Category Archives: family

The Beach in Pictures

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I took last Friday off of work to make another 4-day weekend. It was my sister’s last full day in town. Since she is in Chicago, she misses a lot of Rylee’s “firsts”, so I decided to see if she wanted to be a part of Ry’s first trip to the Oregon Coast Aquarium. My dad and brother came over too and my other sister came down from Portland.

I started the day out getting up earlier than I would on a normal work day to make sandwhiches and what not. We were out the door about 7 AM. We stopped in Florence to have breakfast with some cousins from Andy’s sid eof the family then headed up the coast to Newport. Ry slept almost the whole way to the aquarium and was super excited to see her Aunties and Uncle and Grandad waiting for her! She enjoyed looking at the fish and the crabs and the jellyfish and the sharks. The sea lions were probably her favorite.

After the aquarium, we headed to Agate beach for some lunch and Ry’s first “dip of the toes” in the Pacific.

After lunch we headed down to the water. Ry enjoyed “writing” everyone’s names in the sand. She literally went down the list of family…Mommy, Daddy, Dante, Auntie, Auntie, Uncle, Grandad…it was too cute.

After that, she headed down to the water. The water was of course Oregon-Coast-Freezing. I went and dipped my toes then quickly turned back around. The cold didn’t even seem to phase Andy or Ry. She was a really good sport about it…until her feet got dirty.

(this shot of Andy and Ry looking out over the water is my new favorite of those two)

Of course, we couldn’t leave the beach without getting some family shots…

It ended up “raining” on us as we were headed back to our cars. It wasn’t really rain, it was more like a really, really wet drizzle. There was water literally dripping off of my face by the time we got back to the car. After this, she slept nearly the enter 2 1/2 hour drive home…oh and I might have too.

Growing Up Sucks…but in a good way. Really.

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Well, another 4th of July is on the books. As I was driving home at 10:00 PM, leaving the party early because Ry was ready to go home, I couldn’t help but think about how my 4th of July’s used to be. I’ve been going out to the Clark’s Independence Day bash for a while now…well, as long as Andy and I have been together, so this would be my ninth year (except for the 1 year I was down in Cali)…so 8 years in all.

Ever since Rylee was born, it’s just been…well, different. Gone are the days of watching the fireworks until 1 in the morning, then staying up until 3 AM playing board games with friends. Not only does Ry need to get to bed, but I don’t think I’d even be able to make it until 3! Our friends who used to come every year have moved away or moved on. It’s amazing how things change as we get older. I’d be lying if I said I didn’t miss how the 4th of July’s used to be. I miss all of our friends being together, staying up late, laughing, retelling the same of stories again and again (and again).

But, at the same time, I love the day I had with my family today. Playing with Rylee on the teeter-totter, seeing her face drip with watermelon juice, watching her and her “Buddy!” pick up rocks from the driveway and toss them into the dog dish full of water, watching them chase each other around or holding hands, spending time with the “extended family”, reapplying sunscreen, watching Ry “brush it off” after her ump-teenth crash-and-burn. And quite possibly, best of all?…rocking her to sleep (because I never get to do that anymore).

Also, I must add a side-note. I had one of the BEST proud mama-moments yet…a non-biased 3rd party person commented on how cute of a TOM BOY Rylee is! Sa-WEET! Score one for the mama! That’s right…I don’t have a froo-froo little girly-girl…just ask the lady at the party…now if I only knew who she was…

I have been known to be a stick-in-the-mud-LER about Ry’s bedtime schedule, but this year, I eased up a bit and she got to experience fireworks for the first time! That only actually lasted about 10 minutes before she was ready to go, but hey, baby steps. She did however, totally dig the sparklers…

It’s hard to believe this was two years ago…

Post summary: Different in a good way.

"MOM, I watch poop!"/Catching Bubbles

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Oh how I love my sisters!

I have been helping conduct a physical inventory of our factory for the last day and a half and I.Am.Tired. I decided I’d take a little break and upload one of the videos taken of Rylee over the weekend. At first, I was going to share a cute video of Ry’s first ride on a carousel. Then, I remembered this video was taken and decided that I needed a laugh instead.

The whole point of the video was to capture Rylee blowing bubbles…she really just learned how to blow hard enough to actually make the bubbles and not get soap in her mouth. But, what was caught in the background noise is…well…priceless. In 10 years, she’ll hate me for this…oh well…Enjoy!

A Range of Emotions!

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Get Ready. You’ll Laugh. You’ll Cry. You’ll get a good sense of all the emotions I felt the day my best friend got married.

It was a beautiful day. I cannot wait to see all of the pictures. Rylee was great all through the ceremony (I was imagining her yelling “HI MOM!” the moment she saw me). At the reception Ry was cuttin’ a rug! cue video #1…(side note, the audio on this video SUCKS!)

Please tell me you notice the finger-pointing whilst dancing!

The photgrapher and DJ put together this really great presentation that they played toward the end of the reception. A-Mazing! I bawled throughout the entire thing! For the record I only teared up a few times the whole day: 1-When Julia sobbed the whole way down the aisle with her dad, then MY dad started tearing up! 2-During the Father-Daughter dance and 3-this video presentation! Cue video #2…(turn the volume UP on this one…)

Did I mention I cried when I watched it? And every single time I have watched it since. It was such a beautiful day and SO.MUCH.FUN. In fact, my calves and abs are STILL sore from all of the dancing.

Note to my B: Thank you oh-so much for allowing me to be such an integral part of your and Spencer’s special day. You were beautiful. Spencer was handsome. The day was perfect.  And I meant what I said in my toast…I am really looking forward to the next 25 years of friendship, our families growing together and adding many more pages to our already long list of memories! I love you Blonde Sister.

Not just a Super Dad!

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Nearing the end of the school year (tomorrow!!), Andy’s students are just as restless as he is. Most of the kids are so ready to get out of school that they are complete jerk-holes the whole last week.

Andy works really hard to be a good teacher. If you don’t think so, just remember that we spent our Memorial Day out at his school to do some prep work for his next day. He’s got a good rapport with his students, parents and coworkers. Teaching is a pretty thankless job all the way around. Teachers work hard. They’ve got to be on the ball all.day.long. all while still teaching and encouraging kids. Wow. There is no way I could do what he does. I tell him that all the time and I really, really mean it. I tell him I am proud of him for what he does. I tell him I admire him for his patience. Maybe because I tell him these things, they sometimes fall on deaf ears. Something happened the other day, and he heard what I’ve been saying all along LOUD AND CLEAR.

A student brought him a 12 pack of Pepsi (all his students know how much he loves it) and a card. Here’s what the card said:
“Thank you Mr. Rice for pushing me to be my best even in my laziest moments you’re the best teacher that I have had. You always encourage me and give me examples. You always put it into terms that I will understand. Thank you for everything!”

I almost started crying right then and there. What an amazing man he is.