Spring Break in Del Mar

The kids and I headed to Del Mar last Monday to spend time with my parents and Whitney during my Mom's school Spring Break. We usually fly directly to San Diego but this time we had a layover in Phoenix. We did fine, but it did make me appreciate the direct flights all the more. We did loops on the moving sidewalk in Phoenix for about 45 minutes to help pass the time.

We had a great trip. Kai got in 2 trips to the swimming pool. He continues to be a fish.



We also ventured to SeaLife and Legoland for the first time which was really fun. We weren't sure what to expect with SeaLife but it ended up being pretty cool. It was super kid friendly for both our kids.

















Legoland is geared for younger kids (3-12 or something). It was perfect for Kai and he had a blast. Rori just barely met the height requirement for a few rides which was a happy surprise- good thing she is super tall and we'd put her hair in a high poinytail.























The kids had a great time with my parents. Rori wasn't shy at all and was best buddies from the very beginning with both of them. Mom and Dad spent lots of time going up and down the stairs in their house, exploring the back patio, and dancing with Rori this trip. Time with Kai was spent playing baseball, riding bikes, building his new pirate lego set, playing music, dyeing easter eggs, and watching the Chipmunks movie.







Thanks for a great trip!

Not Everyone..

...can rock this hairdo:


...with this outfit:


Happy Easter to all!

We've got lots to post, but bed is calling. Soon...............

Not to Be Forgotten - Abe

I forgot to also post this picture of Abraham Lincoln back when Kai was learning about the Presidents in school. Thought we better since we have roots back to the great state of Illinois. I know my Mom and grandparents will be proud.

Sunday Afternoons...

...are good for just laying around (part dressed) doing some reading.

New Tricks and Tips

Rori has some new tricks.

She finally has enough hair to sport a teeny-tiny ponytail. For the record this is the face she makes the entire time when we leave her at Nursery or the Gym- no crying and she plays and seems to like going but the teachers say she has a poker face the entire time (This is serious):


We've also been playing with teeny tiny bow clips, but we could really use some more hair to help with these:


She finally convinced us to get her her own booster for the dinner table so she can ditch the highchair. She is thrilled with this change! Kai was almost 3 before he moved to a booster- he never cared, but he also didn't have an older sibling. Rori also has been loving pita chips and hummus- we're just glad to see her eating something:


She found Kai's old bike helmet and has been trying to figure out how to get that scooter to go:


In other news.....Friday we played outside and did some yard work. We were all in heaven to be outside in the sunshine. But Saturday we had a good snow dumping. This is the time of year where you are never really sure what attire/ gear you might need. Luckily Kai is well prepared with his umbrella and water squirting backpack that has a walkie talkie. Tip From Kai- you never know when these things might come in handy while pulling weeds.

Waves and Monday Clean-up

We're glad to be starting a new week- the last few ones have been a little exhausting.

Last week we couldn't believe it when we ended up at the Doctor again. We hadn't been all Fall for illness and now we had been 4 times in 8 days. We went in because Rori started running a fever again on Sunday afternoon. Turns out the ear infection wasn't really gone (despite the 2 checks they had done the week before reassuring us that it was). So we've been trying out a new antibiotic for about a week now and so far so good. Every little dot she gets on her skin makes us a bit nervous but nothing has turned up yet. So the one positive is maybe now we'll know what to give her for future things. So here is hoping that we can get over the little colds everyone seems to NOW be fighting and finally be healthy for awhile again.

So after we got that figured out and had a little recovery time we were back in swing for the rest of the week. We hit the Utah gymnastics meet on Friday which was fun as usual. Saturday morning the kids went to the kids club at the gym while I was working out and Lance was at work. We went straight from that to a Primary activity for Kai. Then, after naps for the kiddos we drove up to BYU to catch Pepperdine play BYU in Men's Volleyball. We drove past 3 In N Out burgers on the way to the game- 1 did get our dinner business. It still seems strange to see them here in Utah. I bet they are doing great business- especially the one in Provo. It was a fun night- especially since Pepperdine won in 3 games. It is also neat to see the familiar faces from our past with the coaches and support people. The coaches daughter Alex (who used to dive with me) brought with her some Pepperdine clothes for our kids which was so nice.

Here is Kai in the shirt she brought him:


And here is Rori looking sweet in the dress Grandma Whitney sent her:


So today we are trying to reorganize ourselves and gear up for the new week. It seems that Monday's in general have become a bit of a recover from the weekend and clean up the house day. Kai and Rori are good helpers- well for about the first 7 minutes.

Kai's first ski trip

We've been wanting to get Kai up on the slopes for some time. Finally, a couple of things provided the last motivation we needed: (1) Alta's ski-for-free after three; and (2) the Winter Olympics. We put the Edgley-Wedgie on the front of Kai's skis which help keep the skis from getting crossed. Kai and I took a few runs on the learner hill. Good times. We ran into all six members of the Cook family. Not literally, but almost. I found time for one run on Sunnyside before closing. Good to get that bug again. As you can see from the last photo (taken at the mouth of Little Cottonwood on the way out), skiing wears you out.

When the rental place measured Kai's feet for his boots, Rori began taking her shoes off. She knows she's ready to ski too and is just not succeeding at convincing the rest of us of the fact yet.

Antibiotic Wrap Up

We are happy to report that Rori is finally all better. What a week!

Unfortunately before things got better they got a little more complicated. We ended up going back to the doctor for our 3rd visit in 3 days on Wednesday. Tuesday night she had begun to run a slight fever that ended in a midnight call to the pediatrician to make sure that was ok- it was- but even after searching the internet we didn't know.

