Catie's Big Night

Tonight we went to the Awards ceremony for Catie' swimteam, Riptide.

Tonight was really nice, and each child gets recognized from each age group, and receives a trophy and a certificate for being a member of the swimteam.

Other awards were given out tonight, and Catie was the recipient of 2 more of them! The first award she got, was a silver medal for having the most Personal Best Time ribbons. That means, that each meet she swam in, she cut her time down in freestyle and backstroke. I knew she was really doing well, when she got a Best Time ribbon after every meet she swam in...she consistently got better and better with each meet. She had 11 total ribbons which won her a silver medal!

The next award, was a complete surprise to her and us. She won the Most Improved Swimmer for her 7-8 age group. This award is given to the swimmer who has taken the most time off of their initial time trials that were in May! I don't have the exact amount of time she cut off her original ones, but it's alot!

Yesterday was the Championships meet for all the teams in Marin County...hundreds of kids swimming...Riptide placed 5th...not bad at all! Catie swam like a champ in both her events...She's improved SO much since March...it's just amazing to watch her go!!!

We are SO PROUD of you Catie!!

Here is Catie looking at her Certificate with her best times on it and holding her trophy for being on the team.

Here is Catie after getting her silver medal!!

and here she is with her Most Improved Award!!

Sunday Afternoon Mini Golf

Today we went to lunch and hit the Mini Golf at McInnis Park in San Rafael...the girls haven't been mini golfing before, so it was quite an undertaking.....as you can see from the pics below, each has their own style of putting......we had lots of laughs this afternoon...and Catie got not 1 but 2 holes in 1.....not bad for a first time golfer....lucky kid!

Friday Fun in San Francisco!

Friday we took the ferry into San Francisco to have lunch with Daddy and to play!
We had lunch at Henry's Hunan...an AWESOME restaurant in an alley off 2nd Street, just down from Brian's office...the food was outstanding!!!!! Highly recommend visiting this fantastic restaurant!!!

After lunch, Brian went back to work and I took the girls to the Yerba Buena Gardens to ride the Carousel...the girls love that...after that, we walked down 1/2 block on Howard Street to the Steinhart Aquarium...it's temporarily being housed here, while a new facility is being built in Golden Gate Park...The girls had a great time in here, and we stayed for 2hrs...they could have stayed longer. We saw all kinds of cool fish, penguins, snakes..... Alas, it was time to meet Daddy to get the ferry home...

An interesting way to watch the penguins...
touching the starfish...

nothing like a carousel ride.....

Fun with friends at the Sonoma County Fair

Wednesday, we went to Santa Rosa to the Sonoma County Fair with our freinds, Penny, Gianna and baby Ava. Catie and Gianna have known each other since preschool and even though they go to different schools here in Novato, the girlsl (and the Moms) keep the friendships going strong!!

The girls mostly had all the rides to themselves which was really nice, and they consumed corndogs, cotton candy, pizza, icecream and churros....gotta love fair food!!! and we got home at 8:30pm and they were STILL hungry...


Motorcycle Mama!! Here is Meigan, riding this motorcycle ride...she had a blast on it!!


Catie and Gianna went on this big swing ride...

Here is Meigan on the mini ferris wheel...all 3 girls were really unsure of this ride, but they wanted to go on it...and they ended up having a blast!!

Catie and Gianna stopped at the top of the ferris wheel, and they're not sure they like being up there...

GO RED SOX!!!!!

Nana and Grampa came loaded down with Sox gear for the girls, and Brian and I. We can't very well cheer on our Sox without these necessary items!!

Here is Meig showing off her new Sox gear! She loves to chant "go Red Sox, go Red Sox"....

and here is Catie, modeling her new gear, but in a much quieter fashion that her younger sister!

Sunday July 1...Baptism Day

After many years, and many long discussions, Brian and decided to baptize the girls! It was long over due.....they have the Catholic religion as a base, and later in life they can do what they wish.

Here are the girls in their nice dresses.

