The Mac Kinnon Family

Thursdays are our crazy days here, we leave at 8:30 am and usually get home after five. Mac has preschool, speech and swimming lessons, in between I get in a workout, we eat lunch and usually run some errands. Today our wonderful neighbors invited us over for dinner, which was very nice. The kids and I had a great time, until we got back home and got the kids a bath it was 8:30, Emily fell asleep while drinking her bottle so I took her up to bed when I came back down I found Mac sleeping in the chair. Guess he had too much fun today!

Emily is becoming a full bore toddler and is everywhere into everything these days. She is very different then Mac was in many ways and I think I'm going to be very busy keeping up with her. She finds ways to get into and on things she isn't supposed too. Some of her recent activities: 1. She loves stepping on the bar on the drawer in the bottom of the stove and pull her self up with the handle on the top of the stove. She can almost reach the burners, yes this isn't good. 2. Last week she was on top of the kids "Nemo" table. 3. Two days ago she figured out how to get onto Mac's bed, again not a great idea as she's not the most agile girl and I foresee her falling off, so I'm trying to deter her from getting up on it. 4. Tonight before bed I she figured out how to get into the recliner, yes with her milk beside her. Doesn't she look so proud of herself! She proceeded to blow rasberries on the arms of the chair, trying to stand up on the chair then ...

As of Monday our webpage ( www.themackinnons.org ) is no longer accessible. Since the blog has been so successful, easier to maintain and free we didn't deem it necessary to pay to renew the website. Some family and friends accessed the blog through a link on the website so when the website wasn't accessible they couldn't get to the blog and I started getting phone calls and e-mails wanting to want to know what happened to the blog. It's so neat to hear family and friends are following the blog, sorry to make everyone panic....... it's nice to know you enjoy the blog!

I can't tell you the last time I was able to sit down and enjoy a meal and I think I've finally realized it isn't going to happen for a long time. It never fails, as soon as I sit down one of the kids need something. I sit down again and someone else needs something, it continues most of the meal this way. Just as I think I've got everyone taken care of, yeah who am I kidding. Tonight I had a craving for asparagus, which Mac never has liked and Emily has tried it but not been too thrilled. I get the kids settled with their food, make my plate and sit down, with the dream that I'm going to eat my meal. NOPE! Emily starts saying "more", so I give her one of the asparagus thinking she'll taste it and spit it out. Nope she eats it up and wants more. Out of the blue Mac decides he wants to try it again, so thinking the same thing I give him one and he liked it. Needless to say the two kids ate half of my asparagus......ah well as long as they are h...

I had to mow the lawn again today, it wasn't as bad this time around. It was HOT at 90 degrees but it had to be done. Of course after mowing and a shower Mac wanted to go for a bike ride, so we loaded up the bikes and went to the park for a fun bike ride. When we got home I needed to water our flowers, they were starting to look a little thirsty. As I was watering Emily was standing where the over spray was getting wet and loving it. So I let her play with the hose, then Mac. Both kids were soaked and had a great time. My guess is we'll see them running through the sprinklers alot this summer!

The kids woke up early this morning and both were staring outside while they drank their milk. I think we have two kids who love the outdoors. It was a hot day here, over 90 degrees and the humidity began creeping in. Mac wanted to go ride bikes, so I promised him we would so by 9 am I loaded up the bikes and away we went to ride in the park. It took a while to get the bikes ready and Emily set up but it was an enjoyable but warm ride. We stopped to play in the park then back home. After getting home Mac wanted to play with his sidewalk chalk (see post below), then we ate lunch. While Emily was napping Mac kept bugging me to go outside, I told him to go outback until I got some chores done then we would go out front. As soon as I was done we took a blanket out front, played games and ate a snack. Emily joined us the kids played, Mac rode his bike, had more fun with the chalk, we went for a walk and then went to the back yard to swing and play in the sand box. Both kids just l...

After we got home from our bike ride today Mac wanted to pull out the chalk and paint Gran sent him for Easter. We all had a grand time drawing and painting on the driveway, I think I had as much fun as Mac!

