Guest Reporter

Hi family,

We dropped off Mary Kate at Black Rock yesterday. She was very excited to be going. This is her fourth year, and for the first time she was able to go with a friend. Her best friend Anna McLane joined her in the same cabin.

So while she's gone I figured I'd step in as a guest blogger.

Tomorrow I'll post pictures of the things we've been doing while Mary Kate's been gone. Today, as Cecilia informed Mary Kate in the letter she wrote to her, "was a VERY boring cleaning day." Scott, the poor guy, had to go to Hersheypark with his youth group all day, but the rest of us did indeed clean. However to reward Cecilia for all of her hard work, I let her make dinner - (see how this reverse psychology stuff still works on 10 year olds... she actually thanked me for giving her such a special treat. :) And what exactly did Cecilia prepare for John Paul, Max and I (Rose was already asleep) : french fries, scrambled eggs, and Jiffy muffins. What it lacked in nutritional content, it made up for in taste.

On another front I have a movie recommendation to make for all of you. Scott and I just watched "Penelope", a delightfully quirky comedy that I believe was in and out of the theaters a few months back and is now on DVD. It stars James McAvoy, whom my family fell in love with when he played Faun Tumnus. Although that guy has a heavy Scottish brogue in real life, he does a spot on, amazing American accent in this movie.

The movie is great, and pretty much family fare with I think only one inappropriate comment that was mild enough to pass unnoticed by kids. Although having said that, I will add that I think a lot of the charm and humor of the movie will be unappreciated by younger children.

Quirky humor, sweet story, great actors - perfect recipe for summer movie night fun!

That's it for now. I'll add pictures tomorrow.

Love, Teresa

Family Hiking Day

We went out all day yesterday on a hiking expedition. We started in Codorus State Park and ate lunch. We then headed down to Cunningham Falls State Park in Maryland and saw some nice waterfalls. Then we went and ate dinner out in Gettysburg. We then headed back to Codorus Park and played disc golf! IT was a very fun day!

Dutch Wonderland Update

TO the request of my mother I posted several more pictures of Dutch Wonderland. (I added them to the Dutch Wonderland post. )!!!!

Baby Bird Drama

The other day we caught a baby bird that was in our yard. My siblings took great care of it, feeding it worms, putting it to sleep, and making a nice cage for it. We named him/her Sparrow-wing. Sparrow-wing survived the night and the next morning Cecilia and John Paul and Max woke up early to go out to it. They fed, stroked, held, and loved the bird. Rose saw them handling it, and so when everyone was inside she decided to give it a bath. Unfortunately she drowned it. My siblings were horrified. Rose didn't understand what she had done and kept saying, "John Paul can fix it".
John Paul dug a grave and had a sign made. He even built a coffin out of cardboard. Max and John Paul put flowers there and any feathers they find. It was a sad morning.

Dutch Wonderland!

We went to Dutch Wonderland with Aunt Lorrie, Uncle Fred and the Schultz's! We had an awesome day of rides, yummy food, and family time! It was a great way to spend our last day together!

Rosie Posie

Rosie is a little something! When she points at something she turns her head and squints! She calls our gerbils: Agine and Bastin, There real names are , Evangeline and Sebastien. Rose really likes nail polish and one time she went up to my room and took mine, she had it in her hair, her clothes and my floor! We love our little Princess!

Streams- a natural swimming pool

We went to the stream with Aunt Cathy, Uncle Mark, Annie, Brennen, and Nate. It was lots of fun building dams, catching minnows, and slipping in the water! Thank you God for streams!!

Cousin Time

At At Sandy Cove Cecilia, Annie, Teresa, and me took a walk along the beach. We waded in the water, and enjoyed screaming at the dead fish. (There were a lot!) It was nice to get that little get away with Teresa, and Annie! (And Cecilia).

Sandy Cove

Sandy cove was very very nice! I loved being together with almost the whole McDonnell family! The pool was a great way to keep cool in the afternoon, and in the evening we sat out be the bay watching the sunset and chatting!

Benny Boy!

Benny is getting very big! The other day he was playing peek-a-boo with his bib. He is crawling very fast and is getting into everything! We all like to call him, Benny Boy!

Rose turned three!

On June 13 we celebrated Rose's 3rd birthday! She had an Ariel themed party with a cake done spectacularly by Mom. It was a lot of fun being together with the Anthony Family! Rose had lots of fun playing with Emmie and opening presents! Happy Birthday Rose!