Here is a picture of us with the Deacon who baptized them.

Here are the girls receiving the sacrament of baptism......
A nice photo with Mom and Dad, after the ceremony.

Anna and Steven are wonderful friends and they stood in as witnesses for the girls' baptisms. My best friend Lisa who lives in Maryland is the girls godmother, and she couldn't make it out for the festivities! We missed you Aunty Lisa!!!!!!!!!!! My brother Kevin is Meigan's godfather, and my youngest brother Ryan is Catie's godfather!

After the ceremony, we all enjoyed a fabulous lunch at Wildfox restaurant here in Novato.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY CATIE!! 7YRS. OLD

Our first baby, is officially a big kid!!! Catie turned 7 on July 6th! How that happened, we're not quite sure...but we can say that it happened FAST! Our girl started her day, with her own special breakfast of her choice, which was donuts with sprinkles and bacon! (at least she chose a little protein in that "breakfast of champions") :)) She's such a big girl now...growing up much too fast! She'll start 2nd grade in August... Her gift from us, is a big girl desk for her room!

Catie shows off her birthday balloons! She chose a dolphin and the gigantic Happy Birthday one...

here is Catie, digging trough her "loot" from Nana! inside was 3 dresses, 3 tops, slippers...

Catie blows out the "7" candle on her cake!!

devouring a HUGE piece of cake....we thought she was going to explode eating a piece this big! but nope, she ate just about the entire thing!!

birthday cake eating is VERY serious business!!

we ended Catie's birthday with a fantastic dinner at her favorite chinese restaurant....it was a fun day for our 7yr. old.....

A Busy Few Days

Things have been busy with Nana and Grampa visiting us these past weeks....here are a few pics of what the girls have been up to with them! Mostly, the pics are of Grampa, since he's always messing around with them!!!

The Doctors's Van Weele..they patched up Grampa's cuts with bandaids.....and they used those waterproof/tatoo ones, that never come off! Ouch, on his hairy legs!!!

Meigan launching off Grampa's shoulders in the pool! She's a fish now, no floaties, and swims the entire pool length, jumps off diving boards....we have to really watch her, she's very confident in the pool suddenly!!

Catie and Grampa having some fun discussion while floating in the pool.....I really love this picture!

Interesting libations......

Here are the 2 new wines we bought today!



Is this what you become after you drink a whole bottle of this????

is this what you get after you drink the wine?????

these 2 wines were a really nice surprise! The Big Ass is a 2nd label for Adler Fels Winery in Sonoma County, and it was really really good!!! The chardonnay, Mom really liked as well!

Oyster Fest at Hog Island Oyster Co., Marshall, CA

Today, we took off at 9:30am, headed for Freestone, CA in Sonoma County for Wild Flour Bread. This tiny bakery, makes incredible breads only on Friday, Saturday, Sunday and Mondays...and Monday is when they make their Fig, Pear and Ginger Bread! I LOVE fig, and I was willing to drive for bread with this amazing fruit in it!

So, of we went...we found Wild Flour.....was so excited to find it....and....IT WAS CLOSED!!! AAAAAAGGGHHHHHHHHH.......they went camping/fishing...literally......GO FIGURE! they're only open 4 days a week, and they pick THIS Monday to close......oh, it was so disappointing....and we were SO hungry by then...

so, we went up to Bodega Bay...stopped at The Tides Wharf...bought some fun things...like some interesting wine from Sonoma County.....Big Ass Zin (no joking) and Horse's Ass Chardonnay(no joking)...both, which were fantastic....2nd labels for other wineries....but still GREAT wines!!! never mind hilarious names!!

After that, we headed down Highway 1 to Marshall to Hog Island Oyster Farm.....My Dad and Brian LOVE oysters....and to have them right out of Tomales Bay for lunch was just perfect! We had stopped at our favorite market in Sebastopol, Fircrest Market, for some amazing sandwiches and salads, on our way out and we were ready for a picnic!

