Technical Difficulties

Well, I had lots more stuff to post, but it won't let me upload pictures for some reason. Sorry - it seems we are experiencing technical difficulties.

Ryan's Third Birthday!

Ryan turned 3 on Saturday and we hosted about 11 two & three year olds and their parents for a cookout on Sunday night. It was, let's see, a tad stressful and I can't say that either of us particularly enjoyed the actual birthday party. BUT, lots of our friends said that they really enjoyed it and all the kids seemed to be having a blast, the Birthday Girl included. So there you have it -fun was had by almost all! Here are some pictures and the blowing out of the cake video. If you want to see all 40-something of the pictures - just click on "churchill chatter" over to the left and it takes you to our Shutterfly site. Then you crazy stalkers can even purchase pics if you want!

Maine 2009

Tommy and I celebrated our 11th anniversary by flying into Portland, Maine and driving up the coast for a stay in Bar Harbor. It was a nice trip, but unfortuately it started raining shortly after we got there and didn't stop until we were on our way back to the airport. Here are a couple of pics.

Stuff

It has been brought to my attention that I haven't updated the blog in over a month. Crap - exactly what I feared would happen. We haven't had any exciting outings but here are some pictures of Ryan, Chester, and Sunni Cat that I took after we got our new super fancy camera. I am looking for some sort of online tutorial or class to take because I would like to learn how to actually use it on a setting other than automatic. It takes pretty good photos all on its own, though.

Sunni Cat - fierce!

Ryan - sorry she's topless

Chester - hanging in there!

Another fun day at the Zoo!

We are really enjoying our Zoo Atlanta membership this year. Aunt "T" went with us this morning. Check out some pictures! Ryan and Aunt "T."

I thought this dude worked at this exhibit because he was there when it opened and was walking around all official-like. After further reflection, we think he is a creepy guy who hangs out at the bird exhibit, possibly to be close to the children?

A beautiful day in the parking lot at Zoo Atlanta!

Bumblebee Song

I got home late from work tonight, and found Tommy & Ryan having a little performance over dinner. He got the video camera out and everything - strong work! Enjoy - this is a new song about a bumblebee that she learned in music class at school. Apparently the first time she sang it with "mommy" but Tommy had her change the words to "daddy" for this rendition.

School Performance (and more!)

So last week Ryan's school had their silent auction and class performances, and I guess "graduation" for the kids going up to kindergarden. Ryan's class sang three songs. I've posted a video of one of them, but as you can see she is only barely following along.

I was hoping to post a cute video each month on here, so I had her redo a couple of the songs yesterday at home and she did much better. I don't know all the words to these - she must have learned them completely at school. Enjoy! (Watch the bottom video first!)

Mary Lou Ryan is Back!

Ryan has been on gymnastics hiatus since last spring - but finally started back and is loving it. Saturday was "parent observation day" so Tommy and I dutifully toted botht the camera and the video camera to class. And you know how I love a good comparison. Here are some shots of Ryan's class last spring versus this spring. I guess she has changed some this year - enjoy!

May 2009 - Getting her certificate
Last spring - one year ago!

On the bars!

Fun Day at the Greenbergs!

Jay and Henry Lawrence and Henry

Ryan

Hanna, Ethan, Ryan, and Henry

Olga and Alex hosted one of the gatherings of law school friends and family that we try to do a few times a year (we have all promised to do better). It was so much fun. We missed the Hamricks and George and Bryan today and hope everyone feels better. Everyone had lots and lots of fun passing around baby Henry (though most of us got spit up on). Ryan had an absolute blast playing with "big kids" Hanna and Ethan. She let them roll her up in a blanket and push her down the slide! Olga took lots and lots of pics - here are just a few. If you want to see the other album (or buy the pictures for your own album) just click on our photo site "Churchill Chatter" - it is linked on the side. Enjoy!

Mary Had a Little Lamb, Little Lamb, Little Lamb

This is Ryan's favorite song - I finally got her to do most of it on video. She actually knows a couple more verses - I didn't know there were that many!

A little comparison

Here is a little comparison of Ryan in the bamboo at the zoo from April 2009 and July 2007 - enjoy!

While RC and I were being silly girls. . . .

Tommy was off on a fly fishing trip with his buddies at the Hiwassee River in Tennessee. They caught some rainbow and brown trout.

This is a great pic but it looks like that fish is kind of tiny, no?

Trip to the Zoo

We decided to join Zoo Atlanta this summer so Sunday was our first zoo trip of many this year. Sally and George went with us and the kids had a really good time. Ryan loved the elephants, giraffe, and tiger. We skipped a lot of stuff but I figure we'll catch everything eventually. The kids play area was really fun - they have a big jumpy, a train, a carousel, and a petting zoo (gross). Here are some pictures.

Busy Saturday

Ryan and I had quite a busy day today. First we had gymnastics. Then we changed clothes at gymnastics and drove to Lindberg station so Ryan could ride a Marta train for the very first time (she loved it so much!). We took Marta to the Inman Park Festival and walked around, ate, looked at art, etc. Ryan got a big ol Big Bird painted on her face - she was very still! We went to Sara's and watched the parade and Ryan played with Donovan and all Donovan's toys. Then, we took the train back to the station, got McDonald's for dinner and came on home. Then, we had the three O'Malley kids over and they played and played until after 8 pm. Ryan was a trooper today and powered it out with no nap and no tantrums. I think she was asleep before I left her bedroom!

Oh - this is funny. We passed the port-o-potties at the festival and she asked what they were. I told her they were tiny little outdoor potties. And she looked at me all serious and said, "tiny little potties for tiny little babies, right?" I guess I didn't explain it very well, huh?

Puerto Rico

Tommy and I got to take a short 3.5 day trip to Puerto Rico during my (totally awesome) spring break from work. He worked for a few days in the PR office, and I lounged on the beach and saw some sites. I loved, loved, loved the trip! While poor Tommy was working, I relaxed on the beach, toured Old San Juan, and visted the El Yunque National Rainforest. I really think vacationing there is a great idea - there are beautiful beaches, the Camuy Caverns, the rainforest tours, Old San Juan, and deep sea fishing and diving. And not to mention no passport required, the U.S. doller, and most people speak really good or passable English (for us dummies who don't know other languages). I definitely think we should go back as often as we can, but next time we will stay a day or so longer after Tommy finishes working so he can enjoy it too.

Playdate with George

George and Ryan had two playdates the second week of April while I was on spring break from work. Ryan got to hold George's little brother, Henry, for the first time. Sally and I were pregnant together and the kids are only three weeks apart. The pics were terrible because of the moving 2.5 year old targets! But check this out - I included a picture of Ryan and George's very first playdate in December 2006 and one from this week so you can see how these kids have grown (George wasn't always a head taller than Ryan) - enjoy!

Fernleaf Neighborhood Egg Hunt

A few weeks ago we went to the Fernleaf Neighborhood Easter egg hunt. It started at 4:00 p.m., perfect timing for when Ryan woke up from her nap. We were a little late, and unfortunately a lot of the eggs were gone by the time we got there. There were enough left, though, that Ryan had a really good time. And she looked adorable, as usual. At one point she sat down in the yard and just started opening eggs and eating candy!

We left and Tommy cooked a couple pork tenderloins on the BGE and we took them to our neighbors' house for an NCAA final four cookout. Ryan had a blast with her friends Preston, Elizabeth, Owen, and Caden.

Tomorrow we are going to hang out and play, finally go visit Sally and new baby Henry, and pack for our trip to Puerto Rico.