A Rough Week

It may be hard to believe we had a rough week with a picture with smiles, but I just have a very cooperative group and this was probably the highlight of our week. (Movie night in bed, because Brad had to be laying down for his medicine induced headache!)

To make a long story short...decided Tuesday afternoon Brad would have scope knee surgery Thursday morning. Thursday the kids and I also came down with the flu. Brad then dealt with headaches from various meds and we all slowly recovered. Lots of plans had to be changed/cancelled/rearranged. I'm just so glad its over-with!

Valentines Day

Valentine's Day was majorly down-played this year. :) It's really one of my least favorite holidays, but usually we do something a little special. This year we had no decorations up and no yummy cookies baked. Since we had our vacation right before, I didn't put much prep work into the day this year. I'm totally fine with that. :)

Lorelei made her valentine card box for school very early because of our trip. We sent it to school just in case we didn't make it back in time, because her classmates would still give her cards. We had theirs in the box for the teacher to pass out if we didn't make it back for the party. Her party was actually the Wednesday before vday, because they had the rest of the week off. So, we rushed home so she could get to school late, just in time for her party. :) She made sure to tell everyone at the airport she was going home and getting to go to her party at school. She enjoyed that they played games, particularly The Lollipop Game.

As for the actual day, the kids got a couple of treats, we played a family game of Jenga while I cooked supper, and we made sure to continue what seems to have become our one Valentines' Day tradition, dipping strawberries in chocolate.

Trip To Florida

We were excited to head to Florida to see my grandparents and family. We absolutely planned it in February on purpose. :) We are not winter people, so knew that it would be the best time to escape. It was such great timing. We enjoyed gorgeous temperatures and lots of sunshine.

Thanks to those of you praying for me during our visit! There was an immense amount of progress in my Grandma just in the last few weeks. While she did have a some memory glitches (like not knowing why she was in a wheel chair), she knew who we were and was still herself, for which I am so, SO thankful.

Just to include in this update, a few days after Thanksgiving my grandma ended up in the ER and they eventually concluded that she needed her appendix taken out. My uncle was warned it could worsen her memory loss and that at that age, patients are more likely to suffer complications with a surgery. They had no choice and she was sent in for surgery. At some point, she had a stroke as she no longer has much use of her right side, and that and the meds were definitely affecting her memory for months, making her recovery painfully slow. From what I gathered during our visit, getting out of the hospital has been a huge help in that recovery and she is making progress.

For our visit we had two main goals: my grandparents and the beach

Those were our focus, so that is what we did. We didn't try to cram much into our days and were thankful for that as it was a good fit for this trip.

I'm having a hard time grouping the pictures for this visit, but this will have to do! :)

Okay, here we go. :)

Flying

I put a lot of time into airplane prep. I wanted to be prepared for down time and have plenty to do in case the DVDs/computer didn't work for some reason, so that the kids were very entertained. :) I could probably do an entire blog post on my travel bag...but that's not really what this blog is for, but if you need any ideas just ask! :) The flights went smoothly, despite the typical delays! :) The kids were troopers and super travelers. Although they have both flown multiple times, they didn't remember, so it was all very exciting again. Seeing their excitement makes it much more fun.

Visiting Gigi and Pops/Grandma and Grandpa

I was not sure how visiting my grandparents in their new apartment in an assisted living facility would go with a four and six year old. I was not sure how long the kids would last etc. They did amazing and brought joy to not only their Gigi and Pops, but also many they just walked by on the way there. Lorelei commented, "I just noticed, kids make them feel happy."

Visit 1

We took them on a tour of their new place and checked out a few of the sights, including a balcony that overlooks a golf course. I think Heinz and Brad could have stayed a long time there. :) We also went out on the community patio and the kids enjoyed some ice cream while we visited. I believe this visit the kids also each did a new Dollar Store puzzle to keep them entertained, and Grandma could sit with them at the table while they worked.

Great Grandparent/Great Grandchildren Selfies. :)

The Greats. :)

Visit 2

Brad and the kids enjoyed a swim in the pool in the assisted living facility. Grandma, Grandpa and I watched and enjoyed the sunshine. :) The kids loved showing Gigi and Pops all they could do swimming and the pool was perfect. They were a little chilly getting out, but it was heated, so great while swimming.

