Summer plans

We made a list of things to do for the summer. My kindergartener and I thought of many things that would be fun. He didn't realize that I was meaning that we'd do those things during the ENTIRE summer, not as soon as possible! So, we've done many of them already...and are adding to the list. We went to a local huge waterpark last week and did what my preschooler has been wanting (stay in a hotel.) My younger daughter and her friend, my boys, a friend and I all went for the afternoon and all next day and had a great time!

We also ate at my kindergartener's favorite restaurant in the whole world: Rainforest Cafe. Of course, we had to take a picture in front of the gorilla.


The boys loved seeing the robotic alligator.


And the kids had to try on the hats inside the gift shop (in which we wandered around for the 55 minute wait until a table was ready.)


My friend wanted to ride the slides (I really liked the lazy river that led up to the rapids or huge waves) so we went on one many times. It was a huge round float that we all fit in. Here is my kiddo waiting in line with us.


I spent a lot of time in the middle of an innnertube just floating around. Here is my preschooler in the other side of the double tube (it doesn't have a hole and is made for little ones.)


And my younger daugher...she was such a pleasure to have around and was a huge help with the kids.


We stayed all day and here is my kindergartener less than two minutes after arriving home (he slept most of the way home too.) He was really tired...and was sleeping with his new friend, Troy, his alligator that we bought at the Cafe.

A week at the bay...

We spent last week at my SILs house at the bay. We had a fabulous time as always (excluding my 24 hr stomach virus.) While there, we enjoyed good food, went swimming at a nearby place that my SIL can go during the summer and the guys went fishing a couple days. Here are some photos!

Me swimming underwater (with my underwater camera.)


S learning to go underwater and get his face wet without getting upset. He starts swimming lessons next week so this is perfect timing.




The boys on the pier...along with SILs dogs (some of them.)


S fishing off the end of the pier at dusk. He wanted to catch a fish really bad. He actually caught some jellyfish via net from there.


My hubby took this one of BIL and S while they were fishing. They all were able to go out two days in a row. All the other days were very windy!


This is one of the fish they caught while fishing (they caught redfish and trout.)

A beach trip...

Last weekend, we went to the beach. My brother's employer allowed us to use his beachhouse and we had a fabulous time! It was nice watching the people on the beach, hearing the birds in the distance and enjoying the atmosphere!
My hubby and brother are on the deck spending time bonding in the afternoon.


The place was just a block off of the beach and the kids took their favorite rides.


In and out of the water.


Of course, with our fair skin, we were careful not to get sunburned (notice the hats and long sleeves, lol!)


But, teenagers know best and my nephew chose not to use sunscreen. He was fried and couldn't move for a couple days afterwards due to his sunburn! Aside from that, though, it's amazing how he has grown and matured in the last couple years...time passes so quickly. He's almost 17 now.


I loved feeling the water rush back and forth on my feet as did my preschooler.


There were ice cream trucks there too (driving throughout the day.) There's nothing like hearing the sound and seeing the vehicles driving up when it's so hot! Fortunately, we had a little money with us!


And after walking for hours, we had a great nap!


I took this pic of my hubby sleeping (and he has yet to see the pic!) Perfect 'male' sleep position!

Life as a rose bush...

I took this pic last week in our backyard. It's not an especially nice looking rose bush, but I thought it was interesting in that the roses reflected those people in my life. Seeing those roses that have lived, were vibrant and long-lasting and then died reminded me of Mother's Day and that they was like my own mom (and dad and those who are no longer around.) And then there are those that were in full bloom that were like the people I depend on and talk to on a weekly basis like my husband, brother, sister-in-law and my close friends. Some were getting ready to bloom, perhaps like my own daughters trying to find their own place in the world. And, finally,those not yet blossoming, like my sons or acquaintances who will eventually become friends. It resembled life and how life goes on....letting you keep memories alive in your heart after your loved one pass on, loving and living in the 'now, as well as seeing new life on the horizon.

Coloring eggs.

I love coloring eggs the night before Easter. We usually boil many dozen of eggs just so that everyone has plenty of eggs to experiment with and color! This year, the boys did a great job and it went really fast! Here a a few pics!




BTW, that's a world map on our wall in the kitchen behind C. I am not very good at Geography so I put the map up on the wall so I could see it all the time. I also refer to it with the boys when we talk about other countries so that they see it all in perspective (and hopefully won't end up like me!)

Our trip to Mt. Leconte Lodge

We went to the Great Smoky Mountain National Park last week and hiked up Alum Cave Trail to the top. We started hiking up the mountain to the lodge at 8:30am last Monday morning. It was a nice cool morning and we knew we had a long day ahead to hike up the 5.5 miles to get there. We had previously hiked on trails in Arkansas and were a little experienced with the easy trails that were rocky or semi-dangerous. We weren’t sure exactly what to expect except what I had read on the lodge site forum (what to bring, how to prepare etc.) Of course, they suggested lots of walking, especially up stairs etc. Since I had injured my knees (one, then the other) within the last six months, I didn’t do that but I knew I was could be careful in order to do it. I put on knee braces and used two hiking poles.


