Summer is FINALLY over!!

It is funny how things change as you get older. I remember that I used to live for the summer when I was a kid. Summer meant that I would go to Kentucky and stay with my grandparents. I would spend most every waking hour with my cousin, Eric and together we would rule the world. We spent most of the time outside riding our bikes up the railroad tracks, exploring the fields and ponds and simply playing with whatever caught our interest that day. Some summers my brother would join us and add to the trouble. Whenever anyone asks about memories of my childhood, I always go back to my summers in Kentucky. Now as an adult and more importantly as a parent, I really dread summers. Not because I don't want to spend time with my kids, don't get me wrong. But it is very hard to play with kids toys all summer long. Not only that, but it is so hot here that the kids really don't love being outside unless it involves water. So when school starts, things just seem to flow better in our house. We have a schedule and the TV is usually off, thank god. So as sad as it makes me to admit that I don't live for summers anymore, I will admit it and start living for fall.

Fay, Fay, Go away!!

Fay has decided to take up residence here in Florida. Really, she is moving at a snails pace of 8 mph and is just lingering over us with rain and wind and tornado warnings. Someone should really lock her up in a house with two children ALL DAY LONG. I don't think it would be near as bad if I knew that I had the option of letting them outside to play a little and get their energy out. So we have played Wii, we have played battleship, we have had lots of snacks, we have watched lots of cartoons, we have attempted to have naps but the heavy rain kept the little one up, we gave baths at 4:00 in hopes that it would be a calming experience (not), and now we are counting the minutes down to bedtime. In addition to all of this fun, we have been watching the weather to keep up with the tornado watches and warnings. The eye of the storm is still heading our way, so the worst is yet to come. Obviously, Fay never had kids of her own or she would know better than to sit on us for so long.

I'm still here

I am getting bad about not posting but at the end of the day it is so hard to sit and do anything that requires thought. This summer just seems to go on forever. The kids will start school in two weeks. Blake will be in the four year old class and really is not looking forward to having to write and learn new things. He says that all he is going to do is play. If this is any indication of how the rest of his schooling will go, we are in trouble. Kayce will be in the "puppy" class for 18 month olds. There are 10 little ones in the class and two very brave teachers. We met her teachers today and Kayce did fine as long as no one touched her. She is getting better about venturing off on her own but don't dare touch her. Her head will spin and green stuff comes flying out of her mouth. Ok, not really but it is about that dramatic. Her teachers will have lots of fun with her this year. The good thing is, once she gets over the fact that I leave her, she is just fine. I am really hoping that the next two weeks fly by. Not because I want to get rid of my kids or anything, but Blake is becoming stir crazy and I can only play GeoTrax so many times in one day. Let the countdown to school begin.

Vacation

We are finally home from our busy summer fun. I love summer and I really love traveling to see all of our family but it is always nice to come back home and get back into the swing of things. We had a great trip to the mountains with Darren's family. We did a lot of things that the kids really enjoyed. We learned that Kayce can fall asleep anywhere. We all went on a hour long horseback ride and after laughing and calling the horse "brewster", she fell asleep and slept for most of the ride. When we got back to the stables, Darren handed her to me and she woke up laughing and ready to go again. Then another day we went tubing down the river, again about an hour or so long. The ride was very relaxing but there were a couple of places that we went down rapids and things would get a little wild. She fell asleep after the first wild thrill and slept the rest of the way. Thankfully she was with Darren and he was able to stay in the tube and not flip over. Blake loved everything we did but he really loved being able to drive his own go cart this year. Granted, he ate the wall the majority of the time but he did not care. We spent a lot of time relaxing and enjoying spending time with one another since it is not often we all get to do that as a family. Now we are back in Florida and watching the weather channel every night praying that we will be spared another summer from those lovely hurricanes. The kids are catching up with their sleep and I think they are enjoying not doing anything. We will be spending the rest of the summer hanging out at the pool and with our friends that we missed while we were gone.

