Looking back on the summer, I can't believe how fast time goes when your not looking. In May Emily started her therapy and is doing quite well. We were going three days a week, but this therapy is very difficult for Emily. So since the beginning of July we have gone to twice a week. We will continue the therapy till October then have a barrium swallow test done to see if the therapy is working.
Nick spent a week at ASU, at game camp, designing video games and graphics. He had a great time and loved it. Since coming home from camp, he has spent all of his free time on the computer putting his new knowledge to work.
Michael has hung out with his friends, played hours and hours of xbox and enjoyed doing nothing for the most part. In August he will get his driving permit so he has been studying for his test and learning his new marching band music for the fall.
We spent two weeks in Florida, we had a great time seeing family from Indiana, who came to Florida to see us. We had lots of beach time and lots of quiet time relaxing. While we were in Florida, there was lots of debating on our quite time and relaxing. My children and I saw the time to relax and unwind from the long year, busy schedules. Others saw it as being lazy, unproductive and just plain old weird. I guess some people don't remember how busy school schedules are with three kids and three different schools.
School starts in a week and a half and the kids are looking forward to it. This is Nicks last year at the middle school. He has made the wind ensemble band at school and is looking forward to all of the field trips that comes with this band. He has been practicing alot and is hoping to make drumline at the high school next year. Michael has started band camp this week and is enjoying it. This years band is smaller than last but the kids all seem to get a long and all seem to have the same passion for music. I can't wait to see their show at half time football games.
Emily finished up her baton twirling at state finals in May. She took three first places in her age group and won model of the year in 0-9 age group. She was happy to take the summer off, but now is looking forward to September to start practicing again. This year she hopes to master 2 batons and her twirl presentation. If she can do this by Feb., then we will have added two additional events she can compete in.
Don and I are doing well, in Aug, this will be our 16th wedding anniversary. Time flies when your having fun... No news on when he will leave again for Oregon, but his trip will not happen in 2010, maybe in the spring next year. Only time will tell.
Wednesday, July 28, 2010
Friday, April 23, 2010
Long over due updated.
Things here have been just as crazy as they can get. Emily had her surgery in March and is doing well. She has been on the liquid thickener since Feb and has had no pneumonia. The biopsy showed us that she has no bacteria or fungus in her lungs ,but she has a high lipid index which means she is aspirating more than original thought. Her therapy we are still waiting on, it could be anytime within the next year or so. We have contacted a therapist outside of the children's hospital, so we are waiting to hear from them.
Emily is still doing baton and loves it. We go to 1 competition a month and practice every week. She has started working on two batons now and is hoping to have them mastered by September for football season. We just celebrated her 7th birthday and she has started taking tennis lessons. We will see how long that lasts.
Michael and Nick we don't see much of them. They are either at school, with their friends or up in their rooms playing xbox. Life of a teenager, I guess. Both boys received straight A's on report cards for the 3rd quarter. Yeah for them. Nick will be taking a summer class at Arizona State this summer in graphic design. He is very excited
We have not heard when Don is leaving for Oregon, right now it is looking Fall. We are all looking forward to summer. 5 weeks of school left and the kids are counting down the weeks. . We will also be heading to Florida sometime this summer to meet my new niece Emree, and visit with family and don't forget the most important beach time.
Emily is still doing baton and loves it. We go to 1 competition a month and practice every week. She has started working on two batons now and is hoping to have them mastered by September for football season. We just celebrated her 7th birthday and she has started taking tennis lessons. We will see how long that lasts.
Michael and Nick we don't see much of them. They are either at school, with their friends or up in their rooms playing xbox. Life of a teenager, I guess. Both boys received straight A's on report cards for the 3rd quarter. Yeah for them. Nick will be taking a summer class at Arizona State this summer in graphic design. He is very excited
We have not heard when Don is leaving for Oregon, right now it is looking Fall. We are all looking forward to summer. 5 weeks of school left and the kids are counting down the weeks. . We will also be heading to Florida sometime this summer to meet my new niece Emree, and visit with family and don't forget the most important beach time.
Thursday, February 11, 2010
Updates on Emily's tests
Let me first start by apologizing that this post will be long. Let me back up a few months and catch everyone up. Emily got pneumonia on Thanksgiving, in December, and January. We took her to Children's Hospital to see her pulmonologist Dr W. He didn't like the fact that she had been on the steroids that often, she looked like crap, with dark circles under her eyes and dark fingernails. So he ordered a bunch of tests for the next few weeks.
