Ahhh...Tea!

Anyone who knows me, knows how much I enjoy tea.  Tea is not simply a beverage...it is a way of life...it is a warm cup of delicious, soul-soothing comfort.  Tea is bliss!  And so, you must imagine my disappointment of never finding a man who shares this joy of tea...not even my as-close-to-perfect-as-anyone-can-be husband shares my love for tea.  He respects it and gladly makes me a cup, but does not partake.  And so, having never met a man who shares my affinity for the tea leaf...I have decided to create one.

Here is Brody's first experience with green tea...and hopefully the beginning of a beautiful mother-son ritual of morning tea and stimulating conversation!

The first sip...you never can tell with this picky eater!

It looks promising as he goes for another sip...

It's good!  He likes it...and I have realized there is nothing else I would rather do in the world than have a cup of tea with my boy!

And now he is mastering the art of bobbing the tea to encourage steeping.

Now we're engaged in highly intellectual conversation - a mother's dream!

He's so excited about the tea that he can't even contain himself - now I know he is my child because I have the same feelings with every cup I drink!

But alas...all good things must come to an end.  It's time to head to school!

Here Comes Peter Cottontail...

Here are some pictures of Easter at the McCarthy house!

Looking for his Easter basket...not in "Uncle Pat's" closet.

Not in Brody's closet...

Not under our Brody's bed...

Not under our bed...

FINALLY!

Checking out the goodies

On to the egg hunt!

The Easter Bunny brought lots of little dinosaurs.  Of course we had to immediately match them up!

The dinosaur village!

We spent the rest of the morning...and most of the afternoon playing in the one remaining dirt pile in the yard!

Ladies and Gentleman...

...boys and girls I present to you...Miss Annabelle!  Yes, that's right.  Our beautiful, talented niece, Annabelle, was the lead in her first grade musical called Rumpus in the Rainforest.  It was the most entertaining and well done chidlren's musical I have ever seen!

Little Monkey

Just some pictures of Brody in his new monkey hat.  Apparently it was a Christmas gift from his Auntie Laura that got lost in the hustle and bustle of the holidays...so thankfully we had some cold days in March and April for him to wear it!  He wanted me to capture - in photos - his many monkey moments.  Here they are...

Happy Monkey

Happy Monkey full body shot

Cutest Monkey in the world!

Far Away Monkey

Running Monkey

And finally...Tired Monkey Wearing Monkey Mittens!

Brody & The Fishies

Since Brody could walk I've wanted to take him to the New England Aquarium.  I remembered the enormous tank in the middle of the room and spending what seemed like hours walking up the ramp that spiraled around it.  I remembered seemingly hundreds of exhibits and being able to pick up starfish and crabs.  I could have spent days there...well I think the place shrunk.  Brody was amazed with all the fish and the penguins and sharks and rays, but after an hour and a half Ryan and I looked at each other and said, "Didn't there used to be more to this place?"  Apparently not.  We still had a great time, but we were shocked by how small it seemed now that we're adults.  Here are a few pictures of our trip...mostly shots that Brody asked me to take of the purple starfish and the blue lobster!

Brody taking in the penguins!

Checking out the tank...

Daddy and Brody at the big tank.

Waiting for the SHARK!

Brody leading the way...as usual!

Crabs...

Brody's blue lobster!

And the purple starfish!

Happy Bro!

Happy family!

more tanks...

And we finally found Marlin and Dori!...this was after much debate on whether it was Marlin or Nemo - Brody finally decided it was Nemo's daddy!