Splash Discovery

It's official: Mac has discovered the joy of splashing. For a while, bath time was pretty tame - the only thing I really had to worry about was Mac trying to eat all of the soap bubbles and drink the water. Lately, he has started splashing with amazing determination, and I have toyed with the idea of wearing a poncho during bath time.

We recently went to play in the pool at Caleb's house (Mac's friend), and you can see the splashing in action.

The Couch

We had one last adventure with our dear friend, Auntie Kemi. We got a phone call at around 3pm from Kemi asking if we had any creative ideas for moving a giant couch out her apartment that night because she needed to leave Durham the next morning for her residency in Texas.

After brainstorming a few different scenarios, we decided that the cheapest method would be to saw the couch into pieces and shove the remaining parts into Ellis' truck for transport to the dumpster. It turned out to be a very fun and manly evening.

Ellis and Kemi's friend Paul starting the couch demolition:

Just when thought the truck couldn't get any more redneck:

Mac's Fort

Mac got a new car seat, and of course the best part of that is getting to play with the box...it makes a great fort! What do you think Mac likes to do in his fort?

Looks like he is doing some secret fort activity

He emerges!

How to pick up a dropped fort toy

Just for the Record

Yes, Mac does have red hair, just like his daddy. Just for the record though, he DOES have some of my traits too!

The Famous "Concerned" Look:

#2

Hey everyone! New announcement: we are expecting baby #2 to arrive at the end of October. We found out last week that we are having a little girl, and we are going to name her Corrie after Amanda's favorite author, Corrie Ten Boom. If you haven't heard of her, please ask Amanda about her, but only if you don't mind her talking your ear off and trying to send you a copy of one of Corrie's books.

How to Eat a Snack

According to Mac, the best way to eat a snack is to first grab and squash as much of it as you can in your hands. Then, if it is in a bowl (the best way to get a snack), dump the snack out and spread it all across the floor. You now have a fun toy to play with (bowl) and a treasure hunt to complete as you find each piece of your snack and eat it. Here is a demonstration:

The hunt is on!
Yummy success!

Dr. Ellis Boisvert Johns

We had such a great weekend celebrating the momentous occasion of Ellis' graduation from Duke Med. The festivities began with a fancy dinner at the Durham Marriot, and then we moved on to the class photo and Hooding/Hippocratic Oath ceremony on Friday night at the Duke Chapel.

We took some photos w/ family and friends before the class photo:

Auntie Keme was about to become Dr. Auntie Keme!
Ellis had fun showing Mac some of the Medical School buildings:
Duke University School of Medicine Class of 2010!
Meanwhile, Mac had fun crawling around...
Picking wild flowers...
And eating them, of course!
Next, we moved into the chapel for the hooding ceremony and the Hippocratic Oath:
Ellis receiving his Doctorate hood:

Dana was there to celebrate with us:

Our family arrived late Friday night, and we enjoyed a full and lively house for the weekend. Lil' Mac loved the chaos and noise of having so many people around, and he especially enjoyed the quality time time to play with his cousins.

Mac & EJ had fun demolishing the kitchen before breakfast:
Sweet Bella took a nap in the big bed:
We had cake and celebrated Dr. Ellis Boisvert Johns!
EJ & Reed were ready to help cut and serve the cake

Mac & Bella enjoyed eating in the high chair section:

The weekend came to a close with the Duke University graduation ceremony on Sunday morning and the special Duke Medicine graduation ceremony in the afternoon. The most exciting part of the whole weekend was when Ellis received his diploma and was announced officially as "Dr. Ellis Boisvert Johns." (No, Ellis did not tell them how to pronounce his middle name).

View of the main university ceremony:
The Kimmels enjoying the nice view:
Family photo before heading off to the Medical School graduation ceremony:
View of the courtyard in front of the original entrance to Duke Hospital where the Medical School ceremony took place:
Matt & Ellis moments away from becoming Doctors:
Receiving the official diploma:
All of this celebration made Mac really thirsty:
One last family photo!

1st B-day

Wow. We really cannot believe that Baby Mac is already 1 year old. We had a little party with some good friends, and mostly spent our time watching Mac dive into his cake and get his first huge sugar rush.

We loved celebrating this special day with you Li'l Mac! You are a blessing to us!