Ocean Beach!!!

We are going to spend the month of July in OB this year. We frequent this beach and love the laid back lifestyle there. The best description that I have seen is a "stuck in the 60's surfing community". Every Wednesday there is a farmers market that takes up the main street in OB where you can purchase fresh produce in addition to other needed items. It is right next to Sea World San Diego and only a few minutes from the downtown area. You can be at the world famous San Diego Zoo if a few minutes as well as many other San Diego attractions. So, after our return from Maui we will be packing up and moving there for the month, escaping the heat of the desert in July!
There is the very long pier in OB. A small restaurant is located there and it is also where many of the locals like to fish.
Seth loves to boogie board and may begin surfing this summer since we will be there for an extended period of time. I have been wanting to take some lessons myself, but haven't been able to convince anyone to try it with me yet. The waves in California are very large especially in comparison to the Atlantic Ocean and both Seth and Madi love the beaches there.
In the San Diego area there are also some world renowned wreck diving locations that we hope to check out. We will probably go with a master diver since we haven't had any instruction in that type of diving.
In Ocean Beach they don't have any chain restaurants like many communities. Our favorite restaurant, the Bolweevle (?spelling), is an out of the way place that not many tourists frequent. They are very friendly, have a pool table and a few video games in addition to televisions playing constant sporting events (I wonder who likes that?). Seth and Madi love their food and it's a nice relaxing environment that you can enter with flip flops, a bathing suit and covered in sand. Todd's Mom, Sister and her fiance Chris will be joining us for a visit during the beginning of July and we are looking forward to seeing them and having some Southern California fun.

Our Harley Date!!!

Last night Todd and I went to the Lynyrd Skynyrd Experience at a local outdoor venue. This was one of the events for Bike Week here in Arizona. Todd was pretty excited and I ended up having a great time too.
Here we are almost ready to go and yes I do wear a helmet, but Seth took a picture of us before I put it on. In Arizona we don't have a helmet law so I am constantly telling Todd that he should wear his, but he only listens to me some of the time.
This is the outside of the cowtown like facility where the concert was held. It was a great time and we were glad that we went.
As you can see there were a lot of motorcycles there. Todd loved it and had fun looking at some of the other bikes in the parking lot. It was a fun night, after the concert we took a ride to Cave Creek on some back roads. The only thing that we need is a helmet that you can plug your iPod into because it is pretty hard to keep your ear pieces in place on the highway. We didn't get home until midnight and it was getting pretty cold by then, but we made it and were glad we decided to go.

Madi's 3rd Quarter Honor Roll Ceremony!!!

Yesterday was Madilyn's quarterly honor roll ceremony. She was excited for us to visit her school and see her receive her award.

Seth has been working very hard at school as well, so we recognized his effort at home prior to their departure. We are very proud of his individual talents and he was happy for his sister.

This is a photo of the certificate that Madilyn was given at the ceremony. We are collecting them and I plan to frame them together when the school year ends.

Madi continues to be dedicated to school work and homework assignments. She has had some difficulty with some of her Math homework recently so we have been working with her in the evenings on those assignments. Once we explain the concept for her and she understands it she does a great job.

She loves school and was very proud of herself yesterday. I think it means a lot to her to look out into the audience at her Dad, Brother and I there to acknowledge her hard work.

This is her teacher, Mrs. Graham, who was also Seth's 5th grade teacher. She moved to the 4th grade this year, so Madi is now her student. The man in the photo on the left is the Assistant-Principal of their school.

And finally, this was Madi getting up to receive her award. Afterwards she said that Seth even gave her an undercover thumbs up as she was exiting the stage! That made her very happy because Seth typically doesn't want to do anything that isn't "cool" at school, especially related to his sister or his parents. We may "humiliate" him in front of his friends, although he did tell his dad and I "hi" on our way out as well.

Todd's TAT!!!

It's official, my husband has lost it!!! He's been telling me that he wanted to get a new tattoo of my name on his wrist. He came home from work tonight and said that he had an appointment and he had to leave, at that point I was thinking "whatever" (to myself, of course). I was spending some time on my space uploading photos when I heard his VERY LOUD motorcycle coming up the street. He came in with a bandage on his wrist and I was pretty surprised to say the least. When he took it off I almost died. Enjoy the pics, he's crazy but we have all known that for many years, right!!!

