18.9.11

Newport, RI

We pulled an "Australia" Saturday and jumped in the car, headed for a destination and just went exploring.  Despite the traffic and random road closures on our way there, Newport treated us well - perfect weather, amazing company, free street parking, Newport Annual Boat Show, jaw-dropping mansions, and did I mention perfect weather?? 
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13.9.11

hi, i'm mackenzie...


I recently had to creatively introduce myself to a large group in 30 seconds. 

Fingerpaint is a fitting medium for my life so here are some facts about me that you might not have known...

  • H&M = Henry and Madeleine (and a fun store)
  • I went to a private Jewish school for a few years in Brooklyn
  • I have so much fun with Pinterest
  • Spencer and I have a French connection (both served missions there)
  • I attempt to take decent pictures (yes, still on the auto setting)
  • I'm deathly allergic to horses
  • recently took a trip of a lifetime to Tasmania
  • Spencer and I met on a blind date (that's supposed to be someone with a blindfold on, not a monkey but oh well)
  • HGTV is my guily pleasure
  • I am left-handed
There you have it.  Just in case you didn't know.

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10.9.11

our 8am

what does your 8am look like?


We've been out of sorts lately - schedules have been off, bedtimes have been difficult, timeouts have been all too common, naps have been skipped, and sleeping-in is unheard of....

this morning at 7am we were up and by 8am we had eaten breakfast, were dressed and ready for the day with no where to go.  why not a wagon walk?  Turns out it was a huge success.  It was a crisp sunny morning and campus was deserted making it feel like we had the place to ourselves. 

It was so enjoyable that I was even able to get my phone out and take some pictures of the kids enjoying and entertaining themselves!  ahhhhh, this is only second-best to sleeping-in but I'll take it.


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9.9.11

night out on the town

our friends Bobby and Amy came to visit over Labor Day Weekend and one night we left the kids with friends and went to a Red Sox game. Yes, I know it was against my inner Yankee spirit - but the Red Sox were shut out 10-0 so I suppose it wasn't that bad :) It was a beautiful night and so fun to be out and enjoy Boston.


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4.9.11

a Boston welcome

Like the millions of others along the East Coast we've had quite the past few weeks.  Last week we watched a 7 month old baby during the day....it was around 2pm and all three kids were asleep.  Talk about bliss!  Spencer and I are standing the kitchen and says, "I've got to go lay down, I'm dizzy or something" at which point I say, "no I feel it too" and realize that the entire building is swaying back and forth. 

This is where the panic sets in, we're on the 6th floor with three sleeping kids and I'm thinking the whole building is going to collapse.  We ran upstairs, grabbed the kids and when we came down the swaying/shaking had stopped so we decided stayed put but for about 60 seconds I was absolutely terrified. 

Ok, fine so it wasn't even that big of an earthquake - kind of a fluke, not much damage and we've all moved on.  Then Irene comes roaring in. 

Turns out hurricaine Irene didn't hit Boston as hard as we thought, we never lost power but did get some pretty spectacular rainstorms.  For once it was nice being on the 6th floor...no flooding!  The rain started Saturday morning and ended Sunday night. 

11:30pm Saturday night the building fire alarm goes off.  Lovely.  Kids are up screaming and we end up making that six flight evacuation walk, that we managed to avoid during the earthquake, with two crying toddlers and heading outside into a hurricaine!  At this point I'm really not loving the sixth floor.  All those warning to stay inside, off the roads were completely thrown out the window as we sat outside in the cold rain and winds for an HOUR. 

The hurricaine came and went, and even church was cancelled.  We were forced to creatively entertain the kids all day in a 10x10 room (that's about all the open space we've got) but considered ourselves lucky we were laregely unaffected.

Henry's broken arm + random earthquake + middle of the night fire alarm + hurricaine = ???
Feel free to fill in the blank for me.

Thanks for the hospitality Boston.  As you can tell we've had a rough transition to Boston but we're hoping it's only up from here!




In other news Henry is castless!  We didn't find out until our last trip in to get the cast off that we narrowly escaped surgery.  I guess when there are brakes/fractures near a joint and growth plates it can get tricky. 


And this little one is now completely potty trained and out of her crib.  Somehow along with those changes came this crazy attitude which we're hoping is just a phase.  Old picture but fits the phase well...we'll just blame it on the fire alarm :)


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