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.
Monday, September 22, 2008
Monday, September 8, 2008
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.
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.
Wednesday, September 3, 2008
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).
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).
Friday, August 22, 2008
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.
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 |
Friday, August 1, 2008
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.
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.
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| Wedding Photos - Pre-Ceremo |
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| Wedding Photos - Church and Ceremony |
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| Wedding Photos - Reception |
Sunday, May 25, 2008
Wednesday, April 23, 2008
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.
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.
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