More CA views

Saturday night, I had a girls night. It was great, of course. I did not take pictures for some reason, but trust me, we had fun. I wish I enjoyed a cocktail or two, although I don't trust myself when I am driving home. I had time to kill before driving home, so I guess it would have been okay. The company was all I needed.

Yesterday, I was fully intending on staying home or staying local, but of course, we had another adventure. Juliana wanted to go to the beach again, so I looked online to find somewhere new. We went to Bodega Bay. I'll admit, at first we were disappointed. Until we actually parked the car and went looking into the water. Within 2 minutes we saw crabs crawling everywhere, a sea lion swimming around, jellyfish swimming, and then we were invited to see crabs on a real fishing boat. The kids touched the enormous crab, and did you know parts of crabs are furry? I didn't know that. Learn somethin' new every day.

From there, we got back in the car to find a place to eat our picnic lunch. We ended up going down a back road and found a great beach with picnic tables on the high cliffs. We went to eat, play in the sand, and explore. Another California adventure in the books......

The fisherlady showing the kids the crab.

That is a loooooong way down. Pretty picture!

Daddy keeping Kev safe.

Lookin' perrrty, as usual.

More gorgeous views. Pictures barely do it justice.

Play dates n' more

We've been busy the last few days. Juliana had her summer camp beach picnic on thursday. They put on a show for the parents too. It was adorable! Yesterday, we had play dates nearly all day. One for a few hours with Kevin's friends in the morning, and one with both Juliana and Kevin's friends (and mine too) in the afternoon. In between, we met Jason and my mom for lunch. It was a last minute lunch, and a coincidence that we were all within about 3 miles of each other at the time.

Kevin waiting for Juliana's performance to begin. It was COLD!

Juliana is the third cild from the end, near the big guy. Ok, so you can't really see her.

Kevin in the sandbox with his friends Jack and Annelisse.

Juliana before her field trip.

Social butterfly or wasp?

I have come to the conclusion that Kevin will only attend school for the social life it will bring for him. That kid cracks me up!

I took Juliana with me to drop Kevin off at summer camp. This is a new place for him with new teachers, new kids, new parents dropping off... you get the idea. Kevin sees the first child show up and immediately walks over to him and says loudly, "Look Mom, he's my friend" then looks at the kid and says, "RIGHT?" He boy ran to his grandfather in fear of his life.

Next victim... a little girl. "Hi. I'm Kevin. I'm your friend." The girl didn't say anything, but ran behind a tree and looked for Kevin to play with her. After running around the tree together he says, "Nanny, come here." ("Nanny" is Juliana) Juliana comes over and he says to the little girl, "This is my sister Juliana. She is 7 and is going to beach camp...." blah blah blah. He went on and on and on. Just in case you are wondering, he calls Juliana her name in front of other people, but when it is just the two of them, he says, "Hey Nanny" or "Hey Nan". It is so darn cute!

So, the teachers come out, Juliana and I try to say GOODBYE, and he is already comfortable in the classroom without saying goodbye. I love that kid!

Almost 100 percent

This is a good synopsis of how Kevin is doing today. Notice in the video that he is blowing bubbles and playing, but when asked if he wants to chase them, he says, "No thanks."

This is all progress. I have a really good feeling he is about 85 percent back to normal. Give it another, well uhhhh, 4 hours, and he'll be 100% again.

Admitted-- in pictures

I am going to try to break down Kevin's hospitalization and cruddy days in photos.

In the ER, just after the IV was hooked up.

The ambulance ride. Shaky photo. It was a bumpy ride.

Second day in the hospital. No real changes. Yes, he is wearing a diaper. He could not control himself, if you follow my drift.

Late second day. IV out, and just had a bath. Yes, his hair is crazy because it was wet, then he laid on it for a while. Cute though.

Taken about 20 minutes ago. As you can see, not a lot of changes. He is dressed because Juliana started summer camp today and we dropped her off. He still has close to no energy for life these days. As a matter of fact, he plopped down on grass so he did not have to walk the 100 feet to drop her off with her camp group. He couldn't handle the walk.

