Father's Day 2015

We had such a wonderful weekend relaxing on Friday night, going to a country concert on Saturday night and hanging out with the Kirchner family all day Sunday. Grandma and Grandpa Kirchner watched Maeve for the afternoon and night on Saturday so we could go to the concert. For Father's Day on Sunday, we got to sleep in until 8am. Thanks Grandma and Grandpa. We had lunch at Laura and Jon's house where Maeve sat on her own chair, ate Famous Dave's, and said "cheese" as we took all of the pictures. After nap time we went to Grandma and Grandpa's house for swimming and dinner. We were so excited to see Will, Anne and Andrew. We enjoyed the pool and the water table.

For a Father's Day gift, Kate, Jan and Laura took Maeve to take her picture at the Kirchbak Gardens to surprise Eric. The sculptor is an image of Eric's Grandfather - Bill Kirchner.  The pose is symbolic of Bill's time spent in the garden and picking weeds.  It was not uncommon to see Bill in this position.  Eric was involved with the creation and planning of the Kirchbak Gardens which is a sculptor garden consisting of 12 different artist sculptors.  The gardens are located in Richfield Minnesota at the site of the original Richfield Bank building.  Unfortunately, Bill had already passed away at the time the Gardens were dedicated.  As such, Eric agreed to spend many hours in this pose to help the artist develop the sculptor of his Grandfather.  Thanks Kate, Maeve, Jan and Laura for this extra special memory!

Up North June 2015

We had a great weekend at the lake. It was the first weekend of the summer that we were able to go up. We discovered a lot of new things now that we have a 19-month old. The town has a park and a coffee shop that opens at 7am. That is ideal for toddlers that wake up at 5:30 or 6 and we need activities before it's warm enough to go in the lake.

Grandpa Steve made some great meals and on Saturday night we went to Zorbaz with Uncle Tim and Aunt Terry. Maeve practiced drinking from a cup with no lid and we ate a lot of delicious pizza. Other highlights of the weekend include trying to catch minnows, kayaking, playing in the kiddie pool and riding on the boat.

Eric's chores included grocery shopping online to have them delivered on Sunday afternoon so we can enjoy weekends like this and cleaning out the closet. Kate enjoyed reading a book during nap time and hearing about cousin Elizabeth's trip to India.

Thanks Grandma and Grandpa Kirchner for a fun weekend up north!

Hilton Head Island, SC

Maeve visited her 14th and 15th state this past week - Georgia and South Carolina. We spent a week with Jan, Steve, Brigid, Ed, Sean, Anne and Finn in Hilton Head Island and visited Savannah. We had such an amazing time and hope that work will allow for more weeklong vacations in the coming years. You can truly unwind and relax - well, as relaxing as it is to travel with a 13 and 18 month old. We went to bed by 10pm and woke up between 5:30 and 6am every day. We don't feel rested but we did enjoy watching the kids play on the beach and in the kiddie pool. As you can imagine, Anne and I together took many pictures so you'll see them here.

Highlights of the trip included playing in the sand and in the 75 degree water at the beach and riding bikes into Sea Pines under a myriad of trees. It's safe to say that Finn didn't enjoy the Burley on the back of the bike and Maeve was so-so with it. It helped to open it up and allow the breeze to come in but that helmet was a nuisance according to Maeve. We got in 2 rounds of mini golf, and Jan won a free game with a hole-in-one. We won't mention how bad Eric lost to the girls! Most of our pool time was spent in the kiddie pool with Maeve and Finn. We were worried on Day 1 when Maeve would only go in the heated indoor pool but she warmed up quickly to the ocean and the outdoor pools. She enjoyed bullying her younger cousin around - we have to work on sharing! Our favorite restaurants were Skull Creek Boathouse, Salty Dog Cafe, and Lady & Sons in Savannah. Pool Bar Jim's also made a great Pina Colada and served Yuengling beer which was delicious. Maeve and Finn were a hit with the crowd at two of the restaurants with live music. They loved to dance.
See a video here:

Enjoy the pictures!