Olivia Beach...beautiful early fall day

Our family is very excited to have a beach we can visit again and again. We love throwing the football or frisbee, and Kevin will venture into the water if it's even near eighty degrees out. At the bottom, Kieran drew "I heart Mom" in the sand and I'm sure there are lots of sandcastles in our future here. :-)

If you haven't seen our new website, check it out: www.oliviabeachcampcabins.com 

Beautiful Bat Mitzvah

Our niece had the most beautiful bat mitzvah, and we were so thrilled to celebrate her with the whole Cronin Clan! Such a beautiful family :-)

Jakey, Amanda, Audrey and Rob, Kevin's big brother!

Cronin Clan at the candle lighting ceremony for Amanda

Cronin's in Beth El Temple

Cronin and Mann cousins

After a delicious luncheon, before dancing...

Amanda's stylin' entrance...such a beautiful young lady, both inside and out!

Jakey and Amanda dancing (Makenna and I in background)

Amanda and her lovely mom, Audrey

Amanda and her Daddy, Rob

Such a gorgeous family and a stunning day together!

East Coast Cronin Trip

Several afternoons were spent at the Doylestown Country Club, Makenna loved the pool.

Kevin loved the pool too...too bad I didn't get any water  shots...

The carousel was a great intro to Dorney Park, Makenna loved picking out her horse!

The kids' favorite helicopter ride!

Kieran was the perfect age, big enough for the big rides, but not to big for the kiddie rides :-)

Aunt Kathy with some happy kids :-)

Celebrating 10 years together!

Celebrating our 10th wedding anniversary has been a bit anticlimactic. Both kids woke up sick, Kieran with a fever and Makenna with diarrhea. But it still feels great to have reached this milestone in our relationship. 

Despite the daily realities of life, we still are in love. Our values are still the same, and we have the same dreams. Most of all, we are working as a team to raise our children, support each other's careers, and plan future fun for our family (already making mental plans for Australia/New Zealand in 2014!) We each have our flaws, but we both know each other so intimately that there are few true surprises. We have high standards, and we know that requires teamwork and communication. Best of all, we take the time to share our affection with each other and our kids at every opportunity, although Kevin does sometime get jealous of all the "snuggie time" the kids crave from me. Yet, for all the presumed sacrifices, we both realize how good we have it and are in awe of how our life together is turning out...

Here a post to thank everyone who helped at our wedding, and everyone who has helped us keep our vows!

 Thanks for 10 plus wonder-filled years, Kevin, the best is yet to come...!

Ranson/Silva Wedding

Last weekend we went to the wedding of dear family friends, Sequioa and Ron, and their beautiful daughter Stella. It was a beautiful June evening, and our family got all dressed up for the occasion, especially Makenna.

My mom has found a beautiful "princess" dress second hand, and then worked her seamstress magic by dying the top, embroidering flowers, and sewing a big sash ribbon. Makenna loved it, all except the unusually muggy weather...she begged to take it off mid-way through the ceremony, and I discreetly unzipped it to give her some relief, then changed her into her purple jammies until we were through dinner and she was ready to dance...in her princess dress.

We all enjoyed seeing family friends, and the cutest part was when Makenna got her first crush on a childhood friend, Sequioa's brother Brian. She followed him around like a little puppy and wouldn't let him out of her sight...at one point she asked me where he gone and I pointed the way and started to walk with her, then she said "no need you mama!"...pushing out her stop-sign hand with an all-too-flirtatious look. It was quite ironic, because Brian had a crush on me while we were growing up together ;-)

I've know Sequioa's family as long as I can remember, and the Silva's are one of the nearest, dearest, and funnest families I've ever known. After we had lost touch a bit after high school/college, I was so happy when Sequioa moved to Portland (she actually moved into Miel's apartment in NW when Miel moved to DC). While our busy lives make it tough to see each as often as we did as kids, I always treasure our visits together. We are truly life long friends, and it's exciting to see our kids grow up together now.

We are so happy for the Ranson family, and look forward to many more memories together. Congrats on #2!

Ohbladi...Ohblada...Life Goes On....

This past year has been a surreal one for me.
Yet, on a family level, it feels like life mostly continues as normal. 


Even after I had an emergency surgery on Good Friday, we all sat down for our traditional pizza dinner, almost as though it was just another Friday. The Easter Bunny still came, and we sat in our front-and-center pew, although I was buzzed on pain meds. After a long nap, we made it to the neighborhood egg hunt, where I unapologetically drank several ales in the afternoon sunshine.


Now two weeks later, I'm back to spending my "day off" dropping kids off, volunteering in classroom, spending way too much at Costco, and soon heading to a YP gathering to see what Makenna has been learning about firefighters...then we'll have close friends over for a pizza dinner.


Yet, even though I'm feeling miraculously better, I'm still feeling emotionally tenuous. It's like tears are very close to the surface. It doesn't take more than a song or a thought to get them rolling again. I know it's partly hormonal (I had one ovary/tube removed after discovering an ectopic pregnancy), and I'm even still have my hCG levels checked to make sure they are waning. But the loss still feels very feel.


Thankfully, the kids keep me constantly preoccupied. I don't have the time to sit around feeling sorry for myself, nor would I want to really. They bring be joy in the most fundamental ways. Their mannerisms. Their smiles. Their eyes lighting up when I enter the room. Nothing can beat that feeling.


I'm also nearly the anniversary of my father's death, and I remember listening to the Beatles Ohbladi at last year's country fair. It felt like my personal theme song. My dreams of a "loving family and sustainable home" are coming true, but life is still a constant, and with that comes loss, grief, friendship, empowerment, and joy.


Since I don't think you can say it enough, thank you. Thank you for being part of my life, for being my friends and family, for loving me just the way I am. Life does go on...


Darcy Rose

Makenna Turns 3!!!

Makenna beamed on her birthday...

When I came to share cake (homemade by her and her preschool friends) her friends were having a brief conversation about what they wanted to be when they grow up, and she appropriately said she wants to be a princess...I told her she already was, and she beamed even brighter!

...tomorrow is Kieran's turn :-)

K & M party at PlaydatePDX

Kieran and Makenna celebrated their birth days this past Saturday (Makenna's 3rd was on the 25th, Kier's tomorrow, 31st). Given that they have winter birthdays, we needed to find a place to celebrate that would engage boys and girls between two and six. I also, selfishly, didn't want to trek to the burbs. Thankfully, such a place exists in town, Playdate PDX (last year we had a great party at Sound Roots).

We had been to Playdate PDX once for a playdate with Makenna's toddler class, and the kids all had a great time (fair warning...it is a hard place to leave though!) I'll give more of a review soon on my Sustainable Family Finances blog...

The kids really had a great time though...Kieran was a blur and a sweaty little man (he plays sooo hard!)...Makenna was in heaven with her four little girlfriends, and all enjoyed the controlled chaos of indoor play.

Christmas Eve 2011

It looks like we only thought to take photos on Christmas Eve, which was really nice. Kieran played King Melchior in the pageant and did a great job. Our Aunt Carol joined us from Eugene, along with our parents, and Aunt Miel and Uncle James. Hopefully Miel has some better photos from Christmas itself...