For Father's Day this year, we decided to try something new!  At Katie's suggestion, we planned a day at Lynch Park in Beverly and we had a perfect day.  The weather was beautiful, the park had so much to offer, and we spent the day with our family.  What more could we ask for?

We have been telling the kids for a few days that we were going to the beach, so they were incredibly excited this morning.  They just asked over and over, "Go the beach?  Go the beach, Mommy?"  Mairead was slightly disappointed when she learned that we would be going in the car.  She said, "We go on the plane, yet?"  Turns out, Team Umi Zoomi went to the beach recently and they took a plane to get there.  When I broke that news that we were going in the car, she said, "No, we can't go in the car.  Go in the plane and go to the beach!"  Her disappointment didn't last long, though, because once she saw the beach, she was happy as could be!
      We set up beach chairs, picnic blankets, and even a grill (courtesy of Dan and Katie) and everyone brought some great food to share.  The kids had a blast.  They ran across the field, played in the sand, saw sailboats, a rose garden, and kayaks.  The park also has an ice cream stand that we all just had to try.

Mairead chose the ice cream stand staple of the red white and blue bomb... the biggest popsicle she had ever seen.  She was absolutely giddy when Dave handed it to her.  I think she just could not believe we were letting her have this monstrosity!

Jack didn't want any, but he sat very close to her while she ate it.

Maybe too close...

Ben went with his old standby of fries.  If he could live on goldfish, toast, and fries with "kitchit," he would be a happy man!

Ben had to chase after Brian because the boys are OBSESSED with Brian.  When they see any kind of house being worked on, or any kind of professional carpenter, roofer, etc, they yell, "It's Brian, Mama?  It's Brian?

Mairead convinced Jen to draw the alphabet in the sand and then ran to me to say, "Look what I made for you."  She kept saying, "Look at all these letters!"

Solitary man...

The park has a beautiful garden and the kids had fun exploring all of the details.

 

Today was one of those days that reminds us just why we love summer so much.  It was so great to spend so much time outside, to relax, and to enjoy beautiful surroundings with great company.  Great idea, Katie... maybe this could be an annual tradition?

Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus!

When Mairead was just a baby, Christin gave her a few books by Mo Willems.  One, Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus, is Mairead's current favorite book.  She gets hysterical every time we read it, which is once or twice every day.  She knows every word of the book and if you recite a line, she'll give you the next one.  We recorded her listening to it at bedtime because it's just so sweet how she is so in love with this book!  Thanks, Christin!

Her reaction tonight was actually a little more subdued than usual... we had a busy day!  Sometimes, she laughs so hard that she gets the hiccups.  My absolute favorite part is when she says, "I have dreams, you know."  Kills me every time!

Playdates

Now that the weather is nicer, we have been able to get out and enjoy some playdates with friends.  This week, our friend, Connor, spent the afternoon with us and the kids had a great time.  The boys followed Connor all over the place and showed them all of their toys.  Ben just kept saying, "Hi Connor!  Hi, Connor!'  Very exciting to have a big boy around to play with!  The kids spent some time out in the yard enjoying the swingset and the nice weather.  Connor is obsessed with t-ball so he and Jack broke out the bats for a bit.  Mairead spent some time watering the flowers and giving this butterfly a drink.

After dinner, it was time to sit back and relax with the kids new favorite show, Team UmiZoomi.  It's actually a pretty good show.  It teaches math concepts and logic, and all of the kids get really into it.  Jack loves to answer when the characters ask questions.

They love Daddy's ipad.  Mairead is getting pretty good at manipulating it herself, which is great... unless Dave wants to actually use his ipad.

Last week, we traveled to Nashua to check out a new playground on Shattuck Street with our friends, Maddie and Audrey, and their mom.  It was pretty hot so we spent some of the time in the shade enjoying juice and rice cakes, but the kids had fun running around together.  If you do go here, it's a nice little park that is completely fenced in (always important).  But, it has very little shade so it's probably best to go on a not so sunny day.

The kids are constantly coming up with  new ways to impress me and to be cute.  They are, however, all at a stage in which they are constantly testing limits and asserting their independence.  This is not so cute.  For the  most part, though, they are very sweet to one another.  Today, Ben was yelling, "I stuck, I stuck!" so Jack dropped his notebook (gasp) and headed to the rescue yelling, "Help Ben, Mommy!  I help Ben!"  The boys also love to give Molly (the cat) their blankets, and even give her a book once in a while.  They are very sweet to her and she is very patient with them, luckily.

