Family Farm Weekend

The McAllister family gathered once again this year for a family reunion at "the farm". The weekend was packed with good food, good games, good company, and great fun. I'm sure Michael's grandparents were smiling down on their family gathered together at the one place that was nearest and dearest to their hearts. I don't know of anyone who has visited this place that hasn't been amazed by it. Even if you aren't the "outdoorsy" type (which I clearly am not), you still have to appreciate the sheer beauty that the farm has to offer. I mean, just look at these views:

One thing about the farm that cannot be captured on film is the peacefulness. As you travel down country road after country road, and then turn into the driveway (which itself is a mile long), you slowly leave the rest of the world behind. When you finally reach the house, you exhale, and all of your worries and troubles melt away. It is quiet, it is calm, and it is beautiful. Well, with 32 people there it wasn't so calm and quiet, but that was half of the fun this time. The kids did not sit still all weekend. During the day they swam in the river, played in the sand, rode on the four-wheeler, ran around, and climbed trees. At night, they played flashlight tag, ran around with glow sticks, watched fireworks, twirled sparklers, and then they collapsed of sheer exhaustion, only to wake up excited and rarin' to go the next morning.

Rex was eager to swim in the river (despite his irrational fear that crabs were going to pinch his toes), but Sean took some persuading. He was perfectly content to play in the sand at first, but he did venture out into the water eventually. Then he didn't want to get out! And despite my irrational fear of water that is not contained in a chlorinated swimming pool, I waded in right along with him.

Of course, we can't forget the highlight of the weekend- the McAllister Family Olympics. This year, each person competed in a ring toss, an egg-in-spoon race, an egg toss, a water balloon toss, bocce, and a three-legged-race. The hula-hoop contest had to be scrapped because of a lack of hula-hoops (and while I did go out and buy a hula-hoop this year to practice with, I must admit- I was not too disappointed that I couldn't show off my skills. I think another year of practice will do some good.)

Each family had their own team shirts to wear for game-time (Kudos to Matthew for making those!).

I think our family was at a bit of a disadvantage considering Rex and Jack slept through the whole thing, and Sean was much to busy pretending to drive the Heidmous' minivan to compete. Maybe next year...

Congratulations go out to Nicole and Kerry for winning the Under 18 and Over 18 competitions, respectively. Their names will forever be etched into the McAllister Farm Games plaque.

And if I could award another plaque, it would be to Bobby for killing and beheading the water snake from the river. And then I would give one to each of the kids who actually touched it, also.

Can't wait for next year's reunion! We'll be practicing!

Hershey Park

Each year at the end of the school year, the neighborhood kids get together for a fun, rewarding day to celebrate the beginning of summer. The past few years, we have gone to Dutch Wonderland, and we have had a wonderful time. But some of the kids are getting a little older now (I have the youngest kids in the group), and a little more adventurous (my kids included!), so this year we decided to try out Hershey Park.

It's about the same distance away, and has a very large selection of kiddie rides as well as some great rides for older kids and adults. We had a great time! The weather was gorgeous, and the crowds were not bad at all. The boys loved riding on the rides, and I am beginning to see that somewhere in the gene pool they have inherited a love of roller coasters. (I know they did not get this from me!) The park has a system of different height categories on each ride to let you know who can go on a particular ride. Sean was still too small for some of the rides, but for most of them he just had to be accompanied by a "responsible rider", which is someone from one of the taller height categories. Our neighbor Delaney was very good about taking Sean on the kiddie rides where he required a responsible rider, and this saved me from trying to fold up my very long legs to fit into the miniature ride seats.

Delaney has always been very good with Sean, and he adores her to pieces.

Rex was in a height category that often did not need a rider to accompany him, so he really felt like a "big kid". He loves all of the rides- fast, slow, spinning, up and down,- you name it, he'll ride it.

While Rex was off riding one of the bigger kid rides, Sean got to meet the Hershey Park mascot, the Hershey Kiss. He was a little unsure about approaching a larger than life piece of candy with arms, but eventually he warmed up and gave him?/her?/it? a 'high-five'.

Jack was not able to do much this year, but he was pretty content to hang out in his stroller and watch the scenery.

Hershey also has a very cool water park which is included in your admission. We headed to that part of the park in the late afternoon. Unfortunately, we didn't realize it closed at 6:00, so the kids did not get to play there very long. Sean had fallen asleep in the stroller by this point, so he actually missed the whole thing! I think next year, we may have to do a two-day trip in order to incorporate time for the water park, too. I really wanted to do a tour of Chocolate World, but I guess that will have to wait for next year, too. I did manage to purchase a very large chocolate bar at the gift shop on the way out. It's about the size of a license plate. While the boys did not inherit my fear of roller coasters, they did inherit my love of chocolate, so I'm just hoping this candy bar lasts throughout the weekend!

