Made'er through the MacNeil Family Reunion

Yep... we had a big family reunion this past weekend, and although the 200 people were a little intimidating for some, they weren't for Brenley!

Brenley's highlights include:

• 1st night... ripping down the drawers and peeing in the field... much to the dismay of some, perhaps, "classier" relatives from outside Cape Breton. These 2 other moms had a fit, and ran to get her.... didn't know what she was doing, and so on. HAHAHAHAHA My rural girl.

• At church the next morning, she had to pee. So, as we were walking along the side to get to the bathroom, she stumbled a couple of times and then said, "URGH! I must be drunk or something!" (as loud as you can imagine!)

• Saturday afternoon, she logged 1.5 hours out of 3 hours on the Dora the Explorer bouncy tent! (And cried when she had to get out.)

• At the dance Saturday night, she went up to the DJ by herself and requested Heave Away by the Fables. See video below!

• On Sunday at the beach ("big pool"), the waves were quite high -over our heads at some points- and she was loving being in them. She was on the look-out for the "big ones" and saw one coming and said, "Look out Mamaidh! Here comes a big one all the way from Florida!"

• And, I guess her whole experience can be summed up in what she said when she got in the car at the beach: "Oh, Mamaidh! I think I had too much fun a-day and last day!"

• Sad thing is, she'll be almost 8 years old at the next one! :(

What a weekend!

Well, this weekend, Miss Brenley outdid herself in her antics! I'll just jot them here:

• At Ma's when she was warned (loudly) by Ma that she was going to make a mess when she was pouring pop from one glass to another:
  "If you'd only stop hollaring at me I'll clean it up!!!!!!!!!" (Picture the hands outstretched and the 13 year old attitude to go with it!)

• "Ma, didn't you say you were leaving?" (so she could be bad!)

• Upon seeing her grandfather's friend, Earl... who's a BIG man... wearing suspenders:

"Him have his seatbelt on already and he's not in the car yet!"

• "Can you find a square, Mamaidh?" (while looking at her Aquadoodle) When I pointed to one... "Right on, Baby!"

• In church, she was drawing pictures (which are quite legible, I must add) and she drew one of a doggy. When I was telling her what a good job she did she grabbed the marker and made a big scribble by the dog's tail: "He's poopin'!"

An imaginary friend...

The spring brought about many changes to Miss Brenley... some good, some bad, given that she's now 2 and a half. (You better not forget the half part!)

She has been busy talking and singing the ears off of us. CONSTANTLY! When she's not talking or singing in the car, we're going through the iPod which has all her favourite songs on it:

• Heave Away -- The Fables


• Hey, there, Delilah -- Plain White Tees


• "The monkey on the back song" aka Anyone Else But You -- The Moldy Peaches (Now, can you figure out why she calls it that?!?! It took us about a week to get it right!)


• Can I Go Nowhere with You -- Joel Plaskett


• Mull River Shuffle -- the Rankin Family


• I've Been Everywhere Man -- Johnny Cash


• Ain't No Sunshine -- Matt Andersen

Pretty well rounded song choices for a 2 and a half year old, I think ♫

Also, while driving in the car, we hear a lot about her friend, Robert Slaney.

(Now... for those of you who don't know, the real Robert Slaney is a hockey player with the Cape Breton Screaming Eagles who Brenley adores. She loves him. Everything about hockey is about Robert Slaney.) But... she's brought this puck bunny thing to a whole new level in naming her imaginary friend "Robert Slaney".

As I mentioned, Robert Slaney -- the imaginary appears mainly in the car and is often doing things she thinks are bad -- "Robert Slaney doesn't have his socks on, Mamaidh!" "Robert Slaney isn't wearing his seatbelt!" and so on. So, we have to play along and get her to correct Robert Slaney... which she does quite eagerly!

I don't know if it's cute... or scary. Thankfully, Robert Slaney -- the hockey player in real life is a great guy and is super sweet to her!

Other than the imaginary friend, the other biggest milestone is the seeking of independence. I can't tell you how many times in the past few weeks we've heard "That's not fair, Mamaidh/Dadaidh! Oh, Man! That's not fair!" (How does someone at 2 and a half have a concept of fair and unfair?!?!?)

It's been fun. It's been trying on the nerves!