McClane Visits Georgia

McClane has had a very exciting few days. On Thursday, my mom, McClane and I flew down to Georgia to see my family. McClane hit four states in one day - we went from Boston to Charlotte, NC and then to Tallahassee, FL and then drove to Blakely. He is officially a little cross-country traveler. He did amazing on the trip - he didn't hardly make a peep the whole trip. He is so easy to travel with right now. I'm sure that will change as he gets more mobile, but he was so good. My dad picked us up from the airport and since we've arrived in Blakely, we've been going non-stop. We were greeted by so many family and friends when we got here - McClane didn't know what to think with so many people giving him attention. We stayed up late Thursday night visiting with everyone and McClane was so exhausted, he slept 6 hours straight! On Friday, my friends Kristen and Christy came by to see McClane. I haven't seen either one of them in so long!! It was great catching up with them. Friday night we drove to Cairo, GA to go to my cousin's rehearsal dinner - it was a Hawaiian Luau theme and we got some fun pictures with McClane. Saturday we drove back to Cairo for the wedding - the ceremony and reception were outside and it was a balmy 104 degrees with a heat index of 110. Needless to say, we didn't stay outside too long. The wedding was beautiful but it was a scorcher!

For those of you who don't know, I come from a very musical family. My dad taught himself to play the guitar when he was a kid and then with the musical influence of Lester Flatt and Earl Scruggs, realized his love of the dobro and bluegrass music which he really is a master at. My brother was also gifted in music and could pretty much play anything he picked up. My cousins Kyle and Adam were also given this gift and Kyle has even moved to Nashville where he has become very well known as an up and coming steel guitar player. I am so proud of the musical talent in my family and wish that I had some! Now that McClane is here, he is already being primed to love and play music. My dad sent McClane his first guitar and dobro picks right after he was born and when we arrived in Blakely, he surprised us with a gold-plated dobro for McClane. It is absolutely beautiful and Grandpa can't wait to teach McClane to play. McClane was born exactly 30 years after Lester Flatt died (May 11, 1979) and my dad is ready to turn McClane into the new generation of bluegrass music players.

We have had such a wonderful time since we've been here - it's been so nice to introduce McClane to my family - he is very popular around here and we've enjoyed all of the attention. I've attached a lot of pictures from the past several days so enjoy!

This is the first picture of McClane with his grandpa.

McClane with his Aunt Karen.


McClane with his Great-Grandmother. McClane is her 5th great-grandchild.


Our sweet neighbor "Miss" Frances - McClane took to her right away and smiled and grinned at her.


"Miss" Frances made this beautiful stocking for McClane - now Santa will be able to find him this year!

My friend Kristen with McClane

My friend Christy with McClane

Hawaiian Luau - McClane needed a little accessorizing.

McClane with my dad and cousins - Adam (the groom) and Kyle

Kyle and Me

My cousin Ashley at the wedding holding McClane

My dad presenting McClane with his first dobro

Adam's groom cake was a replica of my dad's dobro that Adam plays. It was so beautiful and detailed.

Kyle holding McClane for the first time.

Kyle thought McClane needed to try on his guitar and dobro picks - he's wearing his thumb pick in this one.

Guitar pick

Finger picks for the dobro - we all decided his long skinny fingers will make him a good musician!

First visit to church this morning with my dad and preacher.

I will be posting more soon! Happy Father's Day to all you dads - most especially to Grant who has been such an amazing dad to McClane. We are very lucky to have him!!

Love,

Lacey, Grant and McClane

Newburyport, MA

Yesterday we took advantage of a beautiful day and went to Newburyport, Massachusetts - a quaint little seaside town north of Boston.

Here's a photo of a side street looking toward the town center. There are great nautical shops that sell antique brass sail boat instruments and gear.