Then we ate lunch with them. Getting changed, Makin and Lorelei found a lizard on their window screen. They found at least 3-4 lizards this trip and were just so excited. They also loved petting the therapy dog that was visiting and he loved kids so was super-excited. As you can see, Makin was pretty excited about his dessert. :)

Visit 3

This trip we played Legos and Go Fish. :) Grandma was amazed at how well they did building with their Legos. Another fun table activity. :) Grandpa had to be talked into playing Go Fish, but I think he had fun. :)

Visit 4

As we walked up for our last morning visit, we found Grandma walking down the hall with her physical therapist in a walker. :) As you can see, she had quite the audience cheering her on. As she made her second trip down the hall, Makin came up to me and said, "I almost have tears because I'm so happy." (Disclaimer...if he becomes a physical therapist someday I'm totally chalking it up to this moment! ;) ) It made me so happy to hear him say that and realize how much he cared about Grandma even though he hasn't gotten that much time with her. It was very special. She was rewarded with a donut after her appointment. My Grandpa got donuts for us EVERY morning when we visited them as kids, so a couple of mornings we did that for them. Just gotta have a few things like the good old days. :) We went out to the big patio again and got some sunshine. The kids colored and played tag.

I felt my heart break a little each time we left them, particularly after our last morning. We walked them down to lunch and I was happy to meet their "meal buddies" they eat lunch and supper with, which was nice. I'm so thankful for the time we spent with them and just wish it could happen more often.

Bits Of Fun

My Aunt Marilyn and Uncle Brian live in Ft. Myers, which is why my grandparents moved there. They are extremely gracious hosts and invited us to stay with them while we were visiting. 

We were definitely spoiled by their generosity. They have a lanai with a pool (which they don't heat in the winter, so no swimming this visit) and we enjoyed visiting and sometimes eating there. We always enjoyed the amazing Florida weather with being able to have the doors open each day.

They also organized a family get-together on Saturday so that I could chat with another uncle and cousins, but I didn't take any pictures! I got to see my cousin's adorable toddlers, meet their spouses, and it was a nice visit. It had been 10 years since our last visit, so it was way overdue. :)

Some down time at their house, one evening Aunt Marilyn was playing fetch with the kids, one of their favorite games. :) The kids loved the rainbows from the sunlight and glass in the entryway.

Clockwise from left: If you ask Makin his favorite part of his vacation, he would probably say "playing baseball." :) My aunt got a ball/bat set for any kids that visit (she has grandkids our kid's age that live in Texas) and Makin was the first to try them out. He was in his element, and is a pretty good hitter, especially considering who he had for a pitcher...this picture was when Lorelei and Brad were swimming, he chose baseball instead so we played near their community pool. We also enjoyed a trip to Tropical Smoothie Cafe, we have missed for 4 years since moving away from Virginia...I was relieved that I actually like our home-made version better! :) Brad and the kids enjoyed swimming in the community pool (after baseball and playground time Makin joined them, which I anticipated, so he was already in his suit) one evening. Lorelei can't get enough of the water, both the beach and pools.

Two other bits of fun Brad would include as two of his favorites from the trip would be that he went golfing with my uncles and cousin, as well as sleeping with the window open each night enjoying the Florida breezes.

The Beach

Eat. Beach. Sleep. Repeat.

Happiness is...sand between the toes.

I could go on. Most of you know the beach is pretty much my favorite thing. I love it. Our whole family loves it. We fit in three trips to the beach this visit and loved every minute.

Beach Day 1

This was Brad's and Makin's favorite beach day. I loved how elated the kids were as they ran out into the ocean. They were completely in love and over-the-moon excited.

They were quickly begging to be in their suits despite the chilly water, which I guessed would happen, so they changed and played in the water. Most people looked at us like we were crazy. :) The kids didn't care. Makin loved chasing the seagulls. Lorelei was so proud of her first (of many to come) sea shell. She played puppy in the water. No surprise there. :)

Brad and I just enjoyed relaxing and watching them run and have fun. They built a simple sand castle that day too, and loved adding some shells to it for personality and a moat around it.

