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.
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| McLean's August |
