Happy Child?

For those of you who may question just who is the happiest child in the WORLD, we submit Exhibits A and B for your consideration. (I'm pretty sure Hazel has it locked up.)

Exhibit A

Exhibit B

Update

I know it has been ages since our last update, and we appreciate Hazel's loyal fans so patiently awaiting this post. Things have been busy in the McCain household. Glenn is finishing up his thesis, and plans to schedule his defense for next month or early July. I have started work on my masters degree, and go to class Monday night and Tuesday night. I also have an online course which takes far more time than it should. Hazel is still enjoying school and we are everyday expecting her to get up and crawl.

This weekend we spent Sunday at the zoo with the Patterson girls. We were so busy chasing after everyone that we didn't have a chance to take any pictures. (The fact that we were overwhelmed caring for four children at once for only a day is, I suspect, why life only gives us one baby at a time. I can't imagine being the parents of twins or (gasp) quadruplets!) Hazel loved playing with her cousins and she didn't think the zoo was half bad either. She especially loved the dolphin show, but I think that was to be expected of our little water baby.

We are excited about the summer. Warm weather can't get here fast enough and we have big plans for this summer. A small taste of those plans includes baseball games at Victory Field, the Burton family trip to Disney World in June, a possible trip to Huntsville for the fourth of July, and lots of swimming and playing outside.

I will post a few pictures of Hazel and Audrey playing in Audrey's crib together on Sunday, as well as a video of Hazel's latest trick.

Hazel is clearly more interested in the camera, but you get the idea. (She's beginning to love the limelight as you can see.)

Congratulations Anne!

Auntie Anne made us all very proud on Saturday when she participated in and completed the Indianapolis 500 Festival Mini Marathon. Anne ran the entire 13.1 miles and finished in under 2.5 hours which was her goal. Glenn and I watched the girls and made sure that they made it to their softball little league opening ceremonies, so that Tony could be at the race to cheer Anne on. He sent us this action shot from mile 10.

We are so proud of Anne!

Hazel visits Huntsville

This past weekend, the McCain crew gathered up their things and drove down to Huntsville, AL to visit the Marsdens. In case you were wondering, Hazel's limit in a car seat is 5-6 hours. The drive took 7. But, once we arrived, everything got better...

Hazel sportin' a fancy new sun bonnet

Checking out the pool

She told us later that she wants one of these. Our bank account hopes that she means an inflatable crab instead of a pool.

Everyone (that's Sarah Kate in front) at the Huntsville Botanical Gardens.

A wicked big chair

Momma and Hazel in the butterfly house.

We had a great time, and are looking forward to our next visit!

Weekend at Turkey Run

This weekend we took a short family vacation to Turkey Run State Park to celebrate spring and two years of marital bliss. Hazel asked if she could come along and promised to behave when hiking, so we agreed she could come too. We left Friday afternoon, after we had all settled down from the earthquake which struck early Friday morning. Fortunately, Hazel wakes up sometime between 5 am and 6 am, and Friday, she awoke at 5:15, so we were sitting up in bed wondering why the house was rocking when the temblor hit at 5:38 am. But, everyone was unharmed and there was no damage done, so we headed off on our trip.

The weather on Friday was gorgeous, sunny with temperatures in the mid 70s, so when we arrived at the park around 2:00, after feeding Hazel and getting her changed and settled, we took off on a hike. Glenn planned our route very carefully. We were going to be out for about 3 hours and stick to the "rugged" or "very rugged" trails. That's pretty much how it went too. We arrived back at the Inn just in time for dinner.

Hazel enjoyed her hike in the front pack. Daddy got quite a workout.

The scenery was beautiful, even if the terrain was a bit rugged.

A lot of the trail led us through creek beds and over fallen timber.
But we are intrepid explorers and can handle anything.

Hazel discovers a waterfall.

Apparently "very rugged" trails require ladder climbing skills.

On Saturday, the temperatures dropped to the mid 50s and there was a damp misty fog hanging over the park. So we decided to make the most of the situation and pursue Plan B. Since Parke County, Indiana is the "Covered Bridge Capitol" of the world, we took a covered bridge driving tour. Hazel and I mapped out our route and saw a total of 16 covered bridges, before winding up in Greencastle for lunch. While in Greencastle, Daddy took Hazel and Momma on a tour of his old University, including a guided tour of the Delta Chi fraternity house. Then we headed back to the Inn and went swimming in the pool before dropping into bed, exhausted. An interesting note: there was a wedding at the Inn on Saturday night, and wedding guests were being particularly noisy outside our room at 4:30 in the morning. When I got done telling them that it was time they were in bed, Glenn asked me when I became the tired, old, crotchety killjoy. I guess it was about the time I learned how long it takes to get a six month old infant back to sleep at 4:30 in the morning.

Hazel plans our bridge route.

The Narrows Covered Bridge, one of the 16 we saw on Saturday.

Hazel is excited about her first time in a real swimming pool.