Kid is sick as a dog!

It’s been a long week. So, as you know we started the week last week with an ear infection. We started her on her antibiotics on Monday. Suddenly Wednesday she came down with a fever. Wednesday night she was miserable, she was achy and feverish. And of course we had our Presidents Dinner at the zoo. We left the kid with my mom and dad.

Courtney was also breathing really fast and shallow. So, we were at the pediatrician’s office early Thursday morning. She sent us off to the hospital for blood work and x-rays. I felt awful when they pricked her arm, she screamed! The pediatrician was thinking she might have pneumonia.

We found out late that afternoon that it wasn’t pneumonia, and it was most likely just viral. So, the next few days she still had a fever and just was miserable. On Saturday her ear started hurting again. When she woke up on Sunday morning, her ear was oozing goop. So, say hello to ANOTHER ear infection. But by Sunday her fever was gone at least. She is currently back on antibiotics and drops for her ear and we are going to the ENT’s office this afternoon.

My sister is in town visiting. I feel so bad; she has only seen the miserable Courtney this week. She hasn’t been able to see the adorable fun loving Courtney. Susan is currently in Vegas for a wedding, but she will be back for dinner Tuesday night, so hopefully Courtney will be close to back to normal by then so that Susan can see the real Courtney.

We took Courtney and Susan for a quick zoo trip on Saturday morning. Susan hasn’t seen the new Rocky Mountain Wild exhibit yet, so we had to take her up to show her. And we couldn’t go by the ponies without a ride. So, we had a super fast trip. We fed giraffes, saw the baby tiger, rode a pony, walked through Rocky Mountain Wild, and walked thought the gorilla house. Then we left and got Courtney down for a nap, she was wiped out. Poor kid.

Like I said before, last Wednesday was the President’s Dinner. This year’s feature was a training session with one of the bears. It was the neatest thing! We were probably 3 feet from the bear! Of course he was on the other side of the cage, but it was still really close! It was really neat!

At dinner, we sat with the PR director. He was telling me about how People Magazine was doing a feature on one of their giraffe’s, Tamu. They are apparently doing a story about “rock stars of the animal world”. The next day Sean, the PR director, called me and said that People magazine called back and asked for a visitor to talk to, and he couldn’t think of anyone better! So, I got interviewed by People Magazine! The story should hit newsstands soon. I will let you know as soon as I hear when!

Plus my accounting class started last week. I already had homework, and I already got it done! It only took me about 2 hours, so hopefully it will be like this for the rest of the class. A kid in my class last semester scared me; he told me his homework took him 5 hours every night!

Family Vacation

Well, we are back from our little family vacation. We left Thursday to head to Grand Junction, CO. We had to start our day by going to Courtney’s new school and getting all the paperwork done. After we got that accomplished we ran home, packed up as fast as possible and hit the road.

Had we taken the interstates (I-25 to I-70) it would have been a 5 hour drive. But driving the interstate is just so boring when you have beautiful mountains to drive through. So, we headed out hyw 24 and then over Independence Pass through Aspen and then to Glenwood Springs, where we then caught I-70. Yes, it took us a lot longer, like 7+ hours, plus we stopped for lunch and dinner, but it was pretty!

We purchased a car DVD player for Courtney for the drive. It kept her pretty entertained on the drive since she doesn’t really care about looking out the window at the pretty scenery. But she also is not interesting in napping in the car either. On the way out she slept about 10 minutes. That made for a long afternoon and she was just about completely melted down by the time we finally put her down for the night.

The next morning we had a relaxing morning. After breakfast, we took Courtney down to the hotel pool to swim. She loves swimming and asks to go all the time. So, she was excited to be in the pool. Although, after about 30 minutes, she is done and she tells us! This time she started asking for her towel.

After lunch and a nap, we headed off to the Peach Festival. Our whole point for going! The main festival was at their river bend park. Turns out overall it’s pretty small. It’s a typical festival, but you get a free peach when you pay your $3 at the gate. They have food vendors and different vendors selling all kinds of different wares. We did end up buying ourselves two nice pottery bowls for serving dishes. We seem to lack in the nice serving dish department, so we picked out two nice ones for ourselves!

We ate some food, Courtney and I tried to share a roasted corn on the cob, but as soon as it had cooled enough to hold, she took over. And I apparently was not going to get anymore. They also had pony rides, so of course we indulged the kid. She really loves it! She got done riding and she kept saying “ride dat one, ride dat one” as we passed the other ponies to exit the ring.

