Beach Week With Ken's Kin '06

We spent a week in New Smryna Beach, FL with the entire Cranston Clan - we had a BLAST (see below for lots of pictures)! It was a lot of work, but it was more fun than we could have hoped for! Meg enjoyed all her time with MeeMaw and PopPop, and her Nana - She loved spending time with her Uncle Dave & Aunt Becky, Uncle Kenny & Aunt Carol, Aunt Beth & Uncle Henry (thanks for the 'coffees' every morning), Aunt Chris and Greg, Uncle Andrew and Aunt Elle and who can forget Amy, Andy, Ian & Ashley! Thanks to everyone for all their help with holding Jack-o, entertaining Meg and hanging out with us!
Meg loved playing in the water - she has learned how to put her head under the water and delights in jumping off the side of the pool and going under before being "saved" by either Mommy or Daddy. She sufed on a boogie board in the ocean, played on the sand and spend every night enjoying the "party" that existed just because every night is a party with this group!
Jack has gotten more and more mobile - he is really starting to cruise! He is starting to hold onto furniture to see if he can walk around it - he's not quite there yet, but he's definitely well on his way. We can't wait until he can walk because the tables on going to turn on Big Sister - she has no idea what she's in for!
Both kids had so much fun, and it was so nice to get to spend a full week with such a large group of family we don't get to see often. We hope to see everyone again soon!
The rest of the summer we are spending at home, hoping to do lots of swimming at the Club, and enjoying the last half of the summer with our friends. We hope everyone else is enjoying their summer...Love to All!

The Gang's All Here... 

Uncle Kenny and Baby Jack - having fun with the toys (and the sand) 

Mommy's new favorite picture of Daddy and his little girl 

Look Daddy, I'm SWIMMING!! 

Swimming with Mommy in the ocean 

Smiling girl - We're headed into the water! 

Hey Look, I'm eating even more sand - yummy, yummy, yummy... 

Happy Baby on the beach...eating all the sand he could get his hands on! 

Our little "Hot Rod" 

Margaret on the beach - she took to it like a fish to water! 

Meg's First night - the first of 5 nights of parties! 

The Youngest Member of "Ken's Kin '06" - Jack's first photo at the beach 

Gramdma's Visit

Grandma Beverly came to visit for a few days in July, and we had a great time! We went to the "new" park as Meg likes to call it, we spent some time swimming at the Country Club (and even got to sit down for an ENTIRE dinner together in the Grill). We celebrated Grandma's birthday, which was fun and Meg got to sing "Happy Day you to you, Grandma!" On our last day, we relived our college days by going down to SMU and letting Meg run wild in the main quad - running back and forth from the fountain to Dallas Hall - it was great fun and next time we take her, we'll be sure to take lots of pictures!! All in all it was a really fun trip and we look forward to her next visit!
**BIG NEWS**On Tuesday, July 11, Jack started officially "creeping" - I wouldn't call it crawling quite, but he definitely gets everywhere he needs to go and much quicker than we would like (So much for being able to contain at least one of our kids!)
We are off to Florida for the big Cranston Family Reunion in a few weeks, so we'll be sure to post lots of pictures from that!
Love to All!

Grandma with her grandchildren 

Grandma Beverly & Jack 

It's Independence Day!

Hello All ~
Greetings from Texas - Hope this post finds you all well. We are busy, busy as always - Meg is growing like a weed (see pictures below for evidence) and Jack amazes us everyday. He may very well skip crawling all together, because he would much prefer to pull up and play standing up! He's eating all kinds of food (mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes and puffs are his favorites), babbling more and more, and rolling to any and everything he can possibly need or want!
We celebrated the 4th of July as a family, enjoying the time off and spending it watching Jack try to learn to crawl, Meg learn to kick a beachball out front of the house (we expect she'll be an expert by the time we get to the Florida shore later this month), and Mom and Dad finding a few precious moments to relax in between all the activity!
Unfortunately, both kids have been suffering from bronchitis, and Jack has logged his 3rd double ear infection in 6 weeks...Through it all they have both been champs, and you would never really know either of them felt particularly bad.
Grandma Beverley is coming to visit later this week, and we are looking forward to taking her to the pool and showing off Meg's new swimming skills (more like splashing skills, but it's something) and spending lots of time at the new park near our house!
We will be spending a week in Florida with Jim's family and we are excited about that trip, and introducing the kids to the ocean!
Signing off...as Meg would say "Happy 'day-you' to you America" (Happy Birthday, America)!!

Look at my teeth!! (he's growing up so fast)... 

This Exersaucer is so much fun - no wonder my sister always wants to get in with me!! 

"Maybe I can use my charm and good looks to get out from behind these bars!" 

The Happiest Boy Ever - Every day is a party with Jack 

Meg at the top of "her" park - "Queen of the world!! 

It's Independence Day - We're going to celebrate!! 

Happy 4th of July!!