Cousins!!!

The girls have the majority when the cousins get together. Aidan and 'Mila Bunny' bonded over a game of running across the room and crashing into the couch, over and over and over. Marian and Mila danced to any music that came on the tv.

When Maggie and Didi arrived, much time was spent emptying the fountain of its water. The little ones loved it!

Aidan liked testing to see which golf balls floated and which sank.

With so many illnesses going around, the trip to the beach got changed to a trip to the park. I think the kids didn't mind at all. Brennan doesn't look too sure that Maggie can give him a good push. She is only 8 months older than him!

With the kids on different time zones and not feeling all together well, we never got a chance to get a group shot. Here's as close as we got:

We'll have to photoshop Maggie in.

Here's all the siblings with Mom:

Paulette, Thomas with Brennan, Deidre, Keven with Mila, Christina with Maggie

Old Stomping Grounds

We went out to Stanford, well mainly to eat at Pizz'a Chicago (they have the BEST BBQ chicken pizza ever), but also to visit our old home. Marian doesn't remember it, but all 3 had a good time playing on the old playground. Another little boy came out to play, and Thomas and I nearly burst when his mom called for him: "Berkeley!" Stanford and Berkeley are big rivals, and since she said they'd been at Stanford for 6 years, and he was about 2-3 yrs old, it wasn't a fluke. Some people have more school pride than I can imagine!


We have a picture of Marian around this age crawling up the stairs. Aidan was this age also the last time we visited, so we have a picture of him. So it was only fitting to get one of Brennan, too.


Aidan's all decked out in Stanford gear, b/c his coat was still damp from graduation that morning. I made matters worse by putting it in a front loading washing machine at the hotel, which I mistook for a dryer. We stopped at the bookstore to get him a jacket, and he went to town picking out a hat and pants, along with clothes for Marian and Brennan.



Brennan loved the tunnel! It's fun to play peek-a-boo in! Aidan wasn't ready to leave. He like playing in the sand with the 'big diggers'.

Day with Grandpa

Grandpa Brian came down to see us in Berkeley. He and Thomas took Marian & Aidan to Fisherman's Wharf while Brennan napped at the hotel in peace. They had a great time seeing the sea lions, riding a carousel, and eating ice cream!







Then we all went down to the Berkeley marina, and played on the playgrounds there. The first one I'm betting you can only find in Northern California. It made entirely of donated recycled lumber, and the kids were welcome to add to it by hammering or painting. It was interesting, to say the least.








Marian's screams are worth listening to on this video. She did the ride several times and screamed each time. "That was AWESOME!!!"

Doctor Uncle Ben

We flew out to 'Berzerkeley' last weekend to see Ben graduate with his PhD. That listing in the program just confounded the people behind us. They kept saying, "Philosophy? This is Engineering!" They also said, "Wow, the rain is really coming down now" when it was just a heavy drizzle. I had to laugh!

It was drizzly and cold enough (in the 50's) that we left as soon as Ben got 'hooded'. Luckily they did the graduate students before the undergrads, and Ben's dept was first, so he was the 5th one across the stage. Ben had a front row seat in those white chairs up on the stage, so he couldn't sneak out right away like planned.

Some of us were smart and packed our raincoats. The only other time it rained between March and December in the time we lived there, was at Thomas' graduation (which was inside, luckily).

Here's a short video. They skipped somebody in the program list, so I wasn't ready, so the name being called out didn't get recorded, which was what I was trying to get. Oh, well! It's a bit shaky, too, but at least you can see it if you want.

Graduation

They got these pictures done a few weeks ago (hope to have one without "PROOF" on it next week). Apparently he really protested the whole ensemble, so I wasn't expecting a good picture, or actually any picture at all! I was so surprised how cute it turned out!

Aidan graduated from preschool last night. He surprised us all by participating in the songs (he did the hand motions while yawning most of the time) and wearing the cap and gown again!

And he walked across the stage when his name was called! Ok, so I bribed him big-time! But it worked!

Waiting to be called

With Ms. Beth and Ms. Glenda

The only songs he actually sang to were

"You are My Sunshine" and "You are My Rock, Dad" (to the same tune).

Then they come out give the mom a flower and the dad a rock they painted. So cute!

Aidan's flower that he was holding broke in the middle of the song, and he kept trying to flick it back up. They gave him a new one as he was leaving the stage.

OK, so I'm going to have to fix his name...

Teachers must have been in a hurry!

So proud of Aidan!

Brennan can't wait for his turn!

First Communion

May 4, 2008 At the pond on our street.

By her banner, for which her design instructions were: A cup with the host above it, not IN it, no grapes, and no wheat. I elaborated with the cross. Marian did the gluing!

Marian's ribbons on her veil were messed up, but the teacher fixed it just before she walked down the aisle. But apparently the tiara was crooked, so after giving her communion, Fr. Barker reached up to straighten it and then laid his hand on her head.

Enjoying cake at the reception with friend, Abby.

At the park for the party.

Aidan's flying!

Our friend Mark also made his first communion.

Brennan enjoying his cake.

"Maybe she won't notice"

I'm a Boy!

Brennan's favorite toy is Aidan's old fire truck. He's so happy to have inherited it! If I let him just walk out into the garage when we're getting ready to leave for somewhere, he will walk right around the car and climb into the fire truck. Then he'll laugh when I come around the corner looking for him, like "Oh, you meant get in the big car? I thought you meant this car!"

Tooth #11 has just started to come through. Hence the reappearance of drool and chewing of rocks! Yes, I'm a boy!

Cat in the Hat

Aidan's class is doing Dr. Seuss this month.

Only 6 more classes of preschool left!

Just thought I'd throw this one in. I came across some unmarked plants at the garden center in March. But since I'd just seen a huge field of the same unblooming plant, I knew just what they were! It took them another month or so to bloom. Hope they come back next year! Yay--it makes me so happy every day to see bluebonnets in my own backyard! Guess it's a Texas thing...