November Flew By Too!

Seems as though we're only able to find time to post once a month these days - my apologies to those of you who depend on up to date accounts of our activities and meals!

November found us getting ready for the holidays and finally completing the organization of the house. We now have artwork on the walls (thanks to Catherine!) and all the little things that we left lying around after the move are put in their appropriate spots. The only things remaining to do are get some furniture for the "library" and purchase a china cabinet for the dining room. We have furnished the nursery and thanks to Andrew's father and siblings for giving us the lovely crib set where our baby will be spending a lot of time in a few short weeks.

Towards the end of the month we had lots of company. We decided to welcome ourselves to the neighborhood by giving a little wine and cheese party for our neighbors. I had met all of the wives and some of the husbands but Andrew hadn't met anyone so it was nice to have everyone over. We really like our neighborhood and have found everyone very friendly and welcoming. There are a lot of kids around the boys ages so there is no shortage of weekend football games, bike riding or general fooling around. Some of the neighborhood kids came with their parents to the party and I'm not sure what they were doing in the basement but they all managed to absolutely tire themselves out without actually breaking anything. The parents, who I expected to stay for just a couple of hours/couple of glasses of wine, managed to hold out until 11pm and drank us out of house and home. A great time was had by all!

Catherine stopped over in PA for the weekend on her way to and from Rome. We had a great visit with her and the boys are always thrilled to see their Auntie Catherine because she always comes with gifts of chocolate from San Francisco. This time she also came with presents for Nicholas as he turned 9 on 11/21. We celebrated with his favorite beef tenderloin, jasmine rice, carrots, cucumbers and, of course, chocolate cake and ice cream.

The celebrations continued that week as we hosted Thanksgiving for much of the Cook clan (we missed you Dave and BJ). We had a traditional meal for 13 and I was surprised to find that a 21 pound bird just feeds that many people. We had many going back for seconds, a few for thirds and 2 for fifths (our growing boys Kieran and nephew David!). We were happy to be able to host the family and we had a really nice time. I'm thrilled to be back on the East Coast and so close to much of my family. We get to see each other so frequently these days!

With Thanksgiving done we have moved on to Christmas preparations. We got a lovely tree and had fun decorating it last weekend. It isn't too tall but is so fat. Nicholas was intent on filling the tree with green and red ornaments (all within inches of each other) - fortunately he wasn't too upset when I moved things around a bit. Kieran was instrumental in gettting the lights on correctly and Dad did the most important job of putting the star on top. Andrew is a lot like my dad was - he helps with the setting up the tree and getting the lights on in the beginning and then sits back on the couch and "supervises" while mom and kids put the decorations go on. After this year we'll have to have a fence around the tree to protect it from curious toddler hands so we are enjoying the unobstructed view now.

Kieran and Nicholas continue to do well in school and outside activities. Kieran is taking guitar lessons on the weekends and really enjoys the new music school we have him in. He is really working hard on technique and is learning songs that he likes. We may have the next Eric Clapton on our hands! He also had mid-term exams a few weeks ago and came home with all A and A+ marks. We are very proud of him. Nicholas has been doing pottery, some of which now graces our house. He has a real flair for style and color and seems to really enjoy creative activities. He is also doing very well in school and we went last week to his classroom to view his memoir (which is posted here) as well as work on his history project with him. He is researching Colorado and a famous Colorado resident from the past, "The Unsinkable Molly Brown". We really enjoyed being in the classroom with the boys while they were actively working on their projects. We got to see Mr. Cunningham in action and really like how he interacts with Nicholas and the other boys. He invited us to come in anytime to sit in - we may take him up on that.

Nicholas Memoir

Publish at Scribd or explore others:

The other thing taking up most of our mental and physical energy is, of course, getting ready for the arrival of our baby, due on January 4. I continue to grow...and grow...and grow but I fortunately feel good most of the time. Sleeping is my only challenge these days but I guess that comes with the territory. We are taking childbirth classes now and they are really informative. Even Andrew is learning a few things he didn't know (or didn't remember). We are very excited about the pending birth and finding out whether it will be a little she or a little he. The boys are also very excited and I love to hear them refer to the little one as "our baby" - I think they are going to be great older brothers!