He did eat a waffle and drank about 3 oz of juice this morning. So far, so good. Hmmm, time will tell. He can change for the worse in the matter of minutes, and he also can change for the better too. I'm hoping for better, I think he is too.

Admitted, Day 3

Day 3-- he is home. I should probably be more excited about it, but I'm not.

He has eaten one bite of waffle today, and drank a total of 2-3 oz of fluid. His IV was stopped yesterday about 2pm. Since then, he has ingested approx 6 oz of fluids. He is still rather lethargic, except for the occasional bouts of 3 year old boy energy for about 5 minutes every couple hours.

I am really annoyed that the hospital released him. I am so tired of fighting, so I signed discharge papers hoping to fight the battle at home, and return if we have to. Kevin has refused his lunch so far. Who knows what the afternoon and evening will bring.

Rest time now. Kev is asking to sleep.

Admitted, Day 2

Kevin seems to do better, then slow down, then pick up again. He tried to throw up this morning after eating a few bites. Nothing happened except a few complaints to the nurse about his tummy hurting. Hmmmm.

Speaking of nurses, I can think of a few more college courses that they need to take... "Don't Turn On Overhead Lights After Midnight 101", "Stop Perkiness at Midnight 101", "Quiet Voices after Midnight 101", and a follow up workshop for the hospital, "How To Make Your Pull-Out Beds Feel Like Feathers Not Cement". :)

When I left about an hour ago, Kevin was super excited to watch Lion King. He was munching on a saltine cracker too. We'll see how well he does in the next few hours. Home is looking mighty good.

I have pictures, but I have way too much to do to upload them. I'll do it tonight if I am home again, or sometime tomorrow.

Time to make lunch for Juliana and I.

Admitted

He's been admitted to the hospital. Poor little guy.

After his labs were run, his blood sugar was 41, then up to 221, and who knows what it is now. Every number is off. Hopefully as the hours and days pass, he will level out. I guess that's the goal, right?!

As you can see, I took pictures, of course. I have pics from the ER, the ambulance ride, and the hospital room too. He likes looking at the pictures on the screen, so it is fun to take them. I know he looks pathetic (probably 'cause he is), but he is pretty darn cute too. The pic at the top was taken while he was on the sugar drip. He has not quite perked up to the point that they want, although it will come with time.

Juliana is not allowed in the room since Kev is on Contact warnings. Nobody under the age of 10 is allowed. This has proved to be rather interesting, but will have to work out. No choice, do we?

Sooooo, that's the scoop. He's a sick boy, although I'd like to think he is in good hands. This whole ordeal may be over tomorrow or could take longer. We'll see. I'll try to keep up with updates.

By the way, happy 6th birthday Shadow! Doggy is getting a backseat to his human brother's sickies.

Feeling cruddy

UPDATE: It is about 5:30pm, and as of about an hour ago, Kevin was lethargic, dizzy, and doing odd things. His doc wanted him to go to the ER immediately. I was getting ready, then thought to myself, "No, I want to wait." So I waited for Jason to get home. Kev is still feeling cruddy, but seems to be improving a bit. Daddy checked Kev's blood sugar, and it seems to be on the low end of normal. For now, we are staying home. I can't bear to send him to the hospital for test after test. I hate watching my boy in pain. It is a waiting game right now.

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This should be wordless. It pretty much gives you an update on Kev without many words. This was taken just before I sat down at the computer about 10 minutes ago. He is not sleeping, he just is not interested in anything. He is still feeling yucky. He had 3 bites of bread and a few sips of water in the last 2 1/2 hours since he has been up. Right now, he's snuggling on the aerobed not overly interested in interacting with the healthy world. Do ya blame him?

