The Rybarczyks have been having fun this month!  Almost every day after school we've either been to the Safari Park or the YMCA to swim.  Colin just passed swimming level 3. He can swim on his front and back and sit dive. His new goggles from Grampy and Judy were just what he needed.  Mommy was away for a whole week this month at a conference and got to spend some time with Grampy and Judy in Florida. So lucky that Richard and Kathari were visiting at the same time! 
Mothers Day was a blast!  Daddy and Colin took Mommy to see Seals and Sea Lions in San Diego!  It was amazing - there were so many.  After seeing the seals we went to the Cockrell house where the men cooked dinner for the moms.
Colin's school went on a field trip to the farm.  They saw horses, pigs, cows, hens, and brought home a plant to take care of. He has been learning a lot about farms.  We are getting close to the end of the school year.   
Mommy's friend Janet was in town this month with her family.  Her daughter is close to Colin's age and they became fast friends playing on the playground, splashing in the water, sharing the tablet and eating pizza and sharing the last cookie :). I see a trip to Denver in our future. Colin wants to learn to ski.
Today we went to Felicita Park to have a picnic, go exploring with the dogs and play on the playground. Colin led the way, Hobie loved splashing around in the creek and Maya was doing her best not to pull Mommy.
Next month we are planning a trip to New England after Colin's last day of Kindergarten.  Mommy has to work, but Colin will be having fun with Yaya!
Pictures are in the shutterfly blog - if you need a link, let me know.

We have a new blog - maybe. Email Jenny or Brad for an invite.  Looks like shutterfly has a unlimited photo storage and a blog type area.  We'll try it out. If you want updates in the future let us know so we can get you set up to see the new site. Here is what I just posted on the new site.

 Cousins make the best friends!

We spent our family vacation in Encinitas this spring (2017).  The Rybarczyk family was joined by Yaya, Uncle Hamburger and the Findlen family.  The Findlens arrived late on Friday, but were ready for FUN on Saturday so we went to the Safari Park in Escondido to see what we could see.  We had a blast on the playground and got to see the BUBBLE SHOW! Oh and there were some animals there too :).  On the way home we stopped at Gamommys house (where Brad and Tim were waiting) to dye some Easter Eggs, play with some toys and check in on our favorite pups. Later Gamommy, Grandma West and Ernie joined us at the rental house for some Lourdes Mexican food (Yes everyone tried the chicken soup, yes it was delish)

The Easter Bunny must have come that night because when we woke up Sunday there were baskets for the kids and eggs everywhere!  The boys did a great job finding all of the eggs! We had some breakfast and went to the park, then back to Gamommy's house for Easter Dinner and ANOTHER EGG HUNT!  I'm not sure if any other kids in Escondido got any eggs or if they were all left at Gamommy's house. After they found around 200 the kids got board and the grown ups walked around to find the rest before the dogs could go outside.  We had a lovely meal and time with family (Grandma West, Ernie, Great Uncle Lynn, Grandpa Joe, Uncle Joey, Uncle Sean, Brittney, the Cockrell family met Yaya, Uncle Timmy, the Findlen family and the Rybarczyk Family there).  After dinner the movie Tolls was a nice break for some of the adults while the kids played quietly in the next room. 

Morning came early Monday.  Brad had to go back to work and the rest of us headed to Balboa park for a picnic and professional pictures for the cousins and Yaya.  Our photographer Jessi got some great shots although the boys look like they were not exactly sure what was going on.  Benny got us all home to Encinitas just in time to turn around to have dinner and see a concert in San Diego with Ursula. And for Jenny to head to Escondido for a chiropractor appointment. Timmy entertained his nephews from inside the hot tub by pretending to scuba dive and find silly fish (I wish I had a video or even a picture).  Chocolate ice cream for everyone for being so great with pictures and finishing dinner! Then relaxed with Yaya in her bed with a Peanuts Your a Good Man Charlie Brown.  It was hilarious! 

Tuesday we decided to hit the beach.  We found a great spot where the kids could safely splash around, find shells and fly a kite.  It is amazing to me how each kid is so different but they all had an awesome time.  Emmett is a master shell finder!  Colin is a fearless swimmer and Lukey threw a million rocks into the water!  After such a great day, the boys were very sad to have to say goodbye to Uncle Timmy as he had to leave for the airport before they would wake up Wednesday.  Luckily there was enough time when we got home for an encore performance of his scuba act before bedtime.

Wednesday Everything Was Awesome at Legoland!  We took the boat tour where we could see lots of Lego exhibits, then ran to the Driving School where Colin and Emmett got Lego Driving Licenses.  We waited in a long line to race police and fire trucks to stop the fire and thief, then stopped for lunch.  Next the tree fort play structure was a huge hit!  We stopped at a Lego building area before C&E quickly went on the horses knights ride then ice cream for everyone! Next we went through MiniLand and saw more Lego Exhibits.  At last we stopped to build and race some cars and ended up staying there until the park closed!