The first test was a barium swallow test at the cildrens hospital. We went last Friday. The test showed that Emily has Dysphagia. It is a swallowing disorder. Out of 12 swallows Emily penetrated into her lungs 6 times, with 1 aspiration. What that means is when she swallows juice, milk or water the liquid will enter her lungs and come right back out, but every now and then she will suck it into her lungs, causing pneumonia if enough liquid is swallowed. To fix this Emily has been put on Hydra Aid, a beverage thickener for all of her liquids. This gel ( it looks like hair gel) comes in a packet that looks like ketchup packets. It has no taste or smell, just makes her drinks look like watered down honey. It is really gross, but Emily has been a great sport and doesn't seem to bother her. Childrens hospital also wants to start doing therapy on her throat mussels that she is not using properly. The therapy is called Vital Stimulation. The will put pads on her mussels in her neck and then send electric waves to the mussel to stimulate it. This will be done for 7 weeks 5 days a week at childrens hospital. Thank goodness there was a 6 month wait for the therapy, childrens hospital is 38 miles from my house and trying to work around the kids school schedule is almost impossible.
On Feb 22. she will be seeing a GI doctor. They are worried that she may have some reflux that is causing damage to her voice box and throat, which may be causing the Dysphagia. After we go on the 22nd Dr W. and the GI doctor will schedule a lung biopsy and the Gi doctor while she is out for the biopsy he will go into her stomach and look around. The reason for her lung biopsy is that when xrays are taken of Emily they all look alike, healthy or sick. She has a spot on her lower left lung that is dark. We are hoping that it is fluid that can be removed during the surgery, however if it is scar tissue or damage due to the liquid in her lungs, she will have to be put on a oxygen supplement. I will update on the 22nd what the GI recommends.
Other news in our home, Michael had his 15th birthday. Emily and Nick moved bedrooms. Emily is so happy to be upstairs, she has slept every night for 2 weeks in her own bed. This is a big deal in our house, Emily has slept in my room every night for 2 years. It was starting to get old. Nick is in love to be downstairs aways from all of us. Nick's birthday is coming up at the end of the month, he will be 13. When did I get so old that I now have 2 teenagers in my house. Yikes.
We still have no dates as to when Don will be going back to Oregon. It is looking like anytime between April-July. Hopefully sooner than later. I would love to have him home for beginning of the new school year and football season. Only time will tell what will happen with his trip.
The first test was a barium swallow test at the cildrens hospital. We went last Friday. The test showed that Emily has Dysphagia. It is a swallowing disorder. Out of 12 swallows Emily penetrated into her lungs 6 times, with 1 aspiration. What that means is when she swallows juice, milk or water the liquid will enter her lungs and come right back out, but every now and then she will suck it into her lungs, causing pneumonia if enough liquid is swallowed. To fix this Emily has been put on Hydra Aid, a beverage thickener for all of her liquids. This gel ( it looks like hair gel) comes in a packet that looks like ketchup packets. It has no taste or smell, just makes her drinks look like watered down honey. It is really gross, but Emily has been a great sport and doesn't seem to bother her. Childrens hospital also wants to start doing therapy on her throat mussels that she is not using properly. The therapy is called Vital Stimulation. The will put pads on her mussels in her neck and then send electric waves to the mussel to stimulate it. This will be done for 7 weeks 5 days a week at childrens hospital. Thank goodness there was a 6 month wait for the therapy, childrens hospital is 38 miles from my house and trying to work around the kids school schedule is almost impossible.
On Feb 22. she will be seeing a GI doctor. They are worried that she may have some reflux that is causing damage to her voice box and throat, which may be causing the Dysphagia. After we go on the 22nd Dr W. and the GI doctor will schedule a lung biopsy and the Gi doctor while she is out for the biopsy he will go into her stomach and look around. The reason for her lung biopsy is that when xrays are taken of Emily they all look alike, healthy or sick. She has a spot on her lower left lung that is dark. We are hoping that it is fluid that can be removed during the surgery, however if it is scar tissue or damage due to the liquid in her lungs, she will have to be put on a oxygen supplement. I will update on the 22nd what the GI recommends.
Other news in our home, Michael had his 15th birthday. Emily and Nick moved bedrooms. Emily is so happy to be upstairs, she has slept every night for 2 weeks in her own bed. This is a big deal in our house, Emily has slept in my room every night for 2 years. It was starting to get old. Nick is in love to be downstairs aways from all of us. Nick's birthday is coming up at the end of the month, he will be 13. When did I get so old that I now have 2 teenagers in my house. Yikes.
We still have no dates as to when Don will be going back to Oregon. It is looking like anytime between April-July. Hopefully sooner than later. I would love to have him home for beginning of the new school year and football season. Only time will tell what will happen with his trip.
Tuesday, January 12, 2010
Happy New Year!!!
Wishing all my friends and family a Happy New Year. I hope you all had a great holiday season and are well. We enjoyed our quiet holiday at home, missing our Florida family. I think this was the first time I enjoyed the kids being home and was not looking forward to school starting. Everyone got a long and there was very little fighting, which makes everything more enjoyable. Don took a week off and we had a great time playing Rock Band and Guitar Hero games that Nick received for Christmas. Michael enjoyed his xbox games and his new online account, so we didn't see much of him the week after Christmas.
