I Want the Old Adam Back

This new Adam talks funny, is too quiet, whines way too much, and is mean. His voice has changed since he has no tonsils. It sounds nasally and whiny. I have been told that this is just temporary. I hope so because I don't think I can take much more of the whining. I can't understand a thing he says now, and I hate having to ask him to repeat stuff because I know it hurts his throat. He gets so frustrated that he ends up crying which is no good for his throat either. He resorts to grunting and pointing most of the time which I also sometimes don't get. As you can see in the above picture, the new Adam is not cooperative. The old Adam would pose for the camera with a big "Cheese!" Not this Adam. I've tried to take his picture several times and he turns away. The new Adam is not nice to his siblings. I was leaving to go pick Jackson up from bible school this morning and he stood at the door telling me he didn't want me to get Jackson. The old Adam hated when Jackson wasn't home. The new Adam is throwing things at Sarah instead of giving them to her nicely like he used to. I am hoping these new behaviors are all coming from the stress of this surgery and are going to be short-lived. I have a feeling if they continue he is going to begin spending a lot more time in time out and is going to be seeing a lot of "Spanky Spoon".

He has been feeling much better today I think. He has asked to eat on several occasions. He went to a friend's birthday party this afternoon and an ice cream social at church tonight. He had a few bites of the birthday cake at the party, and when we got home from church, he said he wanted a hot dog- Why not? They're soft. Kevin cut one up in the tiniest of pieces and Adam ate the whole thing! That's more than he's eaten in one day so far! (He also had some ice cream at church.)

Sarah's newest favorite toy- a water bottle. She carried this thing around all morning. At the birthday party I had a Coke and she was dying to get her hands on the bottle. She had some cake and ice cream, too. She wasn't too fond of the ice cream but loved the cake!

Now, do you think she would hold her real bottle by herself?- NOPE! She refuses to hold it but will sit in this beanbag and hold the water bottle. Go figure! I just knew she would crawl right out when I put her there but she stayed for quite a while.

I don't think Adam expected me to have the camera when he did this. He also made an awful face when he got up. I think this pose must have hurt his throat a little.

Tonsil Free- Day Four

When I was forced out of bed this morning at 6:00 I thought we would be back at the hospital by the end of the day. Adam came in around 4:30 and said that his tummy hurt. Kevin got up and Adam went back to bed on his own. At around 5:30, Sarah woke up, and I put her pacifier back in her mouth and she went back to sleep. At 6:00 Adam came in our room saying his tummy hurt. He made it to the chest at the end of our bed and threw up on the blanket. I couldn't believe he actually had something in his stomach to throw up. We cleaned him up and put him in bed with us hoping to get a few more minutes of shut-eye. Adam started complaining of his throat hurting so I went downstairs and got him some medicine. He took it just fine but threw it all up about ten minutes later. Sarah woke up and the three of us went downstairs. Kevin stayed in the bed and Jackson had spent the night with a friend. As I was fixing Sarah a bottle, Adam asked for water. I thought, well if he's asking for something his stomach should be fine. He drank a small cup of water. And ten minutes later, threw it up. Our instructions from the hospital said to call the doctor if he had any nausea or vomiting. I waited for the office to open and gave them a call. The nurse said it was probably a virus and to give them a call back if he didn't get any better throughout the day. Thank goodness he kept everything else down the rest of the day. He got up and played with Sarah a little and worked on a puzzle with me. We did the same Cars puzzle about 10 times. After a while I had him go lay back down to rest. He did and ended up falling asleep. Jackson came back from his friend's house around 1:30 and it woke Adam up. Jackson wanted lunch, and Adam decided that he was ready to eat, too.- except he wanted what Jackson was having- quesadillas. He wouldn't even settle for the chocolate pudding. He took a few sips of apple juice through tears. I told him to go lay back down until he could stop crying. Jackson had to eat in the pantry just in case Adam came back in the kitchen. Don't worry. I set him up a little table and a stool in there. He was all cozy. While Jackson was resting, Adam decided he was ready to eat, and he wanted breakfast. So at 4:30 in the afternoon the boy ate some oatmeal and drank some apple juice.

When Jackson got up they played nicely together in the living room. Jackson left around supper time to go to Vacation Bible School and then Kevin came home. I've decided that it is best for Jackson to stay away from the house as much as possible so Adam doesn't feel like he has to keep up with him. Jackson is definitely enjoying his excursions and Adam doesn't seem to mind...yet. While Jackson was away, Adam ate some tomato soup and drank some milk. He's asking for things like macaroni and cheese and fruit snacks, but I just don't think he's ready for those yet. He's only had one dose of Tylenol today, so he must not be in as much pain. Although all of the paperwork and the things I've read say that you have a backslide with the pain around the 4-6 day mark. Tomorrow may not be as good of a day.

