first days of school

School has begun!  Yes, it's July and school has started.  Josiah is now in 2nd grade and Aedan is in kindergarten!  Aedan didn't start the same day as Josiah.  He started a few days later.  Here are their first day shots looking good:

Josiah picked out his Clemson shirt to wear on the first day.

Josiah and Mercy
Mercy wanted to get into the picture.  She is still sporting her polka-dot pajamas.

There he is!  Aedan on his first day of school.  He chose his Sammy Watkins jersey.

Once again, Mercy wanted in the picture.  Still in her pajamas.

Josiah with Aedan on his first day.

Off they go!
Aedan is giving me his little gangsta sign.  hahahaha!

Flag football begins

Josiah had his first football game last weekend.  He is playing flag football (Upward).  He is having fun playing and his team is pretty good.  They are the Jaguars, which the boys were pretty excited about!  For flag football, Josiah has one day of practice a week and a game on Saturday.  There are 8 games total, so he now has 7 left.  He scored his first touchdown in the first game.  Thankfully, I got it on video!  (Sometimes it is hard to discern when to hit the record button.)  Josiah has given himself the nickname, "Josiah-the touch down maker-McGann".  hahaha!  Which, they say when they introduce the players.  (I have the introduction on video, but didn't hit record in time to hear the nickname.)  Aedan is already saying that he wants to play football next fall and they are both saying they want to do "real", or tackle football.  Josiah's team won 34-0.  Ouch!  Here are some pictures:

Before the game

lining up

going over the play

the cheerleaders

water break!

Go Josiah!

another action shot

game over

Josiah's introduction:

Josiah's touchdown:

July workshops

The kids have continued to enjoy the Lowes workshops.  We did one while we were in Charleston and the second one was at home.  Both of the projects were from Toy Story.  RC (the car) was a little tricky, but we survived!  We met Wesley at Lowes for the second one.  He and Josiah had fun seeing each other.  (They are not in the same class this year, like the last two years.)  We were a little rushed since Josiah had a football game afterwards.  The next two workshops in August will be based off of the new movie, Planes, which comes out soon.  The McGanns are already signed up!  Oh, yeah!

 

Ryan and Mercy together.  Josiah wokring behind them.

 

Mercy with her finished product!  Notice her hair.  She got into some lotion, so her hair was super greasy!  Up it went!

 

Ryan with Josiah

Aedan with his car.

Altogether

Mercy with her RC car.

Ryan helping Aedan with the stickers.

Josiah and Wesley made ramps.

Wesley and Josiah

Charlstowne Landing

We went to Charlestowne Landing one day.  It was pretty warm and humid, but it was still fun.  I love the boat, and all the animals that we get to see.  We got rained on, but found a quick shelter in the woods.  And, the trees even provided some shelter.  We got to see most of the animals.  They have a new wolf exhibit, and the otters were out!  Woot! 

  

 

 

 We met Aunt Sandra at the Crab Shack for lunch.  The kids LOVE this place and all of the peanuts.

The O'Brien Family Reunion

Highlights from the week (in random order as they came to my mind) or things I learned:

~Josiah and Aedan enjoyed playing in the big waves this time and boogie boarding.

~Michael and Chris provided football practice for Josiah and Aedan. (The practice has already paid off. Josiah scored a touchdown in his first game! Thanks Coach Chris!)

~Mercy likes the girl cousins. She is unsure about the rest.

~Bingo night was fun. Mama was the champion!

~Eddie is the smartest math person I know. Seriously, he's a mathematician.

~We saw lots of dolphin!

~"Call Me Maybe" is the hardest song to get out of your head. (Sorry, if it's in your head now....again!)

~Everyone likes Dirt.

~The birthday exchange was fun. PLEASE don't take Mercy's nail polish! Oh my, the tears! hahaha!

~I can stay up till 4:30. My body was only shaking for about an hour the next day.

~We discovered that Ryan and Johnny went to the same Elementary school in Columbia at the same time.  Ryan would have been in 3rd grade, and Johnny was in 1st.

~We saw lots of rainbows!

~I'm not very good at the game, "Things".  I don't care if people know it's mine.  It's obvious!

~A "vomit" jelly bean really does taste like vomit.  (And "booger" tastes like a booger.)

~And, I am looking forward to the next one!

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"Citadel University"

Yes, "Citadel University" is what the boys call "The Citadel".  The boys are into colleges (and universities).  They are mostly into the mascots, but also get excited at the opportunity to visit a school.  hahaha!  Yes, it's early, but they really enjoy it.  So, Monday afternoon my dad took us all to the Citadel.  We went to the Citadel museum and saw my grandfather's ring.  The boys were especially eager to see the football and baseball fields. 

 

Papa's ring

All of the rings

Josiah looking at a display.

 

Aedan with the ring

Josiah with the ring.

resting on a bench
Yes, Mercy has done some shopping.  (or Papa!)

walking across

The kids and the bulldog
This picture was important to get because when I was little, I never got my picture on it.  While Caroline was getting her picture taken, I sat down in a red ant hill.  Needless to say, I was in no mood for a picture.  hahaha!  I think I was about Mercy's age at the time (maybe a touch older).

Papa with Josiah, Aedan, and Mercy

Our family with the bulldog

 Finally....the baseball field...

chuck e cheese and ice skating

On Monday, we spent the day with my dad.  We went to Chuck E Cheese and to ice  skate in the morning.  The kids love Chuck E Cheese, as usual, and especially enjoyed the dance party time with Chuckie.  (See pictures below)

 

 

 

 

 

The boys were pumped about skating again.  I'm pretty certain that ice skating will be a much anticipated activity whenever we go to Charleston.  I brought their helmets this time, and some winter clothes!  When we pulled into the parking lot it was pretty much empty, except for two buses.  uh, oh!  Yes, it was crowded.  There were two different summer camps skating.  I decided not to skate because of the crowds.  Mercy didn't skate either.  She really didn't like it last time, and only skated three times around.  By the end of their time skaing, Josiah wasn't using his walker anymore.  He doesn't glide very much when he skates; it's more like walking on the ice.  hahaha!  Here are some pictures and videos!