Brayden: Ryan's Best Friend

Ryan went to Brayden's birthday party - could they be any cuter?

More St. Louis

Grandma flips Ryan

St. Louis Zoo

Well it took us forever to get these pictures but here they are at last!! We spent Memorial day in St. Louis with Grandma and Grandpa Riek (not to mention Maxx). On Saturday we went to the zoo.

At the hippo tank Ryan seemed more interested in the fish then hippos.

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Of course it wouldn't be a trip to the zoo without a picture at the snake. This is about as close as Ryan was willing to get. He's kind of scared of the snake.

Raja the elephant in fine form.

The train (needless to say) was a huge hit.

Weee!!!!

Stop bugging me daddy!!!

Petting the goats.

Hey that's my bench!!!

There are a couple of really cool tunnel slides in a nice play area for the kiddos.

Ribbet!!!

The people running this carousel are not exactly quick. We sat on the zebra for almost 10 minutes before it finally started. The funny part however is that it started pouring rain while we were waiting for the carousel to start. Looks like Ryan and I found a good spot to wait out the rain. By the time we got off the rain had quit.

After the carousel with finished the day at the zoo by what else? A trip to Ted Drew's. For those of you who aren't familair with them it is a legendary custard shop on Route 66 not too far from the zoo. SUPER YUMMY!!!!!

Bird pics...

What a beautiful bird!!! This guy was hanging around our feeders for several days. This is an indigo bunting. A bit of an oddity in that there is no actual blue pigment the feathers. The blue comes from the way the light refracts through the feathers. Not unlike a blue jay which also has no actual blue.

The World on His Shoulders

Poor guy. I think he had a tough day

Ella's New Ride

For those of you that will know Ella in about 13 years - run. run now. run for your lives.

Bob and Jess should seriously consider not allowing this child to have a driver's license - maybe when she is 21?

For some reason, Jess thought it would be a good idea to get Ella this jeep. In theory, sure, great idea. However, reality shows a whole new side to Ella.

Ella likes the gas pedal. She does not like the steering wheel. Instead she goes full force ahead only to crash into whatever is in her path - smiling and laughing the whole way - apparently she likes the crash - yikes!

Ryan - the unknowing passenger, decided to pick up her play cell phone. Probably to dial 911. Ella decided that was not necessary and grabbed the phone and proceeded to "drive" while talking on the cell phone, with no hands on the wheels - Jess... do you do this?

Despite Ella's best efforts to cause whip-lash, Ryan had a blast with this jeep - and this is all he talks about! He has mastered the steering wheel, but for some reason doesn't get the foot pedal. So whereas Ella's driving is a most frightening ride, Ryan's driving may cause slight whiplash as he starts and stops and starts and stops.

I think these two need a bit more practice.