As we move closer to Christmas and the New Year we wish you all peace and joy and we hope that 2009 is a year of good health and much happiness (and fewer economic worries) for all.

October Flew By

And here we are in November with a new President! We are pleased with the result and are looking forward to discussing it with the boys this weekend. They have spent a lot of time this fall studying civics and current events and are really well versed in the issues and were very interested in the election.

October has been very busy but that is seeming more like the norm than an anomoly. We are fully settled in the house and have most everything done except getting things hung on the walls. We are a bit gun-shy about getting nails near the wall as on our first attempt to hang something we managed to put a hole through a pipe in the bathroom. Think of a little Dutch boy with his finger in the dike. After an emergency visit from the plumber and several from the "wall guys" to fix the whole the wall is back in shape - but we live in fear of our decorating efforts.

Mary Ann's pregnancy continues along with no problems. She is finally and happily getting bigger which is something she never thought anyone would hear her say. We are due in two months and have to get the furniture for the nursery built soon. A few weekends ago Mary Ann was honored to have two of her friends (Sue and Beth) throw her a baby shower here at our house. We had company from Rochester, Boston, Atlanta, DC, PA and NY and we happily found out that the house and the plumbing can support 14 overnight guests. The party was very fun and Baby McLean is clearly not going to be at a loss for surrogate aunts, uncles and cousins. Aunt, uncles, cousins and grandmother by blood were here too and it is wonderful that the Cooks are able to get together so frequently now that they are all in closer proximity to each other. Sue's pictures from the weekend can be found here:
http://suzanne.smugmug.com/gallery/6318154_cZVzf#398369098_Sb4V2


For Halloween we were welcomed to the neighborhood with a full toilet papering of our front yard on mischief night. Our yard looked as though there had been a full snow. We didn't mind the TP so much (except what is still caught in the trees and too high to reach) but the eggs on our upstairs windows were a little much. Fortunately we were able to get the mess off without too much trouble but that didn't stop us from being irritated.

We went to parent teacher conferences at the boy's school last week and were so proud to hear universally positive reviews for both of them. Mr. Cunningham reports that Nicholas is a very bright and popular student and a very active participant in class. He shows a strong aptitude in writing and language skills and is doing excellent work on his "memoir". Kieran's teachers were also very positive across the board in all subjects with regards to his performance and his class participation. We, and Kieran, are warned that the work load is about to increase and the grading is going to become more strict. Apparently it is time that Kieran (and all the 7th graders) learn the crucial lesson that quantity of writing does not equal quality so we expect to see a period of more red marked English and History papers.

For Sue's benefit we add that meals enjoyed during the month have included many yummy dishes in the crock pot including lasagna, minestrone soup and a lovely beef stew. We have some bananas that are turning so Nicholas and I may make banana bread this weekend - we'll let you know how it goes. And of course November brings Thanksgiving so if you are lucky we'll do a whole entry about what we eat that day.

Fall is here

Its been a busy few weeks since moving into the house. We've managed to emerge from under the mounds of boxes for the most part. We are very proud of the desk and file cabinet that we built for the office. We are especially thrilled that we didn't have a single fight during the building process even through Mary Ann installed one of the drawers upside-down and we spent about 30 minutes fussing over how to fix it. Turns out if we had just read the instructions we would have found the 30 second fix. The challenge this weekend will be building the bookshelves for the library. Once this is done we will be able to finish with all the boxes. We'll then just need to get some things on the walls and work on the nursery and then we'll really be done. We have to get the mess out of the way because next weekend is Mary Ann's baby shower and we have a bunch of guests coming for the weekend. It will be fun to entertain here for the first time and hopefully the weather will cooperate.

The boys are full steam ahead in school and apparently 3rd grade is a lot rougher than 2nd. Although he really likes his teacher Nicholas is complaining about the amount of work he has to do. Kieran has more work than ever and is beginning to think about where he would like to go for high school year after next. Fortunately there are lots of good choices in the area. Kieran is running cross country again this year and is doing very well. In the last couple of meets he has scored in the top 15 or so out of 90-100 participants. Maybe he'll get running and academic scholorships! Nicholas is enjoying pottery class that he has been taking. He definitely has more artistic sensibilities than the other McLean men. Perhaps we'll put those to work this weekend on a Halloween pumpkin.

