Thanksgiving & Christmas in Clay Center

We just returned from a long weekend in Clay Center to celebrate Thanksgiving and Christmas with my mom, siblings and their families. Ryan had a wonderful time playing with his older cousins, and we enjoyed getting to catch up with the adults. For Christmas, Ryan got lots of toys and books and a fun fire engine that will provide hours of entertainment.

getting assistance on his first fire engine ride


playing with his new front-loader

trying to be one of the big kids

Ryan with his two favorite babysitters - cousins Katie and Maggie


enjoying naked baby time with Aunt Kristen and Aunt Michelle


Christmas picture with Nana
(Jon, Nana, Ryan, Jack, Olivia, Katie, Maggie)

not so found of Santa

Little Monster

Ryan in his monster bath towel

helping mom with his laundry

Ryan gets more fun everyday. He loves his new-found trick of pulling up so now his forehead is covered in bruises from his many crashes. We had a nice weekend at home and are getting ready to head to Clay Center to celebrate Thanksgiving and Christmas with my mom. Ryan has no idea what's he in for getting to play with his older cousins for four days. I'm sure life will seem boring to him when we return.

On the Move

Ryan is really developing his own personality and becomes more fun everyday. He started pulling up a couple weeks ago for his favorite things (bath time, remotes, Grandma A) and by now is pulling up on everything - regardless if it's stationary or sturdy. He's a very active little guy, and is a huge fan of his exersaucer (which allows him to walk around the entertainment table), likes crawling under things and won't lay still long enough to have his diaper changed. His other fascination at the moment is mouths; he loves to put his fingers in your mouth while you talk and laughs every time he sees us brush our teeth. We've also found that Mexican restaurants are an easy outing for us these days since they're quick and Ryan can eat the rice, guac and cheese so we've exploring some good places down on Southwest Boulevard.

We headed to the lake last weekend and got to see our friends the Riggins and the Collins who both just moved back from Tampa, have places at the lake, and have little boys - odd conincidence. Anyhow, we went to Ha Ha Tonka State Park again with the Riggins - Ryan, Missi and their 3-year-old Jake and almost 2-year-old Cade. The boys did a great job on the hike and it was special to look back and see Todd and Ryan carrying their little guys. It wasn't that many years ago that I remember looking back and seeing them hold another buddy outside of a bar on Mass Street:)

(Jake & Ryan Riggin and Todd & Ryan)

(Zach, Todd and Ryan at the Sandbar, circa 2000)

(little Ry-guy and his Daddy)

Happy Halloween from the Abplanalps! Ryan was an adorable monkey, Callie was a banana and Todd and I were nothing. Both "kids" were very cooperative with their outfits.

Our child care provider took a couple vacation days so Ryan and I spent the day together Friday visiting Todd at work and going to the zoo. He got a cold Thursday so he was still in a daze from the medication so we took it easy Friday and had to forego the other visits we had originally planned.

With Sandra at Todd's office. He thought her phone was a great toy.

With Dad after lunch.


At the Kansas City Zoo with the kangaroos. They weren't even behind a fence!

Saturday night we went trick-or-treating with the Koons's and her sister Kate Allen in the Allen's neighborhood. Henry was an astronaught, and Kate's boys Luke and Ben were a shark and Elmo. They were stinking cute and totally got the hang of trick-or-treating. Afterwards, Ryan went to Grandma and Grandpa A's to stay overnight while we went to a grown-up party at Koons's. When we picked him up we stopped by the nursing home to visit Todd's great uncle Obbie. It was a terrific first Halloween and we had a great weekend together as a family.