This is us at the beginning of our hike.


The first two miles were absolutely beautiful (we walked mostly beside a creek) and it was easy even though it was all uphill (not too steep.)




We stopped for lunch for about a half an hour and ended up making it to the lodge at 3:30pm! Initially, we thought C would get in the baby backpack carrier but he wanted to walk so we let him. Hubby walked next to him practically the entire time (helping him up each step or around the next dangerous curve) and the really bonded. As it turned out, C walked six hours (yes, 6!) and we carried him the last hour up to the top. We realized that the last mile was the most dangerous (there were cables to hold so you wouldn’t slip down the side or misstep/slide off) so it worked out very well!





We stayed in a lodge which had three bedrooms. We had one of the bedrooms which included a double bunk bed and a twin bed. C and I shared the twin bed and my brother and nephew took one of the bunks and Hubby and S took the top one. Each cabin or lodge had a porch with rocking chairs. There was no electricity and no showers. Water was available and there were toilets. They provided meals and we stayed two nights. They also had the option of endless wine at dinner (for one hour.)




During the night, there was a storm (wind, rain) and then the second day, it snowed/sleeted all day! Of course, us Texans were SO happy! We played in it and walked around a long time! We took lots of pics (thinking that it’d quit snowing at any time) and there ended up getting about 4 inches throughout the day.





This is the lodge where we stayed.



This is all of us in front of the dining room on the second day.



This is the view from our front porch (Gatlinburg in distance.)



On the third day, we hiked back down. It took us five and a half hours. Most people probably go down faster but we walk at 3 year old speed, lol! I carried C down the first two and a half hours in the backpack and he walked the rest of the way.





On one part of the trail, it was really scary. There really was no trail, you had to hold on to the cable because the rocks were angled down (and it and most of the trails were bluffs with no bottom in sight.)



From the other side.



The view from there.



A section of the trail (see how narrow it is!)



There were cool footbridges too.







We’re really sore right now, lol! The kids were absolutely great! S carried a pack 90% of the time (except for the last little bit to the top) and stayed right with us. C was a trooper!! My brother/nephew like to go fast and had to wait for all of us and I was like the tortoise….slow and steady! Such an awesome place...I loved that I shared it with my family and my brother (and nephew.) Definitely the most physically challenging thing I have ever done! It was such a great experience!!!

School Carnival

My kiddo's school carnival was held today. It was really hot and I should have put sunscreen on all of us! My toddler and I drank three bottles of water and he wolfed down a bowl of ice cream while my kindergartener ran around most of the time. The favorite things to do are to crunch confetti eggs on people's heads and squeeze invisible ink on others.

I was attacked by killer bees!

Sounds like the name of a movie, huh? But seriously, we were at my SIL's this past weekend. She lives in South Texas. Every morning, we go for a walk with her (and BIL's) 5 dogs on the road next to their house. The dogs like to run around, chase bunnies (once in a while if they see them....they don't catch them) or check out stuff as we walk.

We noticed one dog having a bee or two flying around it stinging it. Then another. My kindergartener, (S), and I stopped and froze (what we usually do if bees start flying around us.) My hubby (DH) and my toddler, (C,) (who I put in his backpack carrier on DH's back just a couple minutes earlier...he had been walking next to me) were behind us a little bit. Fortunately, when he saw what was happening, he stopped and very slowly started backing up in a straight line without moving anything else. From a distance, DH said he saw a the swarm like a fog come up from the culvert and fly into us. I saw my BIL (who is 68) start waving his hat around his head. Then I noticed S right next to me and his neck and shoulders had at least 15 bees all over them. He started screaming. Then as SIL started swatting, I felt them all over me. It was surreal and it wasn't making sense, it took a second or two before we started to run. We all started running (as S is still screaming) toward the house which was about 400 or 500 feet away...they have a long driveway out in the middle of the country.)

At one point, I overextended myself as I was knocking the bees off of S's back (and fell cutting my knee, elbow and hand (tearing my capris,) which I didn't realize until much later.) I jumped back up and started running again. The bees continued to sting me...mostly my head. It seemed with all of us, that they stung the head area mostly (face, shoulders, neck and head.) I only had a few stings on my back and my entire head seemed like it was on fire. They were all in my hair and I couldn't get them out...I just kept hearing that awful buzzing sound. It was a traumatic experience and extremely scary for all of us. They were so aggressive and bit us the whole time they chased us!!