The next morning we went back over to Palisade for the parade. It was probably the shortest parade I have ever seen, but hey, it was a parade and the kid loved it. It had a few horses, ponies and alpacas. She also had one of the best seats in the house (daddy's shoulders).

After that we went over to one of the orchards that offers free wagon ride tours. This is probably the biggest orchard in Palisade, called Clark Orchard. Courtney was pretty excited about riding on a wagon, and it was pulled by mules. She kept asking for them to “go faster”.

So, we got a nice little tour and after we walked around their farm stand. They also had a pen nearby with 3 little pigs (sorry, couldn’t resist). They were the friendliest pigs I have ever met. Of course, I haven’t met many pigs, but these guys would come running when they saw visitors coming. They were oinking and grunting up a storm. Courtney was oinking right back at them, it was pretty darn cute. She really got a kick out of the pigs.

That evening, after her nap, we headed over to the Colorado National Monument. (http://www.nps.gov/colm/) It’s a nice drive through rock formations and canyons. We even saw a little lizard. Courtney liked that too.

The next day was our last day. We stopped again at Clark’s to pick up our peaches. We got 2 boxes of them. The boxes are 24-26 pounds each. But, we have a friend who promised a peach pie, and cobbler, or second pie. Plus we brought lots back to share with friends.

We had stayed in Grand Junction, as Palisade is a very tiny town with few places to stay. Our hotel was just 10 miles away, so not bad. And we had to pass by Palisade on the way home, which is why we waited until our way out of town to pick up the peaches.

We had beautiful weather the whole time. Saturday morning it was a little cooler, but not bad. No rain and really nice temperatures. Apparently while we were enjoying the nice weather the mountains between us and home were not. They got SNOW! So, when we were coming down I-70 and passing the ski resorts the tops of the mountains had snow!

This time on the way back we went through Breckenridge and people were dressed like it was winter. It was funny to us to see the change! It apparently rained at home most of the time we were gone.

Sounds like we had a great time, right? We did for the most part, but Courtney had a cold and it was at its worst on Saturday. Her nose was running like a faucet. Then at 4am Sunday morning she woke up with an ear infection. Plus whenever Courtney was sleeping, Hubby was working. And when she wasn’t sleeping, he was always on his blackberry. So it wasn’t exactly the quiet relaxing family vacation I had hoped for.

She was supposed to start her new daycare today, but because of her ear, I needed to get her to the pediatrician’s instead. Looks like the tube in her left ear is half dislodged and therefore not working. So, we get to go to the ENT on Thursday to have it looked at. This is her 3^rd ear infection in 3 months. I wouldn’t be shocked if we are looking at surgery again. Yippee…. So, she is on antibiotics again.

She also gets to look forward to another swallow study this Wednesday. I am curious to see if there is any change, but I am not holding my breath. I have a feeling there hasn’t been.

My next class starts tomorrow, accounting. I am a little nervous about this one. From what I hear, it’s a bear of a class. And I get to take 2 of them. I shall see!

Our house kind of looks like a bomb exploded inside. When you are gone for 5 days, come back for 2 and then leave again, it happens. So, I have been trying to get things back in order. I guess I should go and work on that. Hope everyone is well!

MRI complete

Well, we are back. We survived Vegas. More importantly, I survived 5 days without the kid. I left her at daycare Thursday morning. I felt like crying. I realized just how much I was going to miss her. But I held it together and came home to pack.

I drove to the Denver Airport and I had to pick up Tania on the way. Tania is Greg’s girlfriend. We got on the plane and on the way just fine. About half an hour into the flight the pilot let us know that due to severe thunderstorms the Las Vegas airport was currently closed. He said that we may have to circle a bit when we get there, but not to worry we had plenty of gas. He said it should be open by the time we get there though. We got closer and it was still shut down. The pilot came on and asked us to enjoy the view of Lake Powell while we circled again and again and again. Finally he came back on and said, “bad news folks, we have been diverted to Phoenix. We will refuel and wait for the Las Vegas airport to open”. Bummer. So, the plane got turned around and we started heading for Phoenix. Wouldn’t you know, as soon as we got turned around and started heading to Phoenix, the airport reopened. So, we turned around again, and headed back to Vegas. We finally landed and only 30 minutes late somehow!

