The Mac Kinnon Family

Mac had his second day at Jamestown today and learned about King James I and Queen Elizabeth. He also learned about some customs and manners. Mac and his buddies were little kings all the way home "commanding' me to turn here and stop there! Mac sure enjoys hanging with his buddies.

Mac had day one of his Jamestown camp today and had a blast learning about Indians. He came home with warrior paint on his cheeks, a necklace and a cool leather bracelet. He was excited and I can't wait to see what he gets to do tomorrow!

One of Mac's friends hung out with us for the day, he was going to the same Jamestown camp as Mac today and his mom had to work so Aiden hung out with us. He's a year older than Mac and the boys get along really well. I stopped to get gas today and while were sitting in the truck as the tank is filling up Aiden says "Wow, I can't stop looking at those girls in the red car, they are so pretty". I busted up laughing, Mac says "just stop looking at them, what's the big deal". Mac has no interest in girls yet, it was an amusing conversation!

Today was one of the those very challenging days with the kids. While our morning was ok, we went out to run errands and it all went downhill. The kids just didn't listen and misbehaved terribly. Our final stop they weren't listening so I buckled Emily into her seat and she started screaming "no strap" because I buckled the strap. She was hysterical, people were looking at me like I was a horrible mother....oh boy it was rough. I almost walked out of the store but was at the checkout and really wanted my groceries. So I dealt with the looks, by the time I got to the car my nerves were wrecked and Emily was happy as a clam. After a long talk at home we were getting ready to go to a birthday party at our neighbors when I hear the kids up to something in the bathroom. I walk in and Emily's taking a bite out of a peach and I asked Mac what was up, since they were acting funny. Mac tells me he was washing Emily's peach off because it fell in the toilet. I...

We've had a really busy week and the kids were exhausted today so we hung out most of the day at home. At dinner time Emily's eyes starting getting heavy. I enticed her by telling her if she ate and stayed awake she could have a cookie for dessert. About 10 minutes later she would take a bite, chew, doze off for a minute then wake up and start eating. Every time I asked her if she'd like to go to bed she'd say "no, cookie". I fed her some since I didn't want her waking up starving in the middle of the night, she'd take a bite, lay her head on my arm, chew, open her mouth for another bite and ended up eating pretty much all her dinner. She wasn't giving up the cookie, even half asleep she ate it....I had to capture on video it was too darn funny. As soon as she finished she put her head down and fell asleep!

Mac did a little summer program at the Yorktown visitor center, it's really cool. He did it last year and they have a little snippet of history which is good for him to learn. Yesterday they did a bunch of stuff including planting a flower seed and bringing it home, but Mac's favorite was too make butter then get to eat it on crackers. Today they made a really neat flag, saw how to make fire the "old fashioned way" and saw the cannon's get fired. After his camp was over my friend Linnea and I took the kids to the Yorktown beach and other friends joined us. With the temp being over 100 degrees today and the sweat just rolling off you...what better thing to do then hit the beach! The jelly fish were rolling in but that didn't seem to scare the kids away, they loved it. We topped the afternoon off with ice cream and headed home. The kids were so tired tonight they didn't ask for "one more hug" which is a nightly ritual which usually is two o...

Sometimes I follow up on Mac's teeth brushing and flossing. When I helped him floss tonight I noticed one of his bottom front teeth wiggled a little bit. After messing with it some more, I think he has his first loose tooth. I know they start loosing there teeth around kindergarten but I'm not ready, it's another sign he's growing up..... Mac was so excited you would of thought it was his birthday. He had a perma grin when he went to bed. Most of his friends are a year older then he is and already have loose teeth or have lost teeth so he's super excited. I told him it will still be a while, it's only a little loose so we've got some time but I'm sure he's dreaming of the tooth fairy tonight!

While floating on the "lazy river" at water country, Mac says "what a great way to start the day" as he's kicked back sprawled out on his inner tube (at 1 in the afternoon)!

The forecast for today was a high of 100 degrees with humidity so what else is there too do on a hot day but hit the movies. I surprised the kids with lunch then we went and saw Toy Story 3 in 3D, the kids loved it. Emily did much better than I expected and only got bored the last 20 minutes or so. Mac of course couldn't take his eyes off the movie.

This afternoon I smelt an unpleasant fragrance and asked Mac if he tooted, he said no. Then I asked Emily if she did, she too said no then looks at me and says "Willie did it". Oh my....Willie by the way was snoozing in front of the door and not near us at the time.

The kids have been really challenging the past few days and told them yesterday if they shaped up we'd go do something fun today. They did and we decided to check out a beach in the area called Buckroe Beach. It's a little closer then Virginia Beach and it was a decent spot. It was all locals and the beach wasn't as clean but it was nice not to have the craziness of a tourist spot. Aside from lots of seaweed the water was decent and warm. Emily didn't haven any fears this time around and both her and Mac couldn't get enough of the waves and water. They played in the sand awhile but really just wanted to be in the water. That was until something bit/stung Emily and the party was over. I didn't see any jelly fish around and have no clue what got her. They had a nice playground there too so we played there for a while then had a popsicle. Life is good........ I forgot hat's for Mac and myself and stopped by wally world to grab one, they didn't hav...