I gave Adam this bucket so that if had to throw up, he could use it instead of going all the way to the bathroom. I thought it might save my couch and rug, too. Once he started feeling better he was putting it on my head. I put it on his head and then on Sarah's. I tried to get a picture of Adam but he wouldn't let me.

Sarah was quite the little monkey today. She followed me from room to room playing with whatever she could find. She has added lots of sounds to her "vocabulary". In addition to mama and baba, today I also heard some da's, some ga's, and some other stuff all strung together. If she was playing with it, she was talking to it, too. Her motor boat also ran most of the day. Oh- and she slept! She took about a 2 hour nap which I think is a record for her.

Tonsil Free- Day Three

We took Jackson and Sarah to the sitter's so that Adam could rest, and rest is what he did. He pretty much laid around the house today. He either laid on the couch, the floor, or the chair. He took three bites of applesauce and declared he didn't like it but did drink some water. Around lunchtime I offered him some chocolate pudding and he ate the whole thing! It's not exactly healthy, but he's getting calcium, right?

He took a nap and when he woke up he had more medicine, more chocolate pudding, and more water. We went to go get Jackson and Sarah. We took Jackson to a friend's house where he is spending the night. Once we got home, Adam got down on the floor and played with Sarah a little- the most active he's been all day. We played some cards and colored a little. He also started talking more. Around dinner time, he asked for some fruit snacks. I told him he couldn't have fruit snacks but he could have applesauce, Jello, or mashed potatoes. He decided he wanted mashed potatoes. I let him help me make them, and he ate a small bowl with some milk.

Today didn't start off too good but ended up being a good day in the end. I think Adam is finally making some progress. We'll see what tomorrow brings.

The Saga on Becoming Tonsil Free

About a year ago, we had Adam evaluated for his speech because he wasn't talking very much. The Speech Therapist mentioned that his tonsils were pretty big and said he should be looked at by an ENT. I didn't think it was that big of a deal so I waited until his 3 year old check-up and asked his pediatrician about them. Dr. Bailey said they were large and that he definitely should be seen by an ENT. When I called to make the appointment I was surprised that I could get one so quickly. Dr. McQueen took a very quick look at Adam's throat and said, "Yep, those have got to come out." So, here we sit today recovering from a tonsillectomy and adenoidectomy.

The procedure occurred on Tuesday morning at 8:40. As soon as we got to the hospital at 7:15, they took us back to the pre-op area. Kevin and I were able to stay with him the whole time. They had a coloring book, a clown made by the Auxiliary club, and a gown for him. Sitting on my lap, he colored and hugged the clown but refused to take his clothes off. He kept asking when we could go home. I just kept telling him we have to see the doctor first. He fought about taking his medicine (some Tylenol and some sort of Valium), but we had no idea that this little "fight" was nothing compared to later. He finally got loopy enough for us to get him into the gown right before they took him back. He even sat on the bed as long as Kevin sat with him. Kevin was able to go back with him until he fell asleep. He had to put on a full length suit, shoe covers, and a hair cover. I wish I had remembered the camera! Kevin said that Adam fought the mask they put on his nose, and he had to help hold him down. Not a pleasant experience.

We sat in the waiting room for about 30 minutes when the doctor called us back. Dr. McQueen said that Adam did fine and that his tonsils were huge. He said he should be able to breathe much better now. He also said he wouldn't be back by until after his office closed at 5:00!!! There went all of our plans. We were thinking we would all be home by that time. What a surprise we were in for.

We went and sat back in the waiting room for another 1o minutes or so (it felt more like an hour) before they called us back to the recovery room. We decided that I would go to recovery and that Kevin would go wait in Adam's room. When I got back there, he was screaming, coughing, and tossing and turning all over the bed. They pulled a rocking chair close to the bed. The nurse said she was going to place him in my lap because if she let go of him for me to get him, he was going to run. He sat in my lap and I gave him bear, but he was still trying to get all the leads off of him and was trying to get to his IV. We were told that the first people he would see when he woke up would be us so that he would think we were with him the whole time. That plan backfired a little don't you think? The poor kid was scared to death and didn't recognize a soul. They did call Kevin in to join us too. We stayed in there for about 15-20 minutes while he calmed down and all the monitors said he was doing good. They transferred me and Adam to a wheel chair and wheeled us up to his room on the pediatrics floor.

He wanted me in bed with him, so we sat and watched some cartoons together. He never went to sleep. Kevin and I both expected him to just crash once he got to his room. The nurse, Christie, came in and gave him some Tylenol with codeine and an antibiotic which he took with no problem. Looking back, the heavy duty pain meds they gave him right after surgery were still working. His lunch came and he ate some orange Jello, three bites of a popsicle, a few sips of apple juice, and three or four ice chips. It all went down hill after that. He ended up falling asleep and I had no idea how often he was supposed to take the pain medicine. I also thought because he was a child, they would give him the pain medicine without us having to ask. WRONG! Just like adults you have to request it. He was in so much pain that he only ended up swallowing about half of his pain meds. He wouldn't drink anything and didn't touch his supper (orange Jello).

