Landon is 4!!

Happy Birthday to my four-year-old!  How can it be?  It is hard to believe Landon is 4!  It really doesn't feel like that long ago that I was pregnant!  I am quite happy not to be in that state...but four already?  

Our Birthday BOY!!

 All his presents were on the kitchen island and he was dying to open them!  

 He is all into super heroes so this was one of his favorites!

 When it is your birthday you get sprinkle pancakes with candles!!!  Why not?  

 Landon was asked a million times in the weeks leading up to his birthday what he wanted for dinner. EVERY SINGLE time he said "Dad's ribs" SO...that is exactly what he got!  Bill smoked ribs for Landon!  And he really enjoyed them!  He also really liked having the "special" birthday cup!  He made sure it got rewashed and used for every meal all day!  He even asked for it the next day!!  But realized it wasn't his birthday so he couldn't have it!  (yipes for a dollar store find!!)

Happy Birthday to YOU Landon!  You amaze me every single day!  You are such a happy little boy who loves to smile and in doing so makes everyone around you happy!  The person that you remind us the most of is your Papa!  You are so much like him...the way you smile and laugh at things, your easy going personality, your willingness to give into Addison (or others) the moment they ask and your sense of adventure.  You are often times referred to as "double dose"  meaning that you got a little extra Rierson in you!  You remain a Mommy's boy which I have NO problem with at all!  I think you tell me a hundred times a day that you love me and that makes my heart so happy!  You are fairly neat for a four-year-old boy with a room that is often times cleaner than you sisters.  However, I am not sure you hear anything the first time I say it!  But I will cut you some slack since you are four!  Landon we have been totally amazed at your growth over the past year!  Daddy was just saying how impressed he was with your soccer skills!  We are so lucky to have you as our little boy and look forward to all that is to come!  We adore you so much!  Happy 4th Birthday Landon!

Landon's Birthday Weekend

August 2- So we decided to plan a weekend around the things that Landon likes to do!  So, we went fishing.  Since Landon has been days old he has been happiest outside!  Four years later that hasn't changed!

Showing me the BIG worm!  I have to say I wasn't a fan of touching these things! 

 Addi didn't seem to mind!

 Daddy giving some lessons.  Which was good because I think I was Addison's age the last time I was actually fishing! 

 The cutest fisherman out there without a question!

 Here is another...Addison had never been fishing so she was really excited to try!  She got some casting lessons from Daddy!  

 While Bill was working with Addison, Landon pulled out a fish ALL BY HIMSELF!  

 I LOVE those pictures....you can see how proud he is!  It was just a little fish but he did it all by himself!  

 Just relaxing like a real fisherman! 

We had a great time!  We came home and gave Landon an early birthday present, the Lego Movie and watched it all together!  Now for the REAL celebration tomorrow!  

The Lollipop Meet

July 22-  So today Addison participated in the Lollipop meet at the pool.  This was a meet just for the kids in her Mini-Wizards class.  She was okay with it but still seemed a little nervous.  They did a really nice job and announced all the swimmers with their favorite color, animal and what they wanted to be when they grow up.  Addison's favorite colors were blue and yellow (Laurel Ridge colors), favorite animal was a horse and she wanted to be a horse trainer when she grows up!

A little nervous before it started! 

 She surely looks the part!  Check out that stance! 

 She did a lot better on back stroke!  I think she is most comfortable with that one.  She really has a hard time with the breathing otherwise! 

 It is ALL good when you get a doughnut at the end! She is so cute! A little Marge Simpson like with her blue swim cap made for long hair!  But adorable none the less!  

Lacrosse Camp

July 17th-  So the neighborhood we live in is awesome!  Our neighbors across the street, the Elrod's, are really into Lacrosse.  So much so that they have nets up in the yard and are always playing.  Well, Matt told us about this camp for little ones.  I asked Addison if she wanted to go and she didn't think so...well she changed her mind.  Matt had all the gear for us so there was no reason not to give it a try!

I realized once I got there I knew NOTHING about the game of Lacrosse so me and Landon were looking it up on my phone while we waited!  He brought his soccer ball to kick around!  

 The last day of camp they had a series of games...well Addison was the last in line in this relay so she had to carry ALL the sticks to the other end of the field.  She did a pretty good job for being one of the smallest ones there! 

