Vacation, All I Ever Wanted!

Well, we have been on vacation for a week now. What a fun week we have had. The kids have been having such a good time. We have been at the beach almost every day. Meghan has told me that she is a mermaid....that explains why she never gets out of the water! Nolan has progressively gotten more brave as the week has gone by.

The weather here has been good for the most part. We had a cloudy/rainy day on Wednesday and so we headed out for a Dougie drive. We drove down through Chatham and Orleans and then on to Truro and stopped in Provincetown. We took a walk down the main street (Commercial, I think) and enjoyed the quaintness and the sights there.

On Thursday, we went over to East Dennis to meet up with Alison and Sarah (from Twinstuff). We had nine kids at the beach and boy did they have fun. They were running through the tide pools and collecting crabs. They all got along so great!

Today, we spent the day at the beach. Then this evening the clouds were rolling in as we were eating dinner. Meghan decided to leave the table to dance to the radio. When she made it out to the street, I turned to her and told her that we don't play in the street. She looked at me and said, very smugly, "I'm not playing, Mommy, I am dancing" and she continued her dance. My, my, my....her teenage years will be fun!

We went to candy bingo tonight with Tommy and Caroline and Annie. The kids were a little antsy, but started to get into it. Each time that Meghan had a number come up on her card, she would smile from ear to ear and say "I'm winning! I'm winning!" Well, as it happens, we didn't win. As everyone started gathering their cards and turning them in, Nolan looked at me and said "Did we win this time?" When I told him no, he started crying. He was so sad not to win the candy. Maybe next time...

Wow, I've been remiss!

I have not updated in so long and so much has been going on.

We've been spending so much time at the Cape. We were down there for the Fourth of July and Liam actually got to participate in the Pots and Pans parade this year, they all had so much fun. We spent the week afterward at Sue's while Jay, Leslie, Jessica and Brennan spent the week "up the street". The kids just had so much fun playing with their cousins and hanging out. They sure do miss them now. We saw a plane go over the house last night and Nolan said "Jessica and Brennan live on that plane!"

We finished two weeks of swimming lessons at the beach. We got off to a rough start with Nolan...apparently I HAD to be in the water with him, but he ended up doing well. And Liam, who was not old enough for lessons, joined in every day and got a certificate at the end, too.

Last Saturday was big doins around here. We went to Kohl's to get underwear for...you guessed it...Nolan!!! He has been working on being a potty boy. He had two great days this week with NO ACCIDENTS. And a couple of not so great days, but he's learning. And he's filling up his sticker chart, too!!

Other stuff we've done so far this summer...Strawberry Picking, Crafts at The Village Toy Shop, a trip down to the beach with Katherine and Michael (their vacation), playgroup, Christenings, Birthday parties, a trip to the Swan Boats in Boston. A fun filled summer!!

Beach Time

Well, we had a wonderful day on the beach today. The kids went down with Daddy while I waited for Liam to wake up from his nap. When we all got down there together, I had to lay out the blanket, because lunch on the beach actually means a PICNIC! They ate up everything and then they began their explorations. They had all kinds of stories for me. Next, I saw Meghan heading to the water with a boogy board. She was amazing. She would climb onto it, floating in on the waves, balancing...I was equally scared for her and proud of her.

Shortly thereafter, she headed down the beach again with Kerin. Next thing I know, she is running down the beach with a bird feather in each hand, flapping those tiny little wings and trying to fly. The smile on her face told it all! What fun to be three!

Stop Growing Up!

I really can't believe how big these kids are getting. Each day they say or do something that just makes me wonder where my little babies went. Our latest accomplishment is walking...further than just the neighborhood. We normally would take the triple for any of our walks, but this week the twins have said that they want to walk. On Tuesday, it was about 800 degrees out when we walked down to the garage to pick up the van. The kids were so good, listening to me, staying by my side, holding on to Liam's stroller. So, today we did it again. We walked down to the Landing to the Post Office, then to the Library, the park and home. Nolan started to get a little more daring, but I was able to reign him in. Meghan did great, until I decided it was time to leave the playground. She was angry, she stood by the side of the road with a puss on. She refused to cross the main street on her own, so I had to grab her...just to prove that she is still only three. Her mood changed quickly and we were able to have a pleasant walk home.

Is it his Irish genes?

Nolan has a special talent. He knows just what his mother wants to hear(and sometimes what she doesn't want to hear. It is like he has a sixth sense, ESP, or he is just going to be a ladies man. He knows how to give me the business by telling me that "We love the ankees! We don't like the Red Sox!" He gets a rise out of me every time. Today was the ultimate. I had sent him down to the family room with a small bag of marshmallows. Shortly thereafter, he came back up. I looked over and said "Buddy, you are not getting more marshmallows, I told you that is it." He walked over to me and said "Mama, I'm not here to talk about marshmallows, I'm here to talk about cuddling....wanna cuddle with me?" The natural gift of Blarney??

Bugs and Three Year Olds

Anyone who knows me, knows that bugs freak me out. Whether it is an ant, a spider, a bee heading for me or a mosquito, I jump at the site of a bug. (And don't get me started on Junebugs....ewwwww) So, with all our outdoor play in this nice weather, it is inevitable that I will be in a match with these awful creatures, especially with that stream we have in the back.

We've been sitting outside a lot and playing. The kids are running from the slide to the swingset to the sandbox to me. Sometimes I run with them, sometimes I am sitting in my seat. Either way the bugs are there. So I have taken to clapping to get rid of some of those small little annoyances. Unfortunately, my three year old son doesn't see them as annoyances. Each time I try to get one of those little buggers, he tells me to stop because "He's just visiting, Mama!"

She thinks she's smarter than I

We were in and out and all over the place today. Walking, running, playing inside, playing outside, a pretty full day. During the kids' outside time, I ducked in from time to time to do some laundry, turn the oven on, whatever. The kids were having fun drawing with their sidewalk chalk, playing on the slide, playing in the sandbox. As dinner time approached, I was ducking into the house a little bit more. Once I had things set on the stove, I headed outside to play some more. Meghan was sitting on the edge of the sandbox digging (I had caught the two of them trying to fill their pool with sand five minutes earlier). She looked up at me and very sweetly said to me "Mommy, can you go back inside?" I saw the wheels turning in her head and said to her "Why? So you can misbehave?" She answered me, just as sweetly, "Yes, Mama."