Max and Esme

Cousins. Rob and Carey and Greta visited this weekend for some playtime. Here's a couple of photos courtesy of Rob - I took a few as well, but they are still on my camera! Greta happily spent an afternoon with the Girards while her parents took some time for themselves. She woke up from her nap asking for mommy and where's daddy. But Max went in to her and told Greta that her parents were out and that we'd all be looking after her for a while. This was accompanied by a pat on the head from Max, a hug from me, and we were good to go.

A week later... The Swensons came to visit last week, arriving late on Friday night and heading home again on Sunday. We are honored that they came such a distance to see us! The kids had a great time playing together. Here's Esme showing Rya around the house when they first arrived. The weather was pretty uncooperative on Saturday, but we kept everyone amused. Unfortunately Saturday afternoon ended with a trip to the emergency room and some stitches for Connor. Esme was a good sport and stayed happily at home with Scott while I drove Deena and Connor to the hospital and Pete docked the boat with the help of Max and Rya. The stitches didn't seem to slow Connor down any - the kids had a slumber party in Max's room on Saturday night.

More Kindergarten. Max and I had a morning off yesterday for his kindergarten screening. From what I can surmise the screening is to determine if your child has any developmental or learning issues. The questions/play didn't seem designed to highlight that your child is super bright as Max is. But he had a good time and got to see the baby ducks they had in the kindergarten classroom. So that makes it all right. What was probably more valuable for Max than the visit to school is that he got to go out to breakfast with Mommy and Daddy and not Esme . It's been a long time since Max has had alone time with both of us together... almost two years?

Happy Mother's Day to me. I had a great welcome on Friday afternoon when I arrived home from London. Lots of Max hugs and Esme wanted to be carried around by me the rest of the afternoon. We spent the weekend putting the house back together... I'd say we're getting close. Swim started up again after 3 weeks off - they Y had been closed because of flood damage - and the kids both enjoyed their time in the pool. On Sunday afternoon we did a family outing on the boat. Max is becoming a pro - helping Peter put the fenders out before we docked. Esme was surprisingly good on the trip. She'd climb down into the cabin and sit on the bench, them come back up and sit camly on the aft deck... back and forth... Max made me a lovely butterfly magnet and a special card for Mother's Day which he gave me Friday afternoon after school because he couldn't wait any longer. But on Sunday morning, the first thing he said was "Happy Mother's Day." Thanks for ...

Miss you guys. Just a quick post from London to say that I miss my family. While it's true that I was able to sleep in this morning (my hotel is about 2 minutes walk from the office), it's also the case that I wasn't greeted with smiles and kisses from my husband and kids when I got 'home' last night. A couple more days to go and I look forward to the hugs.

Picnic A quick upload of some pictures from the weekend as I wait for the car service to pick me up and take me to the airport. Had a lovely warm Saturday with a picnic lunch at the Marina.

House pics A few shots before furniture moved in. Esme testing Max's bed. Max standing in the doorway to our closet.

Looking forward to the weekend. It's Friday! Brian and Sissy returned yesterday evening after a few days of living the cultural high-life in NYC. Max has a birthday party to attend this afternoon. And the grandparents are babysitting tomorrow night so we can go out. We're all very much looking forward to the weekend! (and yes, I will post some pictures...)