It was GORGEOUS out in Marshall today...a very light wind..100% sunshine...and good food and family around made it a perfect outing!!

We got back home to Novato around 2:30 where it was over 90 degrees, so we dumped the stuff inside the house and headed for the pool!!!

The Oyster Man Cometh!!

Brian on his way to the table with the oysters!!!

36 Oysters ready to be shucked and devoured!!!!!! they were amazing!!!

Here is Dad, busy shucking his oysters! This guy doesn't waste any time!!!

dueling shuckers!!!! Brian and Dad hard at work for their lunch!!! At Hog Island, it's Oysters ONLY!! and they don't shuck 'em for ya, or bring them to you.....they give them to you with the tool, some tobasco and that is IT!!!!

Grandpa and his Girls!!!

This says it all, I think....

taken today in Bodega Bay....what a gorgeous day it was to be out in Sonoma/West Marin!!!

A Surprise visit from family far away!!

Sunday afternoon, I get a phone call from
my Uncle Frank (center) telling me that
my Aunt Kathy (left..my Dad's youngest sister) will be out visiting next weekend and can he have my address so they can come up and visit us...Suuuurrrrree I say, would be GREAT to see you guys next weekend, especially since my Mom and Dad are here. Well, about 5 mins. later, my doorbell rings and whose lovely face do I see in my front window, but my Aunt Kathy..... SUCH a fun surprise visit! I was so happy to see them, it's been 2yrs. since I last saw them back in Maine for my brother Kevin's wedding.... and of course, Mom and Dad were NOT here, they were on route back from LA visiting my brother Ryan and his family........

My Aunt Kathy used to take me out when I was a little kid, to places with all her grown-up friends, and she used to say "Kristin, if you can be quiet for 1 minute, I'll buy you something"...HA! nope, no dice...I couldn't be quiet for a minute when I was 5.... :))) now, of course, I can be quiet for at least, 30secs....(and no snarky comments from my friends on that)

June 21st...Referral Day and Meigan turns 4!!!!

The 21st of June is a very special day in our house!!! This date marks the date we received Meigan's referral....and it is also Meigan's birthday. It was pretty amazing to get Meigan's referral on her 1st birthday and to find out that she is from the very same city as her big sister Catie!!

It's hard to believe she's 4 already. She's been home almost 3 yrs. now. Meigan is now the same age that Catie was, when we traveled to bring Meig home.

Meig is one funny kid. She's intense, stubborn, fiercely loyal, loving and just a blessing to our family!!!

here is the first picture we saw of Meigan on June 22, 2003.

Today, Meigan woke up today at 6:45am, came in our room, poked me at said "Mom, MOM...look at me, I grew overnight".....she was soooooo excited that her day was here, she didn't stop smiling from the time she woke up until she went to bed!!!

We had Meig's party today, with friends...Nana and Grandpa flew out yesterday to celebrate with her...

here is Meigan, at 8:45am today, with a HUGE smile on her face...her Grandpa is singing Happy Birthday to her, and she's grinning ear to ear!!!

At our house, when it's your birthday, you get the "Special Plate" and you get to have ANYTHING you want for breakfast!! and today, Meigan chose ice cream and sprinkles! mmmmmm, breakfast of champions!!!

Here is the birthday girl, ready for her big, fun-filled day!!


THE HELLO KITTY CAKE!!!!!!

the cake eaters, taking time out from the pool.

The Hello Kitty pinata....filled with toys and M&M's....it was the pull string kind...we didn't want to be wacking Hello Kitty with a baseball bat.....

here is Meigan pulling the first string.......

and another string............darn pinata just wouldn't burst open!!!

SUCCESS!!!!! The birthday girl with all her pinata loot!

Anna helps Meigan with her card....the gift craze!!!

IT's 10:20pm...everyone in the house is asleep, except for me...of course...I've filled the dishwasher, cleaned all the dishes, picked up all the papers, boxes, blah blah blah...

A very successful 4th birthday party for Miss Meigan!