Seneca Creek State Park - 8/28/2010

Dateline: August 28, 2010
Seneca Creek State Park, Gaithersburg, MD


Deliquent blogger alert!!! I cannot believe we haven't updated this since last OCTOBER. (I blame it on "Facebook dependency"). Anyway, in the spirit of "better late than never", here goes...

While we used to visit Seneca Creek State Park frequently during our 'Germantown years' (2001-2005), it had been quite a while since we'd gotten back there. It's true that nothing 'exceptional' really happened, but today's outing just turned into one of those nice interludes that felt 'blog-worthy'. The weather was perfect, the kids were well-behaved, the place wasn't too crowded, and we got a few nice photos...including these shots of Ciara, Liam, and Maeve in the "recycled tire playground" (where old tires go to die?). Here are the three of them hamming it up for the camera:




And here are the three of them taking turns on the zip-line (manual labor provided by your's truly, at least in 2 of 3 cases):

And then we walked down to the lake...
("Please do NOT go in the water!!")

...Where we were reminded that nothing is more fascinating to kids than dragonflies...

...Except maybe a dead fish!:

Until next time, remember - don't play with the dead fish!

"Plane-spotting" at Gravelly Point...

October 4, 2009...

What to do on a picture-perfect Sunday morning in D.C.? Why, how about going to watch "those magnificent men in their flying machines"...and live vicariously through the wide-eyed wonder of two 18 month olds and a 5 year old?

To give full credit where credit is due, it was Emer's idea. And what a good idea it was. So often the simplest things are the most fun. Thus we found ourselves taking the short 20 minute drive down to Gravelly Point, right on the Potomac River and just north of National Airport. Here's me walking to our vantage point with Liam and Maeve:

And this is us in position, waiting for the first fly-by:

And.......WHOA (it felt a lot closer than it looks in the photo):

Liam, Ciara, and Maeve posing in front of "the giant pencil"...

This is Maeve taking cover after a particularly close fly-by...

Liam: "Maeve, where'd I put my wallet!?"...

Ciara: "I wish Nana and Grandad were on that plane, coming to visit us..."

Ciara in a tree...

11 months!

I just can't believe how this year is flying. They turned 11 months yesterday and honestly, this last month has been brilliant. They are in great form, we are getting out a lot and more importantly the majority of winter is in the rears! Skip, myself and Ciara are really enjoying their antics and I can now see that all those mothers of mulitples are not crazy when they say that they LOVE having multiples. After a long, tough year, I can finally see the light! They are hilarious together.

11 month update:

Liam is saying "Oh Oh" and it is so cute.
He tells you what a fish says.
He goes straight to the hall closet for his jacket when I tell him we are going for a walk.
He can stand but is still frightened by it.
He has 8 teeth.
His new favourite food is my homemade mac and cheese.

Maeve is crawling just as fast as Liam.
She has 6 teeth.
She donates her mac and cheese to Liam, since it is one thing she does not like!
Her food of the month is mandarin orange segments.
Everything excites her. She gets giddy constantly. She giggles all the time and honestly, it is the sweetest sound.

They now only nurse once a day and have one bottle in the evening, other than that, they are all grown up and using their cups! Onward to real milk and 100% sippys. They both love music. When you put on their favourite songs, they immediately stop what they are doing and begin to clap and "get jiggy". Their favourite songs are "Down by the Bay" by Raffi and the theme tune to Miss Spider's Sunnypatch kids.

Here is their 11 month photo.

A New Year!

It has been a long time since I updated the blog .... too busy during the day and too tired at night to post. This past week, the kids have been unbelievably brilliant so here's to a New Year and hopefully the first of many new posts.

Ciara continues to be terrific with M & L and is in love with both of them. The excitement on her part, as well as theirs, when we pick her up after school is so cute. She has them both in fits of giggles the whole way home and it continues throughout the afternoon. At school, she is learning to read, starting with the colours and wants to go to school 7 days a week, not 5. She will be in Kindergarten next year .... where does the time go?