Summer Update

We are halfway done with our summer adventures. So far we have had a great summer and are looking forward to the rest of our fun. The kids and I has a great trip to Kentucky. The adults on the trip had the very emotional task of going through my late grandmothers estate and getting it ready to auction in September. I will say that was the most emotionally draining thing I have done in a long time. The kids, however, had a ball with my cousin and her family. They were able to ride their bikes all day, go on a real steam engine train ride, pick apples from the trees and just run around playing. They loved it. We then went back to Ga and rode back to Florida with Darren's family. By the time we got home, the kids did not want to look at their car seats for a couple of days. We had a very relaxing week. Thursday the kids left with Darren's parents. So Darren and I are alone for a whole week. We really did not know what to do with ourselves at first but now we are figuring things out. We have gone to restaurants that we typically avoid, we have gone to the beach and left without having the dig sand out of peoples cracks, we have gone fishing and enjoyed the silence, we have walked on the beach at night because we don't have to worry about bedtimes. I really had forgotten what it was like to feed myself first and uninterrupted. Don't get me wrong, I miss my kids beyond words, but Darren and I really needed some time to focus on us as a couple and not as mommy and daddy. So here we are on Sunday night and we just decided that we are going to lay on the beach in the morning before he goes to work. I am sure that we will be very refreshed and ready to go by the time we drive to Ga on Thursday to meet the kids. After we pick them up, we are heading to Pigeon Forge for the week. This will be Darren's vacation for the summer and I can't wait to get somewhere that has no sprint service so that his phone will remain silent for the week. That is our summer so far. I hope everyone is have a great summer!!!

Post Surgery

Blake now has tubes in his ears. I have to say that it was unexpectedly easy. We got to the surgery center around 6 in the morning. Blake was in his pajamas and took his beloved train blanket and ducky. They took us back around 6:15 and immediately gave him some happy medicine, which was a good thing because he was not letting anyone touch him up until that point. Once he got the happy medicine, he was a happy kid. It was actually quite funny. He was laughing at anything and everything. They let him stay in him pajamas and he took his blanket back with him. About 10 minutes after they took him back, the doctor was out telling us that everything went great and he was in recovery. This was the worst part for us because he was out of it and crying. As soon as I got back with him, they let me hold him and he calmed down but was still very out of it and upset. When he calmed down he asked if he could have something to eat, so we got him something and went home. We was pretty drunk when we got home so we put him on the couch and he was in and out of it for about an hour. Then, all of a sudden, he got up and went to the bathroom and started playing with his geotrax. He did not say anything else about the tubes all day. I really don't think he remembers the surgery, which I am ok with. He has never complained with pain and has been very agreeable to wearing the earplugs at bathtime. So, all in all, I have no complaints and only time will tell if they will reduce his ear infections or not.
Monday starts the beginning of our summer plans. We are all flying to Atl on Monday. Darren will fly home on Wed and the kids and I will go to Peachtree City. Then my family is going to Kentucky for a week. We will come back home to Florida with Darrens family on the 26th. We will be here for the week and then the kids will go back to GA with Darrens family. Darren and I will head to Ga on the 11th of July and then we all go to Gatlinburg for the following week. Needless to say, we are not hurting for things to do this summer. I am really looking forward to spending time with our families and seeing people we have not had a chance to see in awhile. I hope everyone has a great summer!

Sorry no pictures

I have not been doing a great job with my camera lately, so no pictures this time. Since the last post, Blake went to the ENT and he is having tubes placed in his ears this Tuesday. I am hoping that this will take care of most of his medical issues. The rotten thing about the whole thing is that he will now have to wear ear plugs whenever he gets in the water. I am really hoping he is going to be ok with that because he has just recently started to swim and he loves the pool now. He will jump in and swim all over the pool with no fear now. We are going to have plugs made just for him and he will be able to pick the color out, so I am hoping this will make him be ok with wearing them. Only time will tell. Other than that, there is no real news coming out of our house. I hope everyone is having a great summer so far.