Mary Ann took a brief trip to the Outer Banks of North Carolina with her family this week. All the brothers and sisters in law were there as well as her mother and SIL Jessica's parents. It was a great trip and the last time that she'd be with her family without a child of her own. Andrew is working hard as usual and has done a great job getting all the organizational stuff for the house done. He is also enjoying cutting the lawn with the ride on lawn mower (especially since it has cup holders which are just the right size to hold a beer while he cuts the lawn) but since fall is here we don't think there are too many weekends left of that.

Pictures are of Mary Ann's trip as well as the house and our maple trees out front which are definitely telling us that cold weather is on the way. Much to Andrew's dismay the heat had to come on in the house for the first time today - fortunately it was only for a brief time to take the chill off.

Weekend of Sept 20-21

Lots more unpacking and jobs got done this weekend.

We all went to the gym on Saturday morning. Kieran is allowed use the gym on a family membership. There were some long faces from Nicholas as he thought he was going to have to go into the kids club. Instead Kieran and I played squash and we were able to sneak Nicholas on for a few hits.

After we got home took the boys out to do some stuff. Signed Kieran up for guitar lessons and took his electric guitar to have a pick up (I am learning new terminology all the time - "grinding" is one of my favorites - apparently it has something to do with Razor scooters and skateboards).

Saturday evening was pretty quite. Pot Roast for dinner (we got an adorable pig board as a wedding present (like you'd see in a French bistro) so what's for dinner is written there during the weekend. Saves about 1000 questions from Nicholas. The answer to the question "What's for dinner?" is now "Ask to the pig."

Sunday i got up early and went for a long bike ride. There are some great biking roads around here. Weather was beautiful (Sept is the best month of the year around these parts).

It was a real jobs day when i got home. Garage had to be finished, study unpacked, old fridge cleaned out (all this while trying to keep up with the Ryder Cup).

Of course since there was lots of work to do Kieran disappeared over to a mates place. Good thing about the new neighborhood is there seem to be about a bizillion kids around Kieran and Nicholas' age. Couple I had never seen before came over yesterday to ask them to go play. Kieran disappeared about 1 and didn't see him again until 6pm.

MA and Nicholas spent a bit of time Sunday afternoon making banana bread (photos below). Turned out very tasty.

Moving Weekend

Whereas last weekend was blissful relaxation, this weekend was slightly different as we moved house.

We closed on purchase of new house on Friday and everything went well from our end. The sellers had a bit harder time as they were buying in North Carolina and I got a panicked phone call from him at about 2pm that they didn't have their money. I am not sure exactly what he wanted me to do about it but I called the closing agent and apparently the seller's closed on their house with 3 seconds left before the bank closed on Friday. I had visions of one of those movies with the timer ticking down with a panicked seller screaming (do I cut the red wire or the green wire, red green, red green)

We were all due to move on Saturday but it got called off as the remnants of Hurricane Hannah decided to hit NJ. It finally hit about 1pm and we had torrential rain. It did however give us time to finish the remainder of the packing, get some jobs done etc.

The movers arrived 7.30 Sunday morning. MA had to be at the new house at 8am Sunday as we had a very important visitor (from Nicholas' point of view anyway). The Verizon man to install the TV, internet and phone.

The movers worked all day from 7.30 until 5. I dropped the boys over at the new place around 10.30. They disappeared to the neighbors place (they have a 15 year old son)to play. Kiely's I am sorry to say but you may no longer have the coolest house in the world as these people have a pool and a basement with a pool table and table tennis table in it.

The neighborhood was having a block party so while MA and I slaved away unpacking, the boys came back for fuel and took off to the block party. So we basically didn't see them from 10.30 until 6pm that evening.

New house is a disaster zone, but hopefully will be in shape by this weekend. Have to go back to old place tonight to clean up as we are looking to rent it out and it needs to be slightly cleaner than shape I left it in yesterday.

Photos of new house attached.

