Megan with a side of Rice

So Megan has entered the realm of eating from a spoon. She is really excited about the whole process but not a big fan of the actual food. See for yourself. (I love baby faces- there are few things that make me laugh as hard.)

Vermont, Maine and Back Again

So we just spent eight days on the road with our two kids. It was an adventure. Here is how it went down:

Day One: Wednesday. We left at 5:00 to go to the airport. It was a close call, but we all made it on the plane. Five and a half hours later we were at JFK. We took a little plane from there to Burlington arriving at 6:00-ish. Following a fabulous steak dinner at 99 we went and crashed at Papa and Mimi's house (that is great grandma and grandpa Parrish).

Day Two: The boys golfed, of course, family visited and Mimi made chicken pie for dinner. How many Parrish boys does it take to pick a bucket of corn?

This is Papa and Mimi's house (from the side). All that grass and trees and no sprinklers!

Grandpa picked some flowers for Mark to charm Grandma with. Who can resist such a cutie?

Day Three: We headed off the Maine around 1:00. We probably saw more rain during that drive than we get all year. We made it just in time for dinner. Mike got to have his favorite- lobster. Mark couldn't eat something that looked so much like a bug. Here is Megan so glad to finally be out of her car seat and just chilling on the bed.

Day Four: The boys golfed and the girls and kids went to breakfast. The big wedding celebration for Randi (Mike's sister) and her husband, Mike, was that afternoon. We had so much fun playing baseball and eating and visiting. That evening we hung out at Mike and Randi's apartment and played some Wii. Mark was a little confused with his first gaming experience, but I am sure he will pick it up soon.

Day Five: We headed back to Vermont with Papa and Mimi. Mike got to have lobster for a second time.

Day Six: We took it easy Monday morning. The boys put together Papa's new TV. They now enjoy their entertainment in 42" HD. I got to go out to lunch with Carol Lee and one of her friends- Lucia. We had a great time. That afternoon we all went with Mark for his first fishing expedition. He loved playing with the pole, but the second he snagged a fished he ran to Mom and Dad had to reel it in. Mark was not about to touch the thing or even get near it for a picture. A lot of the family came over for dinner that night. We got to cook s'mores and catch up with a few people.

Day Seven: The boys golfed- again. Are you sensing a trend? We had more R and R time, which was great. Mark got to pick apples that afternoon.

Day Eight: We headed to the airport around 10:30 after stopping to see Mike's uncle and aunt. We rode a prop plane- which was kind of loud and bumpy- to Philadelphia. We had a three hour layover there and finally left there at 6:00p.m. Of all the flights and driving I think the kids were actually the best behaved on the last flight. Mark loved watching his little DVD player and Megan slept for most of the time. We got home and crawled straight into bed. I am sure that we left Papa and Mimi in a coma too.

I am so glad we got to go and show Mark around Vermont. I knew that he would love Papa and Mimi's house. He had a ton of fun playing baseball, tooling around in the playhouse and just roaming around their yard. It was great to see family and have such a fun visit.

Water Woe

So the main water line from the street to our home decided to break a little while ago. Thankfully it was just a small leak, so we had time to figure out what to do. Last Friday Grandpa Parrish and Dennis came out to save the day. They brought a back hoe with them- much to Mark's great enjoyment, and they began to replace the pipe. The whole project took until Sunday to finish- major kudos to Grandpa Parrish for totally saving the day and fixing the whole thing while we were away visiting in Utah- there are not enough thank yous in the world that would do it justice.

On Saturday we re-poured the bit of sidewalk that had to be taken out. Again, Mark was not about to miss a minute of the action.

Mike got into it too. Dirty is not his favorite state of being, but I think he pulls it off quite well. I think he took about four showers that day.

Not to be left out- Megan supervised and was actually quite content the whole time. I love her pretty blue eyes and pink cheeks.

Checkin In

We've been a bit busy lately so I am way behind in blogging (not to mention the housework).
Mike was able to find a job!! He started last week and is doing a lot of the learning stuff you do at the beginning of a job. Today he was working his way through the six volume contract (each volume being 600+ pages- yikes) of the new airport terminal. He works for Southwest Steel- a division of SME steel- as a Cost Engineer/ Contract Administrator.
Mark, Megan and I are settling back into having him gone all day again. Today we found an awesome chef hat at Target that I just couldn't resist. Mark was so excited to be like Remy (from the Disney movie Ratatouille (sp?)). We made cookies to christen the outfit. Megan is sick, but she is the nicest sick kid I have ever been around, besides the lack of sleep at night. She is still the same smiley person all day even though she is all stuffed up.

Mark is Some Funny

I cannot get over how hilarious this little kid of ours is. Here are some photos to prove it.



This is Mark with his flag on his new big boy potty. Yes, that is a toilet. I could put in some really witty comments about the state of the nation here, but I'll leave the potty jokes to the experts.

We start 'em young here. Mark will definately know his technology thanks to his awesome uncles.

One of his favorite toys is the laundry basket- I'm talking hours of fun.

I found this great new hairdresser. He does such an awesome job. His instruments of choice are screwdrivers, and surprisingly they work quite well.

Just a few pictures of our summer. We went to the Springs Preserve- its just a big desert landscaped park. It was about 105 degrees and Mark was feeling the heat, but he still had fun with the other kids and the train.

He is wearing Dad's hat- can you tell?

Mark is really good and making Megan smile. He always loves to give her a hug or kiss her. Here he is trying to read her a story. These are the moments that remind you why you had kids in the first place.

Megan is working on her smile. I can't quite snap the picture when she is grinning her biggest, so this will have to do. It is so much cuter in person.

I love this outfit- its one of my favorites. Our little sunflower.

P.S. The job search is still going. We have had a few good leads, but it always takes longer than you want to hear back from people and get interviews. As soon as we have good news I will be letting the world know. Two kids in diapers with no money coming in is not a walk in the park, but I now know that I can feed my family on $20 a week (just call me a bargain diva)!

Megan's Blessing

We blessed Megan last Sunday. She was able to wear the dress that my mother made for my own blessing. We had her picture taken in it the week before. Mike did a great job and it was fun to have so much of the family here for it.