Christmas Break

Ok, I know its the middle of January.

Riley was home pretty much from December 22 to Jan 3rd, so we had lots of family time.
He helped me make cheesy bread, I think his favorite part was sprinkling the cheese.


For Christmas this guy got soooo much cool stuff.

See this neat ramp thingie, that all of the cars work on?


Apparently, it's not as cool at the laundry basket ramp (that is also a slide)

Cruise 2011

Since I'm super behind in posing pictures, I'll try to get a bunch up today.

So the 2nd week in December, we went on a Cruise, on the Norwegian Spirit. We left out of New Orleans, and went to Costa Maya (where we just shopped a little bit), Belize (we went on a river boat tour, then to some Mayan ruins), Honduras (we went snorkeling and sea kayaking) and Cozumel (where we just shopped a little bit). We had a great time, and it was super relaxing, we spent a lot of time on the sundeck just reading...maybe a little napping. On to the pictures.

In Belize, we went on this river tour and ruin trip. We got off the ship, it was pouring, took a 15 minute boat ride to the port, then another 15 minute boat ride to the mouth of the river. The trip up the river was awesome. We got to see lots of wildlife (in the picture is a group of howler monkeys), and had a great tour guide who taught us about the culture and history of the country. Then we had a local lunch, and on to a bus to take us to Altun Ha. It was misting a little bit when we got there, but not too badly. We walked around the grounds for a while and even got to climb to the top of this ruin.


In Honduras, we went on a snorkel/ kayak tour. The snorkeling was probably some of the best that we have seen. Lots of coral, and tons of colorful fish. The only downside was that since it was in a cove off the ocean, there were quite a bit of waves, so we definitely worked off some of the calories from the ship. We had lunch there, and then went on a Kayak trip to another cove. The guides then showed us some of the local fauna, and even picked fresh coconuts for us. No pictures, but we were on Roatan, West End. The tour was run out of the SeaBreeze Inn, and we had lunch at the Cannibal Cafe (food was fantastic), and they offer the same tour to people saying at the inn.

When we finally made it back to New Orleans, we decided to walk around the French Quarter, instead of sitting at the airport. We had beignets at Cafe Beignets, and looked at all of the neat architecture.

Bat MAN!!

The other night, Riley decided that he wanted to be Batman, so one blanket later he was "flying" around the living room.

Family Pictures

So, once again a friend and I got our families together to trade family pictures. Riley had a great time and did so well for the camera, but of course got a little silly.

Pumpkin Time

So, one night after work we drove over to the Pumpkin patch in Liberty. Riley had a great time giving me grain to feed the goats (he didn't want to, because they kept nibbling on him), and running around.

We get on the wagon to go to the "pumpking patch," which is really a harvested corn field that has pumpkins in it. He picked one out and brought it home for Dad to carve.

Riley even helped Brian design the pumpkin face, and helped me pull out the pumpkin seeds, (apparently the inside feels like "eww". After the pumpkin was carved, Riley kept asking if it was going to fly away (!!). Who knows.

Tractor Daze

Well last weekend at the Agricultural Hall of Fame here in KC, they had an event "Tractor Daze." I have to say the Ag Hall of Fame seemed like it is pretty interesting, they have a blacksmith shop, a building devoted to the art of raising chickens, a 1 room schoolhouse w/ teacher, a little train, and more.

Riley loved the train (of course), so he and Brian had to take a ride.

They watched the Tractor Pull.


Looked inside old trucks.



And looked at all kinds of tractors. Riley mostly patted on the front, but was able to sit on some of them.

Camping

Over the 4th of July weekend, we drove up to the Bolfing family resort in Cold Spring, Minnesota. Along the way, we stopped in Boone, IA where they have a train museum, and lots of train stuff to walk around / climb in.



Riley got to go on his 1st boat ride, he loved it. Yes I know the life jacket is pink, Riley isn't too manly for safety.



However, he wasn't too fond of the Lake part. Riley refused to touch the water with more than a hand. Oh well, it'll work out. I think over all he had a good time. There were lots of boats to watch, and he ran everywhere.



One of the most interesting parts was the camping. We brought our tent, and camped with Brian's parents. I think Riley enjoyed the tent part of the trip, I know he liked climbing into our bed whenever he wanted. Packing camp was a little challenging. It rained a good part of the night, and in the morning there was still some light rain. We managed to get almost everything out of the tent without waking Riley. Here we are with the last piece to go, the sleeping bag he was on. The trip home was great. Riley was so tired from the last 3 days of being up from 6 am to 10 pm, that he slept at least 1/2 the way home.