The photo below is the center of town where all the roads meet and where many people were sitting around taking advantage of the sunny day. There were vendors and performers entertaining the crowds. There were even two guys throwing knives over a volunteer's head (the kid was probably 5 or 6). We couldn't understand why the parents let the child participate in such a dangerous activity and we didn't hang around to see if the act caused injury.

Grant enjoys the richness of maritime history that New England has and can always spot an interesting sign or old sailing establishment. Here's a photo of the Marine Society of Newburyport building. The brick building is gigantic but has since been subdivided and now contains scores of boutiques and shops that sell anything from children's books to designer clothing. Obviously a lot has changed since 1772!

The Maritime Museum is located beside The Black Dog store near downtown. Look at the huge buoy that sits outside.

McClane seemed to like walking around town in his Baby Bjorn rather than his stroller. We were trying to get him accustomed to it before he takes his first flight next week. Here we are with an old wooden sailor who is used to market tours of the city.

We found a great addition for McClane's room at a local hand-crafted gift store in downtown Newburyport. "We Three Sisters" sells all handmade goods by local artisans. Grant spotted this piece of driftwood carved into a sperm whale. We knew from our trip to Nantucket that the sperm whale was important to early island dwellers and was used for food, candles, and even make-up. The whales sustained an otherwise isolated island for hundreds of years. The sperm whale has become an icon of New England and this carving will look great hanging in McClane's room.

Until next time,

Grant, Lacey & McClane

McClane's Room

This is our second post today - unusual for us. Here are some pictures of McClane's room. We still have a few things to add but it's mostly done. I'm really pleased with the way it turned out. His bed and changing table are both navy and the bed will convert to a toddler bed and then a full-sized bed eventually.

Here are the paintings I did.







Grant picked out this picture. He plans on teaching McClane all of the sailing flags really early!








Love,
Grant, Lacey, & McClane

Trip to Newport, Rhode Island

On Saturday we took a day trip down to Newport - a beautiful seaside town in Rhode Island.

We had lunch at The Barking Crab. Its flagship restaurant is located near where we work and is on the Boston Harbour so we decided to try their new location out. This mural is of The Barking Crab's location in Boston. The food was great and the people and service even better (I'm starting to realize that we get more attention and interest when we're with McClane).

Newport's shopping area is primarily on Thames Street but there are also shops on the surrounding wharfs. Here's a photo looking toward one of the wharfs - you can see sailboat masts in the background.

We saw the American Sail Training Association when taking a shortcut from Thames Street to the International Tennis Hall of Fame. McClane's Pappy sails nearly every day and Grant sailed the Boston Harbour and islands after studying at Boston Sailing Center. When Grant saw this sign he had to get a picture. Hopefully McClane will enjoy sailing one day.

Newport not only has beautiful ocean views but great parks too. Here's one of the family.

Newport was home to the US Naval Academy during the Civil War. We were lucky enough to have a couple of our finest walk by and they were kind enough to endulge us with a group photo. Thank you in more ways than one.

Our last stop was the International Tennis Hall of Fame. We're not tennis players and haven't even watched a serve on television, but when you step into this venue you're certainly aware of the richness of the sport's history.

We hope to be making many more daytrips with McClane while we still have a couple of nice warm months ahead of us (hopefully!!). We will post more soon.

Lobsters and Such

For those of you who don't know, Grant is a phenomenal cook and is not afraid to cook anything.  The other night when Grant came home from work wanting to go buy some lobsters and cook them, even I was a little skeptical at how they would turn out.  Well, they turned out great!  They were delicious and we had quite the New England feast.  I am so lucky to have a husband who loves to cook because otherwise, we would all starve!

Here is a picture of one of the lobsters about to meet his fate in our big steamer.

My mom got here at the end of last week and she has been a huge help since arriving.  I had an eye doctor appointment this morning in Boston and I left McClane with her.  That was my first time being away from him for more than 30 minutes and I was nervous about leaving him but he did just fine with his Grammie.  I think she enjoyed him too!

Hope everyone has had a good week!  Happy Friday!