Missed May

I started off the year by doing so well on blog posts, but that streak was snapped in May. It could have had something to do with my end of the semester exhaustion and the stress of two students in the same apartment both dealing with finals and a busy toddler... but also I've just been a little lazy. To make up for it, I offer a collection of pictures from both April and May to sketch a faint outline of what the McGinnis family has been up to.

Marathon Monday at Wellesley - it's tradition for all the students to cheer on the runners of the Boston Marathon

The sign says, "Kissing since 1897" because all the students offer kisses to the runners. Sophie had a sign that said, "Kiss me I'm getting a tooth." Sadly, it was ineffective.

"Quiet as a clam" - Sophie at 16 months

I took at canoeing class to fulfill a PE credit. It was so fun!

My partner Caroline

Looking at the Wellesley campus from the other side of the lake

Happy 21st Birthday Loren!

I made him apple pie

Happy Mother's Day! Loren got me Gilmore Girls Season 2

Coming up: our trip to Denver and Memorial Day activities

Maple Sugaring

This month, or possibly at the end of March, some friends from church invited us to go to a maple sugaring farm in New Hampshire. As the spring temperatures warm up the sap starts to run. We ate a humongous breakfast at the restaurant first and then went on a short tour of the maple sugaring barn. We actually couldn't hear very much of the tour, but the food and company were good, so I think the trip was well worth it. It's always nice to get out sometimes.

Sophie with her twin Caitlin Yamamoto and her sister Megan on the swing. Grumpy old...kids!

Loren's pose is very manly, look at how his shoulders are thrown back

We are trying to teach Sophie how to use utensils. It's a messy business.

Sleeping like a baby. This was the first time we saw her do this, but then after this it's happened two or three more times. We just laugh and then move all her limbs back into the crib.

Easter

It's still April, so I'm improving slightly in the promptness of my posts. We had a wonderful Easter this year. On Saturday we dyed eggs, which Sophie didn't like because she wasn't allowed to touch the eggs. Then the Easter Bunny came Sunday morning and brought lots of candy and a toy laptop for Sophie. That night some friends from Wellesley came and ate Easter dinner with us. It was my first time making a holiday dinner and I may have overextended myself slightly, but everything was delicious and we had a great time!

Like Father, Like Daughter

Nintendo and Computers. Oh no, Sophie. People have always said she reminds them of Loren...

February Catch Up

February is a busy month - my mom's birthday, Valentine's Day, my birthday, etc. Let's just say it gets a little stressful for Loren because he constantly has to buy me presents. Poor Loren. That being said, it's full of exciting things and we had lots of fun doing them. Here are two events that I am slow blogging about, but didn't want to forget to mention.

1. Wellesley's annual Waltz n' Schmaltz

This is a dance that the Wellesley LDSSA hosts every year for other members of the student ward. Loren and I were special guests since we're not in the ward, but I am in the LDSSA (technically, even though I'm lax about participating). We had a wonderful time and it brought back fun memories of our first year.

What a sharp looking family!

The Wellesley LDSSA: Gina, Maryn, Kirsten, Kelsey, me, Kristal and Jesyka (minus Arbor who is on her mission)

2. My 21st birthday! I had a great birthday, thanks to Loren and my friends. Maryn and Kelsey made me cookies which we ate during institute and then Loren, Sophie and I went out to dinner that night. Sophie wasn't on her best behavior, but she must not have realized how important a day it was. Loren got me a beautiful dress, which I unfortunately had to exchange because it was too short, but he gest an A++ for the effort. Marianne sent me some of her beautiful, homemade scrapbook pages and my family sent their presents with my mom when she came to visit the next week.

No alcohol for this 21-year old!

Sophie got a kick out of my birthday card with sound

My beautiful cake that Loren made and decorated all by himself - thank you lovey!

Valentine's Day

We celebrated V-Day on Saturday, February 13 and kicked things off with a 5-mile race in Bradford, MA. It was about a 45 minute drive to get to the race and thankfully the weather was pleasant, although a little windy. The race is sponsored by a local church and everything was nice and organized. My goal was to finish in under 40 minutes and my time was 39:49! I didn't win anything in the raffle afterwards, but all the finishers got a flower and a box of chocolates in honor of the holiday.

Pre-race, with a very bundled Sophie

Coming down the hill at the finish line

After the race, where they had yummy food, including homemade soup

I had a good time at the race, so I might do it again next year. Loren and I were supposed to go out on a date that night and drop Sophie off at the church, where some students were offering free babysitting. However, Sophie was sick so we felt guilty leaving her with strangers and other kids. Luckily, our good friends Lindsey and Stephanie Parker babysat for us and we were able to have our date after all. The three of us went to dinner at a Greek restaurant, then we dropped Sophie off and headed to a movie. We saw "The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus." I thought it was weird, but Loren really liked it. It was definitely weird.

Also on Saturday night, Loren and I exchanged Valentine's gifts. He got me a beautiful pair of earrings with amethyst stones (that's my birth stone), while I got him a bike helmet. Lest you think my gift was less romantic, I also got up early Sunday morning and made Loren a heart-shaped breakfast tart, plus we had hamburgers for dinner, which was Loren's special request. I guess the way to a man's heart really is through his stomach.

February Catch Up

February has been a busy month and since it's about to end, I thought I had better give an update on what we have been doing. We haven't had very much snow in Boston, although it seems like everywhere south of us has been getting pounded. It's nice not to have to deal with the weather, but the scenery is much uglier without a blanket of snow.

I had my first celebrity spotting ever this month. The occasion was Harvard's Hasty Pudding Society's parade for their woman of the year. The Hasty Pudding Society, so far as I understand it, is a group of guys who cross-dress for their strange events. Hmmm. Anyway, I was walking home from the T (the subway) and saw policemen blocking of the street one block before ours. It turns out the parade was about to start, so I went home to get my camera and got a front row seat for the very start of the parade. Scroll on to see who the woman of the year was!

A few of the lovely ladies

Anne Hathaway!

Also this month was the Harvard LDSSA retreat in the Berkshires, which is an area of western Massachusetts. A member of the stake presidency has a home out there so everyone stayed there. Their house is huge and beautiful, with a pool, hot tub, ping-pong table, trampoline, tennis court and lots of backyard space. We had a good time and Loren was able to play board games the whole weekend, so that kept him happy.

A view from the backyard

And finally, Sophie is growing and getting busier every day. She can now climb on the couch, chairs, etc all by herself and has already fallen off several times. She likes to put mommy or daddy's gloves on her hands.

Crab hands!