Thursday, July 21, 2011

A little of this, A little of that, oh, and bubble olympics!



Here we have our superstar (as you will see in the video I hope to post tomorrow), Morgan Kennedy McLean...star swimmer of the summer of 2011! She will take the swim test tomorrow and I imagine will pass from "Waterbug" (swims in deep end & shallow end with no bubble but grabs onto the wall occasionally) to "Whale" (one who swims also in the deep end and the shallow end with no bubble and who during a "swim test" can go from deep to shallow end without grabbing the wall. Our dear Morgan did this very thing today!!! YEAH MORGAN!!!

She had a ball, throwing her face in the water at any and all moments possible. Pretending to dive in from the stairs (though they looked more like belly flops!). It was great though and she was awesome!!










Here are some picts from the week. As you can see here, Maddie (or "Mads" as Morgan is calling her) isn't sure if she's hot or cold....


And Connor, well, Connor is just great! He gets dragged around to Bubble Olympics, grocery shopping, pick-up/drop offs. Oh - he complains - he doesn't seem to like the car or car seat very much anymore - but he manages and I give him A for effort.







Thursday, July 14, 2011

Siblings

First...So, Maddie tends to desperately needs naps...she really can't function without one. And if she's in the midst of something...anything, she can collapse with the best of them.

Example here:



So I take Maddie upstairs & put her to bed. I come downstairs & this is what I found...




YOu think they're related?!
Maddie had lots of time at home last week. She took the week off from camp & discovered: kitchen cabinets, lifesavers and gum in Mommy's purse, and the bread drawer where she proceeded to bring me 2 slices of bread. Yup...trouble! Needless to say, I was happy to see that she was back at camp, happy as ever, and playing with actual toys!!!

Here are some more sibling bonding moments since we've readjusted to being home.
Connor & Madeline....





Morgan & Madeline...




Morgan & Connor...




Playing Catch-Up!!

So here are the rest of the picts from the weekend in South Bend. Good ol' Sandy leads us off...Connor & his Auntie Katie have a bonding moment (one of many!)...
And he meets his cousins...

We celebrate Aunt Katie's birthday. Apparently I didn't have the camera out for Upa's birthday! Sorry Upa!
Cousin Lucy!
And more bonding with Upa!
And here's the fun right here!!!
Connor & the boys
Casey & Maddie playing "Who looks better with no shirt?!"
Connor with Uncle Brian. Thought this pict came out better... must have another one somewhere!

Wednesday, July 6, 2011

McLean Family Reunion 2011!!



It was a wonderful family reunion - my how all the kids have grown and just LOVED each others company! It was so great to see them just pick up from where they left off last time - even though it's been quite some time since we last saw everyone (except Uma & Upa!).

The girls (and Connor) were amazing on the flights and our arrival there could not have been better...despite forgetting the car seats for 2/3 kids!! Oops!

We arrived on Friday morning. The girls got reaquainted with the house (and pool!) very quickly and had great naps before KBEL (Aunt Katie, Uncle Brian, Ethan and Lucas) arrived. And shortly thereafter the rest of the crew came - Cousins Debbie, Cameron, and Lucy. Mary Leigh. Cousins Holly, Norm, Lexi and Casey. And Max! (We missed you Kerry!). And who could forget the dogs...Pamela and Sandy.

Lots of people, lots of great memories. Besides the hilarious sleeping situation (and my exhaustion of the 1st night) of trying to find a place for Uma & Upa to sleep when they were locked out of the neighbors house, one of my favorite stories from the weekend is when after spending a few days (and celebrating happy hours as the McLeans do) Morgan was in trouble ( a minor infraction!) and Kevin told her to go to the basement. [This is where we celebrated Happy Hour the night before in the tradition of the McLeans]. Morgan's response was, "Is it happy hour?!"

She wished!!! Lexi & Casey are such amazing cousins to the little ones. Patience they definitely displayed when Morgan, Ethan, and Lucy chased them around the house, threw balls at them in the pool, and wanted only to sit on their laps! Lucas and Maddie were very busy also - but independently - and that's the way they liked it!

Morgan and Ethan were like fish in the water - Morgan swam without a bubble all over the shallow end. She was great! Maddie tried it once and decided it wasn't for her. She had plenty of fun entertaining herself (and skinning her knees) on the side of the pool. Connor moved from cousin to aunt to cousin, and I think hit almost everyone at least once.

Thanks very much to Baboo, Mary Leigh, Uma & Upa for making this all possible. We had a ball catching up and visiting with everyone! And as I mentioned to Lexi - who is 15 and going to get her permit in November - it was only 9 years ago she was the flower girl in our wedding! Time flies!!!
(more picts to follow)...