Thursday (although the boys wanted to go back to Legoland) we headed back to the beach for another great day!  The boys all fell asleep in the car on the 10 minute drive home (again I wish I had a picture).  Benny cooked us a delicious dinner and the boys watched The Peanuts Movie (which I had to buy when we got home and Colin has watched about 15 times already).

Too soon it was time to say good bye Friday morning. No one was ready to leave. Lukey wanted to take his little bed home with him and Emmett just wanted to stay. Colin wanted to get home to Gamommys house but to bring his cousins with him. By Friday night everyone was asleep in their own beds (except Yaya) and our Spring 2017 family vacation was a lovely memory.

I can't wait for next year.  I love my family.

Coming back....Maybe...Hopefully

We decided to try and keep the blog going after taking about a year off.  Going along with the theme of being late, we did his birthday interview about six months late.  He didn't seem to mind.  

(video might be having issues...working on it)

What will we have here going forward??  Our idea is that Colin will create his own videos about stuff he wants to share.  We've given suggestions like loose teeth or about soccer or school happenings.  I feel that these might be ignored and it will be him making silly noises and faces while dancing around out of the frame.  We'll see how things go.

Beach in February!

Our first February in California was a great one.  Two trips to the beach and lots of playing outside this month.  Colin is getting good at riding his big boy bike, scooter and swimming.  He loves to be active and has so much energy.

He's getting good at sounding out words and reading isn't far off.  Hopefully we'll have a video of him reading for next month.

Happy 90th Birthday Grandma West!

Rybarczyks with Grandma West

Some of the great-grandchildren

Enjoying the beautiful February weather by going to the beach.  Got some swimming in, chasing the waves, but no pictures of that.  Here he is burying mommy's legs.

On Feb 6 there was a snow storm in New England and Colin was disappointed her couldn't play in the snow, so we got our the kiddy pool to play in. 

This is Maya at her doggy training class.  We were practicing having the dogs come when called when off leach. 

Daddy needed a helper to build a new fence for the doggies. Luckily Colin has his tool set ready.

Here is Colin helping with the new doggie area.

We needed to get a new bike helmet after Maya ate Colin's old one.  It is comfortable enough that he sometimes forget that he has it on.

Mr. DirtyFace.  After playing in the dirt pile.

Hard at work.

Everyone loves a good dirt pile.  Fun for the whole family.

King of the mountain.

A boy and his dog.  He followed Hobie around carrying his chair until they agreed on a good spot.

Silly boy with a silly hat.

Being silly with Declan.

Fun at Katie's birthday party.

Legoland.

Get your tickets to the play. Staring Colin and his dog Pink Bear.

Helping with the cooking.

The Cockrell cousins came over to watch a movie.

Fun at the dog park with a new friend.

Here is a link to a new swimming video.

A Wet January

It's been quite rainy for southern California.  We've still had plenty of time to play outside and go see some things around San Diego.  We had sleepovers with cousins.  Yaya and Uncle Timmy came to visit.  And we've finally had time to try out all of our Christmas loot.  The only downside to this month is Everyone getting sick at the end of the month.

GaMommy is Colin's assistant.  He has a lot of "important work" to do at his desk

 Bike helmet?  Check.  Safety goggles?  Check. 

He found some work to do with some firewood and his tools

             
We took another trip to eh Safari Park

Planning out the route we are going to take today.

Some large pelicans were flapping their wings.

 We finally saw the bird show and it was very entertaining.

On a walk through on a scenic path

We were stalked for a bit by this bird

 Some adventures at home:

Sometimes you just need to take a break...in the driveway

Can you see the ginormous grasshopper we found??

Captain Colin driving his play structure/ship

 Yaya came to visit

Off to Coronado

No shoes on the sand...time to turn on the speed

There were some big waves and no changes of clothes

We did find some cool sand castles

On our trip to Ikea for dinner Colin measured some furniture

Playing with Yaya

Uncle Timmy came and we visited Old Town

There was a cannon

And a covered wagon

Plus a museum with stagecoaches

Mckenna slept over one night.

Bikes and scooters

We visited the Zoo, which was quite different from the Wild Animal Park

A leopard was spotted from out tour bus

Taking a minute to figure out where the polar bears were

These couldn't be polar bears...they weren't white.
They were, just very dirty and without ice/snow

In case you were wondering 

He wanted to climb the big one but settled for the baby statue

These jaguars walked around right next to us

Our favorite game was a made up game that
only Colin knew the rules to.

Not quite as many pictures this month.  Daddy has been a bit busier with tutoring and working at the challenge course.  Some prerequisite classes have also started now for the teacher credentialing program next fall.  Maybe next month we'll be able to add some mommy pictures too.