A bad thunderstorm rolled around about the time the doctor was supposed to come by. He had been in touch with the nurses throughout the day and called us to say that he didn't feel safe walking over to the hospital (we didn't blame him), and he felt that Adam should stay the night because he hadn't drunk enough during the day. He would be by early in the morning to check on him. Kevin left a little later to get Jackson and Sarah from the baby sitter's. He brought them to see Adam and brought me some dinner. Jackson was very curious and was asking way too many questions around Adam. He, Sarah, and I went for a little walk to answer all those questions. They left as the nurses were changing shifts.

Adam and I had gotten settled. He was laying with me in the bed watching TV (thank goodness for those channels that show kids shows all day long and into the night!) when the new nurse came in. Her name was Terry and she was a little abrupt. She just did what she had to do and didn't "sweeten" any of it up for Adam. At least he was used to the blood pressure, temperature, and heart rate checks. She put the pulsar machine on his finger (it had been on his toe but taken off for the many trips to the bathroom) and taped it on. He wanted it off and started crying. Then she wanted him to take his medicine. Of course, he wanted me to give it to him. Through tears and threatening to get Terry to give it to him, I attempted. He spit it all out. Terry just got another dose and he did take that. Again, he took the antibiotic just fine. He just hates the taste of that Tylenol. I texted Kevin and asked him to bring our Tylenol from home to see if he would take that any better. I got ready for bed, turned the lights down, and held him until he fell asleep. Around 10:00, about the time I had just fallen asleep, the nurse came in to get me to sign some papers and to give me a sheet on which to record his eating and bathroom habits. Couldn't that have waited until morning??? I think I finally fell asleep about 2-3 hours later, which was about 30 minutes before she came in again.

She checked Adam's vital signs again and said it was time to take his medicine again. My thought- Oh boy, here we go again. He got so upset that he was coughing, crying, and bleeding. I am so glad we spent the night because I would have freaked out! Terry checked his throat several times and I guess it stopped because she never really did anything about it. He did take both the Tylenol and the antibiotic. I changed his Pull-Up and he laid right down and went back to sleep. Me? I lay there listening to him, checking on him every time he coughed. I think we slept (if you can call it that) until about 6:00 when Terry returned. More medicine. More tears. This time Terry left the room and I gave Adam his medicine and he did so much better. I think he just didn't like her. He got up to potty (which was an ordeal with the IV and the Pulsar monitor) and then laid back in bed watching more cartoons. He started complaining of his belly hurting. I thought, Oh good, he's hungry. I asked him if he wanted some juice. He nodded, so I went to the refrigerator got some juice and a cup. I poured all of that juice into a cup and gave it to Adam. He held the cup to his mouth and threw up all in the cup. I called for the nurse, and she came right in. She didn't seem alarmed by it at all. She said it was from all the blood he had swallowed that night. GROSS! Again, so glad we spent the night.

Around 7:30, Dr. McQueen came in to check on Adam. He was more concerned about him eating and drinking. I asked him about taking regular Tylenol without the codeine, and he was OK with that- thank goodness! He also said he would have them turn the IV off (not take it out of his arm but at least unhook him from the machine) so he could move around more. After Dr. McQueen left, we met our new nurse, Kelly. Mine and Adam's favorite by far. She checked his vitals and turned the IV down so that not so much was going in him. She said that it would encourage him to drink and eat some Jello. They brought him 3 bowls of Jello for breakfast, but someone in the cafeteria got confused. They brought him peach Jello instead of orange. Adam took about two bites of the peach and said he didn't like it. UGH! He was actually going to eat but didn't like it. Go figure! We asked Kelly to call down for some orange Jello and asked her about giving him our grape Tylenol from home. The hospital apparently only has cherry- Adam's least favorite flavor. She had no problems with that which was good because I could make sure he got it every 3-4 hours instead of having to wait for the nurse to get it. He was a little more tolerant of the grape flavor but still fought a little before taking it.

His orange Jello came and he ate all of it! He also had a few sips of water. At this point we were pros at taking him to the bathroom and he became one too. We would have to unplug his cord from the pulsar machine and unplug the IV machine to take it with us. Adam would hold his pulsar cord, I would hold the IV line and push the machine. He knew he couldn't walk too fast. I think he enjoyed going to the bathroom because he could get up and move around.