Wednesday morning the slight fever was coming and going but she was also had newly swollen hands and legs/ feet. Plus the hives on her legs were starting to look a little like blue bruises. So they had us come back in to check and then tell us for the 3rd time that all was still normal for a really bad reaction. By that afternoon the poor little thing had completely stopped walking on her own- we're sure her legs and feet hurt too much.

But by Thursday morning she had made great progress- the swelling was gone and we were back to just a few bumps on her face and body. That afternoon Kai came to me and said "I think Rori is feeling better because she is back to doing naughty things".

Friday she was clear and back to her little self. Hooray!!! As I said before- what a week! One more life experience down that we'd rather never repeat.

So here is a picture of the "bug bites" I took on Monday before we went to the doctor. I was sure they would be gone by our appointment so I thought I better document to show the doctor that I wasn't making them up- boy was I wrong:



This was in the thick of it:


And here she is today:

Antibiotic

Remember that Ear Infection that we didn't know Rori still had at her 18 month appointment last Wednesday? Well they gave her a 2nd antibiotic for it that she has been taking since then. Sunday night we noticed what looked like some bug bites on her one arm. Yesterday morning I also noticed some bumps on her legs so I decided not to give her any more medicine (last dose was Sunday night) and made a doctor appointment.

By last night it had turned in to this:




And today it lookes like this:


We've been to the doctor twice in less than the last 24 hours. They say she is fine. It is just working itself out. Looks like I will now be able to say yes when doctors ask me if my kids are allergic to anthing. Also looks like Rori won't be taking anymore penicillin for quite awhile. Good news is they checked her ears and the infection that we didn't know we still had is gone. She seems sleepy today (probably from the Benadryl) but other than that hasn't seemed too bothered or itchy by it which is a true blessing. Hoping it goes away faster than the possible 5 days the 3 doctors (who all came in to see her this morning) said it could go on for. Poor little one!

February Love

February has been flying by.

The Thursday before Valentines Day I volunteered in Kai's class at school for their big party. Kai was thrilled to have me there and it really was so fun to see it all first hand. If only he would always feel that way about being around his Mom. :) They had a puppet show for the whole school at the end and it was so cute to watch all these kids just belly laughing at the preschool humor. One of the puppets said something about underwear and I thought some of the kids were really going to fall out of their chairs laughing so hard. Kai even got picked to have the "brag bag" that day which is something that makes his week. (He later chose to bring his Christmas camera and a picture of him swimming.) We both had a lot of fun! They really had me working so I'm afraid I didn't get any pictures. This week he came home with this picture of George Washington that he made at school. He told me all about how George didn't brush his teeth well so they fell out and he had to get wooden ones. I think it was a story that really made an impact on Kai- he's been a flossing champ the last few days.



We had a great Valentines weekend. On Saturday monring Lance watched the kids while I went to the gym and a Baby Shower. We also got in Kai's swim lesson in the middle. Then that night we had a nice drive and yummy dinner up in Heber. Sunday we enjoyed actually getting to sit through Sunday School as Rori is officially in Nursery now. She fusses a bit when we first leave but then is a trooper the rest of the time. Her teachers say that she plays and likes the singing time, but she keeps a serious face the whole time just incase. :)That afternoon we all got in a nap- even Lance who is usually still going strong. That night we had dinner at Grandma and Grandpa Utah's so I dind't even have to cook.

But the best part of it all was the gift of time with Lance. He often still puts in a lot of work hours on Saturdays and holidays aren't really ever observed at his firm so it was a real treat to have a long weekend with him. He still went in to work in the VERY early hours of the morning on Monday but was home by mid morning to spend the day with us. We used the valuable time to make a productive trip to IKEA and the new In N Out Burger here. After naps we all went to the gym to work off the burgers. We are still loving the kids club at the gym! Amy and I tried another new class this week too- 24SET. It was tough but we really liked it.

In other news Rori had her 18 month check-up. She is in the 95% for height and 45% for weight. Same old story. She had a good report, but the doctor said she is still fighting that ear infection from a few weeks back. So another trip to the pharmacy and we are back on a different antbiotic. The first round of the ear infection Rori really told us about it the night before we took her in, but this time we had no clue.

Cousin Party

When we left Grandma's party the kids were in tears at the idea of having to stop being together. They sure do love each other. So we invited them over to our house Sat. night for dinner and a movie. Lance was in Orlando for a conference Thursday-Sunday so we were super excited to have the company. We'd had a long week with Dad being gone, trying to fight off some colds, and what we thought might have been pink eye begining (we started some antibiotic drops at the first sign and it happily never developed) earlier in the week so we were ready for a fun night. After some happy meals we put on a movie but quickly decided that it was really too fun to not just play. This was great because they really do play so well together. Kai and Rori loved having them over and Kai has already been asking when we can do it again.

Happy Birthday to Grandma

Last week we celebrated Grandma Utah's birthday. We hadn't seen Grandma since HI so we were super excited. There was yummy pizza and cake and lots of cousin playing which we LOVE.





We gave grandma this picture framed of the Cabin that we had taken in the Fall which we thought was really pretty.

Sign Making

Kai has recently taken an interest in signs. As we are driving he asks what different ones mean and checks to make sure we are going the correct speed limit. The other day he had me write bathroom on a piece of paper. This is what we found on the door a short time later. I suppose this is in response to the the items she's thrown in the bowl lately. Notice how well she is responding to the sign and note that the seat is down. We're also enjoying brushing our teeth lately thanks to a recent trip to the Dentist for Kai and Mom where Rori observed it all.