 Addi figuring out the mouth guard!  I am not sure she is aggressive enough to play a sport that requires a mouth guard?

 Our little Lacrosse player!  She came back for a water break after the warm-ups and thought it would be more fun if they could just do that the whole time!  

 What a boy!  He would wear superhero stuff everywhere we went if I let him! 

Mini Wizards

So, we decided to join the pool this summer!  Addison joined the Mini Wizards Swim Team and Landon took lessons.  Both of them LOVED it.  Addison got a taste of what it would be like to be on a swim team.  I think she likes it but is not quite confident enough.  Landon went from clinging onto me for dear life to diving for dive sticks!  I would call that a success!  Addison got to participate in a "Lollipop Meet" and did well.  She got some ribbons and was excited about that! I am not sure we have a competitive swimmer on our hands but I was glad she got exposed to something new!  It gave us a reason to get out of the house pretty early too so that was good!

Addi and Lauren

 Addi and Emmy

 Our little Mini-Wizard

 The Team

Lion King

Ever since Bill and I saw the Lion King in San Francisco in 2004, to celebrate our 2nd Anniversary, we have wanted to take our kids!  With tickets being so expensive we didn't think Landon was old enough quite yet so Bill took Addison on a Daddy/Daughter Date!  They went with Hannah and Trevor!

Addison LOVED it!  She couldn't stop talking about it and looking at the book that Bill bought her.  She had him download the music onto her iPod and has listened to it nonstop since!  I am so happy that she liked it so much!  Later in the week we went to a "behind the scenes look" at how they put on the makeup and run the puppets. Bill was out of town for work so I took the kids.  After getting wildly lost and being ever so grateful for a smart, resourceful husband who got me to the Kennedy center by looking at an iPad in Suffolk we arrived!  It was really cool to hear all about it!  I got all excited about it....so Bill booked us tickets and we saw it together!  It was an early birthday present!!!  A good one too! The show was even more amazing than I remember it and I still felt like I was four!  I would recommend that show to EVERYONE! Now I can't wait to see it all together as a family!

Fourth of July!

My FAVORITE holiday!!!  We actually had a great time...we didn't leave our little neighborhood!  Bill and Matt (our awesome neighbor) smoked some meat and we all just hung out!  It was PERFECT!  The weather was really really nice.  Cool actually.  I guess from talking to the locals they don't remember a 4th of July like this!  We will fight the crowds next year as it is on my bucket list to celebrate one 4th of July in our Nation's Capitol.

We even had fireworks!  Well, this mommy is a little paranoid so I bought a whole bunch of glow sticks!  Same thing right?  Well, I was able to sell it at least for now!  We all had a great time!

BBQ BATTLE in the CAPITOL!

June 18-  Since March we have all been looking forward to this event!  Bill got a smoker for his birthday and has been cooking up some delicious meat!  The secret ingredient to the yummy meat is watching BBQ Pitmasters on the TV (so he says!)  So as a family we have watched ALOT of BBQ pit masters!  Addi and Landon know all the people by name and probably can tell you who won!  So, when we found out they were all coming to D.C. we had to go!

The forecast predicted 100% rain.  Well, for whatever reason we have really lucked out with the rain. Our trip to Myrtle Beach was also supposed to be rainy and we escaped that.  Our luck didn't change...we managed to escape the rain.  As a bonus the crowd was much smaller too!  SCORE!

 Bill with Johnny Trigg

 There were a lot of promotional booths there and this was a bank with a booth and depending on how many tickets you gathered you got certain prizes.  I LOVE Landon's face!  It was so much fun watching these two!  There was an event photographer there too that was snapping pictures like crazy!  His face is just so funny!  They had a lot of fun.  We normally don't do festival things like this so it was fun for all of us!  We left with oodles of free stuff even though we were disappointed by the food.  We surely weren't getting the competitors food!!  

 Addison was the first to spot Myron Mixon...ya think they have seen a few episodes of BBQ Pitmasters?  Addison's take away was that he was much nicer in person than  on TV!  All of the pit masters were just regular guys cooking some meat! 

 Bill was able to get his cookbook signed by Myron Mixon so that was pretty cool! 

 Another of Addison's photo shoot ideas! 

 of course Landon had to follow!

 We even got to see the Oscar Meyer Wennie Wagon!