When we got to the house, we just went inside (the bees had chased us all the way there and were still stinging us.) Once inside, I think the communication was cut off between them and the rest of the swarm/queen and they stopped. Either that or they didn't like the air conditioning. They seemed to stop stinging and go to the window to try to get out. We killed about 50 - 100 bees that were attached to the dogs and us when we came inside. I think it could have been SO much worse if there were only one of us rather than 9 targets (dogs and people.) S continued to scream (which made it so stressful.) It took a while to get the last bee out of my hair! We took benedryl and advil immediately. SIL went in her vehicle right afterwards to go pick up DH and C. By that time, they had continued to back up backwards far away from the incident. When they got in the truck, there were still bees on her that she had missed that they killed. As they passed by the culvert area, my sunglasses were on the road (where I had falled) and DH said there were about 50 bees still swarming them. The bees followed their vehicle as well back to the house. They sat in the truck about 5 minutes before running into the house.

S had about 5-9 bites just on one ear and the bites were indistinguishable from each other (as were mine) since there were so many. My entire head under my hair felt like it were on fire! Later, I saw (from the mirror) some red bite areas where I was bitten on my neck and back) and didn't even feel them. I gave him a cold compress to put on S's ear (and put on Spongebob to try to distract him.) Even though I had kids benedryl and ibuprofen, I gave S an adult benedryl and one adult advil. We called the Sheriff's Dpt (who said they didn't really do 'bees' but offered to send out an ambulance.) We said we'd call back if we needed them. DH is a EMS and we watched S carefully. After about two hours, we were feeling better....didn't hurt as bad. That night, it hurt just to put my head on a pillow and took a long time to go to sleep. Now, a couple days later, SIL and I still have a few bites each that are still swollen and itchy. SIL will be calling around today to see if there is anybody we need to notify etc. She was thinking that kids who are stung multiple times can become more prone to allergic reactions later if stung again so I'll call his pediatrician later to explain/ask, just in case.

Here is a pic of one bee dying on the kitchen counter (BIL sprayed it with wasp spray.) They look just like honey bees, maybe a little smaller.


DH felt helpless as he saw us getting stung when there was nothing he could do. We still don't know why he was behind us when it all started (neither of us could remember anything in particular happening that would make he and C be so far behind us) but were SO thankful they were. I called my brother to have him surf for info (because their house is at the bottom of a hill and they can't get internet..our cellphones don't work there either but they do have a landline) and one website said apparently, they can continue to sting anything within 1/4 mile for up to 24 hours after agitated. We think one of the dogs agitated them (the dogs always check out that area....either they weren't there before on previous walks or were already agitated when we got there.) We were incredibly lucky it wasn't worse...definitely provides a good story.

http://www.desertusa.com/mag98/sep/stories/kbees.html

Getting better -

It's been a week but we're finally on the upside of being sick. Never have we all been sick at once (the kiddos and I) but the good part of it was that none of us had an appetite so I didn't have to worry about food! The only sign of our sickness is my toddler's runny nose. And at the height of it all, I had strange hives/rashes all over. After considering all the possible allergens I could have gotten into (and the fact that benedryl wasn't working), I resorted to going to the doctor and getting a shot (to help it go away faster.) Luckily, today I haven't been itching as much (and it's almost completely gone.)

On one evening, the kids and I were all laying in bed feeling miserable. The boys fell asleep and looked precious so I snapped a shot.

My friend needs a hug

I have been accumulating airline miles for a free roundtrip for months. I was hoping to go visit my brother (and his family) in the west but within months, he was transferred (he is in the Navy) to a state where my airline won't fly...Hawaii! Of course, now I have to start saving to visit him there!! But in the meantime, I had aquired two trips that I needed to use up before they expired.

Needless to say, last week, I was thinking of options when my husband suggested that I fly to see my friend (whose seven months old baby was in the hospital and had been in the NICU for a few months.) I had met my friend in person about four or five years ago at a gathering of friends. Her and I have kids (the kindergarteners) who were born on the same day. We each have four kids as well. Even though we don't get a chance to meet up in person, we talk on the phone often or the internet (where we initially met.) Since my kiddo was out next week for spring break, I thought about the possibility of flying there with my kids and visiting to give her a break.

But, life has a way of making other plans. Instead of going to give her a break, I will be attending a memorial service for her baby. She now has three children as her fourth grew angel wings and flew to a better place. The baby's heart issues (that were discovered even before birth) weren't totally fixed even after several surgeries. I was the first person she told when she discovered she was pregnant with this baby. It wasn't a planned pregnancy and the father chose to move on...but she loved her little one from the beginning.

She mentioned bringing the baby's things home from the hospital afterwards and just laying the blanket in the crib (unwashed) so she could still smell her. I remember that feeling from after my mom's passing. I loved to go to my mom's closet and try to smell her long after she was gone. From the movie Hope Floats, a scene like that makes me cry every time.

So, my boys and I will fly in a couple days and stay for several days with her. It won't make everything better but I'll be there in case she needs a shoulder or an ear and mostly, to give her a hug.