Manomet Beach

We arrived at our little beach cottage in Manomet Beach late at night. Early the next morning we awoke and headed to the beach, first thing! It was foggy and we were the only ones on the beach, which made for some interesting pictures, I think. This was the first ocean experience for all of the kids and they loved it! While we have Lake Michigan, which is the closest thing to an ocean, it's still not the same. They all loved exploring and I'm quite certain we could have made an entire week's vacation out of the ocean alone!

Here are lots of pictures...probably too many. This is our scrapbook, so I want to be sure to capture all those memories! Oh, and the only reason Moira is not in the pictures is because she was taking them! We'll be sure to get some of her too.


Our first view...



The stairs we needed to climb to get to and from the ocean. They are a lot steeper than they look here and our legs felt it on the way up!









Even Erin did not mind the 50 degree temp of the ocean. Brrrrrr!







Molly Grace was feeling the full effect of all that water!

Onward to NYC

We packed up the suburban and left Steubenville, heading toward Manomet, MA. The kids were chillin!






We decided to make a stop in New York City because we were so close and we thought it could be years before the kids had that opportunity again. We didn't intend to stay long at all, but of course it's not a city that you just run in and run out of! The rain stopped long enough for us to get out at Liberty State Park (I think that's the name), which is directly opposite Manhattan. We saw the Statue of Liberty, Ellis Island and of course the massive skyline. Mike told the kids about his great great great grandparents arriving in this same bay and landing on Ellis Island, all the way from Ireland. I'm sure my great  great great grandparents did the same. Pretty cool!

Then we ventured into Manhattan. Here's Aidan plugging his nose as we drove under the bay through the tunnel. I don't think he was able to hold his breath the whole way!

We felt so big, bulky and out of place driving through Manhattan in our Suburban, with the big car-top carrier, as small compact cars weaved in and out. We felt just the opposite, so so tiny, as we left Manhattan and made our way through the other burrows, out of the city. NYC is not my idea of a vacation, but it was a great experience for the kids nonetheless. Moira rolled her window down and snapped lots of pictures.

First Stop - Steubenville

We arrived at Tim and Suzy's late on the 3rd. It was so nice, as always, to see their gang! Aileen and Joe are doing great and getting big. We were also able to see Suzy's parents and her brothers, Father Dan and Luke, as well as Luke's wife Anne and their three beautiful boys, Thomas, Ethan and Timmy. On the 4th, Luke orchestrated an awesome shrimp boil, Louisiana style, which is fast becoming a family tradition. It was so delicious! Later that night we watched the fireworks from the hilltop of Franciscan University.


Aidan, Timmy, Ethan and Eileen trying to catch a little outdoor time during a break from the rain.


Teresa running down the hill with Thomas watching...

Eileen, Bridget, Erin and Mike, Molly Grace and Paul Bunyan...er...I mean Joe Awesome...I mean Hustleboy....ok ok, it's JOE!

Thomas, Eileen and Bridget

Aileen, Teresa, Thomas and mystery boy...

Aileen and Teresa

Ooooh, aaaaaah, look at those fireworks!

Time for bed....

Earlier in the day we were able to visit Camille's grave. It's such a beautiful stone in her memory. Camille, pray for us!

We're Back!!!

This Party of Nine left for a vacation to the east coast on July 3rd. We spent the Fourth of July with Tim, Suzy, Aileen and Joe, and the Heusels (Suzy's family), in Steubeville, OH. Then we traveled to Manomet Beach, which is south of Plymouth, MA. We rented a little beach cottage in between Cape Cod and Boston, splitting our time between the two. Seventeen years and seven kids ago, Mike and I use to live in the Boston area. This trip brought back so many memories! In some ways it was like we never left....long lost memories would be triggered back to the forefront of our minds by the sight of a quaint little beach town, by the smell of the ocean, or by the local accent of certain words spoken. On the other hand, it was all different. Seeing the same sites with seven kids, after years have passed and new roads have been built up, made it all seem like a new experience! It's funny how time and kids will do that!

So, we really took in so many sights and sounds! We went whale watching from Provincetown, visited Plymouth Rock and the Mayflower, caught up with some old friends, explored the ocean, visited the salt marshes, caught daily Mass, just down the street, whenever we could, rode the subway to Boston to explore the city, and much much more! We ended our trip by attending the National Down Syndrome Convention in Boston. What a treat. We were able to meet many of my friends that I've come to know from my Down syndrome online forum. It was like seeing old friends for the first time!

We have pictures. Lots of pictures. Rather than trying to post them all at once, I'll post a few at a time over the next few days. So, Grandmas, be patient; you'll get to see lots of grand kids soaking up some great times in the next few days!!!

Here's a starter...our whole family just before we left Boston, with the skyline in the background.