Sick sick sick

If for some reason you read this after being on facebook, here is the scoop on little Kev. He woke up feeling horrible. I thought it was because (as usual), he did not eat dinner last night, so I thought he was super hungry. He ate a nutri-grain bar, had a bit of apple juice, then kept complaining. Juliana wanted to have muffins this morning, so I figured I'd bake muffins. I made the muffins, and as soon as they came out of the oven, Kevin got sick all over the kitchen. I took him for a bath, and when I dried him off, he went poop ALL over his room and bathroom.

Once all of that was out, he seemed to be doing a little better. I went to the grocery store to get some Pedialite for him. We made it (barely) out of the store, before he felt sick again. We came home, nothing happened. I gave him a couple bites to eat, cuddled on the couch, then gave him more "feel better juice" (Pedialite). He seemed ok, until it was time for lunch. Again, he gets near the table, and gets sick over and over and over and over.

The look in his eye is not just a sick boy. It is like he is desperate for help. I'd have him in the ER by now, but Juliana is terrified. I had to pry her out from under her bed to go to the grocery store. When he got sick about an hour ago, she climbed onto the kitchen counter and hid under the kitchen cabinets. That was merely because there was so much vomit, she could not make it to her bedroom to hide under the bed.

I'm waiting for a nurse to call me. Ughhhh, I hope he is okay. No more hospitals, please.

Shark infested waters

Posting again, like the rest of the population cares... maybe I can print this blog as a scrapbook one day. I've heard of that... is it true?

Today we went to Stinson Beach. I had never been there, except passing through. It was a pretty place. The roads getting there left me a bit lightheaded though. Soooo, we headed to the beach with our lunch, ate while the sea gulls were stalking us, then teased them by not leaving an iota for them to eat. Haaaaa, I hate those creatures! They are flying rats!

The kids played really well together today. I forgot towels at home, so they used their blankets in the car. It worked out fine. It isn't as if they could swim... (see photo)

"Wook Mommy, can we swim with shwarks or maybe pet them?"

Ok, so I have to confess... I let Kevin sit in the water a little far out, and within a microsecond, the water came and made him tumble in circles. It scared the crap out of me! I grabbed him so fast since I was standing right next to him. If I was not immediately next to him, I can not imagine how fast he would have been washed away. He swallowed quite a bit of water, had sandy eyes, ears, nostrils, and every other body part. He never cried, thank goodness. I think he was terrified, and so was I!!!! I am not sure what I was thinking. Ughhh, I don't get the Mommy of the Year award today, that's for sure. In the end, he is totally fine, and I guess that is all that matters.

This was taken about 30 min after his tumble. He was so shell shocked and scared. Poor boy.

Once we left the beach, we missed our exit going home, so I went about 10 minutes out of the way to the Marin Headlands. It was gorgeous and not crowded, so we could get a good parking spot... for good pictures, of course. :)

3rd Annual Sundae Sunday

This afternoon, I had our 3rd Annual Sundae Sunday. It was soooooo much fun! The kids got super messy with the ice cream and toppings. Such a blast! The girls danced inside with itunes playing, while the boys played outside with the ducks most of the time. FUN TIMES!

After ice cream and playing, we all walked to the park to release more energy and have more time together.

Alissa, Victor, Martine, and Kerri... WE MISSED YOU THIS YEAR!

Sand and Serenades

Two posts in one day... oh well!

Today we went to the 40th Annual Sand Castle Building Contest. It was so much fun! We browsed through many ambitious sand castle builders building volcanoes, pyramids, mermaids, animals, and even the Titanic. We left once the horn blew for the judging, so I am not sure who won, but that does not really matter.

We also roamed the beach and saw many many many sea snails, crabs, jellyfish, and of course, seaweed too.

This afternoon we came home to a serenade of bagpipes. There was a man on his dock playing for a party for about an hour. He was amazing! So while Juliana was riding her bike, I sat outside and listened (and watched) him play from across the water. Once we came inside, we could still hear him. So nice and relaxing!

Look on the dock across the water. Click on the photo for a better view.

Last day!

Last day of first grade was yesterday! Thank God for small miracles... yes, I am sure you can sense the sarcasm in my voice! First grade is now in the past, and hopefully we will never have to revisit any of the issues that we had.