Our Relaxing Easter Sunday!!!

We had a very relaxing and lazy Easter Sunday. We had planned to go out to dinner so that we didn't have to spend the day cooking since it was just Todd, Seth, Madi and I. However, we all got pretty relaxed at home and ended up cooking out in the back yard. After eating we had a fire and roasted marshmallows. Millie loved it and is getting huge as you can see. She isn't even a year old yet and still has a lot of growing to do, but like Bruiser she spends her time chewing a variety of items not meant for dogs. She is awesome and really loves Seth, Madi and Aiden. We have to restrain her around Aiden because she gets so excited, wanting to lick and play with him.

Melissa and Aiden spent Easter in Boston with Christopher, Julie, Max and other family members. I talked to them and the baby is doing great. According to reports he never cries, is eating and sleeping well and is a great baby! Aiden on the other hand has not been feeling very well and has a doctors visit scheduled this Thursday. I'm sure he will be fine, but I feel badly for the little guy.

We hope you all had a wonderful Easter and I will post some pictures of the Boston celebrations when Melissa gets home tomorrow!!!

Spring Has Arrived!!!

The temperature here in the Valley of the Sun today is forecast to reach 90 degrees for the first time this year! All of the flowers, orange trees and other fragrant plants are blooming and making the air smell so good. I decided to go out into our yard and take a few photos yesterday. I am practicing some photography skills with a new camera, so I thought that I would post some of the beautiful flowers that we have outside. I hope you enjoy!

Max Is Home!!!

This is a photo of the white board in Max's room at the hospital. He was on his way home the next day and as you can see his official name is Maximus Joseph McCue. Julie and Christopher decided to give him the family middle name that both Chris and his dad have, I think it sounds great.

As you can see we have great team work when it comes to dressing Max for his departure from the hospital. It took some work to get his little guy ready to go home, but here he is and in my opinion he looks great. I loved watching the team work that Julie and Chris utilized while dressing Max, they are so cute and are going to be wonderful parents.

...... and here you go, all ready to go home and sleeping soundly. He looked so cute and I was very surprised that his clothes fit so well. I think he is going to be a big boy very soon. Chris told me today that he is eating 4 and 1/2 ounces. of formula already!

All bundled up and ready to feel the brisk New England outdoors for the first time. He seems to be a very calm child and I think slept in the car on the way home.

Here are the new parents preparing to put little Max into the car for the first time. The whole car seat situation has gotten very complicated since I have had a baby, so they instruct parents on how to install the base and other pertinent information prior to their departure.

Christopher and Julie have a dog named Bruiser (or "Bruisa" if you are from the Boston area) who they have been preparing to meet the new addition to their family. Chris took him various items that the baby had at the hospital in order to introduce him to the baby's scent. After they arrived at home he took him to the park across the street to play with him and allow him to release some energy prior to the introduction. I arrived (after getting lost) while he was playing with the dog and took a few shots of them together.
While Christopher and Julie were in Arizona Bruiser stayed at our house for awhile and loved our pool. He became an expert swimmer while here and loved to jump in every time he went to the back yard. We love him and think he looks and acts just like "Hooch" from Turner and Hooch with Tom Hanks. Trust me he drools at least as much and definitely loves to chew a variety of household items not meant for dogs like the furniture or anything else left in his path. He is awesome and I think will be Max's best friend in the near future. When they took him into the house he was fine around the baby and has since adjusted very well.
Finally, I just love this picture. Max never cried while I was there, so when I heard him crying I snapped this picture very quickly. I think that he looks a lot like Julie, but he definitely has my son's forehead and when I saw it I immediately remembered Christopher as a little baby. It was so cute, look at those wrinkles.

Happy Saint Patrick's Day!!! (From Max)

It's Max's first St. Patty's day so he decided to dress for the occasion. We think he looks sooooo handsome, what do you think? More pics to come soon.

Max In The Hospital!!!

These photos speak for themselves. Max is doing great and so are Christopher and Julie. I am enjoying my time here in Boston and will post more photos soon, stay tuned.