Scattered Pictures

Here are some random pictures I've taken over the last few weeks.

 

Just about everything in our yard is dead, but 
there's one rose bush (that I planted) that is thriving somehow.
 It's covered in pretty pink roses.



I find Gracie stretched out near Zac more and more.
I'm so happy to be moving a little bit out of puppy stage.



Our last afternoon at the pool.



We had thunderstorms the other day.  I have never seen clouds like this. 
They are called mammatus clouds.  It was like being under a giant bag of cottonballs.

Our indoor pool closed...but yea, they made the repair quickly and it's reopened. 
The water was so perfect last weekend.  We went twice on Saturday.

Williamsburg - Spring 2011

We had a great trip to Williamsburg last weekend.  We drove down on Thursday night, froze for 4 hours on Friday at Busch Garden, and then spent the rest of the weekend at Wolf Lodge.  We got into Busch Gardens for free with their Salute to the Heroes program so we didn't mind leaving before the day was out.  The kids all got to ride roller coasters so they were happy.  At Wolf Lodge, we stayed in a "Kid's Cabin" room which made me very happy.  The kids had their own room with a twin bed, bunk beds and a TV.  Dan and I had our own area with a fire place.  I loved it. 

I'm skipping the little details and opting for a bunch of pictures instead.  As soon as the for sale sign goes up, I'll have time to blog again, but there's too much work to do now.

It was sooo cold.

Allie danced the polka in the beer garden in Germany.

Let It Snow, Let It Snow, Let It Snow

We had a little winter storm Tuesday night and Wednesday. 

The kids and I took a walk this morning with our cameras to see what we could see.



After our walk, I dug our van out and we headed to Chick-fil-a (which was closed) and then Walmart.  We had lunch at Subway and then the kids spent their gift cards on new toys to occupy them.  School's been out since Friday and we are all going crazy.

Too Much Excitement

I'm not quite sure where to begin. I guess the beginning? Last night about nine Allie started coughing blood. It probably only lasted for about five minutes, but it was a lot of blood to me. Honestly, I was scared half to death and my calm voice of reason, Dan, had duty so he was at work. I immediately called 911, then called a friend to stay with the other two. I had to go through a couple of phone numbers before I finally got the right duty line for Dan. Allie and I rode by ambulance to the nearest ER where Dan met us. From there we were transferred by another ambulance to John Hopkins in Baltimore. Dan followed in his car behind us and I guess I shouldn't leave out the snow, nasty roads and freezing rain. It was not a good night to be out driving.

We stayed in the ER until about three when they finally admitted Allie for observation. She never bled again thankfully. This morning the ENT resident said her throat looks good. He didn't see the clot the doctor had seen the night before when she scared us with the worst case scenario of going back into surgery. We are now waiting on the attending doctor to come take a look. The nurse said if everything looks good, they'll discharge us around dinner time.
Sent from my iPhone

Just What They Meant to Do

Normally when my parents come to visit, we do things.  There's always a breakfast at Ikea.  We spend days shopping and playing.  I normally have a camera filled with proof of the fun times we had.  This time, not so much.  My parents came up here to help us after Allie's surgery and that's exactly what they did.  My mom spent time everyday rocking with Allie.  When she wasn't rocking, she was helping fold laundry, fix food and do dishes. 

Okay, we might have spent a few hours shopping for get well presents : )



We also spent a lot of time learning to play a new game (which needs it's own blog post later so stay tuned.)

We took Baba and Grandpa back to the airport today.  I'm so thankful they were here to help.  I had trouble getting going most mornings after getting up several times in the night to check on Allie and give her medicine.  I'm not quite sure how I did those every two hour feedings when Caden was a newborn.  Of course, I was 6 years younger.

Anyway, Allie is on the mend.  She definitely feels better as she's more active, but her throat is still hurting.  She's unhappy because she's hit the "I'm hungry" point, but her throat hurts too bad to swallow anything more than soup and macaroni and cheese.

More Cousin Fun

We have had the best time playing with Nick and Jared.  The kids have been "fort building" for days.  It started with a million blankets, but quickly expanded to air mattresses and chairs for support.  They seperated their fort into rooms so everyone had their own space.  Caden had to complain a bit because since "he's the smallest," Jaelyn and Nick kept making him have the smallest room.  Jared must have gotten a monster sized room.  At almost 13, Jared likes to be a teenager, but he forgets sometimes and play right along with the little kids.

Tuesday, we all had lunch at Panera together.  Well, the kids and my parents loved Panera.  Dan and I walked down to Moe's.  My Moo Moo Mr. Cow was WONDERFUL.  I'm settling for Chipotle in Abingdon, but Moe's has my heart forever.  We snagged a geocache outside the mall while we were there.

After lunch, Dan and I took all 5 kids to the T.T. Wentworth Museum.

Caden got a camera for Christmas and he has loved taking pictures.  He's figured out all the modes and the flash.  It even has a flip out screen so he can do self videos.  I did catch him taking a picture of pee hitting the toilet and he got a little misty eyed when I told him the camera may not enter the bathroom again :p.

Allie loved the pretty old dresses.  Last time, they had an old bathing suite display.  This time, they had Pensacola wedding dresses from the early 1900s to about the 1950s.

The best part of the museum is the top floor.  They have a old timey village built complete with a pirate ship, a frontier fort, a general store and an Indian settlement.  We spent at least an hour letting the kids play.

I got in trouble last time for throwing a rat and hitting Caden in the head.  Sorry Caden.  I promise no rats were thrown during our playtime this time. 

 Jared, being almost 13 as I mentioned before, hung out with me while there was other adults around, but as soon as the play area emptied out, he jumped right into the fun.

Nick and Jared are going home to Biloxi today so it's going to get rather boring around here.