School has started back and both the boys received honor roll. Emily did really well on her report card too. We are getting ready for Michael's solo ensemble band contest at the end of the month. Nick as started this semester drama class at school, and his getting ready for a school play in march. Emily has three baton competitions in the next two months. We have decided not to take Emily to baton regionals in Long Beach Cali, this year. She has been fighting a lung infection since Thanksgiving and we want to keep her close to home. Regionals is 4 days of very long hours and hard work and it might be to much for her this year. There is always next year.
The biggest news we have is that Don will be once again going to Oregon. Not sure of when, but like last time it will be 4-6 months of him being gone. Rumors have him leaving sometime in April, but one thing I have learned over the last 15 years with Intel, things can change in an instant. He could come home tonight and tell me he is leaving in the morning ( hopefully not). This can be quite frustrating but I am thankful that he has a great job and they have been so good to us over the years.
School has started back and both the boys received honor roll. Emily did really well on her report card too. We are getting ready for Michael's solo ensemble band contest at the end of the month. Nick as started this semester drama class at school, and his getting ready for a school play in march. Emily has three baton competitions in the next two months. We have decided not to take Emily to baton regionals in Long Beach Cali, this year. She has been fighting a lung infection since Thanksgiving and we want to keep her close to home. Regionals is 4 days of very long hours and hard work and it might be to much for her this year. There is always next year.
The biggest news we have is that Don will be once again going to Oregon. Not sure of when, but like last time it will be 4-6 months of him being gone. Rumors have him leaving sometime in April, but one thing I have learned over the last 15 years with Intel, things can change in an instant. He could come home tonight and tell me he is leaving in the morning ( hopefully not). This can be quite frustrating but I am thankful that he has a great job and they have been so good to us over the years.
Monday, December 14, 2009
No more pictures
A few months ago I added a counter to my blog. I know of four family members who look at it at that's it, however my hits were increasing more than they should of. So with this counter I can look at who is looking at this blog.
Lately I have had some overseas visits and they have been downloading some of my pictures. So as of today I will not be posting any more pictures of my family. All pictures will be up on facebook for family to look at. And all pictures of the kids have been removed.
On a lighter note....
yesterday was Emily's first baton competition. She competed in 4 events. Two marching and two solo's She received two first place medals and one trophy for first place. The fourth event results were to be announced at 5pm. We had been there since 9am, and Emily was ready to leave about 1pm, so we left and her coach will let us know of the results next Sunday at practice.
Michael's band season is finally over, (Yeah) his football team made it to the playoff games, and was one game away from the final when we lost. :( It was heartbreaking for everyone. This week is finals for Michael at school and he will be home for holiday break starting on Friday. We are staying home this year and with all that is going on I am quite relieved.
Nick is doing well in school and just had his Christmas concert at school. He is getting really good at his drums, and is looking forward to playing in high school with the marching band. As a fund raiser at the football games, the drum line lets members of the crowd to come down to the track and play with the drum line. Nick as done this twice and is in love.
Don and I are doing well, trying to get into the swing of things, since he has come home. Its been hard giving up some of the chores and responsibility that I have been doing the last 6 months while he has been away. Can we say control freak haha.... (but this is something we have all know for a very long time.)
Lately I have had some overseas visits and they have been downloading some of my pictures. So as of today I will not be posting any more pictures of my family. All pictures will be up on facebook for family to look at. And all pictures of the kids have been removed.
On a lighter note....
yesterday was Emily's first baton competition. She competed in 4 events. Two marching and two solo's She received two first place medals and one trophy for first place. The fourth event results were to be announced at 5pm. We had been there since 9am, and Emily was ready to leave about 1pm, so we left and her coach will let us know of the results next Sunday at practice.
Michael's band season is finally over, (Yeah) his football team made it to the playoff games, and was one game away from the final when we lost. :( It was heartbreaking for everyone. This week is finals for Michael at school and he will be home for holiday break starting on Friday. We are staying home this year and with all that is going on I am quite relieved.
Nick is doing well in school and just had his Christmas concert at school. He is getting really good at his drums, and is looking forward to playing in high school with the marching band. As a fund raiser at the football games, the drum line lets members of the crowd to come down to the track and play with the drum line. Nick as done this twice and is in love.
Don and I are doing well, trying to get into the swing of things, since he has come home. Its been hard giving up some of the chores and responsibility that I have been doing the last 6 months while he has been away. Can we say control freak haha.... (but this is something we have all know for a very long time.)
