Erin Goes to London and Gran Jen Comes to Visit

Erin headed to London for a few days for a school project so my Mom flew out to help take care of the kids while Erin was gone.  It was great to have some help and Mom and the kids had lots of fun!  There was swimming and walks with the kids in the chariot and all kinds of fun playing.

Erin's London trip was much more of an adventure than a quick hop across the pond has any right to be.  Her Denver to Chicago flight was easy, but from there turned into one of those nightmare flying experiences.  I think in the end she was more than 36 hours delayed in Chicago, with many many hours stuck on the tarmac.  Although the trip was shortened a bit due to the flight delays, she had a good set of meetings and even managed to have a bit of fun while she was there.

Bi-Annual McParland Reunion and Beach Vacation

Growing up in a close-knit Irish family, I take for granted that my 3 sisters and I tend to get into all the messy details of each other's lives. I know when my sister has a cold, or when her kid did something adorably embarrassing, or when she's annoyed at her neighbor or had a hard day at work. Even with the distance, regular phone calls, blogs, facebook and the good ol' fashioned family grapevine have maintained our closeness. That being said, there is nothing like being together, all at once and in the same place. We try to make this happen every two years.

This year we almost didn't succeed. It'd been a tough 2 years financially for all of the households, I'm still taking classes full time and traveling, my brother-in-law was expected back from Afganistan during the same time (alone time for the still newly-wed Jess and Shane would have trumped family beach time!), there are three toddlers now and a baby that would have to travel, work schedules were tight and conflicted, etc. etc. etc.

It was Mom's sheer will that pulled us all out of our respective cocoons and forced us to prioritize this past week. I'm so glad she did!

It was amazing to get to know my now two-year-old niece, "Ella Bean" and nephew, Morgan. They are becoming such interesting people! Ella has an amazing exuberance about her, a tough, don' mess with me attitude, loves to sing (and can do so quite well) and draw and explore. Morgan remains the fearless daredevil in the family, but is also the sweetest kid- he has no trouble sharing and is super easy going, and has a wicked sense of humor. McKenzie is now a precocious (there is simply no better word!) 4-year-old who reads comfortably, is learning to dance, has opinions about everything, loves to learn, and is anxious to please. Lastly, but certainly not least, my nephew Nate, the eldest at 7, simply did not get enough attention in a house with so many little children, but didn't complain or act up or show jealousy... although I think he must have felt some. Nate is also an amazingly easy-going kid, funny, artistic, confident, smart, kind.... All of these kids are growing up beautifully and I'm blessed to get as much time with them as I can.

As for my sisters.... wow! We couldn't be more alike and more different. We'd make a great sitcom. Jess is taking on the world as an industrial engineer while emotionally supporting her husband Shane, who has been deployed in Afghanistan. They barely had any time together before he left, but he is on his way home as I type, and I am so, so very grateful for his safe return. I remain grateful to all the service men and women who are still deployed, and their families who are not yet as lucky as we are. Somehow Jess still finds time for lots of exploration and hikes. Kate is an entrepreneurial labor and childbirth educator who is somehow also a full-time mom, master gardener and tamer of the floods. http://conceptionforward.com/ Meg also owns her own marketing firm http://impactmarketingllc.com/ and does in 30 hours what other's cant do in 60. So it's really no wonder that I am also trying to have it all- family, school, work, start-up business....

Okay- that's us- plus assorted husbands and two amazing parents who look after us all. Cram us into a single house for a week (and add two cousins, Nikki and Hannah) and what do you get? Well, we sure got a lot of work done, considering it was vacation, but we also got plenty of play time and giggles with the kids. 14 loads of laundry. $600 in food. A few of temper tantrums (not always from the kids). A house of built in babysitters so the parents could steel a few moments for a date- even if it was just a 45 minute walk. Oh yes, and a vicious 12-hour stomach bug and fever, which got pretty much everyone at some point.

There are no words to describe how lucky I am to have the family that I do. So, here is a collection of photos which will say it for me.

Jack's Birthday

We have been planning to celebrate my Dad's birthday by getting the whole Lewis clan together.  I don't think that all of us had been together since 1989, it was a way overdue reunion.  We were able to combine the trip with the McParland family beach vacation to minimize the number of times we had to fly two kids halfway across the country.  More on that in the next post.

Our flight to Charleston, NC on our 11th anniversary was an affirmation of just how well Erin and I can work together.  We planned to wake up at 3:30 in the morning to catch our 6:45 flight, figuring that gave us plenty of time to feed Maya and have breakfast and get to the airport.  Instead, we woke at 5:00 AM.  After a brief moment of panic, we rolled out of bed, grabbed the kids, jumped in the car and rushed to the airport.  Like a well choreographed dance, we juggled kids and bags, filled the empty gas tank, checked bags, parked the car, and breezed through security and made our flight.  Amazing.  We even had time to let Xander enjoy the experience of getting on the train to the terminal (so awesome) and be excited about stepping on to an airplane.  The kids were both great on the flights and we had a surprisingly easy time of it.  After landing in Charleston we made the 3 hour drive to Southport NC and even made it out to a nice anniversary dinner before collapsing exhausted into bed.

The next day was an opportunity to spend some time with Dad and my brother Tom and Debbie.  Maya got to spend some time with Grandpa and meet Aunt Debbie.  Xander immediately fell in love with both whales and boats, which can be found in abundance in Dad's house.  He spent a good hour excitedly pointing out new boats and whales as he found them up and down and in every corner of the house.  Barb made a wonderful lasagna dinner and Xander delighted in watching the ships go up and down the Cape Fear river.  After spying a ship going by outside he would rush inside saying "Grandpa, Grandpa, BIG BOAT!".  Boats are totally awesome.

Saturday morning we got on the ferry to Fort Fisher to go to the aquarium with Tom and Debbie.  Erin and Maya stayed at the hotel so Erin could do homework so Xander and Daddy got to spend time together.  My sister Christie and Mike had taken the early ferry and we met them there once we arrived.  Xander is at an age where he can start to really enjoy the aquarium and we all had fun watching him enjoy each new thing.  We saw alligators and frogs and snakes and fish and sharks and even Nemo.  Xander even got to touch the horseshoe crabs.

For the ferry ride home Uncle Tom had brought popcorn to feed the seagulls.  Xander thought it was incredibly fun to feed the birds, but wasn't quite as brave as Uncle Tom who would hold the popcorn out in his hand for the seagulls to swoop down and grab.

After a nap for Xander we headed for Dad's to celebrate his birthday.  Erin had never met my brother Jon and I hadn't yet met his new wife Leanne.  We had the whole family together which was a great way to celebrate.  My cousin Kim Corbin and his wife Pat were able to join us as well.  I can't remember the last time I saw them, but I think it is safe to say that I wasn't driving yet!

We had an amazing lobster dinner for Dad's birthday.  Xander thought that lobsters were pretty cool, but wasn't that interested in eating them.  Oh well, more for us.  He will start wanting his share soon enough.

With everyone together we had to get a family photo, I hope that it won't be quite so long to get us all back together again, but it was still an opportunity we didn't want to pass up.

The whole family together.

Dad and his kids.