After lunch (an orange popsicle, some water, and some orange Jello) and a nap, the nurse came in and unhooked his IV completely. She didn't take it out of his hand but at least he could move around better. He went for some short walks to the fish tank by the nurse's station and discovered the cart of books. He kept going out to get more books. There was a wagon in his room and he started climbing in and out of that getting a little more adventurous- a little more like Adam. I think that the codeine had been bringing him down. Around 4:00, we decided that we had had enough of the hospital and went to ask about a departure time. Kelly called Dr. McQueen, and he said that we could go home as long as Adam continued to eat and drink at home. She wrote up his discharge papers, went over instructions with us, and took out Adam's IV. He whimpered a little but was a trooper through the whole thing.

We left the hospital around 4:45 and went to get Sarah and Jackson. Seth, Ivy, and Jackson made get well bags for Adam with some goodies. He smiled so I know he appreciated them. We got home around 5:30. While Kevin fed Sarah, I tried feeding Adam some Jello. Our orange Jello must not taste like the hospital's Jello. He said he didn't like it. A Highlights Puzzle Book came in the mail with some stickers. I told him for every bite he took he could put a sticker on the page. It worked, and he ate the whole thing. Now, if only that would work for the Tylenol!

He colored with his crayons from the Lamoreaux's and Jackson, took a bath, and went to bed. He slept all night until about 7:30 the next morning which is great for Adam.

This whole ordeal was nothing like I expected. I thought he would take the Tylenol so we could stay on top of the pain and he would just bounce right back. I am now thinking he may not be ready to go back to the sitter's on Monday. Only time will tell...

Sarah's Nine Month Check-up

Sarah had her nine month check-up on Monday afternoon. She weighed 21 pounds, 10 ounces and was 29 1/2 inches long. She's a growing girl!

Eureka! We Have a Tooth!

We were beginning to wonder if we needed to invest in some dentures for Sarah, but never fear- the tooth is here! I felt her gums, as I have become accustomed to doing everyday lately, and low and behold there was actually a little bump. It's not quite tall enough to be noticed in a picture, but it won't be long before I'll posting one of her pearly white.

Entrepreneurships and Thunderstorms

Jackson decided today that he was going to charge admission to his bedroom. He moved his little table into the doorway and set up shop. He began charging $5.00 to get into his room and then as the morning wore on, the price went... UP! He crossed out the $5.00 and wrote in $10.00. Let's just hope he doesn't run his future business this way!


We were all upstairs when a big thunderstorm broke out this morning. Adam was amazed that it was thundering in everyone's room. The lights did end up going off for a couple of hours. This was Adam's first experience with a power outage, and he couldn't understand why neither of the bathroom lights worked. Unfortunately this outage occurred during lunchtime. Adam also didn't understand why he had to eat a PB and J for lunch instead of the quesadilla that he wanted. The power did come back on- just in time for Adam to take a nap. It's so tough being 3!

Our Trip to Pennsylvania- Day Five: Hershey

Our first stop today was Hershey's Chocolate World. We hopped right on the ride through the "factory" as soon as we got there. Jackson was amazed at all the chocolate, and Adam liked the singing cows. It just made me want some chocolate. It was a good thing they gave us all a miniature Hershey bar at the end of the ride. We then walked through the gift shop and drooled over all the candy they had. I never knew Hershey made so much stuff. Some of it wasn't even chocolate!
Next, we went to a new attraction called "Make Your Own Chocolate Bar", and you really do. You decide what you want in your bar and watch it go down the factory line being made. It was really cool.

Then we headed with our homemade bars to buy some of the stuff we drooled over earlier. I think we ended up with one of each! Sorry, Aunt Jamie we couldn't find any Nestle stuff anywhere!

We went to a diner to eat lunch and then headed over to Hershey Gardens. They had a Butterfly House, a Children's Garden, and many rose gardens. It was awfully hot, but a neat place to visit.

It was getting late which meant it was time to start our journey home. We have arrived in Harrisonburg, VA and will be back in Mebane before we know it.

We visited with the Hershey Kiss at the store. Jackson really wanted to buy one of the world's largest chocolates- Hershey Bar, Hershey Kiss, Twizzlers, you name it! He settled on some Jolly Ranchers, not even chocolate! Adam wanted everything he saw no matter what it was.

Here we are in the Make Your Own Chocolate Bar factory. As you can see we had to wear the Factory Worker get-up. Haitnets, aprons, and gloves. I even had to take all of my jewelry off. Adam and Jackson are scanning their ticket and choosing the ingredients they want to add to their chocolate bar. You could even put sprinkles on top.

I think this is Jackson's bar. He chose chocolate cookie bits, vanilla chips, and rainbow jimmies, i.e. sprinkles. They said they used some kind of vibration system to get the right amount of insides added to the bars. This is how they get the peanuts in the Mr. Goodbar.

The bar is getting chocolate poured over it to "close it up". The screens vibrate to get all the extra chocolate off.

Sprinkles get added on top (if you wanted them- I opted out.) and the bar heads through a cooler. While your bar is being cooled, you head over to another computer where you design your wrapper. Once the bar is cooled it gets sent through another machine where it is boxed, a laser prints your name on the box and then the box is sealed. A lady on the end takes your bar, puts it in a tin box and then wraps the tin box with your designed wrapper.