Monday, November 9, 2009
Last 3 months
Well I can't believe its been so long since I posted anything. We have been super busy the last few months. When we got home from Oregon, Michael started band camp for two weeks. He said it was the hardest thing he has ever done, but loves it. We have been spending two nights a week at practice, Friday nights at football games, and Saturday practice for 4 hours every week. Our high school football team just ended their regular season with a record of 10-0 and we are headed to the playoffs. Nick has been busy with school and designing his own video games. The are alot like the old super Mario games but for a 12 year old they are fantastic. Emily has a new passion in her life. Baton Twirling!!!. She has been going to band practice with Michael and I every week. Michael's marching band has a baton twirler and Emily is in love with her. Emily follows this poor girl around everywhere. So about 5 weeks ago we started driving Emily up to Bell/Tatum for practice once a week. Emily is a natural. Her baton coach is entering her in her first competition in December. We are all very nervous for Emily, but she will do wonderful.
We have made a really hard decision to stay in Arizona this year for Christmas. We were planning a trip to Florida, however due to State Football schedules, airline prices, and that all of our Christmas gifts would have to be left in Arizona we decided to stay home. We are still planning our trip to Florida in June.
Wednesday, August 12, 2009
Tuesday, July 21, 2009
Good to be home!
We arrived home on Saturday , and boy is it good to be home. To sleep in your own bed, cook in my kitchen. Its all wonderful. Don has returned back to Oregon for the next 6 weeks. So the kids and I are trying to get back into the swing of things here. Michael starts band camp on Monday, so we are busy getting sports physicals, and papers in line to register him for that.
Emily is so excited to be home, she is sleeping downstairs in her room. For Emily this is big. She hates to sleep in her room. She does not like to be downstairs, while the rest of us are upstairs. Hopefully this will last and she wont come up stairs at night and sleep on the floor, like the last two years.
Nick has been enjoying his video games, and wii games. Its all he wants to do. He is not looking forward to school. But hopefully he will change his mind over the next three weeks. Because ready or not.... Yippee!!! school starts in three weeks. Can you guess that mom is excited???
Emily is so excited to be home, she is sleeping downstairs in her room. For Emily this is big. She hates to sleep in her room. She does not like to be downstairs, while the rest of us are upstairs. Hopefully this will last and she wont come up stairs at night and sleep on the floor, like the last two years.
Nick has been enjoying his video games, and wii games. Its all he wants to do. He is not looking forward to school. But hopefully he will change his mind over the next three weeks. Because ready or not.... Yippee!!! school starts in three weeks. Can you guess that mom is excited???
Friday, July 17, 2009
Going Home!!!
Well our summer trip has finally come to an end. We are leaving in the morning for Arizona. I couldn't be happier. We have done some amazing trips this summer. It has been a long 6 weeks in Oregon. We saw Mount St. Helen's, The Colombia river gorge and waterfalls, Tillamook cheese factory and Beach. We went to the Oregon Science Museum and Zoo. I will miss Don who has to stay in Oregon until Sept 1st, but with school starting in a few weeks, the time will fly by.
Arizona here we come!!!
Arizona here we come!!!
Wednesday, June 24, 2009
Twilight
It has been a long three weeks since Maui. We are in Oregon visiting Don for the summer. Our apartment is tiny, two bedroom/two bath. One TV, but it is nice. The weather has been in the high 60's but the humidity is about 200%, so we are all hot. Trying to come up with things to do with the kids is getting rough. We have been to the zoo twice, the science museum and the movies.
Fathers Day, we slept in. Sleeping-in in Oregon is really easy. The sun sets at about 10pm so we all have been going to bed at midnight or later. Even Nick sleeps in till about 9am. The other two kids sleep in later, 10-11am. It has been really nice. After lunch we decided to drive around to all the twilight locations. We got the list of addresses from a friend of Don's who daughter came up here to stay with Don while she tried out to be an extra in the new movie. She didn't get the part but gave us the list of sites. Don and I had a great time driving all over Oregon and Washington looking for the sites. The kids were a little bored. We spent 5 1/2 hours in the car and drove 218 miles round trip.
Forks High School
La Push Beach
Charlie & Bella Swan's Home
We saw five locations, and plan on this weekend seeing another two, The water fall at the end of the movie and the baseball field. Some of my friends say that I need professional help and other agree with me that this was the coolest road trip ever. I guess it depends on if you have ever read the books or not.
Sunday, June 7, 2009
Saturday, June 6, 2009
Maui Holiday Day 6 and 7
Day 6
We decided not to head to the beach first thing in the morning, but to sleep in and relax. But when I woke up about 10am Don and nick and Emily were at the beach. Michael was still asleep on the couch.I headed out to the beach leaving Michael sleeping off and on watching tv. When I got to the beach Emily was in the water with Nick. She was up to her waist and jumping over all of the waves. YA HOO...
Don and I even got Emily on the boogie board riding the waves. She rode about 4-5 waves before a big wave knocked her off and that was the end of the boogie board. She stuck with just playing in the water. At least she didn't stop getting in.
