In the middle of the night crawlers

Greetings to my blog-loving, summer-soaking, requesting-me-to-write-more-often readers out there!

Life's been good this last month. With both the Conrad family reunion and the Corrigan family reunion celebrated in July, I'm still feeling a bit like a kid and Christmas - minus the sub-zero temps, prettily-wrapped packages and incessant caroling, of course). We graced the Conrad family reunion in style: with roughly 18 adults, 5 dogs, 4 bedrooms, 3 bathrooms, a gross amount of mosquitoes (and a partridge in a pear tree), I found my baby-self to be the center of rapt attention. Glory! Ten days later, we met the Corrigan clan in northern Minnesota for an equal amount of family fun. As the 9th of 12 (soon to be 14!) grandkids under the age of five, I'm humbled to tell you that this reunion found me not-so-much the center of attention ... rather, simply a part of the kid chaos. The good news: My cousins rule.

Aside from the stupid life jacket (pictured), everything about this July family time leaves my head spinning in giddy happiness.

In other news, Mom's 11 weeks away from baby #2, and her middle-of-the-night feedings have begun. I guarantee you that she's been up since 4:00 this morning: nibbling on some crackers and tapping along with the baby kicks. She probably tried for a solid hour to go back to sleep before finally acquiescing to the soft glow of the blog-o-sphere.

I finally figured out this business of crawling. Who knew the size of my world could expand so quickly? I keep Dad on his toes now: lapping the living room in 30 seconds flat. (First the fireplace poker, then the big tall plant in the corner, and wrapping it up with a bee-line to the bathroom toilet. My time's improving...)

Life is good, my friends. Keep reading, and post a comment or two if you'd like. It's always great to hear from you! I'll keep the updates coming. Until then, be well and remember to wear your life jacket.

Ken