Here we are in our chocolate factory attire holding our finished products. It was a pretty cool experience.

Jackson and Adam sit on a cow in the Children's Garden at Hershey Gardens.

There was a "Spa Garden" which had a claw foot tub full of flowers and these big stone slippers.

Adam had to try the slippers on, too.

This has been a great trip. I think Sesame Place will stand out in Adam's mind as he is still looking to go back to Elmo's House. He also been looking forward to each new hotel visit. Jackson seemed to enjoy everything we did, and I hope he will remember it all. I have loved having the chance to see "the world" and these new experiences through the eyes of a 7 and 3 year old. You never know what they will get out of something, and it's usually a completely different perspective from what I see. It's been a lot of fun, but I am definitely ready to sleep in my own bed and am ready to send the kids to their own room. At 10:30, we are still waiting for Adam to fall asleep. He has just now stopped turning flips in the bed and has finally quieted down. This has given us some insight as to what he must do up in his room each night after we tuck him in and head back downstairs. I miss my Sarah and can't wait to get her back either!

Our Trip to Pennsylvania- Day Four: The Crayola Factory

We left Langhorne, PA and traveled northeast to Easton, PA this morning. Google Maps sent us on the scenic route through hills, mountains, and along the river. It would have been a much prettier drive had it not been raining...again. We went into the Crayola Factory where they showed us how they made crayons, markers, and silly putty. I had no idea Crayola made silly putty, but they do! They make 1200 crayons every 30 minutes there at the factory. Today they were making red crayons and orange markers. This wasn't the "real" Crayola Factory- that one was down the street. This factory makes the crayons and markers they give to you. The boys got 3 markers (orange, purple, and green), a four-pack of crayons (red, blue, green, and macaroni and cheese), and a small bag of Model Magic. After the show we went to various stations and completed many art activities. We colored with the Color Wonder markers, sculpted and colored our Model Magic, made crayon rubbings, drew an underwater creature and then painted bubbles on it with bubble wrap (we put those through the dryer to dry them so we could take them home), and colored with special markers on the wall.

Our ticket to Crayola also included a visit to the Canal Museum which was just upstairs. The boys learned how to harness a mule, drive a boat with a rudder, operate the locks on the canal, and much more. After exploring the museum we went for a stroll through the Crayola Store. Kevin wanted some glow-in-the dark Silly Putty, but the line was all the way to the back of the store. He decided it wasn't worth the wait and we were all starving. We did get to see the world's largest crayon though.

After eating a disappointing lunch at McDonald's- we just knew there would be a great restaurant nearby since we were in downtown Easton. They were all bars and weren't open for lunch. McDonald's was all there was- we got back in the car and headed to Harrisburg, PA near Hershey. Our hotel is right on the river so we took a walk down the river front and then went to look for something to eat. (Same thing here- bars and pubs. They must really like to drink in PA.) After dinner the kids and Kevin took a dip in the too cold for me pool and then headed to bed. It is 9:47 right now and I am still waiting for Jackson and Adam to go to sleep. It's going to be a toss-up as to who goes to sleep first- me, Kevin, Jackson, or Adam!

Jackson and Adam with Tip, the Crayola mascot.

Kevin helping Adam flatten out his Model Magic. He made a bear with a cookie cutter.

I made a flower, some bugs, and a caterpillar. Jackson made a hippo, a sunshine, and a basketball.

Adam coloring his second bear.

Adam decided he wanted to make a bug like mine. He is really concentrating.

Kevin and Jackson drawing on the wall.

Jackson and Adam peeking out of the train at the Canal Museum.

The Canal Museum had a 90 foot canal. We started in Farm Town and carried our cargo all the way to Port City. Here, we are collecting our coal that needs to make it to Port City as well. We had to use locks all through the canal to get our boats through. They allowed the water to rise and fall so the boats could go.

The largest Crayola Crayon in the world. It is made of real wax and had a real paper cover on it. I checked!

Our Trip to Pennsylvania- Day Three: Sesame Place

We weren't really sure how this day was going to turn out this morning, but in the end, it was a great day. We got up and headed over to Sesame Place for breakfast with Elmo. None of us looked out the window as we were getting ready to head out. When we got to the car the skies were all gray, and it started to sprinkle. I checked the weather right before we left and there was no rain in sight. It was supposed to be partly sunny all week. So much for forcasts. By the time we got to the parking lot, it had started to rain a little harder. I grabbed the umbrella and we all used it to walk into the park. We had to wait at the gate for about 15 minutes again today, and it started to pour. I almost didn't get the umbrella (I didn't want anyone to think we were wimps in the rain. ) and I am so glad I did. Luckily Breakfast with Elmo was just a short distance from the entrance so we didn't have far to tromp in the rain.

