Bicycle Vs Yaris

So this past Saturday started off innocently enough. Riley and I left to the house to run some errands and get the grocery shopping down. In the midst of these pleasant adventures, my cell phone starts to come to life to get my attenion, stopping just short of exploding.

Apparently, on Louie's bike ride to work, the chain decided it didn't want to do it's job anymore and snapped in two, leaving him quasi-stranded at a friend's music store. Well, I can think of worse places to be stuck. So Riley and I speed through check out and drive to the store because Louie still needs to get to work. We get Louie to work, go home to empty out the car, grab a sandwich for the child (because of course it has to be lunch time) and back to the music store we go.

Now here is the dilemna. We don't have a bike rack (which I will be rectifying soon because of the events of this day). This is the trunk of a Toyota Yaris...

And let's pretend this is the bike I own. It's not the exact one but you get the idea...

Now, the moral of the story isn't changing the laws of physics and getting this to work (which I did by the way). It was keeping an almost 21 month old occupied while I did it. So what did I do with Riley you ask? I let him drive the car. As in, I put him in the front seat where he happily pretended to drive, push buttons and go through my coupon organizer. So once the bike situation was resolved, I was met with this lovely vision...

*sigh*

Conquering the Bridge

The past three nights at the local zoo have been Member Appreciation nights. What this means is that the zoo is open from 6 PM to 8:30 PM for members only. Normally the zoo closes at 5 PM. So this worked out great because Louie had the day off so after I got off of work we went over to the zoo. I can't count on one hand the number of times all three of us have been able to go to the zoo together.

Last year the zoo opened up a new building, the Rainforest Falls exhibit. Here's a picture from a local news article so you have an idea of what it looks like. Birds fly around freely and the enclosures are very subtle. Sometimes there are multiple animals in the same place too.

So now look at the picture and see that bridge? Riley is fascinated by that bridge. Usually he gets 2 steps onto it and freezes. You can see the water between the slats and the waterfall is right next to it. Tonight was different though...

At the end it slopes up a bit so Mommy had to give a helping hand...

He was so proud of himself for getting across. :-)

Ketchup: The Ultimate Condiment

As all parents know, you have to pick and choose your battles. When it comes to eating, as long as food is going into the mouth and being swallowed, I'm not picky on the manner it ends up there.

The three of us went out for a pre-Father's Day dinner wanting to miss out on the madness at restaurants on the actual holiday. As is usual for us, we ordered Riley's meal right away so he had something to keep him occupied while Mommy and Daddy ate. This restaurant is great because they offer to take his order before we even get a chance to ask. Also, they are super quick to get it out to us.

So Riley get's his grilled cheese sandwich, fries, and pickle. We put a little ketchup on his plate for him to dip and everyone is happy. (Especially the people who were sitting next to us because Riley kept trying to talk to them.)

Now whenever Riley has ketchup on his plate, the first thing he dips is his finger. Ketchup is its own food group, I guess. Finally I'm able to remind Riley about dipping fries and entice him to eat some of his grilled cheese. Both of these get the dip treatment... no problem, he's eating. That's all that matters.

Now we come to the pickle. Specifically a spear dill pickle. Can you guess what happens next?

Yup... ketchup and pickle. Dinner of champions. He actually went through two pickles like this thanks to Mommy sacrificing her own pickle for the happiness of her beloved child.

He's eating. That's all that matters. Right?

Happy Father's Day!

Happy Father's Day to all the wonderful father's in my life. You are all great men and definitely worthy of your own "day".


:-)

Softball Game!

So I have recently gotten back into playing softball courtesy of a co-worker who has a team. I'm just a sub but if my injury record in the 3 games I have played is any indication, that may be for the best.

1st game- Pulled hamstring
2nd game- pulled groin
3rd game- pulled achilles tendon

With Louie's work schedule, I sometimes have to call upon reinforcements, aka Grandpa, to watch Riley while I play. Riley doesn't quite understand why he can't run onto the field during the game, so watching Riley equals keeping him occupied elsewhere. This is easy to do where the games are because it is a huge park, complete with playground and nature trails.

So while Mommy is busy hurting herself playing softball Riley and Grandpa are off having fun.

He's such a ham for the camera....

After the game, they came back over to the field. Do you think Riley would want to run out on the field now that he can and all the other kids are doing it? Of course not. He wanted to play with the bats. I think he has his sports mixed up though... note the excellent hockey stick hand positioning.

My Son and Modern Art

Ah yes, no writing implement, intended or not is safe from my son now. Put away the pens, pencils, crayons, markers. Food is even potentially in danger of becoming an art medium. (Though sometimes he confuses writing implements with food. "Riley, take the pen out of your mouth. Riley don't stick the crayon up your nose.")

Riley has learned to draw.

*cue ominous music*

Okay, so it may not be that bad of a thing. Something to keep him busy, you say. I look at this way... he may have the Modern Art market cornered some day if his first masterpiece is any indication.He even get's into the recycling spirit by gracing the back of a credit card solicitation with his splendid creation. Makes this California mom so proud *sob*.

New Beginnings

I've decided to re-start my blog on life over here at blogger.com. For the 4 people who use to check "Life of Riley- Tales & Adventures", I'm hoping to expand a bit any maybe talk about more than the child *gasp*.

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My last post at the old place was March 16, 2009. Geez, I've been a slacker. A lot of going ons has occured since then. Riley and I spent 12 days in California, it decided to finally stop snowing (in April), and Mommy and Daddy (aka Samantha and Louie) have decided to get on the eat healthier bandwagon. Don't worry, the world is not ending. And no, it's not April Fools.

So here's to eating more of these:

And less of:

They sure look good though....