Making the Cut

I finally did it. I've spent the last two years growing my hair long (while still getting regular trims every 6-8 weeks to keep the ends looking nice), and I finally had the eight inches necessary to make the cut for the Pantene Beautiful Lengths donation program. Donations are used to make real-hair wigs for women who have lost their hair during cancer treatments. I've always admired people who donate blood- it's something I've never been able to do. (Given the fact that I faint at the drop of a hat). But when I read about this program, I thought, 'Hey, I can grow hair!" I was a little nervous- I've never really liked having short hair- but I figured there is a woman out there somewhere who is going through the toughest time of her life, and if there is someway I can make her feel even just a little bit better, then it is worth it. If anyone is interested in making a donation, just visit the website http://www.beautifullengths.com/ for step-by-step instructions. Here's a look at the old/new me.

Busy, Busy, Busy!!!

****WARNING- VERY LONG BLOG POST****

We have been incredibly busy and we have had lots of fun over the past few weeks. That hasn't left a whole lot of time for blogging, so I'm going to try to catch up as best I can. First, let me start by tying up some loose ends. I don't think I ever mentioned that Rex did get into the private school we were hoping for (in fact, I've already made the first half of the year's payment- OUCH!) And as for our tub ordeal, well- let me just say that after five different bathtubs (two of which cannot be returned), we finally have one that fits, is made of cast iron, has a drain in the proper place, and is not cracked. That was not easy to come by. It never should have been so hard...ANYWAY-

We started the month of May off with a trip to Uniontown for little Hillary's baptism. It was nice spending the weekend visiting with friends and family, but unfortunately, I didn't get a single picture of Hillary! (So if anyone has one, please e-mail it to me!). But here is Jack getting some hugs from Grandma,

Sean getting hugs from Aunt Edie,

and Rex and Morgan looking anything but saintly and innocent in the church pews.

The next week was full of doctor's appointments for the kids. Sean went to the dentist for the first time, and once I held his arms and legs down in a giant bear-hug- he almost cooperated. The dentist was able to get a quick peek and speed-clean his teeth. We'll try again in six months! The next day, Jack had a weight check at the pediatrician's office. When I took him to his six month appt. in April, he had not gained any weight since his four month check-up in February. He slipped from the 90th percentile down to the 50th percentile. I started supplementing his feedings with formula and within four weeks, he bounced back into the 75th percentile. It's hard to believe my ten pounder wasn't gaining weight! It could be because he never sits still! One thing he loves to do is crawl around with his toy in his mouth like a dog.

He has been crawling for about two months now, and just recently, he started pulling himself up to a standing position. (Let me remind you, he's only seven months old!) I put together a little corral he can crawl around in without getting stepped on by Sean and Kaleigh. And he finally pushed his first tooth through last week! His second one just popped through yesterday. Between that, and a terrible cold which we have all shared, he has been pretty miserable, and a little fussy,but he still has that great smile:

On the same night as Jack's appointment, Michael had to rush Sean to Nighttime Pediatrics with croup again. Some kids with croup just get a cough, but Sean's airways actually swell, and he makes this high-pitched whistling sound as he gasps for each breath. It's very alarming, but the steroids they give him clear it up quickly. The doctor that examined him that night thought he heard a slight heart murmur. Many of the doctors and specialists we have seen over the past few years have asked if he has one because of his cleft, but no one had ever heard one. I took him to the pediatrician the next day, and sure enough, he heard it. Some heart murmurs are completely harmless, but this one was heard in a different area of the heart from where those usually occur. It may still be harmless, but we have an appointment with a Pediatric Cardiologist at the end of July to get it checked out. We'll all be saying a few extra prayers that everything is okay.

The next week, I was lucky enough to accompany Rex on his Pirates of the Chesapeake field trip. Imagine... fifteen five-year-olds and a few parents on a "real" pirate ship, searching for "real" treasure, and fighting the evil Pirate Pete. Here is Rex practicing his mad pirate face. "ARRRGGH!"

And here he is, on the lookout for Pirate Pete:

And finally, here he is, attacking Pirate Pete with the ship's water canons:

That was, without a doubt, the best field trip I've ever been on. I don't want to give too much away in case any of you ever have the chance to go, but let me say the kids learned how to talk like pirates, they defeated Pirate Pete, found the chest of treasure, drank lots of grog, and had an absolute blast.

Our busy month continued on with Rex's end of the year KinderGym program. Here is Rex demonstrating how to balance on one foot:

Grandma Bernie and Uncle Paul came down for a visit. The boys LOVED having the extra attention.

Last Wednesday was Rex's graduation from Pre-K. He looked so grown-up in his little graduation gown.

