Dallas bound

TJ is on his way to Dallas for 9 days with Alexis and her family. The McGinty's are traveling fools this summer and there is no end in sight. I'm going to say it

"We totally deserve it, all of us"

Sadly, TJ will miss my dad's 75 th birthday party next weekend that me, Jim and Christine have been planning for months. The week after is Karrick's joint birthday party with his buddy Nico...we rented out the Lombard waterpark for a nighttime  party.

 In 4 weeks is the big Connell family picnic at McGinty Farm that I have a list of things to finish. Busy party month!

We will miss our TJ, have fun little man, come back safe and in 1 piece

Italy 2012

I applaud my Tim's photography skills on the Colosseum shot below...taken with his cell phone. I just love it

Tim and Callahan spent 10 days in Italy with 10 of Cal's classmates, 2 teacher's and 4 

chaperons (Time being one). They visited Rome, Venice, Florence, Verona, Assisi and Pisa.

At least 10 hrs a day were spent touring with a professional guide. They all wore packs around their neck with a an ear bud in one ear that allowed them to hear every word the guide said. Callahan is still glowing....I had no idea what a great impact this would have on him...even though the teacher said it would.

Tim took over 1200 pictures, but I just grabbed a few from the front of the pack. I will add more here and there.

They have hundreds of stories that I love hearing and watching their faces just light up when re telling.

Here is the group of students. They all bonded and got along wonderfully. The kids bunked together 2-4 to a room depending on the hotel. I thought Tim and Cal would room, but part of the experience is the kids together I was told. Male and female separate of course. My Tim even bunked with another chaperon..I believe the male teacher. Callahan spent a lot of time with Katie the cute blond in the front row 3rd from left teal shirt. Tim said she is darling and quite the spitfire. Her mom was also a chaperon. They are officially going out according to Cal's facebook page. Tim is dropping off, then picking them up from the movies tonight. How quickly my boys grow up

  

Father and son

 those are the radio packs around their necks

 Tim standing on the gondola's taking a picture of the other chaperon's

I really hope Callahan decides to go on next years trip to Germany, France and Switzerland

sisters

MaryMcgintyPhotography

630-863-1061

  

Michigan day 2

 Day 2 started out with a hike through the forest...a big forest. If you don't follow the blue triangle markers you can end up missing

 We headed to South Haven beach which was just beautiful...soft white stone less sand. It was really hot and not a cloud in the sky, but the cousins had a ball in the water and burying each other in the sand

       

St Joseph's Michigan day 1 Thursday

So, I looked at this shot on my work computer which doesn't have a high resolution screen. Ugh! is all I can say...looks more like a watercolor than a cool ass real photo. Sometimes Facebook butchers photos too. It stinks because I wonder how many people just have a regular screen and aren't seeing  my photos as they really are. If the picture of Karrick below looks like a watercolor or  has distinct sections of color and does not look like a cool photo:

IT'S TIME TO BUY A NEW SCREEN PEOPLE...

May I suggest a 32 inch flat screen like I have, not necessary unless you are obsessed with photography . As Karrick would say "that is a want...not a need!"

The bokeh across the top of the photo is from a cresting wave 

With Tim and Callahan safely in Italy, TJ, Karrick and myself packed up the cute Audi A4 convertible and drove up to St Joe's MI with the wind blowing through our hair. We spent the afternoon at Silver Beach sunning, swimming, playing in the sand and at the park.

There is this wonderful spray pad for all ages. Oh, and yes the kid eats. It's just what being in the 13% in weight looks like when you are 50 th % in height. He is just a peanut. TJ was almost this thin and look at him now. Karrick has very tiny bones too...one can snap his arm like a twig

 

At 7:30 pm we met my sister in law, niece and nephew at Silver Beach pizza (right off the beach) to get a table. My brother Jim took the train from downtown Chicago...it pulls into the pizza place/train station. We enjoyed a relaxing dinner before driving up to Jim's cabin about 20 min North

The cabin is amazingly beautiful and pretty much secluded 

not your average 15 year old

The sun hit TJ's face just perfectly and I told him to FREEZE! mid step in the driveway. He's such a good model...he froze and I went snap snap and got these shots. I can't take too much credit...the kid is just stunning

 We had just returned home after dinner. I took TJ, Karrick, Alexis, Megan and Nathan (Alexis' younger sister and brother that are 2 and 1 year older than Karrick)  to our local yummy hot dog stand to start off my official vacation

Tim and Callahan are in Rome as we speak, they left yesterday and today was a free day to adjust before the fun begins tomorrow.

This is tomorrow's schedule

• Take a guided tour of Vatican City
• Visit the Sistine Chapel
• Visit St. Peter’s Basilica
• Take a guided tour of Rome
• Visit the Colosseum
• Visit the Roman Forum
• Take a self-guided walking tour of Rome
• Trevi Fountain
• Pantheon
• Piazza Navona
• Spanish Steps

I am on vacation for the next 5 days and there are no words to describe how ecstatic I am.

 My boss is gone for almost a month on vacation which kinda makes me on an extended vacation by default....right?

Life is good!

my favorite baby girl

Love my baby girl fix

little off focus, but I still love it