Rob, Carolyn, Robbie, Kirstin, Caleb, Aidan

The Mac6Pac

Sunday, July 11, 2010

Our Super Duper 4th of July Weekend!

according to Kirstin
Saturday
Today was a very long day. First we woke up to pack our bags. Then we went downstairs to eat breakfast--doughnuts (don't ask). Then after awhile we were on our way to Tom and Sandra John's house. When we got there, we tried on life jackets and we went to Lake Anna to ride on their boat. I met a girl named Carly that came with us. She was nice. So we got on the boat and we went riding. Then we stopped at a place to swim. While we were swimming, Aidan had a "pee issue". He said, "I need to go to a restaurant so I can pee!" Then Tom said "You and your pee issues!" I just pee in the lake. See?" (Closes his eyes, looks up and scrunches up his face). Later on...."Dad said "Is Aidan OK?" ToImagem said, "Yeah. He just says he needs to go to a restaurant......TO PEE!" Later on Aidan almost got a heart attack when Caleb rode the inner tube. Caleb didn't like either. Then when Robbie went, the rope untied while the boat was moving and Robbie started floating away! Aidan screamed, but Dad went to go save Robbie. The funny thing was, Robbie didn't mind a bit! He was just sitting there minding his own business! Then Carly went and of course, Aidan cried, but Tom was driving so fast and the ride was so bumpy that she fell off. But she wanted to go again! I was surprised of how brave she was. I wish I were brave. Then after Carly rode again, we went for a ride and had cookies and a sandwich. Then after we docked the boat and said goodbye, we started for Aunt Ruthie's house. When we got there, we just played for awhile, had dinner, played some more, the went to bed. I found this difficult because Mom was snoring.

Sunday
We woke up and Aunt Ruthie, Robbie and I cooked breakfast. We had eggs, bacon and pancakes. the we played a little until it was time to go to church. Everyone was excited to see us because it was nine years since we came to this church. It was called the Vienna ward. We went to sacrament meeting then had a lesson about Gideon.....We then went home , played ate dinner and dessert and went to bed.

Monday
Now we are driving to New York City! Robbie just fell asleep because we woke up at 4:00 am. We just drove by the Washington DC temple but it will take a while to get to New York. When we got to the hotel, we went to Uncle Rich and Aunt Mitch's room. When we got there, Aidan knocked on the door and the door opened a little but, but Uncle Rich put a hanger on the door that said "Absolutely not!" When Aidan saw this he went "huh?" Then he knocked again and the opened the door. We said hello and they gave Dad a calendar and Mom a black and white striped purse, me a red purse with elephants on it (elephants mean good luck in the Philippines). Then Robbie, Caleb and Aidan got a Philippine toy Jeep. We walked over to Times Square. When we got thereImageImage, we went to the M&M's store and bought orange, green and yellow M&Ms. After that we went to the Hershey's Chocolate store where they had Hershey's, Reeses, Reeses Pieces, Almond Joys, etc. Then we went to Toys R Us. There were toys, video games, a gigantic dinosaur, a Lego Empire State Building and
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Statue of Liberty. There was even a Ferris wheel!
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After hanging out at Times Square for awhile we took a subway to Battery Park to see the Statue of Liberty. Uncle Rich and Aunt Mitch had gotten us tickets to ride the ferry there and take a tour but Mom lost them on the subway so we didn't get to go. We were disappointed but it was hot and there was a really long line.
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After we went back we met Uncle Rich and Aunt Mitch and went to Mars 2112. (It wasn't Mars in space, it was a restaurant!) We ate Martian food and saw aliens.

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Then Mom and I took a walk to find the American Girl Place. It was a very long walk and we saw many places along the way like NBC news studio and Radio City. Finally, we found the ImageAmerican girl Place on 49th andImage 5th


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We also saw a Lego store across the street with a giant red apple made entirely out of Legos!
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Tu
esday
We went to all of the places Mom and I saw last night. Robbie, Caleb, Aidan, Dad, Uncle Rich and Aunt Mitch went to the NBC news studio while Mom and I got Kirsten's hair done at the American Girl PlaceImage!









Next we went to the Lego store and built our own Lego men.

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Then it was time to say good bye to Uncle Rich and Aunt Mitch.....or was it?

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Uncle Rich and Aunt Mitch gave us tickets to visit Ripley's Believe It Or Not Museum. It was pretty crazy!
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It was a long, hot walk back and everyone was hot and tired. When we got to the hotel, we went to their room to get our luggage. Using the key Aunt Mitch gave us. We tried to open the door, but it didn't work. We tried and prayed over and over but it still didn't work. After waiting for 2 hours, Rich and Mitch came back early because Aunt Mitch was tired of walking. Using a new key, they opened the door. We took our bags and left for home. We got home at 1 am but we made it!
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Sunday, May 16, 2010

Signs of Spring

After an unusually cold and snowy winter, spring is finally here!

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Our hanging flImageImageower basket on the porch has become a home to a mother wren and 4 newly hatched baby birds. The are so tiny and scrawny and every time they sense any movement they struggle to lift those big heads with their scrawny necks and open their mouths wide for nourishment. We never get tired of miracles like these.


We are trying ONCE AGAIN to plant a garden. We have been mostly unsuccessful the 13 years that we have live in VA. We built some beds in the 2 small spots of sun we have in our back yard.

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We've planted basil, parsley, cilantro, dill, sage, green beans, bell peppers, pickling cucumbers, tomatoes and oregano. We're keeping our fingers crossed!



In other family news, Robbie ran the 50 yard dash and did a softball throw in the Special Olympics
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He also had his spring concert with his middle school orchestra
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Kirstin competed in a swim meet. She did the butterfly and breast strokes.

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Aidan had topsy turvy day at preschool. He especially liked the green fingernail polish!

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Last but not least, Mom had her knee surgery. After strenuous exercise for the past 3 months, she finally tore her meniscus- a crescent shaped cartilage pad in the knee. The surgery called an arthroscopy was performed to cut away the torn tissue, but during operation Dr. Wind found a spot on the knee where the cartilage had worn away and performed a chrondoplasty as well. A chrondoplasty is a procedure where several tiny holes are drilled into the bone to promote blood flow and encourage scar tissue to form to replace the cartilage. In order for the operation to be a success, Mom must refrain from putting any pressure on that knee for six weeks. This requires the use of crutches and greatly restricts her movements and activities. Mom feels a little overwhelmed and wonders if the kids are really up to taking on the lion's share of household chores. We shall see.....