Mairead is continuing to make progress.  We saw her neurologist this past week and he is really happy with how she is doing.  Unfortunately, we are all sort of out of ideas for how to help her to progress any faster.  Now, we just have to give her time and see how she does both in school and at home.  Our first appointment at the stroke clinic was July 1 of last year, so when I think about how far she has come in that year, I realize that she has made amazing progress.  I can't help but to want her to make even more progress, though, because I hate to see her frustrated and I hate to see the increasingly obvious differences between her and her peers.  We will all just keep doing our best- that's all we can do.

Every time I go to Children's, I thank God and my lucky stars and anyone else who will listen that Mairead and the boys are as healthy as they are. I have my struggles with Mairead and there are some days when life is really, really hard. But I know it could be much worse. When we go to neurology, we go to Fegan 11 (one of the towers at the hospital). From the waiting room window, we can see the windows of another tower (I think it's Hunnewell). When I took Mairead last July 1, we could see the room of a little girl named Ella Grace. Her name is colored on the windows, she has pictures, stickers, etc, all over the place. It was clear she was a pretty established resident.

Well, we have been to neurology 5 times since last July, and I always look to see if her name is still there, or if maybe she has gone home. Today, Ella is STILL there. She has been in the hospital, in the same room, for over a year. Now, I am afraid that next time we go, I won't see her name and I will fear that she didn't make it. I have obviously never met this little girl, but I think about her often (is that weird?) and I pray for her and her family. Can you even IMAGINE your child being in a hospital room for over a year?

Anyway, I am definitely not a 'life with a child with special needs is all puppy dogs and rainbows' person, but man, what some of these families are dealing with is just heartbreaking to the nth degree.

So if you can, send a little prayer to Ella Grace in Boston

I apologize for the decrease in blog posts lately.  I have been having a lot of pain in my wrists-- enough so that I actually went to the doctor for myself instead of for the  kids.  The NP suspects (as I did) carpal tunnnel syndrome.  I have to have an electromyogram at the end of June as well as consult with an orthopaedist to see what should be done, with options including cortisone injections and surgery.  I am pretty anxious about all of it seeing as I have three little ones to take care of, but I also have to be sure I don't do permanent damage to any nerves.  Wish me good luck!

Have a great weekend, everyone!

Spring has Sprung

It has been a lo-o-o-o-ng May since it rained nearly every day, and it was cold! The heat kicked on last wee. If you survive a winter of being housebound due to record snowfall, hearing the heat come on in mid-May and STILL being stuck in the house is enough to drive a person, specficially, a stay-at-home-mom of three, crazy. We have had a few nice days, today being one of them, and we hope to see many more!

We do find ways to pass the time. Painting pictures (and selves, in Ben's case) is a favorite.

Mairead is getting to be quite a little artist! She paints all kinds of people and animals, and even paints her name. She is really getting interested in words and how to spell them, and it's fun to help her learn how to write new words.

I guess you know it has rained a lot when the kids feel like they need to use an umbrella even INside the house.

Jack has been getting ready for nice weather by practicing his golf swing, his jump shot, and now, his windup. I need to get him on video- he winds up like a real pitcher. He must have picked it up just from watching the Red Sox or from seeing Dave do it a few times, because no one taught it to him. His new obsession is his real glove. Jim and Jess gave the boys these gorgeous personalized gloves when they were babies, and they are finally big enough to use them. The boys literally could have fit inside the gloves when they got them! These are definitely not going to be 'outside' gloves, though. They are too nice to ruin!

Jack even insists on sleeping with his. I thought that kind of thing didn't happen until they were older? It looks like he will be a great athlete someday- he is so serious and committed. And, he is pretty good!

About two weeks ago, we made a trip to Penguin Park, one of our favorite playgrounds, to enjoy a nice afternoon once we picked Mairead up from school. It was nice to be back there- it was such a long winter! It's also nice that the kids are so much more independent. When we went in the fall, someone was always just about to fall off the top of the slide, get crashed into by a swing, etc. Now, they can enjoy most of the equipment safely, which makes things easier for me!

My mom has been working so hard to get the yard ready for the summer. She will be out there for 8 hours at a time some days. It is paying off, though; the yard looks beautiful already! She is lucky enough to have some very enthusiastic helpers. Ben loved using the hose to water the grass.

Note that he did not, however, part with his toast in order to do so.

Mairead loves being out in the yard and loves gardening with Nana. She has no qualms about getting her hands dirty, although now she does have some fabulous Wonder Pets gardening gloves to help with that.

We truly hope the nice weather is here to stay. I actually am just hoping it is here to stay TODAY, as we have a playground playdate in a few hours and I see that it is clouding over even as I type this. Rain, rain, stay away!