Today is Half Way to Christmas, Which Means.....

...It's Teresa's birthday! Teresa is our little ray of sunshine, our little girl who always sees the cup half full, our talkative child who is full of optimism. Feeling down? Spend an hour or so with Teresa and you'll be counting your blessings, feeling chipper, in no time at all. She bounds out of bed each morning with a smile, ready to tackle the day ahead.




Our Teresa, named after Saint Teresa of Avila, Saint Therese of Lisieux, Saint Teresa Benedicta and Blessed Teresa of Calcutta (yes, all of them, we simply couldn't choose between them!), has always loved flowers. It just fits her personality so well. When she was younger, and even still now, she finds flowers irresistible. She has to take them in, smell them, pick them and gather them together into beautiful arrangements for her mother. With Teresa, even the dandelions are brought to life with beautiful arrangements!

One day this week I was heading out for an early morning walk, taking Erin along with me in the stroller. Teresa was up early and wanted to go. I warned her that I was going to walk an hour and she may have a hard time keeping up. She was still determined to go, so off we went. As we walked along, she talked and talked and talked some more. She jumped from subject to subject, explaining detailed events, all the while taking in all of her surroundings. She reminded me of a mix between Anne of Green Gables and Pollyanna. Her mind raced. She explained that daisies smell like baby diapers but look beautiful. She wondered why snapping turtles snap. She contemplated what would happen to one's furniture if he or she died. She retold the fun she had at her friend Clare's house on Sunday. Each story was told with great enthusiasm and I cherished each one. Every now and then, she'd jog along, to keep up with my pace. And a few times along the way, she actually took a breath; maybe even ten. This is a child in great cardiovascular shape. How do I know this? Because as we were nearing the top of Snake Hill, the winding, steep hill that seems to go on and on, I noticed that she was not even slightly out of breath. She tackled Snake Hill all the while giving a detailed description of the Prince Caspian movie that she had seen two weeks before. I was catching my breath, walking in slow motion by the time we reached the top, and I hadn't spoken a word.

That's our Teresa. Our petite fourth daughter who has taken on the nickname Hoogaboos since she was a baby. She has brought us such joy! We love you Teresa! God blessed us when He sent you into our lives! HAPPY NINTH BIRTHDAY!

Time For Some Hair Cuts!

We had a family photo taken for our church this week. Some of us were very over due for hair cuts. Aidan in particular. Mike began cutting his overgrown mound of hair. Soon it turned into the mohawk look, which Moira make sure to capture on camera.






Then on to Erin's first cut, which was easy. I just trimmed the "stragglers". She actually loved getting her hair cut because she watched her Signing Times DVD the whole time.





And the finished product (as you can see in the photo, she stopped reading Famous Men of Rome just long enough to bother with the picture)...

Summer Fun

Bathing Beauties

Not sure about this!

Retreat (Moira)

This past week, Eileen and I went with some friends, the McDonalds, on a religious retreat to a convent about four hours from Green Bay. The sisters who were hosting it were a lot of fun!

One of the sisters we really enjoyed getting to know was Sister Margareta. She was very down to earth and funny. On the last day of the retreat, we did an art activity, making a poster collage of pictures and sayings from magazines. I came across a picture of our Uncle Tim, Aunt Suzy and little cousin Camille that went along with a story Tim had written for the Franciscan University of Stuebenville magazine. I cut the picture out and put it on my group's poster, proudly pointing out that these people were my family. Later, my group was showing off our poster to the sisters and the other girls, and again, I proudly pointed out our aunt, uncle and cousin. This time, Sister Margareta got excited, telling me she knew them and was good friends with Tim, and knew Suzy pretty well when they all attended college together at Franciscan U. After that funny coincidence she surprised Eileen and I again saying, "OH, and I also knew your Uncle Andy"! This got us soooo excited because we don't know many people, besides our family, who knew our Uncle Andy. He died when we were young. She went on to say how much she enjoyed being around him, and how funny he was. She also went so far as to say, "He was a true saint even before he died. It's funny how someone can just truly know things like that, and I knew it, knowing your Uncle"...That really touched us! It was a very nice "coincidental" highlight of the retreat for both Eileen and I.

So after the retreat we went to our friends' Grandparent's house for the night, where we had much fun! Then we became road warriors for the four.....er, aaaah six hour ride home. Because of some flooding in near-by WI towns, there was a lot of detours and traffic which added two hours onto our ride. We kept our patience and made the best of it, laughing the whole way home!

Two Peas in a Pod

Cousins and best buddies, Margaret and Molly Grace

Bobble-head baby

Happy Father's Day!!!

We love you Dad!
From all the little arrows in your quiver - Moira, Eileen, Bridget, Teresa, Aidan, Molly Grace and Erin

(We're working in getting a picture of Dad with ALL of the kids :)