Camping Week

I had last week off work. Unfortunately MA had to work (as she said "somebody in this family has to work"). Was the boys last week of vacation before they went back to school.

Monday we went to play golf. Lessons I took a few weeks ago must have paid off as I shot even par (first time ever).

Monday afternoon was spent getting organized for our big camping trip, packing the car, buying groceries, getting kids clothes organized, etc.

Tuesday we were off. Our destination was a campground in the Endless Mountains region of NE Pennsylvania called Keen Lake.

Of course no visit to that part of the world is complete without a visit to Camel Beach (a water park) where we partook of all the usage rides (the wave pool, lazy river, and Nicholas' favorite the Swirling Vortex of Terror).

After picnic lunch we got up to camp ground around 5pm. Just enough time to put up the tent, have a big fight because we couldn't put up the covering for the picnic table (sorry Uncle Ron we ended up throwing it away as many of the poles were bent - we got 3 good years out of it), start a fire and cook dinner and have a few games of Go Fish before bed time.

Camp site was great, we were right on the lake and it was really peaceful at night.

For the first couple of days we were the only people there.

Days consisted of hiking, going for bike rides (sleeping if your name was Kieran), playing cards and board games and eating lots of tasty food cooked on the camp fire by Dad. Hobo Stew even made an appearance but I really need to get the recipe again from Uncle Ron.

MA took the plunge and came up on Saturday morning for her first ever camping holiday. The rule was to make sure she would enjoy it and want to come back she wasn't allowed do anything. She seemed to slip into that pretty easily!!!!

We had great weather the whole week. It only rained once, in the middle of the night, and the weekend was especially beautiful.

We took up the telescope we bought the boys last Christmas and spent many nights trying to figure out which star was which.

Packed up the camp and came back on Monday in time for the boys to start school on Tuesday (which they were thrilled about).

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McLean's Busy August

We've had a busy August and can't believe we're almost at the end of summer. We managed to document most of our adventures in the attached web album.

Kieran turned 13 on August 10th so we had to plan something exciting to celebrate. Mary Ann's brother John was kind enough to forgo a beautiful Saturday to take her and the boys fishing in his boat. Kieran must have had some birthday luck because he caught 10 fish in about 90 minutes. It seemed that all he had to do was put his fishing rod in the water and a fish jumped onto his hook. Nicholas wasn't quite as lucky but he did manage to nab 2 fish. The are both excited to go again and the next step will be getting them to bait their hooks and take the fish off the hooks themselves - a bit of a messy job! The highpoint of the weekend was the purchase of an electric guitar for Kieran. Actually he bought it himself out of his savings and the necessary amp was a birthday present from Dad and Mary Ann. The most crucial part of the present came from Nicholas - headphones! All in all Kieran had a great birthday and is thrilled to now be a full fledged teenager.

The weekend of the 15th Mary Ann headed up to Rochester to celebrate her friend Beth's 40th birthday at a surprise party organized by Beth's husband and mother. Beth was shocked to see so many people gathered at the golf club, especially Mary Ann and Jeanie, Beth's college roommate whom she hasn't seen in 7 years. Everyone really enjoyed the look of shock (and the tears) on Beth's face! The rest of the weekend was spent hanging out with Beth and her wonderful family. Mary Ann also visited her alma mater, The University of Rochester, which seemed to be infected with orange construction cones. At least she now knows where her donations are going! While Mary Ann was gone Andrew did a lot of work getting started on the packing. We still have a lot to do but he made a great start. Sunday night Andrew headed off to London and Frankfurt for the week and arrived home late Thursday night.

This morning we headed off to the OB for a visit and got some great pictures of our little baby. We are choosing not to learn the gender but are happy to hear that he/she is growing well and developing normally (currently at about 15 oz). The rest of this weekend will be spent doing more packing and getting the boys ready to head off on a dad/son camping trip in the Poconos (Tuesday-Monday Labor Day). They are very excited, especially about the foray to Camel Beach water park. Mary Ann is probably going to join them Saturday - Monday but she is very anxious about the experience. We're not sure the ideal first time camper is a 5 month pregnant woman whose idea of roughing it is a hotel without a pool and jacuzzi.