Juliana got a decent report card. Actually it depends which part of it you read. Writing is above grade level (finally), but her comments say she needs to work on her writing. Reading and math are the same type of thing. Whatever.

Yesterday we also said goodbye to Juliana's kindergarten teacher. She finally took off to her new adventure a few time zones away. I cried the sobbing messy cry for about 30 seconds, then went back and forth to the teary eyed look. I actually held it together... for the most part. It was so so so hard to say goodbye, but it makes it so much easier knowing how much she wanted to leave to be back with family. I know the feeling.

Speaking of Mrs. B, apparently Juliana was chosen to present a gift to her after Kindergarten graduation. Juliana's first grade teacher failed to mention that to me like she was supposed to, so I found out only by accident. I was there for the graduation and for Juliana presenting the going away gift to her "favorite lady" in the whole world. I got it on video (haaaaa), but I won't post it. I am pretty sure I'd not live to see tomorrow if I did. :)

(shhh, the present is a surprise.)

After school ended, we went out to pizza with about 10 kids, plenty o' moms, and had a great time eating, laughing, and fun. We had a fun 5 hours together.

That was the last day of school for ya.

Please enjoy the picture of Juliana in her classroom yesterday. Such a pristine classroom, as usual. Hmmmm... do I need to post other pics of the classroom from the school year... probably not.

This was taken BEFORE school, not during or after. Get the idea?!

Eating, Singing, and Playing too

The first grade picnic was yesterday.  Amazingly enough, it was fun!  The kids were very well behaved (some of the adults, not so much).  Juliana took advantage of a working microphone and Kevin had a blast with the drums.  The drums were hooked up to a microphone, so the noise was a bit deafening.  

  

Here is the H@NNAH MONT@NA theme song being sung by Kevin and the girls.

Two Years ago Tuesday

June 2007- Canton, Michigan

June 2009- not Canton, MI.  :)

I'd venture to say they have grown up a wee bit... wouldn't you say?!

Cliffs n' Castles

Our day started wanting to do something, but not quite knowing what.  I knew I didn't want to spend a load of money entertaining the kids, soooooo we packed up beach gear, got on the highway, and headed down Highway One.  

Today was a perfect beach day.  It was warm, not hot, not cool.  It was not crowded, yet we made a sweet little (bored) 3 1/2 year old friend named Aspen.  She was mighty cute, and ahem, bossy too.  Little Aspen went home after about 30 minutes of ordering us around and making sandy mud pies.  She was forgiven because her daddy made sure to make up for her bossiness by going back and forth to the dangerous surf to get buckets upon buckets full of ocean water for castles.  

Shadow had a great time on the beach too.  He got COVERED with sand and for some strange reason, loved to drink the salty water too.  Ewwwww!  No worries, he got a nice bath in our driveway when we got home.  Daddy was in charge of bathing the two human children, while I took our furry child with leash in hand to give him a nice sparkle.  

Sooo, that was our day.  Sand, water, beautiful waves, gorgeous views, and plenty of ocean giggles too.

  

Crazy Cute

I seem to be posting every day again.  Sometimes it is hard to resist not sharing pictures of the kids.  My camera and I are permanently attached together, so you if drop by this blog, expect to hear about a mundane life and see plenty of photos of that aforementioned mundane life.  :)

Here ya go.......

CRAZY HAIR DAY at school today.  I think she qualifies for crazy!

On a bike ride.  Taking break from the difficult 1000 ft. tricycle excursion.

Daisies n' Brownies

On tuesday, Juliana had her bridging ceremony to Brownies.  She has been a Daisy Scout for 2 years.  Bridging to Brownies was a big occasion for her and for the other girls in the troop.  Being in Brownies will allow Juliana to do many more activities, like camping, and unfortunately selling a million different things for fundraisers.   I am sure the girls will have a great time becoming closer friends and having fun together.  Here are the pictures from tuesday evening...