V Is For Visitors

That's right - we had visitors last week: Peepah and Aunt Feather!!! And that means - you guessed it: 2 Guest Bloggers!! Feather took a lot of pictures (which I will steal from) and put them here. She also has her "guest blog" entry here. But here is Peepah's take on the week:

Heather and Pee-pah arrived at the Greensboro Airport on Tuesday, May 13, 2008, after a smooth trip from LaGuardia on Delta Comair Flight 5561. John met us and whisked us swiftly to stately Meagher manor, where we were soon joined by Jeanine, Lochlain, and Sean.

Pee-pah enjoyed pushing Sean all around the playroom, living room, kitchen, dining room, and second living room in the boys’ car – until Seanie leaned out the door too far and tumbled out onto the kitchen floor. That was it for Pee-pah – who gets exhausted easily anyway.

A wonderful dinner of penne, chicken, and peas (and white wine) was followed by Mother’s Day cake, the boys’ baths and teethbrushing ceremonies (each standing on their Heather-painted bathroom stools), and Lochlain’s and Sean’s bed-time – followed shortly by Pee-pah’s.

Wednesday, May 14 brought a morning baseball game as the Greensboro Grasshoppers took on the Lakewood (NJ) Blue Claws and trounced them soundly by a 7-4 score. It was “School Kids’ Day” and hordes of young children filled New Bridge Bank Park, while Heather and Pee-pah joined John and Jeanine in an A.I.G. skybox high above the fray.

Afterwards, John and Jeanine returned to work, and Heather and Pee-pah cruised the streets of Greensboro, seeking a way out. Finally, Heather the Librarian stopped at the Greensboro Public Library to receive directions from the Reference Desk there (as a professional courtesy, no doubt). Heather had the most energy in playing with Lochlain and Sean in the evening.

Thursday, May 15 had me on John’s computer, working on Village and Village Foundation tasks, followed by Heather and me meeting John at work and then going to lunch at Sonic, a 50’s Drive-In burger place. After John returned to work, Heather and I went to Barnes and Noble to get some books, a favorite activity in North Carolina or New York. Tonight is Pizza Night at the North Carolina Meagher home! Yummy! Lochlain and Sean were rewarded for good behavior with a Scooby Doo episode on DVD before going to bed.

Friday, May 16 had me back on John’s computer, working on a Village of East Rockaway report. Jeanine is coming back from work to pick up Heather and me to meet John for lunch at PF Chang’s Restaurant. Great food there! I’ve been there before with John and Jeanine, and Heather & Kathy Lindholm (once Ventuleth) fortuitously blundered into it as they were wandering about the Greensboro area a while ago. Back home again, Heather baked cupcakes. After a tasty home-cooked dinner of roast loin of pork, couscous, and mixed vegetables, John, Jeanine, Heather, and I played three games of Yahtzee with John winning the first two and Heather winning the last, also getting the top score of the night.

A sunny Saturday on May 17 saw all six of us heading off to the North Carolina Zoo in Asheboro! We went to Africa (one of two major zoo areas – the other being North America). This zoo is really big! My favorites were the giraffes and the elephants – but there were so many sights to see. Lochlain and Sean started off in the double stroller, but alternated between walking and riding – and occasionally being carried on Daddy John’s shoulders for a really great view. We had lunch at Junction Plaza, followed by Carousel rides for the boys – Lochlain loved it, but Seannie buried his head in his Dad’s shoulder for the entire ride. Ice cream treats followed, and then a different route back. I liked the lions best on this part. Sean fell asleep right away on the ride home. Peepah dozed a bit, and Lochlain fell asleep at the end of the ride. After resting up, John, Jeanine, Pee-pah and Heather went out for dinner at Mimi’s Restaurant – and then saw a terrific movie – “Iron Man”! The North Carolina Meaghers lead an active life indeed!

John made bacon and eggs for breakfast on Sunday morning, May 18. Heather and I reluctantly prepared to return to New York on a Delta Comair flight to LaGuardia Airport, leaving Greensboro at 12:25 p.m. What a great visit!

FUNNY IF YOU'RE A MEAGHER: First off, Feather had this ridiculous argument about cardsharp vs. card shark. Whatever. She prefers the archaic cardsharp. So I made her a t-shirt. I couldn't leave Dad out of the gift-giving, so I made him one too (I am thinking about mass producing Dad's t-shirt). Here they are:

Mother's Day

It's been a while.........

As many of you know, we had some sad news a few weeks ago. On April 22nd, Jeanine's mom passed away. Bean was fortunate enough to see her mom a few days before it happened - knowing Mom, she probably had it all worked out. A lot of our friends and family came out to support all of us, and we were extremely grateful. It is always nice to be reminded how positively we all affect each other in this hectic crazy thing we call life. I was especially appreciative of Lochlain, who noticed that I was more than a bit sad during the funeral. As one of the pallbearers, I had to sit separate from Bean, Loch and Sean. When Loch saw that I was sad, he walked up the pew and reached out to me. I grabbed him and he gave me the biggest, bestest, longest hug ever! It made me not-so-sad and he hung with me until he saw that Mommy was sad, and then went back to her. He's a good kid (Seaniebear was a good kid, too - he slept in the stroller during the whole mass)......

My mother-in-law was a great person - strong, wise, loving - she (and my father-in-law) have always made me feel like their son - not just some guy who married their daughter. She always marveled at all her grandchildren, and spoiled them beyond belief (curse you, Winnie-the-Pooh cookie jar!) - though according to Bean, the grandkids were not the only spoiled ones. Here are some pics of Memar (her grandmother alias) - she has been - and will continue to be - sorely missed:

So of course, Mother's Day was tinged with sadness. Still, we made the most of it - the boys made Mommy cards - Seanie went with a gemstone theme with his DVD gift while Lochlain put all sorts of little foam animal stickers on his (hoping his mommy had a "WILD" Mother's Day) card that accompanied his flowers he got for Mommy (he picked them out himself, going for yellow roses - apparently his favorite color). Daddy got Mommy golf lessons - she will be having class on Wednesday evenings after work at the park across the street. Daddy also made Mommy one of her favorite cakes - Devil's Food Cake with Vanilla icing (decorated with chocolate jimmies). Of course, the best present of all was Lochlain's almost 180 degree turnaround that day with going peepee (also know as pishy) on the potty! He started going to the bathroom that day and has been doing a great job ever since! Poops (also known as poopies) are still a little hit or miss, and there have been a few pishy accidents - but gone are the pull-ups (except for nap, bedtime, and looong car trips), training underpants and plastic overpants! Lochlain now wears regular underpants (adorned with Diego, Thomas the Tank Engine, Transformers, and Iron Man) and keeps them dry most of the time! He's by no means perfect, but we feel we're over the hump! YAHOO!!!

MOVIE OF THE MOMENT: Feath and Peepah were down last week (see next entry) and we went to see Iron Man. Great film - Robert Downey, Jr. really stole the show. Best Marvel movie to date, in my opinion - and make sure you stay to see the secret ending after the credits (comic book fans will totally geek out over it)!