Connecticut Vacation

We just got back from an exciting vacation in Groton Long Point, Connecticut.

Of course, the weather looked nothing like this until Wednesday. It rained buckets constantly most of the time and was quite chilly (average 55 each day). But it was a beautiful and charming area we stayed in.

Heather's parents rented a beach house with a nice view for the week for us all to stay in. Heather's brother, Andy, graduated from the Coast Guard Academy on Wednesday (one of the beautiful days) and is now officially an Ensign, due to be out in California in about a month. There were lots of activities and picnics at the Academy, and we also ventured out on our own to explore the surrounding areas.

We took a day trip up to Plymouth, Massachusets for a field trip to Plimouth Plantation and Plymouth Rock. Eric learned so much and it was a great conclusion to his study of the Pilgrims. We all also had a great time!

We also explored the surrounding waterfront towns: Groton, Mystic, Stonington and saw lots of neat lighthouses, neighborhoods, historic homes, boats, old colleges, etc.

Check out all the photos from our trip using the Webshots link to the right. Click on the Coast Guard Graduation album and the Plimouth album.

Pictures of House


Some friends had asked awhile ago to see the final pictures of our house remodel. I finally put some pics up on the web and you are welcome to see them. Just follow the webshots link and click on the "House" folder.They include where we made the most changes. Of course, there is still lots of trim painting to do, who knows when that will happen!

Bay's 3rd Birthday


Bay just finished celebrating his big boy 3rd birthday. He started off the week with a family dinner, lots of presents, and a home made triple chocolate ice-cream cake. All he actually wanted was the cake, but he tolerated everything else anyways! His favorite present was the much awaited Buzz Lightyear toy, and he played with it all day since Mommy and Daddy gave it to him at breakfast.

At the end of the week, we had a small get together of some of Bay's buddies and their families at the playground for some lunch and cupcakes. He had a great time and it turned out to be a beautiful day.

Now that Bay is 3, he has some new responsibilites with being a big boy. He is learning to put his own laundry away, starting to get undressed and dressed by himself, and mommy is hoping that he will potty train this summer and get him out of diapers!

Enjoy the pictures on webshots.

Camping

"The Ultimate Happy Camper!"

Last weekend we went camping all together as a family for the first time in a loooong time! We haven't done that for about 1 1/2 years! It was Leah's first camping trip, and we just went overnight down to Newport News, VA to a favorite campground. http://www.nnparks.com/parks_nn.php

The girls slept in a tent for Leah's test round (just in case she should sleep horribly, we didn't want to disturb the whole family), and the boys all slept in the pop-up camper. Boy, that sounds a little backwards, doesn't it??!! Well, Leah slept great, so she is officially approved to join the family in the pop-up. We did lots of bike riding and enjoyed letting the boys drown some worms in the lake. Of course, no camping trip is complete without s'mores on the fire, and the boys had their fill.

We are looking forward to another, longer camping trip, hopefully in May sometime!

Click on the webshots link to see pictures from the trip.

Easter

has come and gone and the spring rains are finally here. Eric did an excellent job at the violin concert in D.C. See if you can spot him in this picture. He's the only boy with sandals on!

http://www.printroom.com/ViewGalleryPhoto.asp?userid=bvbphotography&gallery_id=354235&image_id=289

Here's the whole group of strings, about 500...look for them up in the balconies as well!

http://www.printroom.com/ViewGalleryPhoto.asp?userid=bvbphotography&gallery_id=354235&image_id=313

We had a great Easter...beautiful weather...clearing out the flower beds...airing out the camper...hunting for eggs...getting dressed up for church...and enjoying a Southern Maryland Stuffed Ham (Heather's first attempt at making one all by herself!)

Check out our latest pictures at Webshots http://community.webshots.com/myphotos?action=viewAllPhotos&albumID=549574750&security=VXSXam

Updates on the kids:

Leah is cruising around the house, so very close to walking, but still not there yet. She still prefers crawling. She is saying more words-bye bye, night night, num num, uh-oh, no; and she can sign several others-more, all gone, night night, bye bye. She loves her baby dolls and is either hugging them or chewing on their toes!

Bay is becoming more and more of a little man, although he still likes to be the baby when he can get away with it. He is talking in complete sentences and can often be heard saying, "I can fly! I am Buzz Lightyear. I come in peace!" He then proceeds to jump off the couch.

Eric is busy in school, learning lots about counting money in math, and telling time to the nearest 5 mintues. He continues to read avidly, and loves to play computer games with his dad.

The Mac Family Blog

Welcome to a page with updates about our family and things going on at our household. Recently, Leah just celebrated her 1st birthday, and Bay is getting ready to turn 3. He is very excited, and has asked for only one thing...a Buzz Lightyear toy! Eric is busy and right now very busy with getting ready for the Suzuki Violin String Festival in Bethesda, MD, this weekend. He will spend Saturday at workshops; then will perform in a concert at Strathmore Music Center http://www.strathmore.org/ with about 500 other violinists on stage playing the Suzuki repertoire. We are very proud of him. Look for upcoming photos from this big event!

As for adult news, Dennis is busy at getting our very own frisbee golf course set up right here on the family compound! If you don't know what frisbee golf is, you can check out this link. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frisbee_golf. So far we only have 2 baskets, but will be slowly adding them as funds allow. He made the first basket, and has ordered the second off ebay. Ideally, he would like to find the rest either used or "free". If you ever come to visit, you'll have to play on our "front nine".http://personal.ecu.edu/dpm0904/home.html