Southern Gals

Just got back from a quick trip to Nashville with these lovely ladies.  Nothing like combining some country music, key lime pie and a little running with fantastic company.

At the start in mandatory coordinating tanks, compliments of Bonnie.

A big thanks to our very supportive husbands who made this trips possible in spite of moving (Karen), cross country flights (Bonnie) and having to take the red eye back from Chile (Reed).  

I miss you ladies already!

Take 4

Oh, and earlier in the day I spent the morning at the pediatrician's trying to solve little C's month cough. 

 The week before I left for Barcelona little C got RSV that rocked his little lungs.  With some pretty intense and consistent meds we were able to keep him out of the Hospital, but it was scary for a bit as we tried to get his wheezing and respiratory rate under control.  After we returned from Barcelona his cough was gone, but we were diligent and finished off an additional 2 weeks of pulmicort, which we finished on a Sunday.  The next Monday and Tuesday were record setting pollen days and little C was back to wheezing.  After a few doses of albuterol and one of pulmicort we got that under control.  But, he's had this lingering cough and has been waking up once or twice at night.  Well, this past week on vacation we were separated by a door instead of a hallway and two doors and we discovered that the poor little guy is coughing all night long.  No wonder he's been more and more maniacal.  The poor kid has been getting no uninterrupted sleep!  So...

For the next 3 months Mr. Fishy is our friend

That's right, 3 months. 

 Right now he gets two doses of pulmicort daily and then albuterol every 4 hours.  The good news is that when his cough lessens we can stretch the albuterol to 6, then 8, then 12, then discontinue.  The bad news is that he's on the pulmicort until we get back from Europe in July.  The worse news is that it's looking more like asthma.  The better news is that as long as Elmo or SuperWhy is on little C thinks his fishy-face is totally AWESOME!

Let's just hope that 4 is enough and we don't have to go the way of Brubeck and Take 5.

Take 3

Exactly 2 weeks after spending the afternoon in the ER getting his eyebrow stitched up, Gray made a quick trip to get his chin glued.  Luckily it happened at 4pm, sto we made to the ped's office before closing and although it was pretty gapey and wide it was shallow so they went with glue. 

"Mom, I think I'm an expert at this stuff"

Mecca

After months and years of dreaming and wishing we took our Lego enthusiasts to the homeland. 

A real, live LEGO guy

Day 1 entering the park.  READY TO GO!

Day 2 entering the park

Sums up attitudes for the day.  Matts: assured.  Kendall: excited.  Gray: wants to get it over with.

Crazy Lego creations

Driving School

The Mini Driver

The boats.  Surprisingly hard to navigate.

Note the blue boat in the back of the traffic jam

The culprit

Lego Safari

Guess who loves "Beetle Bounce" the most?

Winners of the Safety Challenge :)

 We spent two full days at Legoland and it was fantastic.  We got there early each morning to jump on the big rides, then settled into the building and play areas for the busier mid-hour times and finished off with big rides as things quieted down.  It's a great park for younger kids, especially if they love building.  It's small enough to be completely manageable with opportunities to create and play around every corner.  

Spring Break

For Spring break we did what every good Southern family does and we headed to Florida.  We bypassed Orlando for the less traveled destinations of Tampa and Lakeland.  

What's in Tampa?  Obviously, Winter the dolphin and some beautiful beaches.  

What's in Lakeland?  That's it's own post.  

Holding Winter's Tail.

The rescue van.

Nicholas the dolphin showing his skills.

Funny boy.

Digging to China

Happy Easter!

We celebrated Easter in a flurry of hunts that culminated in Easter dinner with friends.  

The boys

The boys +1

THE suits :)

Strong men

Little C likes to keep things more casual

G just likes things to be FUN!

After the activity of multiple hunts and parties it was wonderful to sit on our friend's porch after a delicious dinner and just watch the kids play as the sun set on a perfect spring evening.  

It's Great to be 8!

On March 30th our Matts turned 8.  I say it with every birthday, every major event.  But, time really does go by so quickly.    We celebrated with a Spy party with friends and a trip to Legoland over spring break.  

 After much thought and prayer Matts asked to be baptized in Sweden when we are there over the Summer. Through his experience of deciding where to be baptized Matts had an excellent opportunity to practice praying over a problem and receiving an answer from the Holy Ghost.  It was quite special to watch as his obedience has already blessed him and others.   

"Those roses are beautiful, we should take an extra picture there because I look so good.  

The Birthday suit, which he BEGGED for.  To quote him his first Sunday "Mom, I have a good sense of style.  I know what looks good and I feel good wearing it."  

Matts,

You are a strong, spirited boy.  You have a desire to do exactly what's right and will never run out of the energy to do what needs to be done.  I feel humbled to be your mom.  I love the way you remember and examine everything about anything interesting.  

Keep learning, keep growing and keep striving to do what's right.  

The Gang

When we moved here one of the best things was this great group of boys who were within months of Mattson's age.  Now, just under 6 years later and missing a few of their favorite pals, these boys are all grown up and ready to be baptized.  

So little.

So Big

The Gang 2.0

Time flies when you're having fun.

Your Mission...Should You Choose to Accept It

Since Matts has decided to wait to be baptized until we go to Sweden this summer, we decided to ramp up our birthday celebration a bit with a Spy Party.  Luckily, Matts was adamant that his guests wear pajamas, which meant it there was movie involved, so I just had to have a few welcome games before the agents settled down to watch Spy Kids 4.  

The new recruits, ready to enter HQ.

Even the littlest spies have to be in top physical condition

Push-ups

Sit ups

Putting their skills to the test in the laser maze.

For once, being the littlest was a good thing. 

Kaboom!

While the Cat is away...

As a testament to the awesomeness of our sitters, the boys have more pictures from their week here in Atlanta than we have from our travels in Spain.  

Here we have the top 10 reasons why the maniacs don't mind when Mom is out of town.  

1.  While the big boys are at school Miss Heather takes me to the park instead of running errands.  

2.  At the park Miss Heather pushes me non-stop.

3.  Miss Heather has much cooler clothes to borrow.

4...Okay, maybe Allie didn't think it was a good trade.

4.  I get to concentrate so hard on mixing all the playdoh colors at once. 

5.  Mr. Ryan is the perfect jungle gym.

6.  We even get to wrestle in costume. 

7.  We get to stay in comfy clothes all day.

8.  We get cuddles from Miss Hewer.

9.  Miss Heather documents all our discoveries.

10.  Miss Heather makes great discoveries and then lets us destroy them.

Ryan and Heather.  We love you and are so grateful for the wonderful job you did taking care of the maniacs.