| Birthday time!! Can you believe I'm 2 already? Neither can mom & dad. Here's my "Big Boy" birthday party at a place called Jumpin' Jammin'. We had a really great time. |
| HeyRyan.com Month 25 August 2004 |
| Here are my new friends, Jack O'Connor and Gabe Taylor getting a little milky at the party. I think there were about 20 kids in all at my party--and we ran around like wolves. |
| Here I am with my friend, Max Musto from down the street. His sister Isabella goes to school with Zoe. We had fun throwing puff balls and chasing each other around the place. |
| After my party, I took a nice long nap and then it was time for more action--my very first circus. I really had a great time--I love large animals and stunt midgets. What a country. |
| This was one of my favorite parts--when the elephants marched around the arena. We had pretty good seats so I could see them really well. I yelled at them quite a bit. I think they noticed. |
| This was the highlight of the evening--the stunt lions. Whenever I've seen a lion at the zoo, all they do is hang out on some rock and sleep. Not these lions, they were pretty nimble. |
| Here's a close-up of one of the lions. Hey, don't you think they look like big guinea pigs? Maybe mom would let me take one home as a pet. Raw steak can't be too expensive, right? |
| This month was also very exciting because of my trip back east to meet my Great Gramma Crissy. Here I am on the plane A) sitting in my seat and B) behaving nicely. So mom and dad, why don't you guys just black out the pure hell that really happened on those flats. Now, don't you feel better already? |
| We had to stay in Pittsburgh for a couple of days so that Dad could have a business meeting. So we took one day to visit the local water park. That's Zoe in front and me & mom in back. |
| I really love the water. I hoping to start lessons next year and figure I'll start surfing by age 4. I've got all the lines down, "So baby, hang ten". And, "Toes on the noes, sweetheart". |
| We also got to attend a Pirates-Giants game at PNC Park. We had great seats, right behind home plate so I could really see all the players. Hey look, there's a whole city in the outfield. |
| Here's mom posing in dad's new Pirates cap. We walked around the stadium so that we could really check things out. Good hot dogs there! |
| The thrill of being that close to the action was a bit too much for me to handle, so I decided to take a nap right there in PNC. How pathetic. |
| Here's Barry Bonds getting ready to hit. Dad says he's not very nice but is a great player. He got a walk this time but a home run later on. |
| We left the game a bit early and took a rickshaw ride back to our hotel. Poor guy nearly died. Here we are going over the Roberto Clemente bridge and that's the stadium in the background. |
| My Great Gramma's house is fun to explore. And there were a lot of places where I could play with my choo-choo trains. Even though I'm a little guy, dad says I was pretty well-behaved. |
| Finally we got to visit my Great Gramma Crissy. She's never met me, so it was nice to spend some time with her and see her house. She even made us waffles for breakfast that morning. |
| Great Gramma Crissy also has something else that we don't have much of in California--a yard. YIPEE!! Zoe and I chased each other around the yard and pretended to be ninja fighters. |
| Here we are with our Great Aunt Red. Wow, look how long Zoe's hair is (it's shorter now). Red took us down the street and gave us a tour of her house and back yard. More running. |
| Dad had told us that our Great Gramma liked to dance but we didn't believe it until she busted out her boom box. Man, for 86 years old, that little lady can move. And she likes rock music. |
| Zoe and I had a great time visiting our Great Gramma and seeing all of our relatives. We're pretty sure we have more relatives within a 1/2 mile of her house than in all of California. |
| On our flight home, we stopped in Chicago. I was pretty grumpy until I spotted this T-Rex skeleton in O'Hare. Wow, that's one big pet. |
| After we got back, mom and dad treated us to a visit to a place every little kid dreams of--the horse track. Yes, we were bored to tears. |
| Luckily, I spotted some railing by the winner's circle and turned it into a jungle gym. Aside from the smell and heat, Del Mar isn't half bad. |
| The week following marked the onset of the season that Zoe loves the most--our Disneyland passes are back in action. Here we are on the choo-choo train that circles the park. Me with my glazed "trains rock" look, Zoe in the latest princess dress. Life is good. |
| After we got off that train, we got on another train--something the locals call a monorail. This one was fast and took us to the hotels. |
| No Disneyland visit would be complete without an outrageously-priced and un-nutritious food item. This time I got a gigantic sucker. |
| I bid you farewell from the waterpark in Pittsburgh with a funny face and some food in my mouth. A great big hug goes out to my Great Gramma, I can't wait to see you again. And don't lose that boom box. I love you. -Bigs |