The breakfast went great. We did a little meeting and greeting with the characters, had our picture taken with Elmo, and then went through the buffet line for food. Once seated, the characters came around to visit as we ate. We saw Elmo, Big Bird, Bert, Ernie, and Zoe. Adam and Jackson both were disappointed that Cookie Monster wasn't there. He was having his own separate breakfast, and you know, if I had made reservations with him, they would have wanted to see Elmo. Go figure! Adam now has a fascination with Abby Cadabby, (I think he just likes to say her name) so he was disappointed that she wasn't there either.

While we were eating it began to pour and looked like it wasn't going to clear up. Looking outside, it looked like the park was under 3 inches of water. At 10:00 they made an announcement that the park was open and we could go out if we wanted. The doors didn't open. We weren't crazy. We all wanted to stay put where it was nice and dry. The next announcement was that they couldn't make a decision to close until 11:00, once it has rained for an hour, but everything was opened and we should go enjoy our day. Only a few brave families left at that point. They then told us that we could stay in there until 11:00, and then after that we had to leave! Jackson decided to say a prayer at that point for some sunshine. Kevin remembered that we had ponchos in the car and he was all paranoid about the camera getting wet. So, he left and went to the car to get ponchos and drop off the camera. Once he got back (around 10:45), and we got the ponchos out, it had stopped raining. Jackson's prayer worked! It really looked like we were in for a wash-out and that the rain was not going to stop. Not many people showed up at "Elmo's House" in the rain, so we could pretty much walk onto any ride. It was like that the rest of the day. A few more families ventured out but not many. Yesterday Adam just went along with us and rode every ride we did that he was tall enough for. Today he started protesting on a few of them. He did insist that we ride the horsies again (the carousel) and the sippy cups (the twirling tea cups). He and I also rode the Flying Fish Elmo ride two more times today while Kevin and Jackson rode some more waterslides.

We headed back to the car around noon to eat a snack and leave our clothes in the car. It was time to get wet! Around 3:00 the sky started to get dark again. Kevin and Jackson went down one more waterslide while Adam and I played at the little slides. Then we darted into a show just as it started to pour...again. By the time the show ended it had stopped raining. We left and went to Chick-fil-a for a late lunch or more like an early dinner and then headed back to the park for more fun.

This was as close as they would get when we first got to the breakfast. They would both give high fives. I could not get Adam to stand and face me with the characters.

Jackson is giving Elmo a hug.

Adam just buries himself in Elmo. The people there took a picture of all four of us but I didn't buy it. 1- because it was horrible quality and 2- we were supposed to get a free one somewhere else with the package deal we got.


Ernie came to visit Adam. He started to pretend to eat Adam's tater tots and then tried to feed them to Adam. Adam was going to have no part of that!

Ernie made Adam cry...

...and cry and cry... but Ernie tried to apologize by patting Adam on the head. Once Ernie walked over to Jackson, Adam got over it.

Jackson with Ernie.

Bert sat on the chair with Jackson and just about pushed him off.

Big Bird is so big that I don't think he can move around easily. He just sat on his stool and we had to go over to him. Jackson was really curious about the strings going from his arms to his beak. I think that was what they used to get his head and beak to move. Jackson being as analytical as he is, figured out how they did all their "magic" at Sesame Place. He had trouble not wanting to share it with Adam though.

Adam just loves Zoe. He kept wanting to touch her. This is the only picture I got of his face with Zoe. All the other ones were just of the back of his head.

With no one around, right after the rains stopped, we had a lot of photo opts on Sesame Street. There was the fire station, Hooper's Store, the Fix-It Shop, and Big Bird's house where his nest is. Here they sit in front of the stoop at 123 Sesame Street.

Kevin, Jackson, and Adam rode the tea cups this morning and then Adam and I rode the sippy cups this afternoon.

Adam and I rode the horsies (the carousel) again this afternoon, too. I thought this was a good picture of him.

There was a game where you fished for the big fish that pop up and open their mouths. Adam and Jackson have a game just like this at home, and Adam loves it. We couldn't not play the big version here to win a prize. He won a dolphin.

The sky started to get dark again, and of course, it began to rain. After winning the dolphin and zipping into the store nearby out of the rain, Adam was ready to go home. Jackson and Kevin took a few more turns down the waterslides in the rain, and then we headed back to the hotel. The rain actually let up just enough for us to get back to the car without getting soaked. Another fun-filled day at Sesame Place! Crayola Factory awaits us tomorrow.

