Clam Bake 2014, O'Connell Wedding & More!

Last Saturday was our annual visit to Chris & Val's place for their Clam Bake, and it was another really neat time. C&V had a baby boy in the year since we'd seen them, so that was a cool surprise. And our kids get so excited about it, seeing the magnet reminders on the fridge (we save them over the years) and they remember the food being so good and unique that it's just one of those things that our family really looks forward to.
The week before that was Kelly & Mauricio's wedding in Cincinnati, so while Grandma Paulette & Grandpa Doug kept the kids, Jenn and I went to southern Ohio for a fun weekend w/ the Mullen side of the family.
In between the fun, we do lots of the routine stuff. For instance, I took the little ones to the Beaver Marsh for a morning walk.
We've also reached the stage in our kids' lives where one of them cut another's hair with the craft/safety scissors. Lincoln used the scissors. Lydia held still. And there was a decent amount removed.
While we purchased our Sienna on our anniversary, we insisted that the miniv... er... Swagger Wagon was not our anniversary present. A combo anniversary gift/birthday present from Jenn to me was a Canon 70D, a major upgrade from our RebelXT, the original digital SLR. It was delivered just after the O'Connell wedding, so the first big event to test it out will be our Disney trip. WHICH IS COMING IN 2 WEEKS!!!

Clam Bake 2013

It's officially autumn.
One of our busy fall weekends has come to a close.  Last night we went to Chris & Val's annual Clam Bake.  The anticipation began months ago when we got a "save the date" magnet in the mail.  It had a photo of a big bon fire on it, and ever since, our kids have asked when we're going to "go to the big fire."  The anticipation drew to a close yesterday morning when we fed the kids small breakfasts and lunches knowing that there was going to be a bunch of good food and a late night ahead of us.  Between the hay ride, the food, the fireworks, the catching up with friends that we now see once a year, the new photo booth and the staying up past dark, it was a full, fun evening that the kids and we won't soon forget.

Many thanks to Grace ($$$ glasses) for keeping up with our kids and giving Jenn and me some catch-up time with the grown-ups!

We followed up our late evening with catching Aunt Haley over at Kent State.  The score wasn't what we were hoping for, but we love seeing extra of Aunt Haley, Grandma Laura & Grandpa Dave.
On Friday evening, Jenn had some time with the ladies producing more art (I know!  Whooda thought!!!) at Wine and Canvas while I took the kids to the clinic to throw monkey-balls into the woods (I think they're some kind of walnut seed thingies, but the kids call them monkey-balls) and to collect what remained of the buckeyes.
Jenn's been having some more food fun with the kids' meals.

"More clam bake, please!"

We've definitely got some more photos to share. Last night we went to Chris & Val's clam bake, and the kids were all stars. We'd been talking about the party during the week leading up to it, and the kids were pumped. Lincoln was talking about how he was going to eat his and my clams, and Lydia, on the way there, kept shouting out, "Clam bake!" Between lots of good food, a hay ride and a couple of good-sized fires, the kids had a blast. Jenn and I were foiled in our plan, though, for the kids to sleep on the way home. Henry got to the slap-happy stage, and Lydia and Lincoln were happy to play along. As we approached I-90, Lydia shouted out, "More clam bake, please!"I should also identify Grace, the nice girl holding Henry in the photo above. We see her and her parents once annually at the clam bake, and she and her family remember us and couldn't be nicer to the kids. I'd adopt Grace as our permanent baby sitter if her parents made her available.The two young ones cried a bit when we left them in kids class at church today, but each of them settled down within minutes, and each of them were playing nicely and comfortably when we returned to get them.Lydia has been saying some funny things lately. Once, while Jenn and I were having a conversation in the kitchen, Lydia said, "Scuse me, Dad. Want talk 'bout stuff." Then today, when I was changing her diaper, she identified Cookie Monstor on her diaper, so I proceeded to sing the "'C' is for Cookie" song that I've been singing lately with the kids when we see Cookie Monstor. Uh-Uh. "Daddy, please don't sing that song." Well...

And on the Henry-talking front, he's started to say "step stool," but it sounds remarkably like how he says, "my turn." Little by little...Gretel has been fixated on what has been taking place beneath our deck. For a while we weren't sure what exactly that was, but when I found a dead bunny on our patio with an abdominal puncture wound and a saliva-soaked coat, I felt like I could put my finger on her point of interest for the first time.I'd like to conclude with our bull in our China shop...

Clam Bake #2

On Wednesday we hiked the Boston Run trail for the first time. Lincoln has been getting more adventurous and he didn't mind hiking off ahead of us on his own!This evening we went to Chris and Val's Second Annual Clam Bake, and Lincoln had a GREAT time. Friends of Chris&Val's have a daughter that enjoys taking care of younger kids and she and Lincoln were perfect for each other. Grace is her name (Lincoln has a good history with Graces!) and she even accompanied him on a hay ride!The food was awesome, the company was fun, and we left just as the cop was arriving to investigate the fireworks. It was a good evening.

Clam Bakes, Sleepers and Betty-Time

Lots has gone on since our last post. Lydia has not yet arrived. Jenn is feeling pretty good. She's not sleeping very well at night, but her feet are not as swollen this time around as last time around. She's 1cm dilated. Yesterday was her last day of work for the next 3 months. We're ready for Lydia to come!Last Saturday morning we hiked in the drizzle...... then in the evening we went to Chris and Val's clam bake. It was quite the production, lots of people, and tons of good food. Lincoln was a little shy for the first 30 minutes or so, but then he warmed up. After that, he was talking to everyone, walking around the crowd, wandering out in the rain, etc. He wasn't into eating "the inside of the clams." He only wanted to play with the "outside of the clams." We also discovered that Lincoln is great to take to a wine party because he'll fill himself up with cheese, crackers and fruit.

Lincoln is a champ with the spoon.
In fact, today he and I went to Friendly's to get a Cone Head Sundae and he ate his portion of it (of course I had some!) without a bib and only a drop of ice cream on his pants.

Mom sent this to me, and I'd love to credit whomever came up with this idea, but all I know is that it was a couple of people from LaGrange, TX.

Mom and Emily have been super-creative with some of their gifts to Lydia. Emily painted the letters and Mom made the lamp shade to match Lydia's sheets and quilt.
Our roof had been allowing water to creep in along the siding just along the side of our great-room. This was a downer to learn, and it was something that we knew had to be fixed before the winter time and before any ice-damming could occur. So we arranged for that to be done this past week, and the guys did an awesome job. The gutters were also re-routed so that now only a fraction of water will even go on that area of the roof, which ought to minimize any ice-damming.The weather has been cold lately, especially at night, which means... SLEEPER TIME!
Finally, the dogs have always been good with Lincoln, but I think they wouldn't choose to have him around much. He runs into them and hits at them, even though he knows it's wrong. Betty, especially, usually gets out of his way. But lately he's been much better with her. We've encouraged him to move slowly around her so that he can pet her. She's been slightly more trusting, and it culminated today with this "photo shoot."