Ahhh...Memorial Day

While I was off logging some hours at work, Maeve and her Dad decided to make a day of it at Nana & Gramp McNamara's in Providence. As much as I'd like to believe Maeve enjoyed all the attention and love from her grandparents and Aunts and Uncle, I regret to write that what she probably delighted in most was repeatedly walking up and down the ramp which is positioned at the back door. This is Maeve's latest and perhaps greatest obsession (some close seconds being, shoes, hats, jackets, black beans, her new plastic ball, cowboy boots, etc.). What I subsequently delighted in, however, was the outfit that Maeve's Dad picked for her to wear while I was at work to commemorate the day: a camouflage skort with a Grateful Dead one-sie. Where are the fashion police when you need them?! This video is on the longer side of things, but if you can stick with it, Chris and I think the end is pretty darn funny...

Opa!

Well, the weekend we'd all been waiting for finally came and now it's over and boy am I bummed. Amy (aka Hydro) and Kevin tied the knot last Saturday, the 26th, thus my blog title. That's one more Chatham Chickadee officially spoken for. And the weekend certainly met all of my expectations and more. Not so much Chris' however as he was saddled with a killer cough (you know the kind that goes on and on and isn't the least bit productive...) most of the night. The final straw for him was when our good friend Kevin Shea, being very compassionate and solicitous, sat with Chris (while I busted a move and a couple of ribs on the dance floor) but each time Chris opened his mouth to speak to Kevin, a cough would come out instead. Anyway, Chris stuck it out the best he could and I had a rip-roaring time with my girls (and their dates). It was a night we won't soon forget and here are a few photos to commemorate the evening...

Dave and Dave reviewing all the moves to the Macarena in case the DJ decides to spin it:



Proof that Meg, Jodi and Becky really do clean up when they put their minds to it:



Jodi and Kevin, thinking to themselves, "if this guy coughs one more time, we're out of here..."



I've just told Meg, Dave, Dave & Beck that if they pose for this picture, they can take turns sitting on the shuttle bus driver's lap on the way to the reception:



The newlyweds obliging my request for a couple of photos so that I'll scram and they can eat their well-earned dinner!




The Maid of Honor, Jen and her Best Man, Marco:



Picture perfect...



The usual suspects, Kevin, Kevin, Dave, Dave, Dave...and Chris!



Anne, Donny, Dana and Larissa, relishing in the idea that the rowdy table is positioned in the back:



The wonderful duo that is Amy and Kevin is off to Greece! We wish them a lifetime of hearty laughter and big love...

A Spring Visit to Hanson...

Also on our week off, we ventured to Hanson to spend the day with Nana and Grampa Moore. The weather was perfect and the grass was greener than ever, so after about nine readings of Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See? Maeve and her Grampa Moore went outside for a roll on the lawn...

A Visit to Kingston

Realizing that I had a week of no work ahead of me not so long ago, I crafted a schedule of things Maeve and I could do, both needed and just for fun. One of the "fun" activities devised by me was to sneak attack my Grandmother, Dorothy who lives in Kingston and bring her lunch. I had to surprise her because otherwise she would have gone food shopping in order to bake a couple of pies and a couple of loaves of banana bread for our arrival. I just wanted her to relax and not have to feel like she had to play "hostess with the mostess," so we rang her doorbell last Tuesday and ended up having a quiet, special and love-filled visit. Here's to the next ambush!

A Nap in the Hat

About 9 months ago, our friends the Santalucias showered us with baby gifts which included a rockin' pair of sun glasses and an ultra cute sun hat. For the last 9 months, Maeve has wanted nothing to do with them, especially the hat. But her girlish tendencies are beginning to surface as she enters (willingly, I might add) the world of accessorizing. She has taken this new talent to such extremes that recently, while I attempted to put her down for a nap and (foolishly) remove her hat to make her more comfortable, she let out a blood-curdling scream. Rather than duke it out with the little diva, I promptly fit the hat snuggly over her noggin and shut her door behind me. The result? Utter tranquility.

A Little Bit Country...A Little Bit Tropics?

Along the same lines as the previous blog entry, we have Maeve, engaged in her now daily activity of deciding which hat, or pair of shoes or...halter top to sport. While enjoying one of her favorite snacks (pineapple), I couldn't resist getting some footage of her, totally chillin' and totally digging her outfit of the day. A special thank you to my Aunt Patty for the cowboy boots. Giddy-up!

The Octopus Never Stood a Chance

Ahhh...bathtime. Made more exciting these days by the addition of a few friendly sea creatures: the crab, the starfish and the octopus, given to us by Maeve's buddy Patrick. What's pretty cool about these toys is that they are made of a nice vinyl-type material so that although they absorb water, they dry quickly. Maeve likes to speed up the drying process however, by taking each one and sucking every bloody drop of (dirty) bathwater out of them. As you'll see in this short clip, the entire head of the poor octopus is within Maeve's jaws and only his 8 legs are left to blow in the breeze. Maeve has definitely established herself at the top of the vinyl underwater creatures chain:

Lions and Tigers and Bunny Crackers...Oh My!

Anticipating that the weather would squander our plans for fun, my friend Joanna and I deftly devised Plan B which I imagine we would have executed seamlessly if called upon to do so, however, as we pulled into the parking lot of the Rogers Williams Park & Zoo (Plan A), the clouds parted and the sun made a memorable apperance to light up our day. I'm fairly certain that Maeve and I arrived that day as THE (if not one of the) newest members to the Zoo and boy were we excited. My husband had been there a long time ago as a young kid, but I had never had the pleasure to being there until last Saturday. Although the idea of a zoo might be a bit depressing to some, for me it was a real treat to watch Maeve discover some live animals up close that we had only read about or seen on the Planet Earth series!

Joanna, aka Super Mom, came well equipped and even provided Maeve with many treats to satisfy every need: a two-seater Radio Fyler wagon, bunny crackers and raisins!



As much fun as it was for me to watch Maeve search for the animal hiding within exhibit, it was equally, if not more fun, to watch Patrick as he tooled around the Zoo as if he were the Chief Zookeeper, finding each animal, naming each animal (I'm talking Aoudads and Moon Bears, people) and knowing which exhibit was our next stop! And while we waited for the elephants to be brought inside to enjoy their luncheon, Patrick recited the 2007 Red Sox batting order for me. YOU THINK I'M KIDDING...BUT I'M NOT:



A stop at the giant, bronzed dog...




Then it was off to lunch at the Newport Creamery...but not before Maeve fell victim to total zoo burnout:



Patrick and his Mom...



Patrick and his sweets...

Project Runway

Is it just me, or does Maeve look as though she has just made a signature turn on the catwalk, sporting her newest outfit from Old Navy?

A Rendezvous to Romp!

Last Thursday, some of the Chatham girls plus offspring ended up meeting at a local playground in Rehoboth. It was only for an hour or so...just enough time for the kids to expend some energy ahead of the dinner hour. Maeve is slowly, but surely learning to navigate her way around these types of environments and she does a pretty good job if I do say so myself.

Maddie Glynn was quick to come to her assistance for her first ride down a slide:



And here are a few shots of Maeve with some of her friends, or peeps as we like to call them (from left to right), Meghan Reed, Madeline Glynn, Caroline Reed and Joseph Reed. We were sorry to be missing Connor Glynn that day. The group had decided to unearth a boulder for Maeve and so they all pitched in, in a concerted effort to dig it out (to no avail I might add):