Our Trip to Pennsylvania- Day Two: Sesame Place

We arrived at Sesame Place about 15 minutes before they opened this morning. I think that was the longest 15 minutes in Adam and Jackson's history! Lucky for us the park didn't seem very crowded. We didn't have to wait for very long at each ride. Sesame has two different rides- the dry ones and the wet ones. We rode the dry ones first and then had lunch. After lunch when we were hot and miserable we changed into our swimsuits and hit the wet rides. Adam called all the waterslides Slip 'N' Slides and loved every single one of them. He was too short to go on a few and didn't quite understand. He and I went to some of those shallow pools with water squirting out everywhere and then he was satisfied not wanting to leave those areas. We didn't have our camera with us for the "wet activities" as it is not waterproof, but here are some pictures of the "dry activities".

We all rode Big Bird's carousel first.

This was the Flying Fish ride. Jackson was excited to ride by himself. Adam wanted to ride with Jackson, but the rules said he had to ride with an adult. We had to go find an Elmo fish just like the one Jackson chose and then Adam was OK. I know this picture of me and Adam is blurry but it's the only one Kevin got with us looking towards the camera.

This was in a section of the park called Elmo's World. They have bushes and topiaries of the characters everywhere.

We went to see Elmo's World Live. They asked for audience participation, but Jackson refused to raise his hand. Adam was excited to see Elmo and Mr. Noodle. It was exactly like an episode from Sesame Street. This picture was taken on the set. We tried to get one with Dorothy the Fish but there were too many people in the way.

This was Jackson's favorite thing- the Climbing Nets. Adam and I went to do something else and could not find Kevin and Jackson anywhere, but we knew they were going to be in this area. We just forgot to look up! These nets were four stories high, and when I finally spotted them, Kevin was trying to squeeze through one of those tubes. He just barely fit through that one and thought he was stuck for good a couple of times. Adam and I joined them on the climb. It was a little freaky. I was OK as long as I didn't look down. We all 4 climbed across (which was a major workout) one section until we got to a tube. The boys went on and I turned back! I think Adam and Jackson would have gone back and forth through those nets all day.

After we rode all the wet stuff we could, (and it got cloudy and the wind picked up) we changed back to our clothes. Adam really wanted some popcorn, so we got a bucket to share and sat down to watch the parade. Adam's spot was on Kevin's shoulders for a little while.

Cookie Monster could really boogie. He was dancing like crazy and doing cartwheels down the street.

This is Zoe. She came over and Jackson and Adam both gave her high fives! No screaming, no running away, no tears. I think Jackson has finally conquered his fears of big furry creatures. Tomorrow will be the big test when we go eat breakfast with Elmo and some of his friends.

Our Trip to Pennsylvania- Day One

Today isn't going to be the most exciting day of our trip- I hope. We left around 9:00 this morning and arrived in Levittown, PA around 7:00 tonight. ONE LONG DAY OF DRIVING!!! We did get to see some pretty exciting things from the car. We saw lots of beautiful rivers and other bodies of water with tons of boats. Some were HUGE navy boats. We saw several train yards, shipyards, and ports. We saw the Washington monument and the top of the capital building. I was excited to drive under Van Dusen Road right before we got to Baltimore, MD. They even spelled it right! The boys liked the tunnel we went through. We did have to explain that you only scream in tunnels from trains at the park not cars! Once in Philadelphia, we saw football, baseball, and basketball arenas all in one area. We went over a two story bridge (we were on the bottom) over the Delaware River. We drove very close by an airport and saw several planes landing. Adam pointed our every yellow car on the road.
Once at the hotel, we had a picnic dinner and then went for a swim. Well, the boys swam. I watched. It's been quite a busy day. The boys are finally asleep. I wonder what time they will wake us tomorrow morning all excited to go to Elmo's House! As Adam goes to Ivy's house everyday, he thinks he is going to Elmo's house this week instead. I hope he doesn't get disappointed when Elmo doesn't have a house- just a world!
The boys were exceptional travelers today. Those Color Wonder markers are the best. They colored, read books, and only watched one movie. They did a great job of entertaining themselves.
Oh-you are probably wondering where Sarah is in all these travels. We did not bring her this time. She is with Gramma and Granddad. When we started planning this trip, Mom said, "We shouldn't take Sarah. It will be too much trouble." I think this was her ploy to get her all to herself for a week! Remember not to spoil her too much!

Some things Kevin and I will remember from today:

• I've never been through so many big cities in one day. I do not like them. There is too much traffic- and this was a Sunday! I can't imagine a week day.
• There are a million 95 Interstates. I-95, 295, 395, 495, 695, and 895. They all take you to the same place. Amazing. We did use this to our advantage though- if one had traffic all backed up we'd just pick another!
  
• The people up here go the speed limit. If it is 55mph, they will drive 55mph. They do not go and get out of the way. And they think we are slow in the south!
• We have never been in stop and go traffic as many times as we have today. Kevin said that they were all slowing down to look at the sites. It did seem that way, which was so we could get a good look at all the things we saw.

Well, off to bed so I can be ready to greet Elmo tomorrow! I'll have pictures to share tomorrow, too.