Emily saw a pink bike at the bike shop a while ago and fell in love with it. She regularly will ask for us to get her the pink bike. Since she wasn't quite ready yet and that bike was pretty expensive we didn't get it yet. John's been watching Craig's list to see what comes up and he saw a Dora bike and I checked it out. It's been well used but still was in good shape for $15. Of course being Dora, Emily loved it. While she pedals well on her tricycle, she hasn't figured out how to pedal forward yet but she loves it!

Mac often says something that makes me chuckle, today there were two good macisms that I remembered. When we wake up in the morning, sometimes if I'm taking my time to roll out of bed he'll ask to play brick breaker on my phone. As he's playing this morning I hear him say, "Oh today's not my lucky day". On our way to the beach today he was trying to open up a granola bar and was having difficulty. I hear him say "this is so frustrating". Then he asked for help!

Yesterday I went to pick up my basket from my produce co-op and the farm was very busy. I was exhausted, had been going since 7 am that morning and it was 5:30 and all I wanted to do was go home. Mac wanted to pet the horses, which he did then they offered the kids a popsicle, I couldn't say no. Then one of the boys was going to get the eggs from the chicken coup and invited the kids along, again I couldn't say no as Mac's eyes were bright and interested in going. Mac loved looking for eggs in the coup, the guy didn't let Mac get too close to the hens. Emily went in then immediately turned around saying "pew wee chicken poop stinks"! But she dug watching the chickens and rooters through the fence. Mac emerged with over a dozen eggs. The kids had a blast and I got a great produce basket this week, all of which I can identify!

Grandma Jan left today to head back to California, it's hard to believe she had been here for 3 weeks. We walked her into the airport and the kids gave hugs and as she walked down the path to security Emily said "bye grandma, see you next time". She was too cute! Jan helped get a few projects done and we did alot with the kids. It was a busy three weeks and so nice to have some company. I'm sure Jan will be happy to return to her less chaotic world and some peace and quiet! Thanks Jan!

I've been working with the kids, especially Emily to say "excuse me" when she needs to interrupt adults when she needs something. Well I think she doesn't like when someone is talking other than her because anytime I start into a conversation I hear "excuse me mommy", to which I ask her what she needs. Then she says umm...., well, with nothing really to say or that she needs, I think she just doesn't want anyone else talking. It is very cute to hear her say "excuse me mommy" but it's sure hard to have a conversation.

John shared a few pictures with us he's taken from the area he is in. He went on a tour yesterday and got some great shots. As Mac and I were looking at them and we came upon this one he asked "Is that where daddy eats?". I chuckled, John isn't in the best of areas but it is a little better then this!

I decided to do something new and joined a produce co-op a short while ago. It started two weeks ago and I get a 1/2 bushel of a variety of vegetables. I got into a rut of cooking the same old things and thought this would be a great way for me to learn how to cook new things and expand our taste buds. All the veggies are organic which is a plus. The first week I recognized all but one thing which patty pans (form of squash), which were great. This week I had two things I didn't know what they were. Beets and eggplant. I've never cooked either before, although I've eaten beets I've never had eggplant. So next I had to figure out what to do with them so I figured out how to cook the beets and they are delicious. I also found a great recipe for eggplant, cooking it into a dish kind of like lasagna without the noodles. It was pretty delish if I do say so myself. I'm an eggplant fan now.....can't wait to see what I can't identify next week!

We spent the day at water country today and the kids were so thrilled. Both kids loved it. Mac wanted to hit the wave pool first, then we hit the little kids area and then traveled through out the other areas of the park. Emily loved playing in the water and floating on the lazy river. Mac's favorite of course is the huge water slides, I wouldn't have expected anything less from my little adrenaline junkie! We suckered Grandma Jan into a ride at the end (she isn't a fan off large water slides) both she and Emily didn't care for it but we all had fun! Kids were fast asleep at 6:30, guess that's a sign of a good day!

Mac had his last t-ball game tonight. It was a lot of fun, after the game the kids had a pizza party at a local restaurant. They ate, the team mom made a cake which all the kids enjoyed (even eating their "names" off the cake board). Mac received a team ball and all the kids got trophies. Mac seemed to really enjoy his first t-ball season!

It was such a beautiful day here today, the humidity was down so we decided to take a stroll in colonial Williamsburg. The kids got tired of walking so we stopped and had lunch. It was a nice walk, tourism is definitely picking up here!

The glue finally came off Emily's scar so now we can see what it really looks like. It was a pretty straight cut, so hopefully with a few months of mederma it won't be too noticeable. She's beautiful no matter what, look at those eyes sparkle and smile at you!

Mac wanted to do a musical at church and has been practicing for a little over a month. The musical was tonight in conjunction with a family service where 14 seven to ten year olds were baptized, it was neat. Mac was a bit shy when he was up on the stage in front of everyone. He did great and seemed to enjoy it. Emily also loved being on stage while we were waiting. It was a late night but we all enjoyed it.