Liam and Maeve will be turning 10 months old this coming Saturday. I cannot believe we have all survived.

Some points of note ...

Firstly, Liam

• He hit 20 lbs by his 9 month appointment


• He is the proud owner of 5 teeth


• He is standing alone for a few seconds but still favours crawling and cruising


• His favourite things to eat are apple pancakes, black beans and broccolli/cheese nuggets


• He loves to sit and read


• He is a cling-on to his mummy


• He says bababababa and mamamamama

and Maeve

• She was finally outpaced by Liam and was 1 oz shy of 20 lbs at her 9 month appointment


• She is also the proud owner of 5 teeth


• She learned to crawl just before Christmas and is so excited by it


• She can pull up to standing and in the last couple of days has learned to get back down again (phew!)


• Clapping is her latest achievement and again, she is beyond excited about it


• She says babababababa and mamamamama but her favourite word is "brah" or something like thatHer favourite things to eat are anything I give her. Honestly, she eats anything and everything. What a blessing! Long may it continue!

I will finish up since I do not want to over-exert myself!

Some recent pictures ...

Thank goodness those few weeks are over!

The last few weeks have been rough (understatement of the year). I have been sick. Liam and Maeve have been cranky. Everything went to hell in a handbag basically. My mysterious illness pummels me with flu-like symptoms for a few days every week or so. Enough already ... three kids, two of them being in their sixth month of life and the other back to school is enough to handle for a healthy person. The good news is that I feel great today so hopefully things are on the upswing. We also discovered not one but two new teeth for Maeve this morning so that could explain her lack of cooperation lately. Liam, who knows?! He is probably just wanting to be on the go. He is almost crawling and sits very well and that is all before he turns six months. Life is about to get really interesting!! So here are a few pictures since they have been severely lacking lately.

The first ones are from Labor Day at Skip's Aunt Peggy's house with a private pool, no less! No shots of Liam since when we just dipped his feet in he cried. Okay, so it was cold but toughen up buddy ... your sisters are making you look like a wuss! The shot of the deer is from right beside the pool. Ciara was in heaven.

Liam getting ready to go, go, go ....

Busy Saturday!

SOCCER: Wow, I can't believe I made it out to soccer today! WooHoo! I have not played since June '07 and boy did it show! My Over-30's team - THE KILLER TOMATOES - took me back, after my fourteen month layoff, and put up with my lack of pace for a good portion of the game! We won 6-0, so no pressure on me to run too much. I pumped before I left, had fun trying to fit into my sports bra and then Skip gave them bottles, which they sucked down enthusiastically! Four hours away from the homestead - must be a record!! Thanks #1 Dad!

BIRTHDAY PARTY: Ciara went to her friend (and neighbours) Jolie's birthday party today. They had a travelling petting zoo for the big occasion. Ducks, Rabbits, Hens, a little goat, an alpaca, a pony and other little miniature things were running about. Ciara took a little while to warm up to the furry friends but as the photos show, her initial wariness wore off.

SITTING: Yes, Liam and Maeve are adding to their repertoires! They are both sitting for short periods - you do have to stay close as they still flop down after 10 or so seconds. I am not sure if they realise they are doing it yet but we are excited, even if they're not! Our babies are growing! (As the photos show, our competitive little boy does a little better than our laid back little lady!)

Has anyone seen hot and sticky August?

The weather has been so fantastic this month. Usually Washington weather in August is hot, sticky and almost unbearable! This year it has been incredible. Mild is the word of the month and it has been brilliant for me, home with all three! Our wonderful neighbour saw the kids taking turns in the only infant swing we have and kindly gave us an old one of theirs so now Liam and Maeve do not have to take turns! Which reminds me of something that Ciara came up with recently. We were asking her if three kids was enough in our family and she thought and thought. Then she said "We can't have any more kids because we only have three swings." I can think of no other reason better than that. Skip agrees!