HENNIGAN FAMILY REUNION 2010

Every year my mom's side of the family has the annual Hennigan family reunion. My mom's cousin Donna has a large property and has graciously hosted it for a couple of years now. She has an awesome heart and is very generous to have everyone at her home. My Aunt Bobbie made my great aunt a crown and crowned her "Queen Hennigan". My kids have a blast and wait all summer long for it, here are a few reasons why:

My little fish was very upset that we left her bathing suit at home. Luckily Donna's granddaughter is the same size and let Jen borrow one for the day. She was in her glory!!!

We were very thankful for the water balloons this year. It was very muggy and it felt great to get wet.

All of the kids participate in games according to their age. Jimmy and Lanie did a scooping up a plastic duck out of a pool game,drop the clothes pin in the bucket and a race. Everyone was a winner!!!!

Jen had a plastic egg on a spoon race, a knock the milk bottles down game and a race.

Jimmy won a nerf air gun which he has since lost all but one dart. He also got a light up dinosaur water gun from a children's raffle.

Jen's prize was this bug catcher kit. Can you feel my excitement about having bugs trapped in a cage in my house??? She has been wanting one for a while and I have dodged that one until she saw it in the prize bucket. Rules for the bug cage are as follows:

1) The bug cage is just for observing bugs up close and they must be released once inspected.

2) Bugs are not pets. They must go back to their parents.

3) The bug cage is to stay outside while housing any animals.

4) There is a 2 hour limit on housing animals. They will be missed by their parents if they are gone longer then that.

They both received far more candy then they will ever need from the pinata.

Injury of the day. Jen somehow stepped on something and sliced her foot open. When I asked her what she stepped on she just said "Something rusty". Are you asking for a tetanus shot??? My cousin's wife is a paramedic and thought she could use a stitch. So I tried to get it to stop bleeding a little to take her to the urgent care. When I looked up I had 20 people looking down at us all giving me a hundred different suggestions - one which involved using super glue. I decided to use a butterfly stitch and band aid and see if it would stop bleeding. After several hours, it started bleeding again so I wanted to take her in. I found out that stitches had be done within a couple of hours or they can't be done so no stitches for her. I should have just taken her in to begin with.

A little after 11:00pm we got a phone call that Jim's Grandmother had just passed away. She had been fighting breast cancer and all of the complications that come with it since the end of last year. As bad as it hurts to know that she is gone, we know that she is now pain free and in a much better place, and I know that she will be leaving us little signs to let us know she is close by.

She was truly the sweetest and most selfless person I know. Grandma Thornton treated everyone as if they were family. She welcomed me with open arms from the first day we met and when Jim and I became engaged, she was the only person who may have been happier than I was.

I could tell you a hundred and one wonderful things about her and honestly could not come up with one bad thing to say. If you think about it, I wonder how many people can say that about someone they know. I am truly grateful for having her in my life and only wish my children could have gotten to know her better. Grandma Thornton will be missed but never forgotten. We love and already miss you !!!

THE BIG CHEESE

There are multiple things I can think of that most people are terrified of : the drill at the dentist, heights, spiders and even childbirth. All of the above don't bother me as much as this place........

It's not the mouse himself that gets me, but what's inside the building. The name along throws visions in my head of children running around, climbing on things and germs and pee everywhere. There is not enough Purell to sooth my anxiety. My kids have only been there a couple of times and that's fine with me. As we were walking up to the entrance, Jenna looked at me and said " Just don't think about how dirty it is".

The ONLY reason we went tonight was because it was Ryan's 3rd birthday. Aunt Shawn had called and invited us and when Jen and Jimmy found out that we were going to go, they were more then thrilled.

They did have a ton of fun and it wasn't half as bad as the last time we went.

Chuck E Cheese brought out a cake and we all sang Happy Birthday to Ryan. We almost made it through the night without Jen and Jimmy wanting to go into the sewers - I mean tunnels. We all survived and had a great time. Thank you Aunt Shawn and Uncle Tom for the invite!!

HAPPY 3rd BIRTHDAY RYAN!!!!! We Love You!!!

BEFORE AND AFTER - SORRY MOM!!!!

ST CLAIR SHORES FIREWORKS

On Friday,Aunt Shawn and Uncle Tom invited us to go on their new boat to watch the fireworks on the water. Jimmy had never been on a boat before so I wasn't sure how he would like it , but he LOVED it!! We left around 7:00 and had a nice long boat ride before the fireworks started.
Cody 5, Jimmy 4, Ryan 2 1/2 and Jenevive 6 1/2

Me and my favorite little man.

Jen spent almost the entire time in this seat. She was in her glory perched at the front of the boat.

The only spot she liked more was at the back on this lounger. She must have been royalty in another life, because she soaks this stuff right up.

Grandma Thornton and Ryan snuggling up with each other. For as hot as it was, it get cold real fast on the water.

All of the boys in the back of the boat. We were completely out numbered.

Uncle Tom let each of the kids drive for a bit. Jimmy could barley see over the wheel, but he had a blast anyway.

And Jen was on a mission to hit some big waves to get Grandma Thornton soaked. She had a little help from her uncle.

The moment they had been waiting for! We had perfect seats for the show. I would much rather be on the water than be in the park with all of the crazies. Jen was the only one who crashed on the ride back to the dock. Thank you Tom and Shawn. We had a great time and can't wait to do it again.

A DAY AT THE BEACH

Julie and I took the kids for some fun in the sun at Spencer Beach. The kids had so much fun playing in the water and sand. Jimmy was determined to make all of the dry sand from our towel down to the water wet. He must have made 100 trips with a small bucket of water to do so. He was on a mission. He actually got into the water this time, which is a new thing for him this year. He looked up at me and said " Mom I'm not afraid of the water anymore".That beach hunk is my nephew Kaiden.

Jen and Kaiden are still best friends. They take good care of each other. A girl had taken Kaiden goggles and when she wouldn't give them back, Jen went right up to her and got them for him. That's my girl.

Lanie was in her glory bouncing from the sand to the water.

Jimmy could have spent all day in the sand just playing. I think we'll be making a whole lot of trips there this summer.

Today we had what seems like our 100th trip to the zoo. Last year when I bought a membership Jim was not overly thrilled with the idea. He thought the kids would get sick of going and the excitement would wear off. I am so happy I get to give him a big "Told You So" every time the kids ask to go. We visit the zoo at least once a week during the summer. Today I had my sister's kids long with us and it was probably one of the more enjoyable trips we've had. It wasn't until the last 10 minutes of a three hour visit that they started to complain about the walking.

We left very early in the morning to beat the heat and to see the animals out and about before the heat set in. We were in luck because almost every animal was up and moving around.

The best by far was this HUGE gorilla that was playing with a duck and her ducklings in a pond. The gorilla would run and pounce in front of the duck, and the duck would return the favor and chase the gorilla down the hill. We watched them for 20 minutes.

At one point the gorilla had chased the duck away and he had grabbed one of the ducklings. I was a little worried until he raised it up to his face a kissed it. It was so sweet.