Happy Valentine's Day!
Topic: Holidays

Happy Valentine's Day! I hope everyone is having a good one. Ryan and I did.
This morning we got what was one of the weirdest Valentine's things I've ever seen. A letter in a red envelope came through my letterbox. It had silver writing on it that said, "Happy Valentine's Day Love, Dad." It turned out to be an advertisement for a church! Nice of God to be handing out Valentines to the citizens of Harrogate.
Yesterday I made cupcakes to bring to a Valentine's party. I took some, along with some of those little kiddo Valentines, over to my next door neighbor's. That was fun. Ryan got to play with the kids there for a little bit.
We went to a Valentine's party at the Strike Zone at MHS. My friend Sarah organized the whole thing. It was a nice party. There were about a dozen kids, most of whom were somewhere near Ryan's age. There was free pizza, along with lots of sweets and snacks. (There were the cupcakes I made, cookies, brownies, rice krispy treats, mini-cheesecake bites, "goldfish" cheese crackers - only they were dolphins, and marshmallow peeps in heart shapes. Someone brought vegetables, oddly enough. The lady who brought them good naturedly said, "What was I thinking?!"
Ryan sat at the table in a booster seat. He was having a blast! He had pizza in one fist, and brownie in the other and a huge smile on his face. He loves parties! The people and the hustle and bustle seem to energize him. He really comes to life at get togethers.
We had a Valentine exchange. Each kiddo had a box with their name on it. The person providing the boxes used small size priority mail boxes. Cool! I can use it to mail a book to Larry! Anyhow, the haul was quite impressive. Ryan got in his box:
9 Valentines
8 lollipops
2 candy necklaces
1 goody bag (with one of the necklaces, a ring pop, and a cute little M&M mini-filled guy).
After everyone ate, we moved over to the bowling lanes. This was Ryan's very first time bowling. Not only were there bumpers on the lanes, but there was also a ramp that you could put the balls on so that they got some speed up before going down the lane. (You can see the ramp in the picture to the right.) I thought that was neat. Ryan LOVED bowling! He enjoyed pushing the ball, and was delighted to see it hit the pins and see the pins drop.
There were also some arcade games. There was one that was a driving game with a big steering wheel. I don't think it was plugged in. Ryan was having a great time just sitting on my lap turning the wheel. I had a vision of him as a 16 year old driving a car, and was grateful that is still a long time off!
All in all we had a fun time at the party.
We came home and Ryan slept for quite a while. He was pretty tired out.
Larry had e-mailed me in the morning saying when he would be in his room if I wanted to call. I thought that was sweet. In the evening I called Larry and he talked to Ryan. Larry sent me a Valentine's Day card that arrived today with perfect timing.
It's been an exciting couple of days for Ryan.
Last night Sarah's husband watched Ryan while Sarah and I went to the spouse coffee. At the coffee we had fondue and played bunco. I'd never done either before. There was a cheese and beer fondue that was heavenly.
Bunco was fun. It's a good activity for socializing, without straining your brain too much. (You do have to pay attention though.)
It was after 10pm by the time Ryan and I got home. It was fun to get out and have a girls' night. Ryan did well at Sarah's, so I was happy about that. Today Sarah told me her husband was amazed that Ryan did not stop moving the whole night. I said, "Welcome to my life!"