July 4th Trip...

The kid seemed to be healthy and happy and fully recovered by friday morning, so we hit the road in our attempt to celebrate July 4th in the New England states. We had a rough plan of staying a night in NH, a night in VT, and another night in upstate NY. Initially the trip was moving along wonderfully, so much so, that we agreed to stop for lunch in NYC at one of my favorite joints of all time - Candle Cafe! YUM;-) a vegan cafe that even husband likes. I was in heaven. so were the boys! we love that food:)

Unfortunately, after our pit stop, every person in upstate NY and CT had decided to get on the road too. fun stuff. a trip that would usually take 5 1/2 hours, took about 10. crazy i tell ya. crazy. who handled this madness the best? the kid. he watched videos. napped. ate organic raisins. ate more snacks. sang songs. meanwhile, husband was flipping out, banging on the steering wheel wishing he'd never planned the darn trip.

We finally arrived at our first destination - Keene, NH. Since the road up was so long, we opted to stay two nights in Keene to get the most of this adorable town!!





The pictures don't even do it justice! It was such a cute place, very low key, and the best thing of all - our hotel was one block from main street. we walked to most everything! the shops, restaurants, the farmers market, you name it. I adored the town as did husband. It was such a clean unique little place. The kid ran around all over and yes, he was barefoot. He's gotten into a bad ole habit of throwing off his sandals, constantly.... this afternoon, i just let it be. the streets were so darn clean! who cared!



We ventured out one day to a local lake area with a beach. The kid loved the sand and water!



He loved watching the boats too. the real boats that is. but also the inflatable rafts all the other kids had, he was loving those too. He kept calling them boats. Wheres my boat Mama?? I was confused at first but finally realized what he meant. I thought I was being smart to bring along his bucket and shovel, thinking, what else does a kid need?!? apparently - a kid really needs his very own boat! He wouldn't let it go either! We felt like bad parents by the end of the day haha. but he managed to still have fun, even without a boat. He built sand castles and played on the playground too. And believe me, as soon as we left that lake, we drove straight to walmart and bought that boy his very own boat!! HE LOVED IT. and was obsessed with it the rest of the trip! He constantly needed to know where his boat was. He even woke during the night a few times talking about his boat, asking for it LOL. So funny! I hate i don't have a picture of that darn boat to post!



We ate some wonderful food too... the town had anything you could think of - even food i liked haha... heres a group shot taken by some super nice people that sat next to us:) Everywhere had outdoor seating which we love!



Here's dad and abram waiting on the fireworks show! the fireworks show we never saw.



Yep. thats right. we waited over an hour for fireworks that never could be seen. the parking lot was packed with folks waiting. packed! the people parked next to us said they were there last year and it was a great show. They were over from VT for the weekend and were wonderfully nice. They're kids played with our kid, they shared their bug spray (thank you!), and even let abram play with some of their toys. The fireworks started, and we heard them well. but - apparently the location moved for this year and no one (in the parking lot!) knew it! BUMMER:( No worries though. We caught a fireworks show the next night in upstate NY.

After our lovely two days in NH, we spent a day in VT, even hitting up a local flea market! That night, we ended up in Woodstock NY for our last night. It was a fun trip and we would love to go back to Keene! but NOT on the fourth of july, ever again! traffic was just too much. But we still had a ball!

The never ending illness...

I blame daycare. I blame the kids in his class. I blame his teachers. I blame the day i forgot to wipe down the highchair at the mall. i blame myself sometimes too. The poor kid is always battling an illness. It's never ending. Not just one ongoing illness. A whole slew of them.

Ranging from ear infections, colds, viruses, pink eye, a viral infection, the undiagnosed illnesses, the rash, oh and the lovely hand-foot-and-mouth one, another pink eye, and the last one, the real kicker, the croup.

The croup. Ugh. Over this one weekend in particular, he was a bit sniffly but when isn't a daycare kid sniffly!? I remember at some point husband remarking that the kid sounded wheezy but - I had shrugged it off.

Monday morning rolled around. I strolled off (thats a lie. more like, raced off because i was Late!) to work early to teach a class. Husband later called saying the kid had a fever and sounded very wheezy. A trip to our good ole pediatrician was in order. He was diagnosed with the croup. Parent instruction? keep an eye on it and bring him back if it worsens. He already sounded awful - how we were to know if it worsened was beyond me.

Fast forward into Tuesday afternoon, I had just wrapped an invigorating teaching session with my ever excited, optimistic personnel (HA!). Husband calls. The kid was in the ER because his breathing became so labored he couldn't get enough air and/or oxygen.

"Okay. I'm on my way," I calmly told him.

