outpourings from a mom's heart: Summer Vacation Recap--Week 8

Sunday, July 15--As much as we enjoyed our vacation, it was wonderful to wake up in our own beds this morning! The only thing missing was my husband, but he returned later in the day. The girls and I grocery shopped (it was worse than Old Mother Hubbard around here!) and took a walk around the block pretty early in the morning to beat the heat. Mylie got a little morning nap and then we drove through Jimmy John's for lunch and headed to the Big Bucket for a few hours. It was so hot out.....too hot for anything besides the pool. Brandon was home by the time we returned so I gave him an hour or so with the girls while I went to the hospital to visit Dellisa and baby Carsten. He was so sweet.....his chubby cheeks are so kissable! We just chilled at home the rest of the evening.
Monday, July 16--The morning was spent vacuuming out the van, emptying the dishwasher and going around the block. Brandon headed over to Nevada to finalize things with our "new" van while the girls and I headed over to Bandshell Park for Dan Wardell's Reading Road Trip (he's the PBS kids guy on IPTV). The girls really enjoyed his presentation, as did I. This year, he was handing out frisbees (which are to double as spaceship steering wheels).

Backpacks are on sale at Target this week so we went and got some for the girls.....Kindergarten will be starting up really soon.

After lunch, Myah, Maysen and I headed to Huxley to my friend, Anne's, pool. Sadly, she's moving at the end of the week so it was our last hurrah at this pool. Luckily, their new house (in Cedar Rapids) has a pool so we can't wait to go and visit them soon!! After supper, we went over to the Geisler's house and Myah and Maysen got to hold baby Carsten. They think he's pretty fun!

Tuesday, July 17--We had a playdate at our house with the Zoskes! Stacey is my good friend with whom I ran the Dam-to-Dam, her oldest son, Nate, was born the same day as Myah and Maysen, and Logan is about 6 weeks older than Mylie. Needless to say, we have a good time when we are together. After playing for about an hour, we headed to Panchero's (AKA the Quesadilla Place) for lunch followed by a quick trip to Target. I took the girls home for a nap and we had planned to go to the Big Bucket once everyone was awake. Those plans changed when Mylie woke up with a 103.5/104 temp (taken in her ear). I called for a Dr. appointment for her and she saw our pediatrician at 4:15. He ordered some blood work but concluded that she has a virus and it will probably 3-5 days until she's over it. Unfortunately, she had a febrile seizure around 6:30 and spent the next 3 hours in the ER. Luckily we got to take her home that night, but it was the scariest thing I've ever experienced.

Wednesday, July 18--With all of the 'excitement' of Tuesday night, we spent the entire day at home. I think this was the first day all summer that I didn't leave the house to even go to HyVee. Mylie is back to normal running around and laughing, which is such a relief to see. If I hadn't witnessed the seizure, I'd hardly believe it actually happened. We napped, played games, read books and did a whole lot of snuggling. Brandon had basketball camp all afternoon so it was just me and the girls.

Thursday, July 19--All three girls had dentist appointments in the morning. Sparkling reviews for all of them. No cavities. Myah and Maysen's x-rays showed that they will have another set of molars moving in really soon. It's apparent that Mylie just got her 1-year molars and she's cutting her bottom incisors....hence the fever on Tuesday :( Mylie had a follow-up appointment with Dr. Smith after seeing the dentist. He thought she looked good and didn't feel the need for further tests after her seizure. The RSV and Influenza tests had come back negative and he was pleased that she no longer was running a temp. We went for lunch at Noodles and Co. and then had a quick trip to Target before heading home and all of us having a much needed 2 hour nap.

Friday, July 20--It was nice having Brandon home for the entire day. I took Myah and Maysen to the Big Bucket for 3 hours while Brandon and Mylie helped out Brandon's friend Mike and went out for lunch. We had supper with the Geisler family and played outside on the waterslide until bedtime. It was really nice to have a normal summer day again....no basketball camp, no appointments, no sick kids.

Saturday, July 21--I got up and ran 3.5 miles with the Vardo group. I wanted to do the 6.5 mile route but no one else in my pace group was doing the long route so I went home and took Mylie for a walk in the stroller for my last 3 miles. The girls are going to be doing a Park and Rec Day Camp next week with a Summer Olympics theme so they needed some new tennis shoes. We scored some purple and silver Champion ones at Payless!

I took Brandon and Mylie home--so she could nap-- while the other two and I got some groceries. After lunch, we hung out in the family room and then called for an all-family nap around 2:30. It was a great day to go to the park because even though it was 93 degrees, there was a nice breeze (that we haven't been seeing lately) and it was partly cloudy so the sun wasn't beating down on us. We grilled chicken breasts for supper and then made a spur-of-the moment trip to Target. We are working on paying off all of our debt but we wanted to be sure to cash in our rewards points on our credit card. We had enough for two $100 gift cards from Target. Awesome, right!! We bought all of the girls' school supplies and a few other necessary household things and have $75 left for next time.