A Week in August

Mia has another fever. She has been sick more this year than all her other years combined. We have been doing a lot of trial and error with her diet and that may be putting her system out of whack. We are trying to keep this from coming back.

This is a bad case of geographic tongue. All the regular doctors (pediatrician and allergist) I have gone to just tell me it's a benign condition. Okay, but there are usually mood swing and behavior issues that show up right before her tongue goes crazy. And that tells me she is not feeling well. So we are now going to a naturopath who has her on an elimination diet and doesn't think I'm crazy for thinking something might be wrong.

So she is missing school again today! And we missed a field trip and music class yesterday. This is our fifth rest day since coming home from Jamaica. I'm going a little stir crazy!

One of the rest days was Monday because Anna had her adenoids out. She also got the wax removed from ears and now doesn't shout all the time anymore.:) Dan's new boss and his wife sent over some flowers. Anna grinned from ear to ear when I realized they were for her and not me! The flowers are arranged to make a little doggie face.

So last weekend we went on a our short little camping trip. Since I waited until two days before to find a close campground, we ended up in a less-than-natury camping site.

Here is our tent we purchased earlier in the summer. LOVE it. The poles are already attached. It takes less than two minutes to put up!

When I say less-than-natury, I'm talking about the house behind us...

...and the trailer storage next to us.

So glad the trailers were kept safe with the bright light shining on them ALL. NIGHT. LONG. I did not sleep at all. Mia woke up with leg cramps. Anna woke up just because. And did I mention that the highway was just a couple of sites away?

But the girls had a good experience. And got to spend some time with Sheri and Bob and their dogs.

Lesson learned: make a reservation earlier. Next year it's Rocky Mountain National Park. For a few days. But, truthfully, we were soooo glad we weren't staying another night at this campground.

School Days

Today was Mia's first day of Friday School!

She was supposed to go last week but she still wasn't feeling well. I was surprised at how nervous she was when we first got there. But when I picked her up she was hugging all her new friends goodbye. That's the Mia I know!

Becky, Arek and Maks have officially moved into their own place. We get to babysit Maks once a week now and the girls were super excited yesterday when he came over.

Anna taught him school.

Maks loves going outside. He doesn't consider the deck "outside". If he's on the deck he'll point down to the patio and say "outside."

We started homeschool earlier than I planned, on the 8th of July. I decided that a year round schedule would fit our lifestyle better. If we start in the summer we can take time off whenever we want without getting behind. So far we took off a week when Dar and Sean visited and two weeks for our Jamaica trip. We'll take another week when we go to California for Ben's first birthday. Even though these activities don't take up the whole week, we take a whole week off because it makes learning less choppy.

Tomorrow we're going camping! Just for one night...we're not sadists.

Simple Question

Is it bad to think that the best picture at a wedding does not even include the bride or groom?

Face to Face Colorado

Today we went to the Face to Face Colorado picnic! This organization is only a few years old, started by two young ladies with cleft lips/palates. They are so generous with their time to help our children belong to a community. I love that they include the entire family in everything!

The girls got to play games, shoot arrows and eat lunch.

They didn't get to go to the face painter or balloon man. Both had really long lines as we were already signed up to go to the library to see a police canine dog.

The library event was pretty disappointing. They talked for almost an hour before they brought the dog out for five minutes. It was okay for the older children, but they lost Anna's attention really quick. And Mia got more and more scared as they talked about all the ways the dogs attack the bad guys! We should have stayed at the picnic!

Scary Night

The girls are both sick. There is something going around. Lauren was sick in bed for two days and Matt was sick getting on the plane this morning. Anna had a scary case of croup last night. We took her to the nurse's office this morning and she called the doctor who gave her a prescription antihistamine to keep her airways open. It knocked her out this afternoon. If the croup comes back tonight we will have to turn on the shower and use the bathroom as a steam room. If it gets really bad we'll have to call the nurse and have her bring a nebulizer. Both girls get croup in the winter but this is the first time they have gotten it in the summer. Mia's nose is crazy stuffy so we gave her some of the antihistamine too. I don't want her waking up having trouble breathing tonight. I think the air conditioner is what is causing it. Glad we are going home tomorrow!

Other health issues with our wedding traveling group: bee stings (Joey and Brittany), hives (Cookie), allergic reaction to bug bites (Heather)!

Jamaican Vacation

We are enjoying our time here at the resort in Jamaica. We have only left it to go on a 30 minute glass bottom boat ride. The girls thought it was a great time!

We have been spending almost all of our time at the fabulous water park!

Anna found her own little pool today and was quite upset when some other kids wanted to play in it too!

Glitter crafts are always a hit!

Our other main activity has been eating! We have got to get that under control when we get home! Soon it will be good-bye Jamaica!

Jamaica!

We have been in Jamaica since Wednesday and will be going home soon.

This is why we came!

Yes, there is a new Mrs. Collins!

Last Tuesday we flew to Newark. The reason? We had to do that in order to use our frequent flyer miles. Wednesday morning we flew to Jamaica. The kids did great on both four hour flights.

They also did great on the two hour bus ride to the resort!

The wedding was held Friday. Here is the beautiful bride getting her hair done.

Because the cellist was late, we had some time to kill in the bar before the ceremony. Family photo opportunities came to mind!

Soon the ceremony began. Brittany's mom, Brigit, walked her up the aisle.

Her sister, Michaela, and cousin, Jackie, stood up for Brittany. Jackie is the one who introduced Joey and Brittany to each other four years ago.

Matt, Joey's cousin, and Gabe, his college roommate stood up for Joey. Matt and Joey are like brothers.

Avery was the flower girl. She promptly flung her flower basket overboard after it was empty! Just look at the mischievous look on the little munchkin!

The vows were amazing and very personal.

We celebrated with a reception outside including cocktails, dinner and dancing.

There was a a small intimate cake for a small intimate party.

Three weddings in two years! The older kids are now all hitched and happy and so are we!

It's True!

It's true! We are going to be grandparents again! Beth and Greg are expecting in February. We are so happy for them. They are going to make great parents! More to celebrate in Jamaica!

End of the Week

On Wednesday we had to say goodbye to Big Sis.:( The weather was rainy all day so we spent some time with her at the indoor mall playground.

It was so nice to be able to say to her, "See you soon in Jamaica!"

The next day we were supposed to have an outdoor water obstacle course co-op at our house. But the weather was terrible again! I hope that doesn't mean Fall is coming early! I canceled the co-op and took the kids to Monkey Business.

Hmmm, Mia's painting looks familiar.

Today Michelle, Stel and Lorelei were supposed to come over for a barbecue. But Lorelei has mono! I'm so glad we haven't seen them in about a month and won't have to worry about catching it. Since the kids were disappointed we decided to take them to The Perfect Landing for lunch.

The Perfect Landing is a restaurant at a small airport. There is an amazing view of the runway where kids can watch the planes take off and land. The weather has been cloudy all week, but today it was clear and beautiful. We had a great view from our table.

All the kids loved it, but I think Max was the most enthralled.

After lunch all three of the kids fell asleep at quiet time. That happens...um...never! So we decided that instead of baths and bed right after dinner we would go swimming!

It was a little chilly when we got out of the water but so fun!