Then, of course, we all know what comes next.....first day of school on September 3rd. The boys are, of course, not excited at all but we're sure they'll have another great year.

McLean's August

Wedding Photos

Greetings!

Finally, we have gotten around to getting our wedding photographs somewhat organized and are excited to share them with you. Below you will find the link to three web albums that are broadly arranged Pre-Ceremony, Church and Ceremony and Reception. Within each album the photos are not organized chronologically, mainly because we couldn't get our act together to do so. All the albums are compilations of photos that were taken by guests as well as the pros and we thank you for sharing some great shots of the day! We had a great time and are so happy that so many of you were there to share the day with us. The web albums offer the option of ordering prints from three different services. We've used Snapfish and Shutterfly with good success. If you have any questions about ordering prints just let us know and we'll try to help. You can also download individual pictures to your computer by right-clicking on the image and saving.

Things don't ever seem to slow down over here in Pennington, NJ. We are moving into a new house early early September and are expecting a baby in January. Its been a big year for us!

We look forward to seeing as many of you as possible as soon as possible. Our new place has lots of room for company so please consider a visit as we won't be going much of anywhere for a while after October.

We hope you all are well - let us hear from you so we can find out how your summers are going.

Wedding Photos - Pre-Ceremony

Wedding Photos - Church and Ceremony

Wedding Photos - Reception

 
 

Updates since March 30th

Enough of this silliness about not listing what we eat all the time. Regular transmission is being resumes with a full list of the culinary exploits of the McLean boys.

Weekend before last Mary Ann and I were in London on business. Flew Friday night and arrived (after typical flying delays) about midday on Saturday. I promptly found some rugby on the TV in our hotel room and fell asleep (not sure if it was because I was exhausted or the dire boredom of watching English county rugby).

Saturday night we met up with Russ and Catronia in Maide Vale. We got there early and went for a nice long walk along the canal. Had a great dinner and a couple of drinks and back to hotel for a good nights sleep.

Sunday we met Russ at church and both experienced for the first time a full sung Latin Mass which was pretty cool (apart from all the incense which made us both nauseous). After that we wandering around a museum that was just over the road from the Church for an hour and then back to Russ for Sunday lunch. Don't know what happened but we ended up at pub at 9.30pm and never made it back to hotel until after 11, so a very long day.

Monday it was off to work and meeting up with Andrew Garard and his better half Jane for dinner on Monday night. Good time was had by all.

Wednesday we ended up in Brick Lane for dinner (big Indian area) and had a really good meal there.

Got home Thursday night and both worked from home on Friday. Sneaked in 9 holes of golf late Friday afternoon as it was a beautiful spring day. Saturday Mary Ann flew down to Atlanta for her friend Sue's 40th birthday. That meant it was a boy's weekend in Pennington. I may as well disclose now the boys had pasta for dinner both nights, one night with shrimp, the other with chicken. They seemed pretty happy about that.

A pretty quiet weekend, just mooched around. Friday night went to Washington Crossing State Park where Princeton Amateur Astronomy group meets and looked through telescopes at a whole lot of amazing objects in the sky (including Saturn).

Sunday Mary Ann was planning to pick her Mum up from her way home from Phillie airport but her flight was delayed, so after dropping off the boys I went and picked up her Mum. Worked out well as with flight delay we got home at exactly same time as MA.

Blog reborn - with a new author

San Francisco 2

I know our faithful blog readers have been clambering for news of the McLean family adventures (and meals). Sorry for the break but it has definitely not been due to lack of activity on our part. Between work, wedding planning, various travels and activities with the boys our weekends and weeknights have been jam packed.

The boys are returning to school tomorrow after two weeks of Spring Break. The first week of their break they went with their mother to Paris - their first trip over the pond. They came back full of commentary about French food, fashion, art and rap music. They had a really good time and once we get some pictures we will post them here.

Andrew and I took the opportunity of the boys trip (and tickets redeemed with miles)to return to the Bay Area where we were engaged last year. Catherine was in Hong Kong visiting brother Greg so we stayed at her place. When our flight was delayed getting into SF (we arrived about 4:30 am NY time) we both were seriously considering whether or not the trip was a good idea. But after a few hours sleep and a lovely first day in town we decided the trip was a fantastic idea.

