Sick Vacation to Branson

Earlier in the year we had hoped to be able to go on a Disney Cruise in May.  I won't bore you with the details of why that didn't work out (I'm still hoping for maybe next year!!).  So we came up with a shorter, closer alternative--a two-night trip to Branson. 

It started off pretty good.  The kids had fun at the various water attractions at our hotel when we arrived Thursday afternoon.

Friday morning we headed over to Silver Dollar City.  We got sidetracked by a clogging show.  Miriam got to come up on stage during part of it (look for the short blondie in green and pink in the back left).

We finally made it over to the rides and had just gotten buckled in when they closed the rides because of thunder and lightening rolling in.

We proceeded to play indoors for another hour and then left after the downpour continued (and wasn't expected to stop for the rest of the day).  A short two hours at Silver Dollar City.  About lunch time Eliza started acting super tired and wouldn't eat anything.  It was down hill from there.  I took Miriam and Dallin mini-golfing with Gemma while Stan and Eliza napped at the hotel.

 At dinnertime, Eliza threw up and had a fever.  The next morning she still had a fever.  We had tickets to see a pet show later that morning, so Stan took Eliza and Dallin and drove the two hours home (Happy Birthday Stan).  Miriam and I stayed and watched the show and then hitched a ride home with Jody and Cace.  Between rain and sickeness and dealing with Dallin the Destroyer in the small hotel room, it was kind of a stinky family trip.  Good thing it was only two days.  

Eliza's fevers continued for 5 days.  Doc did a strep test, which came back negative, so he concluded it must be a virus.  Just when she was better and we were literally heading out the door to Karate--our first outing in several days--Miriam came down with a fever.  

Cancel the Anniversary weekend Stan and I had planned.

Miriam's fevers continued for another five days.  Thankfully Dallin only had it for two days and Stan and I didn't get it.  Ugh.

Eliza and I had an outing while Miriam was sick and went to see the movie "Inside Out."  Here she is playing in the fountain afterwards. 

Here's to a hopefully healthy rest of the summer!

Happy Father's Day

Our tribute this year to our wonderful Father and Grandpas!

The girls were probably more excited than Daddy for him to open presents, but he put on a good show anyway!

 Grill accessories and gardening tools.

 We sure do love our Daddy!

Karate

So in all the activities I considered getting the kids involved in, Karate was not at the top of the list--or even in the middle.  Not that I have anything against it, I'm just not familiar with it (unless watching "The Karate Kid" counts as being familiar).

However, an opportunity arose with the opening of a new martial arts studio to have the girls signed up for half price.  Our good friends, the MacCabes, encouraged us to come check it out.  Stan was sold before we even came (apparently he had more of a prior opinion about Karate than I did).  I quickly saw lots of benefits to the girls self-esteem and strength (among other things), so we decided to give it a try.

The girls have been taking for two months now and they really do enjoy it.  They go twice a week and never complain and always look forward to it, which speaks volumes.

Especially for Eliza.  She's three and at first was shy and hesitant.  She has really come out of her shell and is quite the little leader and buddy in class.

I think they really enjoy getting to yell in class.

 They both earned their third belt--white with a yellow stripe.

 They especially love taking the class with their best friends, Anna & Van.

 I'm not sure how long we'll be able to keep it up, but for now they are loving it!

Dance Recital

Miriam finished he second year of dance classes (ballet/tap).  We changed to a different studio this year, and while I think Miriam misses her old teacher, overall, the change has been a great choice.

She did a tap number to "A" Your Adorable.  

She is a natural poser!

 Along with Daddy, she had her best friends to cheer her on.  

I am so proud of her hard work and the improvement she has made this year!

Home Addition

When we were house shopping three years ago, one of the things on my "I really want" list was to have a covered patio.  Our old house didn't have one and I was really hoping to finally have some shade in the yard.  Unfortunately it was one of the compromises we had to make when buying our current home.  

Finally we were able to do something about it.

Here is the back of the house before:

After:

Not only did we have to add the covering (I say we, but we hired it out), but we had to extend the patio, which meant more concrete.  You have to have a minimum order of so many cubic yards of concrete when getting a truck out, so we decided to finally put in a sidewalk from the driveway to the front door while we were at it.

Before: 

After:

It's always fun to watch the construction happen.  The girls always start worrying when the guys start tearing things up to build.  "Mom, they're breaking the house!!"

Here's work on the patio cover:

Here's work on the concrete: 

He poured on the only sunny day in May.  It rained pretty much the whole month, so the ground was really wet and soft.  It took a whole day after the fact for Stan and I to smooth out that mess.

 We are loving it!