Our Summer

What better way to communicate just how quickly this summer has flown by than to make one quick blog post for the whole thing? Think about it: we spent so much time anticipating all the things we were going to do this summer, and before we knew it, we'd done them all. So here they are presented in what feels like the same amount of time as they actually took place. (Mar, even though I just made this up, is it a convincing enough reason for why we haven't posted anything since Mother's Day?)

Summer officially kicked off by watching the US squeak out a tie against England in the World Cup with Cousin K, Uncle Tim and Uncle Chris.









We traveled to NJ for the 17th annual MIT, and Aunt Kathryn's high school graduation. Though we didn't get any pictures of the actual basketball tournament or the actual graduation, we do have lots of aunts, uncles, and cousins.


We extended our trip a little bit by visiting Brynne's Uncle Pat, Aunt Zane, and cousins Chris, Tim and Courtney in Connecticut.


I spent the month of July on campus at West Chester University starting a Master Degree program, but we did manage two camping trips: one in our friends Jeremy and Allison's backyard with Owen and their kids, and the other just Brynne and I at Rickett's Glen State Park to celebrate our 6th anniversary.



The summer culminated in over 2 weeks at the beginning of August in Kure Beach, NC. We spent the first week with Pap Pap, Grammy, Aunt Megan, Aunt Brittany, and our friends Molly and Kaitlyn. To celebrate Molly and I turning 30 and Aunt Brittany turning 16, Brynne organized our own version of "Minute To Win It."



The second week, Jeremy and Allison and their kids joined us. One of the highlights from our week together was a trip to the Fort Fisher Aquarium.

Mother's Day 2010

Happy Mothers Day! I had the best day today with my favorite guys. After church Owen took a nap while I got some walking and pilates in. We drove to Hershey and had dinner at Red Robin and then went to Hershey's Chocolate World. They have a fun little ride that takes you through all the steps to making Hershey's chocolate. Owen sat through the whole thing and loved it! He is walking now and loved walking around chocolate world grabbing at everything he could reach. He just couldn't understand why he couldn't pick up the world's largest peanut butter cup and walk away with it. :) Last year we took a ton of pictures on Mothers day with me holding Owen. This year we tried but all he wanted to do was get out of my arms and walk around. So much has changed in a year! I just love my little guy so much and think he is perfect for our family. He is so much fun and keeps us laughing. He loves to go outside and is always pointing towards the front door saying "out". He also says hot, da da, mom, uh oh, yeah and no. He is a little peanut weighing in at 21 pounds at his 15 month checkup.
I had fun celebrating being a mom to Owen today. I feel blessed beyond measure to have such and amazing husband and son.

Happenings.....

Brian had off four days for Easter break and we had a wonderful weekend. We had amazing sunny and warm weather and we definitely made the most of it. Friday we went for a hike and tried out our Kelty backpack. Owen seemed to enjoy it for the most part but freaked out a little at the end. :) We finished the day with a cookout and the next day traveled to NJ to spend Easter with Grandma and Grandpa McHugh, Aunt Kate and Uncle Chris. It was such a fun time. Owen enjoyed playing outside with some new toys and going for walks with Grandpa. He still isn't walking but loves to move around holding on to someone's hand. We took some pictures of him playing in the back yard. His Great Aunt Ellen bought him the plaid overalls and he looked soooo cute!

I am so thankful for the wonderful weather we have been having. Owen and I go outside every day for walks with his wagon or to play at the park. O loves to be outside. He is really turning into a pleasant little boy. His new favorite foods are cucumber and yogurt. It didn't take long to also discover that he loves ice cream. :) His vocabulary includes Da Da, Mommy, hot, hi and yeah. He laughs and smiles all the time and will make friends with just about anyone. He loves going with me to the grocery store and riding in the front of the cart. Friday we went to the store and he talked very loudly from the moment we entered the store to the moment we left. He waved at everyone and got a lot of attention. The sounds and pitches that come out of this kids mouth are hysterical. He gets very animated when he talks and pretty much doesn't stop all day. When he wakes up in the morning or from a nap he just sits in his crib and squeals and talks to himself for at least 15 minutes. He is just the funniest kid. He keeps us laughing every day. We are constantly blown away at how blessed we are and with how wonderful our son is.

P.S. True Confession: This morning at church I was looking down at Owen's hair at church and felt envious over the light blond coloring. I realized that when I was his age I too had blond hair and didn't have to pay for it. :)

Brian had off four days for Easter break and we had a wonderful weekend. We had amazing sunny and warm weather and we definitely made the most of it. Friday we went for a hike and tried out our Kelty backpack. Owen seemed to enjoy it for the most part but freaked out a little at the end. :) We finished the day with a cookout and the next day traveled to NJ to spend Easter with Grandma and Grandpa McHugh, Aunt Kate and Uncle Chris. It was such a fun time. Owen enjoyed playing outside with some new toys and going for walks with Grandpa. He still isn't walking but loves to move around holding on to someone's hand. We took some pictures of him playing in the back yard. His Great Aunt Ellen bought him the plaid overalls and he looked soooo cute!

I am so thankful for the wonderful weather we have been having. Owen and I go outside every day for walks with his wagon or to play at the park. O loves to be outside. He is really turning into a pleasant little boy. His new favorite foods are cucumber and yogurt. It didn't take long to also discover that he loves ice cream. :) His vocabulary includes Da Da, Mommy, hot, hi and yeah. He laughs and smiles all the time and will make friends with just about anyone. He loves going with me to the grocery store and riding in the front of the cart. Friday we went to the store and he talked very loudly from the moment we entered the store to the moment we left. He waved at everyone and got a lot of attention. The sounds and pitches that come out of this kids mouth are hysterical. He gets very animated when he talks and pretty much doesn't stop all day. When he wakes up in the morning or from a nap he just sits in his crib and squeals and talks to himself for at least 15 minutes. He is just the funniest kid. He keeps us laughing every day. We are constantly blown away at how blessed we are and with how wonderful our son is.

P.S. True Confession: This morning at church I was looking down at Owen's hair at church and felt envious over the light blond coloring. I realized that when I was his age I too had blond hair and didn't have to pay for it. :)

Haircuts and M&M's :)

Owen got his fifth haircut and we fed him M&M's to keep him still in his chair! He is at the age when sitting still doesn't really happen so we had to come up with something good. The M&M's worked their magic and helped O to sit still for a while. In the past when we have cut his hair my job is to distract him and keep him still while Bri does the cutting. I usually tire of coming up with ways of getting a young boy to sit still and get distracted and Brian gets annoyed with me and the whole process is tons of fun. :) This time we agreed to not get annoyed and just kept feeding the M&M's. It was the best haircut process so far!