Tuesday Tidbits

1. While in Wisc. I got to read a magazine--almost 1/2 way through.  In it was a receipe for this zuchinni dish.  G'ma Wisc. was kind enough to tear it out so we could try it at home.  I'm happy to report we loved it.  We told the kids it was a dug out canoe and the mixture was people and animals.  Josie gobbled all but the boat, and Eddie took bites that didn't add up to much.  They both enjoyed the 'river' of rice.  Den and I loved it and it seemed pretty easy to make.

2. Quick, name this fruit.  I will give you a hint--we thought it was watermelon until we cut it open.  We plant watermelon each year and usually only get a couple because I never think they are ready because they are the personal size, so picked this just to check.  Boy were we surprised when we sliced through...

3. J had quite the hair today--so good Den took a picture.  She was apparently proud of its energy.

4. Eddie was supposed to take a basketball camp from 9-3 each day this week.  I then signed J up for a camp running 8:30-noon.  Perfect, I'd have the mornings free and see what it would be like in the fall when Ed is at Kinder and J at preschool.  I had all sorts of misgivings about sending a 3 year old off to a camp without her brother that wasn't even at the preschool she'd attend in the fall, but had decided to soldier on.  Then Eddie got sick.  J has LOVED the camp.  When I picked her up the first day she asked if she could go again.  Problem is she has been a terror the rest of the day because she is so tired. 

5. Finally got the chance to check out the veggie garden (as evidenced by the above photo).  I will have to post it later, but the weeds had completely taken over.  Climbed up over the top of the tomato cages, obscured the green peppers and established themselves almost better than the veggies.  I spent 45 minutes this morning getting one 12 foot row weeded and another 45 minutes getting a second row.  Just 3 more rows to go.  This always happens when we go away for a longer trip in the summer, but because we didn't get mulch down this year, woowee.  I need to research better weed blocking options.

Am I the Only One...

I've recently had others comment that our kids seem to be sick a lot.  They definitely do seem to be sick more than most kids I know.  I've also been sick more times since having kids than I feel I was an an adult all together. Just since May, J's massive and long lasting fever, Ed's stomach bug, which he shared with me and now this. Is it me, or do I just share when my kids are sick more than others?  As I mentioned in a previous post, Eddie is sick with a really bad itchy rash.  I'd say it is an 11 out of a scale of 1-10 on itchiness.  I will spare the details except to say that Ed and his parents have not had a decent night's sleep in about a week and that he asked last night if he was going to itch until he was 6 years old. 

Remarkably, he has been in great spirits, no other symptoms, nada.  Just a rash that itches so badly it will make you want to take your skin off.

We were put on 3 perscription meds on Monday, including a topical, and an anti-biotic as well as several over the counter options, this was to cover the bases of whatever could be causing the problem.  That seemed to have helped the rash a little, the swelling a lot, but not the itch.  Today we were put on prednizone and given some new topicals and told to stop the anti-biotic as it's possible an allergic reaction is developing.  Mental note:  Eddie is potentially allergic to cefelexin.  So now he's got the original rash and then a secondary rash that is now spread all over.  The first dose of prednisone seems to be working as Eddie commented on how much better he felt, announcing that he was ready to go to grandma's.  Too bad that trip was to have occured this weekend and it was a little late to head over...Needless to say, we will be scheduling a visit with a derm on Monday.  I've never been so thankful in all my life to know a doctor personally as I am to know my grad school roommate who luck would have it is a dermatologist!

The man deserves sainthood for reassuring me that my son was not going to die from his illness (it is apparently possible).  All while trying to prepare for his wedding in two weeks--thanks Dr. Dave!

