Leland 2011 Part I: Father's Day

This year there were a few changes to our annual trip to Leland. 1st: Sean, KC, and the kids joined us. 2nd: Andrew, the kids and I stayed for 2 weeks. 3rd: Brian and Debbie brought along some extra cargo, the newest addition to the family, Connelly. 4th: the weather was not its usual bright and sunny. We had a wonderful time so get ready for quite a few posts on Leland. When you take over 500 pictures, its hard to pick only a few to capture all the fun and family that is Leland.

Our first family event was Father's Day. We cooked out and Papa Frosty opened his presents.
All the dads posed with their children, then we headed to another house for a family get together and making Smores!
Chance and Landon were reunited and had a great time together.
The kids enjoyed looking at all the fish in the water now that there is a dock at the house.
Danny, Sean and I made our smores...yummy!
I had to add this picture because KC's face while watching Sean eat his smore is priceless.

My Little Green Thumb

About a month ago, Landon's class was working on lessons with plants and how they grow. When they were done, the kids brought home what they were growing in school. Landon brought home marigolds and squash.

I wish I has taken pictures of what they looked like in their plastic cups when he first brought them home, but alas, I did not. Both plants are now quite large and "we" (which translate to me, mommy) continue to take care of the plants.

Landon is extremely proud of his plants (though it doesn't look like it in this picture) and checks them everyday we come home from school.
His squash is in the top picture and I think we may have to transplant it again. I did not think it would take, so I was hesitant to buy a large pot.

Below are his marigolds, though there are no blooms. The large one is original form school and the others are ones that Landon & I planted when we transplanted the first.



This last picture was Landon's request. He wanted his soccer cleats in the picture. We'll keep you posted on any results from either plant.

My Baby Girl

I know I hav posted quite a bit more about Libbie than Landon, but I have valid reasons for it:

1. she is pretty photogenic

2. she is willing to take pictures

3. she has cute dresses

4. she is so SUPER cute!

So...on my birthday, I brought out my camera to start practicing again. Summer is coming which gives me more time to practice with my camera. Libbie was dressed in her Sunday best, which made for great photos.

Daddy got a nice picture of me and Libbie in front of the house.
This is probably my most recent favorite of Libbie. She is such an independent girl and love to explore on her own.
A close-up of her sweet face and adorable dress!
This picture captures Libbie's personality completely. That smirk on her face says "I may be sweet but I have a bit of spice, too"
Landon finally allowed me to take some pictures with him in them. You can't really tell but they are holding hands (forced by mommy).
I was lucky to have the 2 of them follow my request to hug, it just would have been better if they had faced me!

Andrew and I are so lucky to have such sweet children!

Saturday, April 2 was the wedding day. It was a day full of preparation. Landon and Libbie were coordinated in wedding colors and looked super cute (but I'm a bit biased).I even got a snap of them being sweet to each other in the church.
Connelly and her Daddy waiting for pictures after the ceremony.
KC, her bridesmaids and flowergirl.
My parents and the newlyweds
The new Mr. & Mrs. McKean!
The ceremony was beautiful and once it was over, we we all ready to celebrate at the reception

KC and her dad dancing.
Cutting the cake...

One last picture to end the celebration! We had a great time and are so glad to have added KC, Kinley, & Chance to the family.

Congrats Sean & KC!

A Special Weekend

On March 31, we headed down to St. Augustine, Fl to celebrate the wedding of my brother, Sean to his fiance KC. We took it easy on Thursday becasue we knew that once Friday came, it was going to be pretty crazy.

On Friday we had the rehearsal and the rehearsal dinner. We brought Landon & Libbie to the rehearsal to play with Kinley & Chance. Afterwards they posed for a few pictures.
We couldn't leave St. Augustine without a picture on the cannons.
Landon loves his Aunt KC.
A pre-wedding picture of the soon-to-be-McKean Family
We had a bit of time between the rehearsal and the rehearsal dinner so Landon spent some quality time with his new cousin, Connelly.
At the rehearsal, dad made last minute adjustments to his speech.
Connelly even enjoyed the party.
I enjoyed the cupcakes for dessert!
Last pic I have of Sean and KC before they were married!

Early Arrival

My brother, Brian, and his wife Debbie have been preparing for the arrival of their daughter at the end of March. To their surprise, she decided to make an arrival last weekend! I couldn't be more happy for the new Mommy and Daddy and I cannot wait to snuggle up with my beautiful niece!

Welcome to the World, Connelly Jane

March 5, 2011

A Day in DC

On Saturday, Libbie and I made an impromptu into Georgetown to meet a friend for some shopping. She left early so I called Andrew to come meet us with Landon. We had such a great time, that we decided to go back into DC on Sunday. This time we drove and I brought my camera. We parked in our special spot and walked towards the monuments. On our walk we saw this...It's an Inukshuk. They are built by the Inuit and are a navigation landmark. Andrew and I were first introduced to them when we traveled to Canada for my brother's wedding. his wife is from Canada and they can be found in all sorts of places. We had to get a picture for Aunt Debbie!

We then stopped for a pretzel (even before any sightseeing) and posed for some pictures.

We headed to the National Museum of Natural History to see all the animals. Nemo and Dory were quite a hit with the kids!

We passed the Capitol on our way to the Air and Space Museum.

Mommy got suckered in to buying Landon a NASA space shuttle that he's still playing with today.
We finally headed back to our car, making sure to get pictures of the Washington Monument, or the rocket ship as Landon called it.

Hopefully, the weather continues to improve so that we can make more visits into DC!