It's Been a Long Time...

It's been what, like 3 or 4 months since I've posted. We've got a lot of catching up to do! Sorry, I haven't taken the time to update this blog. I'll try and do better from now on. For this entry, I'll catch you up on all of our happenings through pictures.

Jackson finished his soccer season in the middle of May. His team met at the park near the soccer fields to play, have cupcakes and get their medals. This was Jackson's last season with this team. He will move up to what they call the U8 division. Boys under the age of 8 will play together on a longer field and with goalies. I think they even keep score. We're hitting the big time now!


Jackson and Adam celebrated their birthdays with friends at Bouncin' Around. It's a local place that has tons of bouncy houses and obstacles to jump on and in. We combined their party this year but each got their own cake! The next weekend we had a party for family at our house. We had "make-your-own sundaes" with all kinds of toppings.

Adam gets a ride to the house after the big birthday bash!

They wouldn't give me any cake! All I got was this tasty toy!

Sarah turned 8 months and started crawling all over the place. If left on her own she will follow us wherever we go. There is still no sign of teeth and just a little hair starting to grow. We are still waiting...

At the beginning of June, Jackson had his field day at school. This was a picture taken with his friend, Regan. He ran races, jumped on the bouncy things, and tried his hand at throwing the baseball at the dunking booth. Unfortunately (or maybe that was fortunate for Mr. Allred in the booth!), he missed!

I think this is just the cutest picture of the three of them. This is also our only picture of Jackson in his baseball uniform. I know, we are slack. We always seemed to be rushing to his games since they were so far out in the county. I never remembered the camera. He really enjoyed playing, (this was his first season) and Kevin even got some experience as an assistant coach as he helped out where he was needed.

This is Sarah's latest trick. She claps her hands and raises them over her head. She'll do it again if you acknowledge her and say, "Yeah, Sarah!"

Sarah is now nine months old and can pull up to a stand. Lately she has been known to let go and stand on her own for a minute. I think she will be walking before she has teeth or hair!
She loves the swimming pool. We thought Adam had no fear- Sarah has even less fear. She prefers to be swimming on her own without her float and tries to push your arms from around her so she can be "free". I really do want to let go just to see what she would do. As much as moves, she would probably just start swimming!

I just love this picture! Sarah loves her big brothers and Jackson loves holding her and playing with her. Adam is starting to tolerate her a little more. He likes to touch her head. Come to think of it, he pretty much pets her like a dog but does ask permission before doing it, which is good!

Adam got sick at the end of June with a virus. He ran a fever for about two days and was only puny (as you can see above) when there was no Tylenol in him. He bounced back pretty quickly but ended up giving it to Sarah by the end of the week. Her case wasn't quite as mild. She was a miserable girl with a higher fever for about three days.

Mine and Kevin's Fourth of July weekend wasn't an exceptionally relaxing one. We didn't once go to the pool or see the fireworks. While the kids were at Gramma and Granddads (yes, they took all three and survived!), we slaved over their bathroom. We pulled out about 500 short little nails that had once held up some OLD fabric wallpaper (I guess that's how they hung it 100 years ago) and then plugged the holes so that the walls would finally be smooth. Kevin took the exposed plumbing and tucked it behind the baseboard molding and then 3 days later I could finally paint. When I get the shower curtain and the towels hung, I'll post another picture. We only had a slight mishap with the water (We failed to make sure it was turned off before we turned it back on...oops!) but other than that, I think it's going to look great!

Oh, our little Sarah! She is going to be full of mischief ! I was in the kitchen preparing dinner the other night and she was in her "cage" in the living room with Adam who was watching TV. Adam ran into inform me that Sarah took her clothes off. When I came into investigate she just stood there and smiled and laughed like there was nothing wrong with what she had just done, which I guess there really wasn't! She was wearing a sleeveless top with skinny little straps and somehow shimmied out of the arms. The shirt was just sitting at her waist. I just helped her out of it the rest of the way, so she looked like a bumpkin the rest of the night. Later I was loading the dishwasher and she was crawling around the kitchen. I turned to the sink to rinse a dish, and when I turned to put it in the dishwasher, there sat Sarah on the door, smiling and clapping her hands. My first thought was to take a picture, but she was naked, and I refuse to have pictures of my children with no clothes. So, I just picked her up, put the dish in closed the door, and off she went. Well, even later, Kevin caught her climbing up to the second step and throwing the blankets down (that he had just folded up) so she could have a seat. And what did he do? Yep, he snapped a picture. You have to admit though she is so darn cute even if she is naked!

On Friday Adam pulled out his tool belt and asked me to put it on him. Jackson tried the construction vest on and then went to get the safety goggles and the hard hat to add to the outfit.

Well, now that we're all caught up, you know what's been going on in our ever so crazy lives! I promise to take so long to post the next entry!