Pretty sure the kids took this by accident...

Beach Day 2

This was Lorelei's favorite beach day...why? Because she saw a dolphin! :) My aunt and uncle go most Sunday mornings, so they brought us to "their spot" to enjoy with them this particular day. They went for their usual power walk and we chilled and played.  I saw a glimpse of a fin, saw Lorelei running towards me terrified it was a shark, then when I told her it was a dolphin, she started sprinting right back the water screaming, "It's a dolphin!!" We then watched it as much as we could as it came out of the water a few more times. I got information about a dolphin cruise (boat) we could go on from a lady nearby, but it ended up storming so we didn't go another day. Maybe next time. :)

What we loved about Fort Myers beach was how far the kids could go out without worrying about a drop off. They loved the freedom and Brad and I loved that it was stress-free!

Watching The Dolphin

More building with sand.

She loved swimming and trying to ride the small waves.

Beach Day 3

We traveled out to Sanibel Island for this beach trip. I have never seen so many shells. :)

We made an attempt to go to the beach my family recommended, but then got rained on. We decided to head to a beach closer to the entrance and try to find an umbrella on the way, praying the whole drive that it would stop raining for a couple of hours so we could enjoy it...well, we got our rain free hours! :) No umbrella purchase necessary. :) And what a picture-perfect trip it was!

Lorelei was pretty frustrated at her lack of swim suit, but we just didn't end up having time to let them swim. We loved the color of the water, and that it actually felt warmer than the previous beaches. She would have loved to have stayed and swam but we did need to fit in more that day. (We were there about 2 hours, but walked the beach a long ways, not leaving a lot of extra time to change and swim.) Also the drop off here was much more drastic, so wasn't as kid-swim friendly. Just thankful to get a huge shell collection and have our toes in the sand. We did find more than enough shells that Lorelei took one shell for each of her classmates and teacher, which was a fun project for her. :) Makin also picked one out for Drue. This was my favorite beach. :)

Heading Home

After finding out how late our flight was on the last day, I was evaluating Brad and My's sanity when we were purchasing the tickets. 6:15 pm was when our flight left. What!? That's an hour before the kids' usual bedtime. Oh what you do to save $400! So there we were, watching the sunset from the airplane. :) We survived. It was brutal, and we are still recovering days later, but we survived. :) The kids were thrilled that they were actually awake for "the middle of the night" so we took a picture with my phone showing midnight. We passed by lots of Olaf's in various airports, and Lorelei finally decided to get a picture with one.

We were so thankful for a wonderful family vacation and will cherish it forever!

Count Down

Only a few more days until lots of fun memories will be made. We can't wait! :)


The chain is dwindling...

The school work is done ahead...

And our toenails are specially painted.

We are looking forward to sunny skies, warm temperatures, palm trees, beach sand, time with my uncles, aunt, cousins, and best of all, my grandparents!!! This photo was taken Oct of 2012. I'm so thankful for this visit. It was our last time at their wonderful home and the last time with Grandma feeling "mostly" normal. It was right around this time she was starting to forget snippets of information. Things like cookies she used to bake. It was really bothering her, and she was a little quieter than normal, but it was still her. The last 14 months have been very hard on my grandparents because they moved to Florida but it doesn't feel like home to them. Then around Thanksgiving Grandma had unexpected surgery, which severely affected her memory and attitude. She was never the kind of lady to give up, and has always been strong, but Mom says she just doesn't seem to want to get much better. So while I'll be posting beautiful family and beach pictures via facebook on our trip, please say a prayer for me to be strong and uplifting for them. These are two people I absolutely adore and have been blessed to know and I'm not doing a great job of staying tough when it comes to this subject. 

As I look out the window at 9 inches of snow and avoiding going out in very cold temperatures, I can't wait to be posting those beach pictures very soon. :)

Snow Day!

We had our first official school snow day Feb 2nd. :)

We had snowman pancakes for lunch. Yes, normally they would include some fruit and a bacon scarf, but it was the day before grocery shopping so I was almost out! :) Somehow the kids were perfectly fine with M&Ms?! :)