or not, Nana and Papa stayed for 8 hours) These are some pictures of Ryland petting a dolphin. He also was able to feed them. He said that the dolphins felt "squishy."

New Record at the San Diego Zoo

Ryland and I just got back from San Diego. We had a lot of fun. We set a new record for time spent at the Zoo with Nana and Papa--5 hours!!! Ryland liked the Skyfari ride, the petting zoo, and getting his face painted.