About noon we left and decided to head out to Twin Falls and Jaws beach. From what the locals had to say about Jaws, in the winter the waves can be 60 feet tall. Its where all the big surf contest are. We found the twin falls and walked to the smaller of the falls. There was a group of kids cliff jumping into the pool below the falls. The boys did not want to do this, Thank goodness.
Day 7 Our final day in Maui.
Emily had been quite upset that when we went to the blowhole nothing was happening. So we decided that we would head back up the road to see what was going on. The waves at our beach were much larger than they had been, so we figured if they were big here, they might be big on the other side of the island. And boy were we right. We found the correct pull off for the blowhole this time and walked down to it. The water was shooting out of it about 20 feet up in the air. It was amazing. We spent about an hour playing in the water, watching it.
After we left the blowhole we headed back in to Lahaina for dinner at Bubba Gumps. We had a great time sitting outside watching the sun set eating great food. After dinner we headed home to pack up and get ready to check out in the morning. Our flight was to leave at 11am. However, when we got back to the timeshare, Nick was sad that we didn't get any beach time in today, so we headed back to the beach and let all three kids play in the water till way after dark. In the morning we finished packing and returned the lawn chairs and boogie board we had rented and headed to the airport. We had a wonderful time in Maui and can not wait to go back again soon. We have taken many family vacations and we all agree that this holiday was the best we have ever had.
Maui Holiday Day 3, 4, 5
Day three in Maui started really early, about 5 am. We had to check out of our hotel, because our time share was ready to be check in to. However we could not check in till 3pm. We packed up everything, checked out of the hotel and headed to the harbor to catch our snorkel ferry. We had to check in at the harbor at 630, and the boat left at 7. We spent the day snorkeling with "Dorie" fish, as Emily called them ( from the movie Nemo) and sea turtles. We had lunch on the boat and returned to shore about 1pm.Emily who is still afraid of the water did great. She laid on top of a boogie board and floated around Don and I and only used goggles. She did not like the mask because it "Crushed her nose". All I can say is Drama Queen...
After we finished at the harbor we drove to our time share, which was a block away from the hotel and unpacked and settled in. Our timeshare was an older place in major need of a makeover. But Don kept telling me to get over it, we were in Maui and just be happy. After we settled in a bit, we headed to the beach, across the street and stayed until sunset. We had dinner at a fancy steak and seafood restaurant that was recommended to us, by someone at the hotel front desk. Nick ate is first sushi and liked it. Michael of course turned his nose up at it.
We were in bed exhausted by 845pm.
DAY 4
We slept in and went to the beach around 9am and stayed until 11am. Went back to the hotel and got cleaned up. After talking to my dad on the phone, we decided to head up to the 7 sacred pools. It was about a 3 hour drive on a bad road. Emily ended up getting car sick on the way up. The road was one lane and very curvy on the side of a cliff. When we got to the pools, the ranger suggested that we not swim. So we walked the 3/4 mile down to the pools and with the little rain fall this spring the 7 pools were now only 2. We saw lots of people swimming, but the water was green and we didn't get in. We only stayed about 1hour. On the way home, I was the one who got carsick. Once we got back to the timeshare we swam in the pool and made dinner and headed out to the beach for a walk at sunset and went to bed. It had been another long day in paradise.
Day 5
Once again we were one the beach by 10am, well most of us. Don and Michael stayed back at the timeshare to sleep in and relax. Nick who could not get enough of the ocean and Emily who was just starting to play in the water. She would get up to her knees then run back to shore when a wave came. Hopefully she would get in the water before we left. About noon Don came down to the beach and said it was time to go. Today was our helicopter ride. All the kids and Don were excited about this. Me not so much, but didn't complain. We drove over to the airport and got in the heliccopter. I was fine until it lifted off the ground. Thanks goodness Don was sitting next to me to hold my hand. I am afraid of heights and get motion sickness very easy. I was terrified. Emily fell asleep. The boys loved it. We saw about 50 different waterfalls and went to an island that was nearby. I could not wait for it to be over. I felt awful, I could not decied if I was going to throw up or pass out. So after the 45 minute ride we went back to the timeshare and I took a nap while Don took the kids to the beach and we all enjoyed a sunset walk along the beach and again we were all in bed by 8pm.
After we finished at the harbor we drove to our time share, which was a block away from the hotel and unpacked and settled in. Our timeshare was an older place in major need of a makeover. But Don kept telling me to get over it, we were in Maui and just be happy. After we settled in a bit, we headed to the beach, across the street and stayed until sunset. We had dinner at a fancy steak and seafood restaurant that was recommended to us, by someone at the hotel front desk. Nick ate is first sushi and liked it. Michael of course turned his nose up at it.
We were in bed exhausted by 845pm.
