Conquering the Tube Slide

This weekend Riley went to the Delaware State Park and found a huge playground to master.  There were small slides and a huge tube slide.  We have seen big tube slides before, but have been too scared to attempt them.  Riley climbed to the top of the very high slide and I was thinking the whole time that I was going to have to go up after her.  Well, Riley proved me wrong and happily went down the slide (many times).  We are so proud of our big girl!

dinner with Riley

Riley is very entertaining all of the time, but this is what it is like to have dinner with her.  She REALLY wants to watch herself on the video, not realizing that I have to take the video before she can watch it.  So, you will see her asking to "see" herself.  Enjoy!

rolling girl

Riley likes to show off her skills by rolling around on the floor....

Holiday Weekend

The Malone's took advantage of the long weekend and had lots of fun!  On Saturday we went to have a BBQ at Dylan's house -- it was so fun to play with Dylan that Riley forgot to eat her dinner.  Oh well.  Sunday we made up for the rainy day we had on Saturday by spending the morning at the "pool".  Riley donned her bathing suit and swim shoes headed out to the pool and water table on the back deck.  After her nap we went to do some more eating at Andrew's friend's house - Kyle and Molly.  Riley was the only kid there, but made quite an impression.  Today we celebrated the 4th by spending the morning at the Zoo - Riley got to ride the merry-go-round, saw the gorillas, fish, polar bears and even played on the slides in the polar bear exhibit.  By lunchtime we were worn out, so we stopped for some homemade BBQ at City BBQ and ice cream at Graters -- yum!  After a good nap (for everyone) we headed back out to the water-wonderland on the deck.  Overall we had a great and tiring weekend.  I hope Riley sleeps well tonight, I know I will.

Fun with Friends

Two months ago Andrea and I made plans to get together on June 18.  The plan was to meet at a "halfway point" - the lakehouse at Chip.  As this weekend approached, it appeared that it would rain on June 18.  We made our way up to Chip anyway - and thankfully the weather worked for us!  It was so great to spend the day with the Bailey family.  We really don't get to spend enough time with our friends.  The girls - Claire, Olivia and Riley play so well together!  The girls really liked the pontoon boat ride and playing at the playground.  We had a yummy lunch of brats and hotdogs -- good grilling by the dads.

A visit from Seattle

Dani and Cordi made their way across the country to finally land in Columbus.  We had the opportunity to spend some quality time with the girls over the weekend and it was so great to see them! Riley and  Cordi had a great time visiting the zoo and then riding the wagon around the neighborhood.  Both girls were so excited and tired out that both girls slept great on Sunday night.  Of course, we were very sad that Ben couldn't make it, but maybe next time.  The highlight of the zoo trip was Riley's first ride on the merry go round.  She was a little nervous at first, but after the first ride she was ready to go again ("more, again mommy!").  We will be visiting the zoo again in a couple of weeks, so I'm sure that the merry go round will be a top priority.  I didn't get any pictures of this because I was too busy hanging on tight to Riley on the ride!

Summer Vacation

Riley in the fowl house at Middleton Plantation.

Sitting near the deers at the Charles Towne Landing.

We discovered a new park on our trip....

Pool Day!!

Andrew and I decided to take the family vacation a little earlier this year, so we headed down to Charleston this week to "beat the heat". Little did we know it would be 90 everyday. At any rate, we found many ways to entertain ourselves and nothing could be better than spending the week with our newly minted 2 year old. I can't explain how awesome it was to spend the week with Riley 24/7. Yes, she is a big ball of energy but it is amazing to see how smart she is! Since we don't get to spend as much time as we would like to with her during our regular life, this week was just what we needed. She is becoming so independent and wants to try to do everything by herself. She is also a very big helper, wanting to open doors, push the stroller and empty the dishwasher. Everything is "Riley do it!". We went to the pool every day and also did the slides and swings at the park. There really isn't a zoo nearby so we saw animals at the Middleton Plantation and Charles Towne Landing. Riley really liked to watch the otters. We took plenty of walks to tire our little girl, Riley prefers to run.  On Thursday we went to the Children's Museum and had brunch at "Toast" -- mommy's favorite breakfast spot.  Today we headed back to Columbus and Riley did a wonderful job traveling -- we are so lucky that she is pretty easy going on the plane....I think this was her fourth plane trip!  Overall, we had a great vacation but we are happy to be home.