Each child was given an award (i.e. Best Reader, Best Listener), and Rex was given the award for "Most Inquisitive" and "Most Knowledgeable". Talk about hitting the nail on the head! I guess you can't be the most knowledgeable if you don't ask a lot of questions! Rex did a great job during the ceremony, even though he was a little nervous, and I am so proud of the work he has done this year. He is doing a great job with reading, and he reads EVERYTHING- labels, billboards, t-shirts. Michael and I can no longer spell things out in front of him- he can figure out what we are saying! Guess it's time to brush up on my pig-latin. Think he'll figure out what Oy-tay Tore-Say means? (Can you?).

Later that day, we all walked down to the Navel Academy to watch the annual Blue Angels show. I look forward to this every year! The past few years, the weather has been rainy and overcast, so the shows haven't been that great, but this year, it was GORGEOUS, and the show lasted for almost an hour. Sean was in his glory- he had a grin plastered to his face all afternoon as he shouted "Blue Angels" and "Airplane" over and over (and over and over and over...).









Look closely- there are actually four jets in this picture:











Here's Jack chillin' in his stroller. I put earplugs in his ears so the noise wouldn't scare the daylights out of him. It worked.







On Friday, President Obama was across the street for the Naval Academy graduation. Like him or not, he is our President, and whether you voted for him or not, it is always cool when the President comes to town. I took the boys down the street to watch the motorcade come in. We were able to see his helicopters fly overhead (they fly three helicopters- one of them is Marine One, the other two are decoys), and a few minutes later, we watched his limos arrive (again, one is his, the other is a decoy). He travels with quite an entourage. There were probably twenty-five different armored vehicles, motorcycles, vans, and an ambulance in tow.


Here's Obama's helicopter (I think).

And here's the Secret Service keeping a watchful eye.

And here is the Presidential Limousine arriving.


I often wonder if the children will appreciate what a cool town they live in. Pirate ships, Blue Angels, Presidential motorcades...I imagine that as they get older, these will seem like routine things to them. But I'll know how cool it is.

We ended the week with the kids' preschool end of the year picnic at Quiet Waters Park. After that, we came home and kicked off the Memorial Day weekend with a much needed and deserved neighborhood happy hour. And now reality is about to smack me hard in the face as I head back to work this week after nearly eight months of maternity leave. I'll only be working a few days a week, so it shouldn't be too hard. But what will I do without all that "extra time" on my hands?

Day Out With Thomas

Michael has been bugging me for over a week now to do the blog. I knew it had been awhile since I posted, but I didn't realize it had been this long. I have lots of new pictures to post, but I don't think I'll do them all at once. I'll start with the pics from our Day Out With Thomas.
Thomas the Tank Engine came to Baltimore recently, and anyone who has ever spent more than an hour with Sean knows that he LOVES Thomas. And James. And Percy And Gordon. And all of the other engines from the wonderful Island of Sodor. So an opportunity to take a ride on a real Thomas train seemed like a two-year-old dream come true. It was. The event was hosted by the B&O Railroad Museum in Baltimore. They make quite a little production out of this event. Inside the museum, in addition to the many large, old steam trains they always have on display,
they had different "stations" for the children to visit, and when you first arrive, each child is given a map. If they visit each station and receive a stamp on their map, they get a prize on the way out. There was a storytelling station, a Lego Land station that had a miniature railroad made entirely of Lego's, as well as a huge Thomas made of Legos,
there was a station with several train tables for the kids to play on, a gift shop station (which is little more than a shameless attempt to get you to spend even more money by forcing you to take your child into a Thomas Toys R Us wonderland), and finally a station where you can meet and get your photo taken with Sir Topham Hatt.
There were also areas outside where they offered face painting, balloon animals, a wooden train playground, and a moonbounce. The whole visit is topped off by a twenty minute train ride on Thomas the Tank Engine.
This little experience can be described in two very different ways. From Sean's point of view, this is the coolest thing ever. A ride on Thomas the Tank Engine for real! Can life get any better?
From my point of view- well, let's just say I was disappointed. I had done this as a field trip several years ago when I was still teaching preschool. I remember taking a nice train ride around Baltimore. For some reason or another, they no longer do that. Now, your "twenty minute train ride" consists of spending 10 minutes backing out of the station and down the track (very slowly), stopping and then another 10 minutes pulling back into the station. L-A-M-E. Luckily, Sean is young enough to not really notice the difference, but even Rex kept asking, "When are we going to go faster?" To top it off, the "train ride" takes you down one of the dirtiest, slum-like areas of Baltimore (and being Baltimore, that's saying a lot). We had wonderful views of rust and graffiti covered abandoned train cars and piles of garbage and old appliances that have been dumped in the woods over the years. The train even had to have a police motorcycle escort (which was more interesting to Rex than the actual train ride) to chase the homeless people and prostitutes off the track as we came along (maybe that's why we were going so slow). But Sean loved it anyway, and that is what matters. The huge smile on his face all afternoon was well worth the price of admission. And I was reminded, once again, why Pittsburgh is better than Baltimore in more than just football.