DAY 4
We slept in and went to the beach around 9am and stayed until 11am. Went back to the hotel and got cleaned up. After talking to my dad on the phone, we decided to head up to the 7 sacred pools. It was about a 3 hour drive on a bad road. Emily ended up getting car sick on the way up. The road was one lane and very curvy on the side of a cliff. When we got to the pools, the ranger suggested that we not swim. So we walked the 3/4 mile down to the pools and with the little rain fall this spring the 7 pools were now only 2. We saw lots of people swimming, but the water was green and we didn't get in. We only stayed about 1hour. On the way home, I was the one who got carsick. Once we got back to the timeshare we swam in the pool and made dinner and headed out to the beach for a walk at sunset and went to bed. It had been another long day in paradise.
Day 5
Once again we were one the beach by 10am, well most of us. Don and Michael stayed back at the timeshare to sleep in and relax. Nick who could not get enough of the ocean and Emily who was just starting to play in the water. She would get up to her knees then run back to shore when a wave came. Hopefully she would get in the water before we left. About noon Don came down to the beach and said it was time to go. Today was our helicopter ride. All the kids and Don were excited about this. Me not so much, but didn't complain. We drove over to the airport and got in the heliccopter. I was fine until it lifted off the ground. Thanks goodness Don was sitting next to me to hold my hand. I am afraid of heights and get motion sickness very easy. I was terrified. Emily fell asleep. The boys loved it. We saw about 50 different waterfalls and went to an island that was nearby. I could not wait for it to be over. I felt awful, I could not decied if I was going to throw up or pass out. So after the 45 minute ride we went back to the timeshare and I took a nap while Don took the kids to the beach and we all enjoyed a sunset walk along the beach and again we were all in bed by 8pm.
Maui Holiday Day 2
Friday it was supposed to be cloudy and rainy so we choose to go to the Maui Ocean Center for the day. It was a huge indoor aquarium. We saw every type of Hawaiian fish there is. After about 2 1/2 hours we had seen it all and decided to head out to west Maui to check out a blowhole someone had recommended. We didn't know much about the blow hole, except that we were to stop driving at mile marker 38 and hike down to it. We we stopped at mile marker 38. There were stones stacked in piles from visitors who believe there is some significance. There is none, however we stacked out pile of stones overlooking the ocean.
We saw a couple of hikers following a path, so we thought they were going to the blow hole, which they were. However they were taking the long way. 2 hour long way. We hiked over lava rocks and boulders down a side of a cliff. Emily did great on this hike. She was so excited to see the blowhole. She had bought a postcard at the Ocean Center of the blow hole and was carrying it, so we made sure we knew what to look for. After this long and hot hike we found the blowhole. However it was low tide and nothing was happening. Feeling sad that we would have to make this long trip again at high tide we headed back 2 more hours back up to the car.
By the time we got back to the car we were starving and tired and decided to head back to the hotel. But Don wanted to drive just a few more miles down the road. Not 1/2 mile down the road was a big pull off and tons of cars. Don pulled over to see what everyone was looking at. Maybe another blowhole? The kids and I stayed in the car, while Don ran down to look and guess what he found??? He found the same blowhole we had been at with only about 5 minute easy hike. We laughed and laughed. How silly of us, to walk all the way around the cliff. Oh well at least we knew it would be easier the next time.
After leaving the blow hole we decided to stop in Lahaina for dinner at the Hard Rock Cafe. Lahaina has a great wharf village full of fun shops and restaurants. We parked our car at the largest baynon tree we had ever seen. It took up a hole block.
After walking around some of the shops, we stopped to watch someone wood carving . Don loved this. So we bought one. We had the guy carve our names in the back of ours. And the one we bought stands for family protection.
We had dinner at the Hard Rock Cafe, where Emily, Michael and myself all bought tee shirts. After dinner we walked over to Bubba Gumps restaurant and looked thur their gift shop. They have some of the cutest tee shirts. After we finished shopping we headed back to the hotel to swim in the pool again and go to bed early. We had had a busy day, but tomorrow was going to be even longer. We had a snorkel trip planned and had to get up at 530am to make a 630 boat. Yikes that's early when your on holiday.
Maui Holiday day 1
Well we have just returned from a week in Maui. It was the best family vacation we have ever taken. We left on Thursday morning and fly from Phoenix to Honolulu, a 6 hour flight, and had about a 2 hour layover. But by the time we landed and got to the gate it ended up being a little more than an hour wait. We grabbed something to eat and ran to the next gate to catch our next flight to Maui. Our next flight was only 35 minutes long. As soon as the plane took off, I started feeling sick and before the plane was even level I was running for the back of the plane sick. Let me tell you that throwing up in an airplane bathroom has got to be the worst place to get sick in the world.