After we got home from taking Holly to the train station, we played outside for a while. Emily is getting into riding her little bike, but she can only go backwards, she hasn't figured out how to sit down and go forward. Mac rode his scooter, we played t-ball, basketball and threw the football, then went to the backyard to play on the swings. The weather is beautiful, 70's and sunny.

Aunt Holly left this afternoon, Mac got to spend most of the day with her. They ran some errands together, had lunch and Mac finally got to play tennis with Aunt Holly, he was so excited. We took Holly to the train station around 4:30, she was heading to DC to see a friend before flying out from there tomorrow. All was fine until we were saying goodbye, Holly boarded the train and Mac's eyes start to get weepy. As the train pulled off he started crying a little, it's both sad and warm to see at the same time. He definitely wears his heart on his sleeve. 10 days blew by fast, hopefully we'll get to see Holly again this summer if she comes back to Yorktown for training for her new assignment.

Holly took Mac on a date night tonight. Mac's number one activity to do with her is playing tennis. Unfortunately the tennis court was closed, so they played miniature golf, went to Jumping Joeys (indoor playhouse with jumpy things), to dinner at Uno's and topped the night off with ice cream. Mac loved his date and asked if he could do it again tomorrow night!

Mac went through several bouts of separation anxiety as a toddler but I kind of forgot about it.....until now. Emily has started crying whenever I leave her at child care areas at the gym and church. She stops after a few minutes but boy I forgot how much it pulls at the heart strings!

Mac is in Holly mode these days. He is stuck to her like glue and anything Aunt Holly wants or has he wants it too. The past two days when I ask him what he wants for breakfast and lunch, we says "whatever Aunt Holly is having". Holly's been visiting friends the past two evening so it's just been the kids and myself for dinner and our nighttime routine and Mac keeps wanting reassurance Aunt Holly will be here in the morning!

John's been gone about a week and the grass was already very tall. I guess all the rain we've had helped it grow quickly. It rained all day yesterday so I couldn't mow it, today I decided to get it done. Keeping in mind I haven't mowed grass in over 3 years, if not longer, our home in Alameda didn't have grass and in Stafford we had a yard but John didn't travel much so I'm pretty sure I didn't mow it there much either. I felt pretty good when I was able to get it started within a few tries and away I went. The back yard went fairly smoothly aside from all the obstacles (playset, dog fence, dog house, etc) having to dump the grass catcher lots and a burn mark on my neck from the starter cord. The front yard was a different story. The grass seemed thicker and was much more wet causing a few issues. I had to refill the gas, which I found out later was the wrong gas to use. John didn't mark the gas cans, and the one I used was a gas/oil mix. It...

We drove home this afternoon from PA. It was a better drive then the trip to PA. The kids did well and we only stopped once for a potty break. Even though the trip went well, we all seem to have some bad luck today. Holly has a cold, dropped a door on her foot, then later in the day Mac accidentally stepped on the same area make it "crack" (were not sure what that sound was). Mac hit is head at breakfast and scraped his face on a chair yesterday and I dropped our camera on the tile floor, while the camera is ok, the lens is broke. Emily is the only one who came out of the day unscathed. Holly and I are very tired and hoping for better luck tomorrow!

My dad and Karen were married yesterday. It was a quaint, beautiful wedding. Karen's 2 girls, Holly, myself, Mac and Emily shared in their special day, along with the pastor and his wife. It was a glorious day, perfect temp and lots of sun shine. Congratulations to Pappy and Karen!

We had a fun day today at Pappys. Both kids were up by 6:30 this morning and Mac couldn't wait to go for a walk with Pappy. Shortly after breakfast he was dressed and ready to go. He came back so jazzed up, they saw a bunch of cool things and Mac found a derby bike thing which was a hit with both kids. Mac played in the back yard, everything from tennis to Frisbee he loved it. Mac also found a pump handle for a well which he was fascinated with. After a short trip to run some errands we had lunch outside on the porch which was great. We visited the cabin where Dad and Karen will be married tomorrow and the kids played there too. While Emily was napping Pappy took Mac to the golf course to hit some balls and drive the cart. Of course Mac loved that too. After dinner we stopped for ice cream which was another hit of the day. Emily sampled from everyone, she was way too cool. Mac especially like the sprinkles. Both kids went to bed very easily after a bath, I wonder why! ...