Making Waves with the Ryans: January 2014

Tea Parties with Friends

Abby loves having friends over after kindergarten before the older kids come home. She loves her friend Hailey that moved into our ward recently. They are so alike in everyway. She went from being the only girl in her class to be one of four. She loves it! They are so cute playing together I love that they invited her stuffed animals for a tea party.

Sky High Orange County

After kayaking it was too early for dinner and too early to brave the 91 freeway back home so Daddy (my 5th child) suggested Sky High that was nearby. Of course this group of kids did not complain.

Always happy at a trampoline place. Now that is was dinnertime Catherine and I got to pick dinner at yummy restaurant on the water. It was delish! It is always fun to pick up where we left off and visit our East Coast friends.

Kayaking in Newport with Life Long Friends

Today there was no school for Martin Luther King Day and we had some friends visiting from Maryland so we met up with them in Newport Beach and went kayaking.

Madison was so excited to try out her kayak and the weather was beautiful!

Abby did kayak at all but was daring enough to splash around in the water.

Blake and Nicholas are still the best of friends even miles away!

Hailey and Elizabeth always have a great time together. They are connected at the hip.

They are also both teased constantly by their brothers. They will always have that in common.

Great day at Newport with friends!

Blake's Annual Christmas Tree Burn Campout

This weekend was a scout camp out for Blake. He really looks forward to this one each year. Somehow it has become a tradition at the January camp out to collect all the Christmas trees and then burn them after the holidays. I heard they had about 30 trees they burned. This is why Mom's worry when they go on camp outs. Todd went along with them to help out. They had a great time. Every boys dream camp out. Every Mother's nightmare!

I guess they didn't get enough fire so they also made a small cave fire.

Todd said he forgot to push record for the big bonfire but I think that is big enough.

They next day they all got to shoot. Blake loved it of course. Luckily they had plenty of help.

Abby's First Lost Tooth

Abby lost her first tooth today at church. She was so excited!!! She could not wait to get the tooth bag at school the next day. She is growing up fast.

Ski Day at Brighton

Ready to shred the hills at Brighton today with these girls!!! Blake ended up with the stomach bug so he stayed at Grandma's house while we took Madison and Hailey skiing. Luckily after a little rest he was back to his normal self.

It was a great day of skiing. Madison LOVES it. She went once down the bunny hill and then declared that she was ready for the big hills now. So up we went to the higher hills and never looked back.

A great last day of our winter break before heading home.

Snowmobiling in Park City

After tubing we decided to try the mini snowmobiles at the park. They had a track the kids could cruise around on. Very cool!

Gorgoza Park Snow Tubing

This afternoon we went to Gorgoza Park in Park City to go tubing. It was a lot of fun. The hills were huge!!! It was also nice because we could connect our tubes and go down together. I was really impressed how organized and what a fun winter park it was.

Ice Castle in Midway

After our crater swim we meet up with Grandma and Grandpa and went to walk through the ice castle. It was really cool. This guy who moved from California to Utah started by making a play ice castle in the backyard for his kids in the winter. Now he builds a giant one each year in Utah, Colorado and New Hampshire. This picture is an aerial view from the Deseret News.