On our first day (Friday) we grabbed some breakfast at Catherine's local spot, Eats, and then took a long walk through Golden Gate Park and visited the DeYoung museum and the Japanese Tea Garden. The cherry blossoms were just coming into bloom and the weather was lovely so it was a perfect time to visit. After that we went to the Legion of Honor where they were having an Annie Liebowitz photography exhibit. The exhibit featured both her work of famous celebrities as well as documentary work on place like Jordan, Iraq and Rwanda. It was a great, and very crowded, exhibit. After our culture for the day we walked along Land's End along the bay. There were lots of sailboats and shipping boats out on the beautiful day. For dinner we went back to my favorite restaurant in SF Pane e Vino in North Beach. We had a great meal and found our favorite wine on the menu. After dinner Andrew wanted to relive some of his old life from when he lived in SF for a short while and we went to Tommie's Joint which is apparently a famous watering hole (or at least it was famous in Andrew's mind). Unfortunately, I think Andrew was disappointed to find the place much better in the past when he was younger (and probably drunker). In fact, I found out later in the trip that Andrew is remembered for dancing on tables at this joint and leading the crowd in song. That definitely did not happen on this trip!

Saturday we headed up to Healdsburg to meet cousins Kathy and Chris & John and kids Liam, Hunter and Jacob. We had a very nice lunch and filled a butcher paper covered table with mazes and games of tic tac toe. Andrew was in his element with the kids and pulled out all the old favorites; hongis, egg cracked on the head, lifting by the ears and skipping. Healdsburg is a beautiful little town with orange trees growing in the square. We did some window shopping and gelato eating before heading back to SF. On the way back to town we stopped in Sausalito and sat and watched the activity in the bay. This is one of my favorite spots for watching ocean going ships but I was disappointed this time to only see one ship heading out to sea.

Sunday morning we headed out early on our journey down the coast. I've never been to Big Sur and now after having done the trip I can't wait to go back again. We took the scenic route and spent several hours looking at beautiful vistas and checking out the sea lions, seals and other sea life. We visited Carmel by the Sea and did the 17 mile drive. Andrew almost put a downpayment down on the 2 acre plot (no house) on the ocean but I told him that I wouldn't take it for a cent over 17 million (it was listed at almost 20). We continued on down to Big Sur which I didn't know was a 7 mile valley wedged between two mountain ranges running parallel to the coast. We stayed in a little cabin in the woods in amongst the redwoods. It was a great spot and after enjoying a glass of wine in the setting sun we went across the street for dinner at the only place to eat for miles. The food was amazing and so fresh. Back at the cabin after dinner we sat up for hours talking and looking at the sky - there was so little light pollution that the millions of stars were unbelievable and almost impossible to stop watching.

Monday was the last day of our trip so we got up pretty early and headed up to Lobos Point where we did a couple of hikes by the ocean. It was typically foggy Bay Area day and quite cold by the water but the hikes were well worth doing. Next time we go back we'll come better prepared and with more time. We headed back to San Francisco to prepare for our redeye flight back to New York. I think our most enduring memory of the trip came when we stopped at a mall to get something to eat and were stunned to see a young attractive women sitting with her family at the table next to us flossing her teeth. As if this wasn't bad enough we were sickened to see her drop the used floss on the floor by her table and go on her way. We caught the redeye and fortunately both slept almost the entire way back so we were not too devastated at work the next day. We had a great trip - not long enough of course but we love San Francisco and even thought about retiring out there sometime in the (sadly) distant future.

Other than that trip not much else has been going on. We are, of course, gearing up the wedding. Most of the big pieces of planning are done and now the devil is in the details. I manage not to be too stressed. Yet!

The boys are doing well and Andrew met with Nicholas' teacher recently. Nicholas is doing very well and got a great review from her. The class was studying China last term which Nicholas seemed to really enjoy. Kieran got his report card over the break and got straight A and A+ in all his classes. His teachers comments were universally positive and Andrew is extremely proud of his work.

We hope you all are well and would love to hear from your whenever possible.