Week 66

The kids being silly...

 

After weeks of watching Julia jump in the pool Ryan finally did it on his own.  He wouldn't jump in unless I was in the pool and holding his hand while he jumped from the edge.  For a while he did this and got a big kick out of my parents on the sidelines clapping for him.  But then they said they weren't going to clap anymore unless he did it all by himself without holding on to my hand.  Well he was so excited to have people clap for him that he did it on his own!  Here is a video of one of his solo jumps... (and he clapped for himself!)

 

With all of this swim time he's had this summer, Ryan's skin is super hydrated.  It is sooooo soft!  It hasn't been this smooth and soft since he was a little baby.  

And nonna's and papa's house is not just about the pool.  Here are some other activities the kids enjoyed...

Who needs to walk to go pick up the mail when you can hitch a ride in the wagon on papa's lawn mower?

Couldn't resist... their faces are just priceless in this shot!

Julia looks as happy as can be but Ryan looks a little unsure of Julia driving all by herself!

A true backseat driver.

 
In this video, papa wants her to turn left and she goes the wrong way.  Ryan is not very forgiving of her mistake... but it is still so cute (and funny) to watch!

Ryan quickly got the hang of the slip and slide.

He even tried it face first which was a pleasant surprise since he doesn't like to get his face wet.

On the food front, I baked from scratch GFCF egg free cupcakes for Ryan because we ran out of our supply in the freezer.  I modified a recipe I sometimes use and they came out great.  You can't even tell they aren't regular chocolate cupcakes.  They were so moist, which is a difficult feat to master when baking GF dessert items, especially without using eggs.  The trick was using Vegan mayonnaise.

This weekend we visited our friends Angela and Michael in their new home in Brooklyn.  On the way down the kids were looking through the mail in the backseat. Ryan was reading through a grocery store flyer and he found the bakery section.  He proudly announced that they had a cake for $7 but it isn't "gluten free Ryan cake"!  We got a good chuckle with that one.  Ryan was very excited to play video games and watch Michael play Mario Brothers on the Wii.  Below are some pictures and a video. 

Attached at the hip, and sitting the same way!

Notice Ryan's left hand holding on to Michael!

In front of the "Welcome Ryan & Julia" sign on the door.

As you can see, Ryan became very attached to Michael as he always does when we get together with them.  And Julia clung to Angela.  Several times on the ride home the kids said they were going to miss Angela and Michael, and Ryan said, "I miss my friend."

I brought him up to bed a few minutes ago and Ryan says to me, "Tomorrow after camp I want to go to someone's house."  When I asked him whose house he replied, "Someone that has glasses and someone that doesn't have glasses, Michael and Angie."  What an observant sweetie!

DC