Beach and Wisc

We are now back from our back to back trips...
We drove down to the beach the day before our house rental was to begin as it was going to take most of the day to get there. 
1. Left Sat. Jul 2 at 6:20 in the morning and glad we did because traffic started up by our house around 7am.  We ended up taking a lot of back roads after witnessing a motorcycle cartwheel off the freeway.  I was apparently one of the first to call 911. 
2. Ate a dinner of fried foods.  Fried corn on the cob (yummy), 4 kinds of fried seafood, and then hush puppies.  Elapsed time from being seated to being finished eating:  30 minutes.  Fastest dinner ever.
3. Den took the kids to the hotel pool at 8am for a dip before heading to the beach.  Inspired several other kids and reluctant parents to a similarly early swim.
4. Brunch with old friends of Den's where a dead manta ray lay unbeknownest to us in a fish tank.  Then the resturant staff tried to get the ray out and lost the net in the tank.  Called in an expert who ultimately removed the dead ray.  Entire episode took the entire 2 hours we ate and talked and tried not to stare at the dead ray and net.  Eddie talked about it the whole day, wondering what they would do with the dead ray.
5.  House ready early.  Checked in and headed for the beach. 
6.  Beach, beach and more beach.  G'parents came with us to the beach quite a bit and the kids loved having them around.  Got the kids boogy boarding.  J LOVES the waves.  Eddie prefers playing on the sand and chasing minnows in the tidal pools, but both thoroughly enjoyed themselves and I am happy to report no shark sitings. 
7. We did have dolphin sitings.  Both only about 20 yards off the beach at low tide and also at the inlet where we had dinner one night.  Got to watch them chase down and catch some fish.  There were literately fish flying out of the water and dolphins were doing a Sea World show for us less than a hundred yards away after their dinner.  Apparently it was a regular feeding area for the dolphins.
8.  Checked out the Charleston acquarium.  It was a nice size for a 1/2 day and had some interesting programs.  We rushed through in order to get to...the beach!  Nice cafe, not so good gift store.
9.  Tried unsucessfully to rent bikes to run the kids around the island.  Mental note:  do not visit the beach over the July 4 week again. 
10. Drove back all day Thurs.using almost exclusively back roads.  Only thing we think we left behind was Eddie's brand new swim shirt.  :(  Friday morning, packed up for Wisc. flight that afternoon.

1.  Arrived into Wisc. at 11pm on Friday.  Was the most peaceful 2 hour drive from the airport we've had since kids came into the picture.  The kids fell asleep about 10 minutes into the drive.  Might need to do this again. 
2. Sat. we Visit Pioneer Days at local museum where g'ma volunteers.  Eddie was fascinated by the well and pump here.  Out of the picture is the windmill.  The cool thing about visiting a place like this with g'ma is she can tell you first hand about having a windmill pump on her family farm growing up and teaching in a one room schoolhouse.  It's like talking to a living, breathing, Laura Ingalls Wilder.   Hard to say if the pump or this tractor ride the 100 yards to our car was more of the highlight for the kids. 
3. Sunday, my round up of shopping while Den took the kids fishing, where they were skunked.
4. Monday, visit to the local doctor to treat really severe rash on Eddie.  The rash was slow coming and we had been treating it with all sorts of over the counter products, thinking if we gave them a couple days they would work, but after not sleeping and severe swelling and rash, we had an 8am apointment.  After consults with our friend the dermatologist and our pediatrician back home, got Eddie on a treatment plan of 3 perscription meds and 2 anti-itch meds as well as our friend Ben.  Poor kid was in misery and basically didn't sleep for 3 nights, yet trooper that he is, continued to be in good spirits.
5. Flight back, we got a ride on the electric carts because Eddie's rash made walking difficult.  Once we landed back home, I called the peds while still on the plane and got an apointment for that afternoon. 
Disappointed that Eddie felt so poorly on our trip, as he had been looking forward to the visit. 

Difficult to get back into the swing of things...I'm ready to plan the next trip!

Grandparent Heaven

Just got back from 4 nights at beautiful Isle of Palms, just outside of Charleston, SC.  It's a great beach, perfect for little kids and these 4 had a blast.  G'parents were in heaven, but I think are exhausted.  They are 2 3-year olds, 1 3.5 year old, and one 5.5 year old. 

Everyone is smiling and looking up with no obscursions in the faces, so I call it a sucessful photo.