Roadtrips

This summer has been so hectic, it seems like it's just begun but it's back to school in less than a month already. We have been able to accomplish a lot of the fun stuff on our list but I am about ready for fall to arrive. Summer is EXHAUSTING and the endless 98 degree heat isn't helping.

The kids, Grandma and I decided to take a random road trip to Greenville, SC. I had been there once, and thought it was a really nice city. The kids LOVED it there, so much we stayed an extra night. The city is gorgeous and the park, waterfalls and fountains are really beautiful. We went to two waterparks, Otter Creek and Ship Wreck Cove. The kids also enjoyed the Balloon Pirate so much we had to hunt him down through the city the second night and wait in line an hour for a balloon.

This weekend we visited my great friend, Lauren and her family in Asheville. Kids swam, enjoyed the Western Carolina Nature Center and all was going along just perfectly. UNTIL...Caden's insulin pump died. Why does the pump always seem to malfunction when we're away? Especially in a small mountain town? Anyway, thought I would be ultra prepared so I brought along a syringe and long acting insulin just in case. I paged the endocrinologist on call and she instructed me to give him 7 units of this long acting insulin via injection. Well, at the same time, Mike is on the phone having trouble getting through to the thick headed Medtronic Help Person (which put us on hold for 1 hour) and I somehow grabbed the wrong insulin. So, I immediately realized my mistake and my head began to spin. I couldn't even talk I was so panicked. I thought within 15 min, Caden would pass out from too much insulin and I was certain I had just made a life threatening mistake. I had given him 7 units of FAST acting insulin, 6-7 times his normal amount and he hadn't eaten in hours.

I called 911 for the first time in my life and they arrived very quickly. I then re-paged the MD and she informs me it is not as life threatening as I assumed and he'll be fine. Apparently this type of mistake happens all the time. Go figure...for the last 7 years I have NEVER done anything remotely close to this. We gave him about 3 cups of straight cola and he was really enjoying the whole thing. He hever gets Coke and the EMS guy gave him a firetruck silly band. Preston stayed fast asleep on the other couch and didn't even realize there were half a dozen EMS personel in the living room. It was really quite a nerve wracking experience, however it could have been drastically more serious if I didn't realize my mistake right away and sent him off to bed. I don't even want to think about that. Anyway, I wonder if we'll be invited back to visit my friends next year?

So this week we are laying low, enjoying the pool, hitting a free movie and packing for our favorite place...the beach! This year, we are heading to Atlantic Beach and the kids are really looking forward to wake boarding, fishing and playing in the sand. Can't wait to see how Avery enjoys the beach! By the way, she now swims WITHOUT floaties on! Granted it's only about 10 feet but she is swimming farther each day. Pretty good for a 2 year old! Today she went down the large waterslide (have to be able to touch or swim to go down it) and she swam to the stairs all by herself without any floatation device! She is very daring (to a fault) and she is just so determined to do exactly what her big brothers are doing!

Our week in NY

Just got back from a week in upstate NY. First few days we spent at Granny's cabin and the weather was perfect. Sunny, breezy, high in the low 80's. We were outside 24/7 and the kids had the best time fishing, swimming and making smores. Caden was Mr. Fisherman and caught 16 fish in one day (mind you it was probably the same sunfish he was re-catching 16 times...) and Preston and Avery played in the sand and water all day long. The both "swam" out to the dock! Avery LOVES to swim but still chokes/swallows the water all the time. Plus, the water temp up there was a little chillier than here so she started shivering in no time at all.

We went to visit one of my very best friends, Lori, and her family. She has 6 year old triplets and a 2 year old! :) So it's always a very fun place to visit because they have more toys than any household I have ever seen. They live on almost 3 acres of land (unheard of where we live) so my kids love to run free in their yard and on their trails through the tall grass. We also spent some time at Poppy's grave, watered the flowers and visited for a while.

Of course, we had to hit some of our favorite eateries...Heid's and Rudy's. When the weather turned hot (by hot...it was nearly 100 degrees and tied the heat record) we went to the MOST science center and Thunder Island Water Park.

Surprisingly, Avery decided to master her potty training on the long car ride (13 hours...each way and not one accident) and throughout the entire vacation! Since she was accident free all week, I put her in the hotel pool to swim without a swim diaper (we didn't use one all week.) As luck would have it, she pooped. Yes, right in the hotel pool and Mommy was not happy. I knew she was up to something as she was floating very quietly in the pool, with that "look" of no good on her face. Sure enough...a big mess. Since then, she has been accident free (except at night.)

All in all it was great to spend time with Granny, visit friends and let Avery meet Uncle John for the first time! Now the fun part...unpacking! Why is unpacking so much worse that packing?! Shouldn't it just be packing in reverse? Sure doesn't seem that way.