I casually told my co-instructor I had to go, giving brief details of my sick kid. Not saying much. I'm sure he is sick of hearing it. My sick kid. blah blah blah. He doesn't have children. He is a man. and i doubt he gives two craps honestly. and to top it all off, my kid is always sick so - again, i'm sure he's thinking 'oh yea yea whatever, are you coming in tomorrow or what?' good times.

Turns out, he was transported to a peds unit for overnight breathing treatments, steriods, the whole nine. I went from a mom who flinches at giving him doses of motrin, to asking when he gets the next steriod treatment. I stayed overnight with the little guy, forcing husband home to rest (like he did ha. no chance - he was worried to death. not that i wasn't but i just handle illness related stress much better than him. he knows this. as i do obviously).

I begged of the doctor, "why does this keep happening to him? Is something wrong with his immune system? I mean, seriously? what is going on with all this sickness!?"

Doctor: "Is he in daycare?"

Me: "well yes."

Doctor: "yea, thats how it goes. I know its rough but by the time he starts kindergarden, he'll have the best immune system in his whole class," she throws out casually as she writes notes in his chart.

Me (thinking to self): Oh well, how wonderful. I feel fabulous now. I have something to look forward to FOR THREE YEARS! sigh.
(now verbalizing) "Um, is there anything I can do, to ward off any of these germs, illnesses, or to give him some level of...?"

Doctor: "Probably not. I mean, sure there are good ideas like a good diet, his vitamins, but mainly lots of hand washing. lots! Truthfully though, when a kids in daycare its a never ending germ fest. Turning into a germ freak won't help anything. Just be conscious. That's all you can do."

A never ending germ fest. so very medical doctor-ish sounding isn't it? I loved the terminology. And I really liked her. and she is absolutely right.

I spent the next two days sulking over his illness. suffering from guilt that we send him to that never ever germ fest. and wondering when it would end. I visualized dropping him off at daycare with rubber gloves on and a mask perhaps.

I am not a worrier. I am not. I don't want to become one either. I find that, being a mom, thats a little more challenging than prior. ya know, back when I just had good ole me to worry about. well, and the dogs.

We had planned a fourth of july trip to New Hampshire and upstate New York. We monitored him closely, trying to decide, should we should still attempt the trip? The doctor had sent him home with no meds, saying he sounded wonderful by discharge. She felt he would recover rapidly and assured us that making the trip that friday would probably be just fine. I missed the rest of work that week to stay home with the kid and keep my eye on him 24/7. well, i did sleep at night so whats that, 17/7?

Nevertheless, I put the worries behind me. We hit the road to NH. And I did not send him back to daycare till the next week (no gloves or mask, i promise).

Sesame Place!

After months of an obsession and love for all things Sesame Street, we decided to plan an outing to Sesame Place in Langhorne, PA. Abram was anxious to check out the map and see what he wanted to hit up first!



Honestly, I feel bad saying it, but I was dreading it in a way. I hear stories about mobs of people with screaming children, lines so long you have to wait and wait for anything, hot summer days so hot you can't stand it, and so on. Obviously those stories weren't exactly creating excitement for me!!! as you can imagine. But we planned to meet another couple with their son who is only a couple months younger than the kid. So I was definitely looking forward to seeing our friends and their son.

Turns out, the day was awesome! Yes it was hot and yes it was crowded. lines - yes there were some but nothing as bad as I had expected. And - the best part which made the day a blast for all of us - the kid loved every single moment!! He had such a ball!!! We had prepped him for days saying "guess who we're going to see this weekend?? Big Bird!!!" He was very excited and happy days before but especially when we finally got to see big bird!!!



There was a parade in the afternoon and boy was he excited to see all his favorite guys, all in one place! He was pointing and shouting, saying "Wook! Wook!! Ernie! Elmo! Abby!" etc...



We took a break and went into the AC for some cool down time and to watch an episode of "Elmo's World Live"! Both the boys were tuned in and in complete focus on Elmo and Mr. Noodle!



This was the kids first experience with rides. Though he was slightly apprhensive beforehand, he got right on them and enjoyed it! All 6 of us piled into a tube and went down a waterslide - the boys wore lifejackets. The finale of the ride was a huge drop - abram held his breath the whole way, it scared the crap out of him i could tell. But afterward - he kept saying "wow! good job! fun!! good job! fun!!" Too Cute:) that was the longest line we waited in all day but was well worth it.

The boys really enjoyed each others company, as the parents did!! They had some water time in the many pools. rode some rides together and even enjoyed some ice cream. One of our last visits of the day was with Bert and Ernie. The boys were So excited to see the brothers and ran right to them, giving out big hugs and kisses! As you can see, they weren't scared a bit!



Afterward, on the way home, Abram kept saying, "I hug Ernie! I see Big Bird. I hug Ernie!" Then he fell asleep about 2 minutes later. It was fun but exhausting too... as you can see, he was zonked. and slept the whole way home!



It was an awesome outing and day I love to look back on. We can't wait to take him back!

