Ryan and Ryley's birthday party was combined this year into one party. Their birthdays are really close, so it worked out great.

It turned out to be a much nicer day than we thought when we headed out. We dressed for the cold, but surprisingly it was a lot warmer when we got there. That was good because everyone was able to hang outside. They rented one of those bouncy things for the party. The kids always love those things. They are great because they give the kids a chance to get as crazy as they want without the parents getting on their backs, which is great for the kids. They also pretty much tire themselves out, which is great from the parent's perspective, too. We actually threw Jacob and Madison in there. Jacob loved it right away. He was squealing a lot as he got bounced around. Madison was a little more reluctant, but she eventually warmed up to the fun. As usual, Rob, Ken, Joe, and Dave played horseshoes. I have no idea who won. There just wasn't the typical amount of chirping for me to figure it out.

We brought the stroller with the hopes of getting Jake to take a little nap during the afternoon. Liz thought that might be a good idea for Madison, too, but they didn't bring her stroller. She figured it would be fine to carry her, so off we went. Well, let me tell you. Rob and Rosie don't live in an area that is very good for walking. By the time we got to the end of his driveway, I was exhausted. Then we looked left and right and decided to go right up the rest of the hill. I figured how much more of a hill could there be, right? Well, there was a bit more. Then, when we reached the top, we saw a little down, and another long up. We decided this was a dumb idea and headed back to the house. Neither kid even pretended to sleep.

Since there were 2 birthday boys, there was a ton of presents. They opened them at the same time to increase the excitement. There was wrapping paper everywhere. You know how there's always one annoying kid that gets in all the pictures you're trying to take of the opening of presents? Well, that turned out to be Jacob. He was in his glory with all the paper and boxes. He didn't care about the toys, he just wanted to play with the paper. I think the only way we kept him out of the shots was by zooming way in.

Ryley got this really cool electronic drum set. I think whoever gave that was trying to get back at Rob and Rosie for something. It was loud and crazy. You could set it up so that it would only play thru the headphones, but that wasn't how it was done. Ryan figured out all the bells and whistles of the thing. We felt bad, but at one point we had to ask him to stop. He looked pretty sad, but he switched to the headphones for us. Ryan got some cool supplies for his arts and crafts. He also got lots of stuff to go with his lemonade stand.

Blowing out Candles	Licking the frosting off the candles	Paula and Madison snacking
The grandkids	Ryan and Madison	The Big Jump
Jake "Bouncing"	Steven and Ryan Bouncing
Ryley and Mommy	Maybe Joe was on the winning team?	Liz and Jake
Ahhh, the happy couple	Ken and Jordan	Papa and Jordan
Liz and Jordan	Rob, Ken, and Jake	OK, this is the infamous "Poop Finger". (I was trying to catch Jake as he was heading off the couch and got a little surprise! Yes, everyone ran for their cameras instead of a tissue. Nice!)
	More photos are in other family albums:      * Ken/Amy      * Liz/Joe

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