gwen zoe and riley find time for a mini jam session during her birthday party.

julie and oren came for a whirlwind 18 hour visit. here everyone takes a moment to enjoy a cocktail and admire that sweet sweet ambulance.

rye shows off some of his special acrobatics. this move is called a jump down turn around summersault backwards.

a couple of intrepid gardeners back from sowing some seeds.

"i found a fuzzy caterpillar in the mud. do you wanna see it?"

rev. billy is like a big kid trapped in a grown-up's body which may explain riley's utter admiration.

savi visits vermont to meet peepchick in utero.

lynne and rye give a big thumbs up to looking like tourists at the floating bridge.

"i have a beard."

world's muddiest kid.

lynne holds riley to keep him safe from all those terrifying sheep and their babies.

maybe you think he's playing in the pond, but nope that's our garden under all that water.

lynne and rye do a little playing in the mud.

riley likes spring because "i can eat breakfast naked!"

showing off the 38 week belly outside on the newly snow free lawn.

matt is so lazy. it's a good thing riley is such a strapping three year old.

eleanor is a swing pusher par excellence.

dinner with baby asher is non-stop good times.

anton helps rye set up an awesome train track.

wistfully watching the big kids suit up for the earth day parade in keene.

hurray for springtime and barefoot soccer in the driveway.

with this package from gee-geed and big da we think we might actually have made it to the end of riley's birthday presents.

"if i look up, then i won't bonk my head."

turns out watching the rug dry IS more fun than watching paint dry. (unfortunately for us, after all the giant fans and dehumidifiers had done their job the flood came back. now we're just waiting for the water to go down again so we can repeat the process. awesome)

sometimes it's like trying to get a tornado dressed.

future flutist?

the presents just keep arriving. this package from lynne caused quite a stir.

at first the flood was exciting, but after a few days even vacuuming up the water loses its luster.

"i'm a baby tiger in my cave". a baby tiger that soon after this picture was taken closed the door on his fingers. who didn't think that was going to happen?

pretty much the best part of any trip to the pool is the warm shower afterwards.

only in vermont would 5 days of a totally flooded basement be referred to dismissively as 'seasonal moisture'. at least it means the snow is melting.

riley tests out the baby's co-sleeper and a few of it's toys and pronounces them satisfactory. phew.

"look, mama. i got a thomas train!"

a fire fighter hat and a new olivia book. riley is basically in heaven.

bop bop is ready to lend a hand should blowing out the candles prove too difficult.

riley's week of birthday celebrations continues with a dinner at the moges.

what a couple of cuties.

we all have our listening caps on as margaret reads her blessing for the new baby.

apparently, special craig is alergic to baby blessings.

the 37 week belly is a big belly.

happy birthday, poopchick!

it's not easy being three.

the body crayons from nama were a huge hit.

we saved a few presents for the actual day.

despite (or i guess because of) the giant mountains of snow still on the ground, riley and mommy started some seedlings that will grow in our basement until spring comes to vermont.

dean and rye seem skeptical.

special craig missed the memo about wearing green.

"this is my fire engine. it has a bell and a flashing light. it was a present."

the piece de résistance. i don't think he's ever played with a single toy for so long.

a snazzy new set of pj's from rye's grandspecials needed to be tried on right away.

"there are three blueberries on this cupcake!"