Gut Busters

The other day Riley was watching Tom and Jerry cartoons and laughing so hard. It reminded me of when he was just a baby and would laugh hysterically when he would watch the beginning of The Fox and the Hound, though I could never figure out what it was about that movie he found so funny. Anyway, it reminded me that he is growing up so fast and will not always be so easily amused so I quickly ran downstairs and grabbed my camera, determined to capture it on film. His laughter was, of course, not quite as hard since I was filming him but I still enjoy it. So now, all of you can too.

Proof of Genius... it must run in the family

Ok. I know that Dad says every mother thinks their own child is the smartest and most wonderful kid that ever existed but I am offering some video-graphic evidence that Riley may just be the smartest kid in the world. :) Just kidding, but I am incredibly proud of the fact that he can read and is not yet four. And though we work with him, Reed and I can't reasonably take any credit for it. He is just a smartie. I know that I have told you guys about it before but I thought I would show you a video to prove it. I love you guys! Enjoy, and be proud. I know I am. P.S. You will probably have to mute the music on the side to hear the video.

Riley's first game of Marco Polo

Click to play | Make your own Smilebox

Adam's Taughtme Video

Adam this is incredibly awesome, but when the character gets to the point where he starts throwing small children, um.. was Riley the inspiration for this? Is this what you do with him when we leave you two alone? Should I be worried? But really, this is seriously great. You are so talented. :) Love you!

Feed the Birds... uh.... Ducks

The other day, Riley and I decided that we had not had a grand adventure in a while so we set out in search of one. I grabbed a half empty bag of bread, loaded Riley into his car seat (an increasingly difficult chore) and headed out to Salem pond. Now, while I have driven through Salem on a semi-occasional basis, I don't think that I had been to the pond in oh, probably 15 years. As I wind my way through the streets, praying that my memory is steering my correctly I come upon the south parking lot to the pond and I instantly remember the last time I was there. Rachel and one of her gymnastic friends (Allison?) who lived in Salem, and I had gone to some hair store in the Orem mall and bought temporary dye. I believe Rachel's friend died hers blue, Rachel did purple (which didn't really show up on her dark hair) and I had dark cherry and subsequently stained the shoulders of my white t shirt. The day after dying our hair I believe that I was on the Payson Community Theatre float for the Salem parade, which started in the south parking lot of the Salem pond... or ended there. It was 15 years ago, people.
Anyway, I digress. Back to the present, Riley and I pulled up. I scanned the water for any signs of ducks, but saw, perhaps 2 floating way over on the other end. Ok, I tell myself. It can still be fun, if we can get them to swim close to us. There was a pier jutting out a few feet into the water about half way around the trail that edged the pond that I thought would be our best bet to get them to come close. As we got onto the trail and just around the first curve, we stumbled into where the rest of the ducks were. Up on shore, resting in the shade of the trees. I am talking dozens. Riley was absolutely enchanted. We stopped about 15 feet back from them so I could juggle the camera in one hand and pull out a slice of bread for Riley and show him how to break it into pieces. He was so excited he kept hollering to the ducks, "Hang on, I'll be right there!" Once he grabbed the piece of bread he headed right into the middle of the herd. It made me a little nervous, even more so because I stepped back a few feet so I could get some pictures but on the whole they were fairly well behaved, except for one duck who raised up on its legs to grab a piece of bread out of Rileys hand and nipped his finger. Riley promptly labeled that one 'Grumpy' and we decided that the next time we come out to feed the ducks, we aren't going to give any bread to 'Grumpy'. Anyway, here is a video of Riley feeding the ducks followed by some pictures. Enjoy!

Don't forget to watch Rachel's Verizon commercial. It should be showing up in Riley's movies on the sidebar. It's so cool to know someone famous. :) And did you guys catch that I linked Rachel's weatherbug site and Adam's clothing store too?

VERY COOL

Make sure you pause the music at the bottom to watch this. It is incredibly cool.