Easter & Dad's Birthday

On Easter, we also celebrated Dad's birthday. After Dad opened his presents, he and Mom whispered something and then before you know it, he ran upstairs and got out the old slides and we had a major slide war. Those who have not been involved in the past didn't know what to think of it. I had forgotten how much they hurt when they hit!! I think I would like to go back to the days of the rolled up sock fights. The funny part is that Dad & Mom will be finding slides in their house for months to come. It's the birthday present that keeps on giving!

Easter

I am finally getting around to posting Easter pictures. It has been a crazy couple of weeks! Here is one of our favorite traditions - dying eggs. Even Matt got into this year. The older the kids get, the pretty the eggs get. This year our dye had brown, which we found odd, but Jared made several football eggs with that. Unfortunately Kendall's Easter was not so pleasant. She did not feel up to doing eggs or anything.
Friday afternoon, she had been out playing and came in complaining of an upset stomach. Within a short time she was throwing up. Between 4:30 and 10:30, she probably threw up 10 times. I finally took her to the emergency room. They got us right in and after asking some questions, gave her a pill to relieve the nausea, which she immediately threw up. They decided she had a UTI and immediately put her on an IV with antibiotics and more anti-nausea medicine. We finally headed home about 2 a.m. She was worn out and just plain weak. The next day she was still not feeling so well and was afraid to eat anything for fear of throwing up. This presented a problem since she needed to take these gigantic antibiotic pills. Finally by Sunday night, she was feeling a little better and begging to go to school the next day. (Yes, you heard me right - begging to go to school. She loves it.) By Monday morning, she had a horrible croup-y cough, so school was out of the question. We went back to the doctor, but by then it had turned into more of a cold. The good news is, they took her off the ridiculously large medication. Whatever happened to suspension liquids??? Once that has worked through her body, they are going to run a couple of tests, but so far everything has been just peachy.

On top of all that, she got her appliance. She has a teeny tiny little mouth and no room for any new teeth coming in. She has been a pro with that though. I can't believe how responsible she is and how willing she is to do what she is supposed to. It doesn't hurt either that her dentist/ortho is her Uncle Brad that gives her hugs and kisses and special attention when she comes in for visits. How did we get so lucky??

Spring Break - continued

Tuesday of Spring Break, the little kids had dental appointments so we didn't go anywhere. However, we did go to breakfast at Ruby's on the pier. Jared's batting coach told his team to go to the batting cages over the break, so we decided to head over to the Sports Complex as a family for batting practice. Jared liked those cages better, which is good news since they are a lot closer.

Wednesday we made the long trek out to the Ronald Reagan Library in Simi Valley.
This is a portrait of Ronald Reagan using his favorite candy - Jelly Bellies.
This is a picture of the Air Force One that was being used during his presidency. I think it was the highlight for the kids that we actually got to walk through it. They also had an "Easter Egg Hunt" with several eggs that had been signed by famous people. The kids were given a paper to fill out telling where they found the egg, the color, etc. It was probably on the most beautiful property I have ever seen. It is definitely worth the drive out there.


Thursday we went to the San Diego Zoo.

We had a great time seeing all the animals, however, we are glad we went when it first opened because many of the animals take afternoon naps......loooooong afternoon naps. We were walking along and Maelen saw some women walking animals on leashes. She got really excited and said that the lady was walking an Artic wolf. Matt told her it was just a dog. As they got closer, the women talked to us and told us the big white one was, in fact, an Artic Wolf. It was a little unsettling knowing that a wolf was on a leash just inches from us. The ladies told us all kinds of interesting information about the wolves. It was something the kids will never forget. Here is a picture of the family from behind. I took it because it was fun to see that Maelen is almost as tall as Matt!!!

Spring Break

This week is Spring Break for the kids and Matt decided to take a week off as well. Since we have some things going on that keep us from going anywhere, we are doing some day trips during the week. Yesterday we went to the California Science Center. They currently have a CSI exhibit where you get to go write down clues and figure out information about the crime, victim and suspect. That was a really fun exhibit. Here is a video of our family (minus the photographer) playing virtual volleyball. Sorry it is a little shakey - it made me laugh!!

After the museum, we walked through the beautiful rose gardens and crossed the street to USC. Jared would really like to attend USC and was dying to walk on campus. We walked around and went to the bookstore, but didn't stay long since they were having a sexual health fair on campus. I couldn't get my kids past that fast enough. I wanted to take a picture of Jared with Tommy Trojan, but I won't even mention what was lurking beneath his pillar. So I took a picture of Tommy as we briskly walked by. Ahhh college life.

Other than that, USC has a beautiful campus - such a contrast to the surrounding area.