Another year in the life of Emily, Kevin & Brendan 2009
What a year it's been! Packed full of fun time, a lot of work, travel to amazing places and watching Brendan grow & grow & grow!
2009 started up in Lancashire (North West of England) visiting with Emily's mum, Kathryn, and nana, Kathleen and her 2 cheeky Chihuahua puppies. Brendan loved them – especially when they gave him kisses!
January also saw Brendan and Kevin go on their first adventure together without mummy. They went to Canada for 5 days to help Grandpa McGlynn celebrate his 60th birthday. Both Grandma and Grandpa were surprised to see their two British boys standing at their door step! During the trip, Brendan perfected his walking, so was strutting his stuff to over-joyed grandparents.
The rest of the winter went by in a bit of a blur of activity. During term time at Cambridge, Kevin kept busy with football (soccer) and ice hockey. The Emmanuel College football team successfully won their division and has been promoted to "top-flight" college football for the 2009-2010 season. The ice hockey team also had a successful year beating Oxford in the annual Varsity match (the oldest running rivalry in hockey history, and now recognized in the Hockey Hall of Fame in Toronto). At the end of the season, the team took part in a tournament in Linz, Austria. The tournament involved top quality men's teams from all over Europe and was great fun, yet quite challenging.
As the Spring drew near, we were all feeling the travel bug so we took off on an epic trip to Argentina, via Toronto (with a small side trip to Denver for Emily, who presented at a large child development conference). It was a wonderful trip to see Gurth, Muriel (Great-Grandpa & Great-Granny), Uncle Nicky and Aunty Sue in La Cumbre, Argentina. We spent 2 weeks exploring the countryside and playing in the vast grounds of Del Manantial (Granny & Grandpa's house in the hills). Brendan simply adored his time there and we were all very sad to leave when our trip was over. En route back to Toronto, we stopped in Buenos Aires for a few days. It is an incredible city – we’ll definitely be going back again.
Back in Canada we had lots of fun with family in London, Ontario (the McManus side of the family)... as well as Nana & Aunty Chloe in Barrie, Grandpa & Rocío in Toronto and Grandma, Grandpa and Aunty Tara in Mississauga, as well as all of our friends. The month of April most definitely made up for our long absence from everyone!
Once back in England, it took us a little while to get back into work after of fabulous time away. The end of the Lent term in Cambridge is famous for the May Ball season (even though the balls take place in June!). Emily and Kevin attended the gala event that was the Emmanuel May Ball. It was a night of decadence – drinking, dancing, eating, drinking, games, drinking, bumper cars – all night long! So much fun! Emily was definitely the "belle of the ball" in her stunning gown.
We tried to take advantage of the summer days as much as we could by visiting local parks, swimming at Emmanuel College, going to the zoo, or - our favourite - days away at the beach. Brendan's love of swimming definitely carries over to salt-water! Our biggest hassle is always trying to get him out of the water at the end of the day. We also went away for a few days to a quaint little cottage in the Yorkshire Dales for Kevin’s birthday. We visited much of the north, enjoyed lots of hiking (including along Hadrian's wall) and soaked up the ‘beautiful’ (i.e. rainy!!) British weather.
Summer fun is not without a few accidents. After a particularly lovely day in the back garden, Brendan slipped on the paving stones and fell into a patio chair, knocking out a front tooth! We rushed him to the A&E department, but the tooth couldn’t be saved. Despite the bump, Bren was fine, and we are just glad that his injuries weren’t worse. We’ll just have to get used to the ‘rough-and-tumble’ of having a little boy! The tooth fairy made an extremely early visit to our house! He’s still cute as ever... if not more-so, with his little gappy grin!
Before the Michaelmas term started in the autumn, Kevin took a quick weekend break to Berlin with some ice hockey teammates to take part in my first (hopefully of many) in-line skating marathon (a full length marathon completed on roller blades). It was an amazing experience rolling around the beautiful city and enjoying the experience with friends.
The very next weekend, the three of us went to France. We were house-sitting for Roger & Lindsay (Emily's god-mum). Kathryn came with us and we had a nice relaxing 5 days in the hills of Southern France. Their house really is heavenly, and we’re scheduled to visit there again in January 2010 for another French escape!
After 5 days in France, we then jumped on a train and a plane and ended up in Marbella visiting Eric and Aine. We had been dying to meet their little man Leo, and attended his naming ceremony. What a fantastic time away.
We spent the rest of the autumn in Cambridge, and filled our days with a hectic schedule of work and extra-curricular activities... both old and new. Kevin is now the captain of the ice hockey team, which has been engaging, fun and quite taxing at the same time. Emily, however, definitely takes the cake for most significant new activity (not including her first attempt at ice hockey in November!). Emily has joined the Emmanuel college boat club. She spent the Michaelmas term (autumn term) learning the ropes and developing into a star of the novice rowing boats. She helped lead her eight-woman boat to a top result at the end of term long distance race (called ‘Fairbairns’ against other Cambridge colleges. The woman's captain already has lofty goals in mind for Emily's rowing career. ;) Stay tuned...
The other big event of this autumn, was our beautiful little boy turning two. It's hard to believe he's officially a toddler and no longer a baby. His birthday was a wonderful day with lots of friends, family, toys and cake. We had a house full of little ones, and a running/jumping/screaming Brendan as a result. With so many toys and friends to play with, he had an extremely active day (which resulted in the longest sleep he's ever had).
After such a busy year (and no doubt a busy 2010!), we're planning on a quiet Christmas with just the three of us.
We hope this letter finds you and your loved ones happy and safe. For those that are going through difficult times, know that we think of you often and pray for your well-being. We wish we could see all of you more often... but just remember that you're always in our thoughts & prayers. Please have a happy and safe 2010 and we hope to see you very soon.
With lots of love,
Kevin, Emily & Brendan
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