Happy Fathers Day

We spent fathers day celebrating in Philly. It was a beautiful warm summer day and we enjoyed every minute! Our first stop was Silk City Diner. We get a real kick out of watching Diners, Drive-in's, and Dives on the Food Network. Not too long ago Guy stopped by this diner in philly so we just had to check it out ourselves! And we were more than pleased we did! the food was SO darn good! Everything was tasty:) though deciding what to order was tough - heres the boys reading over their many choices...



Posing with dad for a good fathers day shot...


Later on we stopped by to get dad his favorite cold treat - an ice cream cone from Chick-fil-a. He wasn't wanting to share ONE bite with the kid so - as a special treat, we got the kid his very own cone. his first one. And you guessed it - he LOVED it. its a special treat only - so not something we are frequenting this summer for him. He mostly eats fresh fruit for dessert. but for fun - we do like to work in some special treats;)

Traveling...

We have done a lot of traveling this summer. It all began in late April with a trip to TN, then soon after a trip to Utah followed. Then onto western PA for a visit to see more family and later a trip to NC for a high school graduation. The kid has done SO well with all these trips! We do tend to spend a lot of time on the road in the early months of summer. We don't really have a choice if we want to see our family and friends! Philadelphia is a great place to live but we do hate to be so far away from everyone. So, we make the trips necessary to keep in touch and see everyone as much as possible.

The kid has gotten used to being in the car and doesn't seem to mind. I pack lots of great snacks, drinks, and videos. He has a dvd player that hangs on the back of the passenger seat. He looks at the scenery a lot too. But then we do let him get in a lot of video time which he adores. He doesn't watch videos at home so its a real treat in the car. He enjoys big bird and elmo videos and also some veggie tales too! Usually a nap works its way in there sometime as well - thankfully! He got a new travel pillow from mamaw/big daddy. he won't use it as its supposed to be used - he likes it on his head like ear muffs! lol...



One of trip to NC, we left on a friday afternoon, heading to high point, NC for the night. The kid had a ball on our trip despite long lengths of time in the car. He loves staying in a hotel. Whenever we pull up to a hotel though - he does the funniest/strangest things. We park and he says "No Dinosaurs!! No Dinosaurs!" I assure him there are no dinosaurs at this hotel. Then he's fine. bizarre! anyway, once in the room - he goes into Turbo Hotel Mode. Meaning - crazy! he runs around the room like a complete maniac no matter what hour it is - then finally crashes. There were no pack-n-plays available at the hotel in high point, so he slept with mom. It was a hard decision though.

"I sleep with Daddy", he would say. Run over to daddys bed. gets cozy. covers up.

"Uhh, Mommmmyyy.... I sleep with Mommy!" he jumps down and into my bed.

" Ohhh Daddddyyy! I wanna sleep daddy", and back and forth and back and forth.

I finally forced him into a decision so we could all get some rest. "Mommy or Daddy, Final Answer!!" I demanded.

He went with mommy and cried for daddy!

I know some parents love to sleep in bed with their kids but i have never been one of them! UGH. He tosses, he turns, he whines, he rolls. what a nightmare! I was seriously hoping he would pick daddy haha. Nevertheless, we got some rest and hit the road onto the Charlotte the next morning. He had a great time with family and enjoyed his first graduation experience.



Here he is getting some instructions of some sort from Papaw:)



We headed home on sunday morning and had a great travel day!

Strawberry pickin'

We ventured over to Highland Orchard Farms with our neighbors and friends, Steve, Kelly, & Avery on a sunday morning. We are so blessed to have such a great couple right next door with a boy only 6 weeks older than Abram! The boys truly love playing together! And we get along fabulously with Steve and Kelly. We took them right on the invite to go strawberry picking with the boys.

It was a 'pick your own' patch and we got right in there with the other pickers and started our own box of berries.



the biggest challenge was to keep the kid from eatin' the goods!! lets just say - he didn't eat much lunch that day!


all of us after our pick was over... you can see the leftovers on the kid's chin! haha... he loved it!


Then... later that night, after dinner, he got his first serving of southern style strawberry shortcake!!! he loved every bite!!!


what did we do with all those berries?!? not only did we munch on them as snacks, but we also had lots of strawberry shortcake, and even made some freezer jam! delish! and we made lots of great memories in the process. fun stuff!

June Summer Fun

We've been having loads of summer fun and here's some of what the kids been up to thus far!

Playing in his tent...


Cleaning up outside with dad...


Wagon rides to the Park with the friends...


Outside water time with Mom...


Just as in the spring, the kid adores being outside! and though its summer and hot hot hot outside, it hasn't changed at all. He loves his pool, his water sprayer, his sandbox, and his play castle! Yes, we've loaded up on outdoor stuff for him obviously. And i'm glad we did - he has so much fun out there;)