Once our flight landed we grabbed our luggage and rental car and headed to our hotel. It was only about 2:30pm which was nice, that we had the after noon still to do stuff. After checking in to our hotel we went to the front desk and inquired about tours and stuff to do the rest of the week. We already knew what we wanted to do, but it was just about money. We did not want to go broke this week. We booked our three big items, one every other day and we headed out in our car to take a drive down the coast.
We found this cute cove and we stopped to take pictures and watch the sunset. As we are climbing around on the rocks, Don yells that there was something in the water. It was a giant sea turtle. We watched him for quite a bit and looked for others. We found about 2-3. The kids found black crabs climbing on the rocks as well.
We found this cute cove and we stopped to take pictures and watch the sunset. As we are climbing around on the rocks, Don yells that there was something in the water. It was a giant sea turtle. We watched him for quite a bit and looked for others. We found about 2-3. The kids found black crabs climbing on the rocks as well.
Did I mention that is was rainy and cloudy the first day. But that did not dampen any ones spirits. After spending about an hour watching the sea turtles we drove back to the hotel to check out the beach that was across the street from our hotel. Emily who is still afraid of the beach wanted nothing to do with it. She pouted on a blanket for several hours while the rest of us played in the water.
That night after the sun set we grabbed a bit to eat at McDonald's and headed to the pool at our hotel. The kids enjoyed swimming. About 8pm we headed back upstairs to our hotel room and went to bed. It had been a long first day in Maui and this was only the beginning.
Tuesday, May 12, 2009
Kindergarten Graduation
Last night was Emily's Kindergarten Graduation. The kids sang songs from performances they had done throughout the year and then in groups of 4-5 the kids read books for us. After the readings we watched a slide show from all the activities for the year then had cake and punch. Emily's teacher was so stressed that she forgot to give out the certificates to the kids last night, so she handed them out in class today. OOPS, but that is ok.
Tuesday night we joined Michael at school for his academic award ceremony. He received two awards. One for having a 4.0gpa all year long and the other was for a good citizenship, with that award he received a $50.00 savings bond from the school.
Since April we still have been fighting with Emily on her hair color. Well she won. I have decided that this is not the fight I want to waste. I am saving that fight for the dating and clothing fights. But hair is just hair. So on Friday I picked up Emily from school and took her to the gal who does my hair and we had red highlights added to her hair. However with Emily's hair being as dark as it is, the highlights did not show up like Emily wanted. You could see them in the sunlight, but inside they were very subtle. Emily was very upset by this. So after talking with friends, they suggested that we head to a store in the mall called Hot Topic for temporary hair color in bright colors. So Sunday we headed out to the mall and bought her flaming red and hot pink. Don and I redid the highlights in her hair and she loves them. Again they look great in the sunlight, and not to bad inside. Emily is very happy and in 4-6 weeks after they wash out maybe she will not want them redone, But again we are talking about Emily and I don't think this will be the last time for highlights.
Tuesday night we joined Michael at school for his academic award ceremony. He received two awards. One for having a 4.0gpa all year long and the other was for a good citizenship, with that award he received a $50.00 savings bond from the school.
Since April we still have been fighting with Emily on her hair color. Well she won. I have decided that this is not the fight I want to waste. I am saving that fight for the dating and clothing fights. But hair is just hair. So on Friday I picked up Emily from school and took her to the gal who does my hair and we had red highlights added to her hair. However with Emily's hair being as dark as it is, the highlights did not show up like Emily wanted. You could see them in the sunlight, but inside they were very subtle. Emily was very upset by this. So after talking with friends, they suggested that we head to a store in the mall called Hot Topic for temporary hair color in bright colors. So Sunday we headed out to the mall and bought her flaming red and hot pink. Don and I redid the highlights in her hair and she loves them. Again they look great in the sunlight, and not to bad inside. Emily is very happy and in 4-6 weeks after they wash out maybe she will not want them redone, But again we are talking about Emily and I don't think this will be the last time for highlights.
Thursday, April 30, 2009
Three Weeks
The last three weeks have been a little crazy here. Don has been gone for 5 weeks now. He is home almost every weekend, but the weeks are really long and busy. This is the time of year the kids are so excited about, three weeks left of school and lots of fun activities for the end of school year.
Three weeks from today will be the first day of summer vacation. I am just as excited as the kids. Every year we have a very quiet, relaxing summer around the pool with friends. This summer we have so much planned in a small amount of time. We will just spend one week at home relaxing before we will leave for Maui. We have been planning this trip for over a year now, and we couldn't be more excited. After Maui we will be home for two days then we will leave for Oregon. The kids and I will go stay with Don for about 6 weeks before coming home, so Michael can attend band camp at the high school. He has three weeks of band camp before school starts. And before you know it it will be August. Just thinking about it makes me do a double take and wonder what happened to our quiet,relaxing summer??
