Taxes and Puddles

Today was tax day at the Wynne household.  We had hoped to knock them out during Rhys' nap, but a few tax complexities combined with a short nap meant we still had more work to do even after Rhys woke up.

We knew our only shot to keep going was to bring out the big gun of distraction...the iPad...

Elliott likes the iPad too as it means that Rhys isn't torturing him for a minute.

Powerful as it may be, even the iPad is limited in its ability to hold Rhys' attention.  So, before too long we had to head outside to burn off some energy.  Luckily, it was raining.  Yes, I did say luckily.  Because, rain = puddles!

After some good play time, we came home for a bath, some pizza and an early bedtime (because Brian and I were quite tired).

P.S. Are we the only people who still do our taxes completely manually?  Probably.  We do like to make things harder than they need to be sometimes...

Aloha

We went to Kauai four weeks ago.  It feels like four years.

It was a nice vacation.  Was it like a vacation pre-Rhys?  Nope.  Did I feel as rested as I would have liked to when we got back?  Nope.  But it was still nice.  And it was very fun experiencing it all through Rhys' eyes.

Rhys' favorite parts of the trip had nothing to do with Hawaii.

1.  The special bag.

We bought this bag for Rhys hoping it'd help keep him focused at the airport.  It worked great.  He LOVED it.  Here he is boarding the airplane with it.

2.  The shuttle bus

Rhys absolutely loved the rental car shuttle buses.  Loved, loved, loved them.  I think it's safe to say they left a bigger impression on him than the airplane.  Not a great pic, but documentation nonetheless of one of our the shuttle bus rides.

3.  Debra

Rhys has a special love in his heart for Katie's partner, Debra.  Getting to hang out with her every day was pretty awesome for him.

4.  The excavator

The house next door to the one we rented had to have some septic work done.  The adults were not too happy about the situation.  Rhys thought it was awesome because it allowed him an up close and personal view of an excavator at work.

And, now, some pictures of the actual vacation.

Rhys did great on the plane.  We had no issues and he even settled down enough to nap when we told him it was time.

We had one really fantastic day at the beach.  It started off a little cloudy but it cleared up quickly. 

Man on a mission.  I've got sand castles to build, mom!

While a warm day, the water was still quite cool in spots.  Rhys and Dada, though, braved it and had a ton of fun.

I braved it long enough for the photo opp.

Oh, yeah, I'm pregnant.  We're a little less focused on that than the first time around.  I think is only our second official belly shot of the whole pregnancy.  (22ish weeks for the record.)

Me and my little man.

We are blessed to have enjoyed such a lovely trip together.

We did our part

So you may have heard the Seahawks won the Superbowl.  Kind of a big deal and I want you to know we did our part.  We wore the gear, drank (root) beer, ate chips and sat on the couch.  We were good Americans.

Brian's shirt is a relic from the mid-80's.  Pretty cool how appropriate it was for the game.

I am a bandwagoner.  Brian bought me this shirt the day before the big game.  Luckily it fit over the baby bump.

Rhys has faithfully worn his shirt throughout the season.  I'm pretty sure the Hawks owe their victory to him and his support.