Summer Vacation: Week 3 (North Myrtle Beach!)

June 17-24th was spent in North Myrtle Beach.
Once again, my parents booked rooms through their timeshare, hosting my family & my siblings' & their families. It was a great time, being a mini-reunion. I hadn't seen most of them since this time last year, and it was great to just be around everyone.

The car ride down...the very LONG drive, wasn't so much fun, but it was worth it.
We already ordered a photo book & shipped it to my parents as a thank you. I hope they like it.

And now the pictoral review:

the boys admiring the view from our balcony, 14th floor

 Aidan & Brennan enjoying pool time w/ their cousin Jack

 where we stayed

 Cillian & I

 3 of my 4 men ;) (Aidan dresses himself...)

 my handsome hubby (I can feel his embarrassment reading this, but that's just tough!)

 Brennan

 Aidan

 my sister & I (btw, our dance party was a favorite from this trip!)

 Cillian

 view from our room

 GNO!

 Pat rode the performer's unicycle at Barefoot Landing

 Barefoot Landing

 darn humidity kept fogging up the camera! Still, it was our best family photo from the trip

 my sister gave me this red wine. And the humor: of us 3 girls, she is the middle sister.

 Cillian finally got to meet his godparents

 Cillian & I with my parents

 Brennan & Addie (he says she's now his best friend)

 palm trees...I love seeing them

 Yeah. We saw this not-so-happy face quite a bit on the drive home.

 One of the gorgeous views we saw on our drive

It was a very nice trip. :) By the end, it truly felt like it went too fast.

Summer Vacation: Week 2

This summer is flying by compared to last summer. Amazing what the morning sickness did to me last summer!

We're enjoying our time together (for the most part;), and I hope my boys are having a fun summer. Week 2 for us:

Cuddle time on the couch: Aidan & Cillian

 movie time for the 3 boys

Coach-Pitch started for Aidan

 Lazy afternoons playing in the backyard

 Brennan started tee-ball

 Cillian taking a good nap (last week in the bassinet)

 We picked up their portraits from Target

 One of Cillian's 3-month pictures

Week 2 was busy & fun.

Week 2 also had with it Story Time at the library for Brennan, a playdate at a park for Aidan, and Cillian's 4-month check-up. The lil' cutie weighed in at 13 pounds, 1 ounce (not quite 4 months at the time). The doctor was pleased, telling me most babies gain 1/2 ounce per day, and Cillian had been gaining a full ounce. :) That's my boy! The nurse was also amazed that he has never had a bottle. She made me feel pretty good about our exclusive breastfeeding.

Thursday we hit the road for Myrtle Beach! Stay tuned for week 3's post. :)

What He Does

He admires the gifts that they are from God, seeing past annoyances.

He takes Aidan to every single Boy Scout activity, enduring an abundance of bug bites for the sake of fishing.

He rocks Brennan in the middle of the night, even though he is 4 and too old to be getting up still.

He wakes up every single morning with the kids.

He wears our babies to keep them happy.

He provides food on our table. clothes for our backs, and a solid roof over our heads.

He leads us in prayer each day.

He rides a 6-ft unicycle...that is certainly unique.

He is a father who sets a great example for his children, reflects God to his family, and today we wish him a most HAPPY FATHERS DAY!

We love you, Patrick!
Thank you for all you do for us.

Almost Beach-Bound!

Thursday we hit the road (the very long, 17-hour road;) to North Myrtle Beach!
My parents arranged for another mini-family reunion again, hosting us all in their timeshare rooms.
It's the only time I see almost all of my siblings, as we're in many different states (CA, MI, OH, NC, and SC). My boys are super excited to see their cousins, we're excited for Cillian to meet everyone, and heck, it's the OCEAN!

I am pretty sure this will be Brennan's 1st time to the ocean.
In fact, the last time we went to Myrtle Beach, Aidan was 2!

Crazy.
It was a blast back in 2006, and I am certain it will be again this year, too.

Watch out SC...we're getting ready to invade!

Menu Plan Monday--June 13, 2011

Hello!
I haven't done a MPM in some time, but I need the organization. This week's menu is using what we have in the house, hopefully avoiding any trip to the store (except for coffee cream...that could warrant an emergency! I need coffee!). We're driving down to Myrtle Beach on Thursday to see my side of the family, so we want to use up what we have & not spend any more $ at the store!

Monday: Crock Pot Mexican Chicken
               ~I'm making the chicken like this, then it will be served over Spanish rice w/ either black beans or refried beans. Topped w/ shredded cheese, salsa & sour cream if prefer. Corn if I have it.
Tuesday: Hot Dogs, potato rounds (black bean veggie burger for me)
Wednesday: Honey Chicken Stir-Fry or sandwiches

Thursday we leave for Myrtle Beach! :) Which means the rest of the week will be fun, convenient foods, eating out, drinking adult beverages....ah. Nice.

Thanks for stopping by & have a great week!

Summer Break: Week ONE

The 1st week of summer vacation has been a pretty good one.
We kept busy, but not over-scheduled.
The boys bickered, but played well together more.
I'm sitting here thinking "It's already Friday. That went fast!".
And to think that next week will be even busier with summer rec stuff starting...ready or not.

A recap of our 1st week:
Monday: Boys' pictures at Target. Adorable. :) It went well taking them by myself.
Later that day we enjoyed a nice trip to the park. It was seriously fun, watching my older 2 boys enjoying each other's company, running up the big hill, exploring trees...brothers are a gift of each other from God.

Can you see how red Aidan is? It was getting HOT.
So we went directly from the park to get some ice cream, with chocolate syrup & sprinkles, of course.

Tuesday: Story Time for Brennan started at the library. We stayed there for about 2 hours, the boys playing, Aidan & I checking out many books, and we even made some copies of fun things to do for craft projects, etc. (I found my old teaching stuff...woot!) Cillian slept nicely in the Beco.
After lunch we made a butterfly & caterpillar craft project. The boys played in the sprinkler while the paint dried.

Aidan's adobe house at the library

 paper towel tube painting (the caterpillar)

 Handsome :)

 excited to be messy

 caterpillars!

 the butterfly

 Cillian watched all the action

 sprinkler time

 fun in the summer sun

Wednesday: Aidan's 1st art class at the library. They made Guatemalan plates, making for a fun hour-long class for him. The boys also had dental appointments that day. Once again, no cavities! Yay for that. This was also Brennan's 1st dental visit. Pat took them, and I was told Brennan was excellent. They both came home super excited over their new toothbrushes & dental floss.

(heck yes I have a picture, thanks to Pat;)

Thursday: MOPS playdate at the boys' favorite park. We played for 1.5 hours, the weather was nice & cool. (about 25 degrees cooler than the day before, with much less humidity). After they enjoyed a "picnic" lunch on a blanket on the floor.

That brings us to today, Friday.

It's our 1st day without something planned, and it's raining. works out well. We rented Gnomeo & Juliet, which the boys are watching now for the first time.

Our first week of summer has been pretty fun, the week went by quickly, and I can only hope the rest of summer is as nice.

Next week starts the Summer Rec programs, and we will be pretty busy. 

And then....next Thursday we leave for Myrtle Beach!!

How is your summer break going so far?