Trip to the Beach

While the East Coast was battling Hurricane Irene, we decided to head up to Lake Michigan and the Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore. It was a bit of a spontaneous day trip, but we all had a blast. We drove up Saturday morning, stopped by the Visitor Center, got our National Park Passport stamped, then headed towards the beach. We set up camp near Mount Baldy, had a picnic lunch, then played in the sand and the water for the rest of the afternoon. After 5-6 hours, we changed, packed up the car, and headed home. It was a great day!

Preschool is Finally Here!

Hazel has been looking forward to starting preschool since we signed her up in the spring. And finally the big day is here!

It was such a big day for her. The calendar told us that today was "Red Day" so we went out to find a red "First Day of School" dress. Hazel loved it!

She has to wear a name tag to make it easy for her teacher to learn her name. And she was so excited to finally get to use the backpack that Aunt Stephanie gave her as a birthday present last year.

Momma wasn't technically supposed to get out of the car at the drop-off. Hazel's teacher got her out of the car, but I jumped out real quick to snag a photo. Naughty Momma.

Lisey watched Mrs. Duley get Hazel out of the car...

...and it slowly dawned on her that she wasn't going to get to go with Hazel...

...and then we drove off and left Hazel at school without Lisey!

But then Momma explained that we were going to get to spend all morning together just the two of us, going to the grocery store and sharing snack time together, and Lisey thought that might just be ok.

And even though we had a great time together, Lisey couldn't wait to go pick up Hazel. Here she is waiting for Hazel to come out with her class.

Hazel was responsible for bringing in the drinks for snack-time today, and that meant that she got to be line-leader. Do you see her up there at the front of the line, behind the teacher?

As soon as Lisey saw Hazel come out with her class, she went running up to her and stood next to her until Mrs. Duley released Hazel to Momma.

Hazel said she had a great day! From what I could gather, she played with the cars, walked on the balance beam, showed pictures of our family at show-and-tell, set the table for snack-time, sat on a pink circle for story-time, played dress-up with another little girl named Macy, played in the sandbox on the playground and got to be line-leader all day. She loves school, she says, and wishes she could be there forever.

Disney 2011 (part 3)

On Thursday, the entire gang decided to spend the day at Epcot. We all went on lots of rides and saw lots cool things.

While some of the thrill seekers went on Mission: Space, the tamer croud went and visited Nemo and friends.

Eeeeek! Sharks!

After going on Journey into Imagination, Jillian and Lisey went exploring. We still aren't sure who was leading the way.

It was H-O-T, hot hot hot. We stopped for strawberry icees. Brilliant idea!

While spending time in France, who should we meet? Sleeping Beauty! Hazel was wearing Sleeping Beauty socks and showed her. She was very impressed!

At our fancy French dinner, we were visited by the chef -- Remy!

On Friday, our groups started to head their various directions. However, before splitting, we all met for one more visit to the Magic Kingdom.

Hazel would never have forgiven us if we didn't meet Rapunzel. They had a awesome waiting area with a coloring area!

Hazel and Elise were in awe. Hazel had planned on asking were Eugene (aka Flynn Rider) and Maximus (the horse) were, but froze. Think Ralphie in A Christmas Story when meeting Santa...

Fortunately, I didn't freeze. Megan asked if I could get a picture, and Rapunzel said only if I could give her a good "smolder". I got the picture.

The McCain girls waving as It's A Small World goes below. Good bye Disney World!

Disney 2011 (part 2)

On Tuesday, everyone got up early and headed to the Magic Kingdom.

We weren't as successful getting a good picture in front of the castle as we were in front of the Tree of Life in Animal Kingdom.

Hazel's favorite ride was It's a Small World. Anytime the older kids wanted to go on anything scary, she convinced people to go on It's a Small World. I think final count was 4 or 5 time this day.

After a few other rides (Peter Pan, Pooh, etc.) we headed over to the spinning tea cups. Hazel and Jillian loved it!

Grandma Jellybean, however, might have spun a little too fast and needed a little break.

Our families split up for lunch. We went to the Plaza and, as is tradition, had some delicious ice cream for dessert.

And somehow, Hazel convinced Big Laura that she neeeeeeeeeeded a sucker. Laura was happy to provide...



On Wednesday morning, the whole gang went to Chef Mickeys for a breakfast buffet. As seen below, Lisey was no longer screaming at the characters, but still wasn't particularly interested.

After breakfast, we all headed over to the Hollywood Studios. After a morning of various rides, we all headed over to the Lights, Motors, Action! Stunt Show. Laura had pulled a few strings for us, and the McCain party was given VIP seating. However, that wasn't the end of the surprises. We learned during the show that a fancy driving stunt maneuver is known in the industry as the McCain Maneuver. And, finally, when called for a volunteer from the audience, Little Megan was selected!

Megan and Laura using a remote control to drive a stunt car.

Megan's victory pose on the big screen!

After the show, we all got to go back stage and talk to the stunt coordinator. He showed us all the cars and even let us sit in them. Pretty darn cool!


A picture of us back stage. In Mary's defense, it was pretty hot on the asphalt.

Disney 2011 (part 1)

So, as you may or may not know, we just got back from a fantastic trip to Disney World. On this trip, we met up with most of Glenn's family, including Grandma Jellybean, Aunt Kelly, Uncle Rob, Maddie, Jake, Jillian, Uncle Kenny, Megan, and Mary. It was quite the crew, and we all had a grand time. Everyone arrived at Disney on Sunday, and we all met for dinner. On Monday, we all went to Animal Kingdom in the morning, then split into two groups for dinner at Epcot.

Welcome to Walt Disney World! (at 50mph)

We had our first dinner at Raglan Road in Downtown Disney. The cousins were very excited to see each other.

Hanging with Pooh and the gang while Megan and some of the older girls shopped in Little Miss Matched.

The kids found a fountain...I think we all know what happens next...

Monday morning, the various McCain girls show off their ears.

The animals on the safari were very active, some coming within mere feet of our truck.

The whole crew in front of the Tree of Life. How did we get a picture of 13 people all looking good at the same time?

For dinner, our family went to the Garden Grill where we met Mickey, Pluto, Chip and Dale. Hazel was very excited. Elise wanted nothing to do with any of them.

And a quick kiss on the nose for Chip. A great end to a great first day in the parks!