Michael school has a field trip at the end of the year for those kids that are A/B honor roll all year, no discipline issues and few absent days. This years trip they went to San Diego for a weekend. Michael had a great time. He is looking forward to the 8th grade dance in a week, and his last field trip, a day at Sunsplash water park, on the last day of school. Last week was the last band concert for the year, and both the boys did a great job. In two weeks is Michael's 8th grade graduation and he is looking forward to be a high school student.
Nick got to enjoy patriotic day at his school. A huge performance by the band, choir ,special speakers and the kindergarten from Emily's school. Nicks has been less busy with end of the year activities, which is fine with Nick. He is just ready for school to be out.
Emily got to sing in front of the 6th and 7th graders at the boys school. Her class put on Donuts for Daddy, however she was sick on this day and was unable to go. Next Friday her class will enjoy Mom's spa day where she will get to do my hair, nails, and I will get a massage all given by Emily. The following Monday we will enjoy her Kindergarten graduation.
We have had our first trampoline accident the other day. Emily was jumping by herself and over extended her knee causing a loud popping sound and lots of tears. After a few hours in Urgent Care and a diagnosis of sprain knee, Emily is walking around but not yet running and not back on the trampoline. We will have to give that a few more days.
Three weeks from today will be the first day of summer vacation. I am just as excited as the kids. Every year we have a very quiet, relaxing summer around the pool with friends. This summer we have so much planned in a small amount of time. We will just spend one week at home relaxing before we will leave for Maui. We have been planning this trip for over a year now, and we couldn't be more excited. After Maui we will be home for two days then we will leave for Oregon. The kids and I will go stay with Don for about 6 weeks before coming home, so Michael can attend band camp at the high school. He has three weeks of band camp before school starts. And before you know it it will be August. Just thinking about it makes me do a double take and wonder what happened to our quiet,relaxing summer??
Monday, April 20, 2009
Yes It's Blue!!!
Emily has decided that its time she did something with her hair. She is not happy with the color or cut. She is mad that we cut all her long hair off and she can no longer put it in a ponytail. She also had decided that she wants a different color. When I asked her what color she wanted, I was thinking blonde highlights like mine, or black like her brothers, or red like her cousin. The answer I got made me think for a moment. She wanted red. Not like her cousins natural red hair but punk rocker red like Allison on American Idol. Not only did she want it red, but she only wanted red highlights. We told her when she is older.
Well a few days later she brought it up again, and again. She was not going to let it drop and boy will she be a good lawyer when she grows up. So finally we gave in. We told her she could color it for the summer, something temporary that would be gone for school in the fall. After talking with all my friends, who suggested coloring it in cool aide or semi permanent dye at a salon, I found at toys r us a tool that puts washable hair dye in your hair. Crazy colors too, red, blue, gold, and silver. We gave it to Emily for her birthday and what a big hit. The morning of her birthday party she had red hair. Then on the 15th, her birthday she put blue in her hair and went to school. The school didn't say anything about it. Since then she has gone to school everyday with a different color hair. She loves the blue.
I have gone to school to see performances and have lunch with her and other parents look at me like I am crazy. I let my 6 year old color her hair blue?? If I let her color her hair now , what is she going to be able to get away with when she is older?? I see no difference with the hair color than a temporary tattoo. Its washable, just for fun. How many parents put those on their kids and thats ok. But add some washable haircolor and now my kid is out of control?? I don't think so.
Tuesday, April 14, 2009
Happy Birthday Emily
I hope all of our family and friends had a wonderful Easter. We sure did. Easter weekend for most of you know happens to fall on Emily's birthday almost every year. Don was able to come home for the weekend on Friday night and we went to Red Robin for dinner. After dinner we went home to open gifts. Emily's big gift was a new art desk. She loves to paint, draw, play playdoh, anything arts and crafty. So now instead of having her art supplies spread all over the house they are neat and organized and she can play with them anytime she likes.
On Saturday was her birthday party at Jeepers Indoor Amusement Park. We all had a blast. About half of her class from school came to the party. It was a great turnout. After her party at Jeepers we had to go to Don's parent's for dinner and another birthday party. Emily had a great birthday weekend and received lots of money and gifts. She has spent all of her money on a 12 foot trampoline for the backyard, something even the boys can have fun with.
Monday, April 6, 2009
Spring Fling in the Park
Our neighborhood has a park day every April. There is free food, music, an Easter Egg hunt for the kids, and bounce houses. Michael helped out all day making popcorn and cotton candy. He had a great time. Emily enjoyed the day by getting her face painted, playing in the bounce house and eating all the free snow cones she desired.
We enjoyed the day at the park, but what made it special this year, was that Don was home for the weekend. It has been a long two weeks with him gone, but the kids and I are making it work. Don will be home again this next weekend for Emily's birthday and Easter.
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