Ryker's 3rd Birthday Party

After months of awful cold, crazy rain, and some tornados, we had a wonderful day for Ryker's 3rd Birthday Party. It was gorgeous. It was over the 4th of July weekend, so we missed out on some folks but the ones that were here made Ryker feel very loved.

He loved running around with family and friends. He came back inside once every 7 minutes asking if it was time for his birthday yet - Ryker code for "is it time for cupcakes?" I'd say "nope" and he'd go "oh. okay!" and take off running again.

By a twist of fate and ironic timing, we got to welcome Chuck's cousin Maren and her daughter Julia. They live in Washington, so we rarely get to see them. The Van Nostrands are a small bunch - my brother-in-law says they reproduce like pandas - so having Chuck's brother, mom, uncle, two aunts, two cousins and a second cousin there was a rare treat.

Here's a picture of Chuck's second cousin, Julia, with Ryk and Jack. We went ahead and told them she was a cousin. No harm no foul. I think Jack's giving her a tour of our garden.

And here is a sampling of Van Nostrands, with an Emily thrown in for good measure. (She is my former coworker, whose daughter is 14 HOURS older than Ryk.)

And finally, here is the video of us singing to Ryk. My favorite part is the dramatic entrance by Miss Norma at the very end. She was one of the former daycare providers for Jack and Ryk and has known both of them since they were born.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mJxvMqjg5yk
Thanks to all for making it special! Same Bat-Time, same Bat-Channel in September for Jackson's party.