The Keenan Family 411

An Even Dozen!

Cameron embarked on his final pre-teen year this past Friday!  Hard to believe, but Cameron has spent 12 solid years on the planet and we celebrated after school with an authentic Italian meal at Procaccini's in East Hartford.   That was followed by a delicious  Sugarbelle cupcake dessert back at home.

Saturday also proved to be a special day for Cameron as well when he scored his first goal at the premiere soccer level!  It wasn't pretty (he crashed into the ground pretty hard after taking the shot) but it still counted.  It must have been the hibachi lunch at Sake in Enfield before the game!

And Monday may prove to be the best day of the long birthday weekend when Cameron tries paintball for the first time with a few of his soccer buddies.

Happy 12th B-Day, Cammy!

 

Fire it Up!

Poppy & Grandma stopped by yesterday to treat us out to a hibachi lunch to celebrate O's birthday.  Hibachi is Owen's all-time favorite type of meal, probably because fire plays a prominent role...

Nine is Fine!

Hard to believe, but Owen wraps up his ninth year on the planet today! 

The household's Recreation Department (that'd be Amy) is celebrating the event with a trip to a Renaissance fair this weekend. 

Then the RD has a party for a bunch of his friends on tap at the end of the month, complete with an outdoor big-screen movie in the back yard!

Let's hear nine cheers for our "Opus"!

Summer Blast in Milford!

Yesterday we had a chance to hang out with the Keenan side of the clan for most of the day.  Poppy hosted the shindig in Milford and we lucked out with the weather (good thing it was yesterday and not today because it's pourin' right now!).   The guest of honor was Pa who enjoyed a break from the nursing home and joined us for most of the party.

The food was delicious (as always) and we managed to burn off a good percentage of the extra calories with some wiffle ball, soccer and a particularly entertaining volleyball game in which Amy demonstrated the dreaded "Scottish War Cry" a few times.  And Grandma chipped in with the "Filipino War Cry" which was even more amusing!

But between sports the kids spent a lot of time hanging out in the swamp (of course) while the grown-ups enjoyed catching up on all the goings-on.

A small photo album's on the right!

 

Five Jive!

Hard to believe, but little Shanie hit the five-year mark yesterday!  And it was a big one; I think there's an unwritten rule stating that every birthday divisible by 5 is a "big one".

Anyway, despite the day-long stretch of cold rain we still managed to have fun celebrating the big day.  Poppy & Grandma visited for the second half of the day, presents were opened, a hibachi dinner was consumed, and we ended the day by digging into the biggest chocolate cupcake in the history of the Western world!

Eleven Heaven!

Hard to believe, but Cameron celebrates his eleventh year on the planet today!   We dined at his favorite restaurant, Bertucci's, tonight and then came home to a dessert of "brownie pie" from a bakery in Portland.  We also  presented him with the family present which was...you guessed it...more army gear!

However, Mother Nature may have provided the best gift of the day:  a snow day off from school!

Keenan Family Turkey-Day Photo Album!

 Hey, Jodi saved us!

Thanks to her forwarding some high-quality photo's from the Keenan Family Thansgiving this past weekend (in stark contrast to the three fuzzy shots I took with my BlackBerry) we now have a solid photo album to offer.

Please see the top of the left sidebar!

A Bookworm Road Trip!

Attention all bibliophiles and bookworms!  The search for the greatest bookstore in all the land (or at least New England) has ended! 

If you ever find yourself within 50 miles of Niantic, Connecticut be sure to stop by the Book Barn.  Let's just say this ain't no Barnes & Nobles!

My birthday isn't til Tuesday, but we decided to have a little family celebration over the weekend.  Despite Amy's eye-rolling and groaning, I informed her that I would like to take a little road trip to "The Barn" which I learned about from a client. 

This place carries nothing but used books, and they carry plenty...approximately 350,000 of them!  Besides the main barn building, there are several other smaller buildings that hold tons of books, including "The Last Page" and "The Haunted Book Shop" (mysteries only).  Plus, they have the "Downtown Book Barn" in downtown Niantic.

Outside, there are beautiful gardens and paths(complete with turtles and frogs), a dozen cats roaming around, a couple of goats, an extra-large chess set, a basketball hoop, and a good-sized kids' playing area. 

Inside the main building they have complimentary cookies, donuts, coffee, hot chocolate and Cheez-its to help keep your stamina up.  And the prices are quite reasonable since everything's used.

The place has a hippie-reading commune feel to it, and we all loved it.  We actually ended up staying there for a few hours and practically had to drag Owen into the car!

Shane's a Fantastic Four!

Yes, we're confirming all the rumors...Shane has been on the planet four full years already!  We celebrated this fact this past week with a big 'ol party for Shane and his preschool posse at the Wethersfield Nature Center (which is a fantastic place, by the way!). 

We kicked off the shindig with a tour through the animal center and the kids had a chance to meet and pet several animals, including a turtle, a tortoise (apparently there's a difference), a ball python, some birds, a ferret, a bearded lizard...even a skink.  It was like we were on an Animal Planet show!

After that the kids re-directed their energy toward beating up on a paper-mache dragon that was hanging from the ceiling.  After everybody sort of slapped, poked and prodded at it with our wooden sword, giving me the impression that it would take a few days before any candy came out, it was Shane's turn and he made it clear that he had two older brothers by going berzerk and mercilessly wacking at it (my knee-jerk reaction was to tackle him before he knocked a wall down) until it's candy-guts were spilled all over the floor!  I don't know who came up with it, but the pinata event is a little sick.

Anyway, we finished off the party with some delicious dinosaur cake.  Then Amy, our resident masochist, invited kids and parents to the house for lots of delicious rubin's, beer, and a chance to hang out and enjoy a pit fire at Camp Timberwolf, which is slowly becoming a local attraction.  This extended the 9:30am birthday party til after 6pm.  A long day, but a fun one!

Photo album's on the left!

Cam's Birthday Photo's

Well, we managed to survive our first mass-sleepover of little guys, and I've somehow maintained enough sanity to post an extensive photo album. 

Check out the top of the right sidebar!