The next few days were a LOT of walking. The conference center is HUGE and lucky me got to be the gopher. I did a LOT of walking. But Friday afternoon Hubby and I escaped after working that morning at the conference. First we went to the Star Trek experience at the Hilton. It’s where the group goes every year. But rumor has it that it’s going to be closing down soon. So, I had to go and experience it at least once. We did the full experience with the rides and all. It was pretty neat, but not worth the price we paid. Plus the Star Trek convention was in town, so we got to see lots of characters dressed up. No, I am not a Trekkie, but I hear a lot about the whole thing year after year, so I had to go and check it out.

Next we headed off to the Shops at Caesars Forum. I can barely afford anything there, but it’s my favorite place in the world to “Shop”. Okay, maybe more like window shop. Not sure what’s the most exciting, the way the sky (ceiling) goes back and forth from night to day, or all the BIG fancy stores you don’t really see anywhere else (like Tiffany’s, Dolce & Gabana, Cartier), or the overall atmosphere, but WOW do I love going there. The only thing we bought was lunch and dessert at the Cheesecake factory.

Day two we managed to escape again after work and went down to Shark Reef at Mandalay Bay. I didn’t realize until this trip that they are AZA accredited! So is our local zoo, so that is pretty cool! We walked through their rain forest and pet a sting ray. Then you get to the large tank where all the large sharks are and a few large turtles and lots of fish. It was enjoyable as always. This is my second trip there.

That night we all got together and ate at Benihana’s, which is a hibachi type style restaurant. We had a good time there.

The next day we didn’t escape. Sunday is a shorter day for the conference as it is also the last day. So, we got off work at 12pm and we had to be back by 4pm to help with tear down. Then closing ceremonies were at 5pm. So, we just kind of hung out. I did finally get a little bit of gambling done, I played Roulette. I was up $5 when I quit. Not too shabby for sitting there for only about 15 minutes.

After closing ceremonies, we headed to the NASCAR experience at the Sahara. We met up with Greg and Tania, and we had Dana with us. We ate dinner there, and then after dinner, Hubby and Dana rode the rollercoaster. It was the shortest rollercoaster I have ever seen, maybe 10 seconds, but they both swore it was the best one they have ever ridden.

The next day it was time to come home. I was so ready to come home and see Courtney. We had been catching up with her daily on the phone, but I really missed her a lot. We had a smooth ride home and we picked her up from daycare just about 4:30pm.

She had a little bit of a rough night and I actually went in her room about 9pm to comfort her. I think she was scared we were going to leave her again. She insisted on seeing us both. It took about 30-45 minutes, but I finally got her back to sleep (or darn close). This wasn’t great, because we had to be up EARLY this morning.

We had to be at the hospital by 6am for her MRI. We made it, got checked in, and they put her to sleep about 7:20am. We both were with her, I was outside the room and Hubby was with her when they put her to sleep. I was worried this was going to be a repeat of the tubes saga while she was waking up. They came and got us just before 8:30am. I went to recovery (PACU) and she was just sitting there on the bed. She was a little whiny, but not too bad at all! No writhing, screaming, kicking, like last time. I was thankful. We got back to our room in radiology, and they wouldn’t release us until Courtney drank and swallowed. Courtney tried, but her throat hurt so much that all she could do is cry and she couldn’t swallow anything.

The anesthesiologist put a full tube in her throat so that she didn’t aspirate while she was under. This caused her to have a very sore throat and made her really not interested in drinking. So, we were stuck at the hospital. Finally around 9:45am we let her fall asleep for about an hour. When she woke up at 10:45 she was still irritable and didn’t want to drink much, but we could get her to eat a Popsicle. Finally they let us go.

She cried the whole way home. She was so irritable. We pulled in the garage and she threw up. Poor kid, what a miserable day. We got her inside, and cleaned up and wouldn’t you know she asked for breakfast! So, we gave her half a plain bagel. She ate almost the whole thing. She also finally started drinking. Within a matter of moments, she seemed back to normal. So, all of a sudden, we had our kid back! We got her put down for a nap and that was very restless for her, she did a lot of whining and crying out during her nap. But when she got up from nap, she seemed pretty normal still. But she went to bed pretty easy tonight.

She is so cute with all the things she says. Her full sentences are really coming along. It’s just amazing. I feel like she changed so much just in the 5 days I was gone. I can’t imagine how much she has changed to Hubby who had been gone for 11 days.

I am off to finally get some relaxing done!

Scare of my life

So, Romeo was supposed to be picked up last night. But Tania got stuck in Syracuse, so I got to keep him another night. No problem, in fact that came in handy later.

So, I went to bed about 10:30pm. I had all the windows open because it was a beautiful night, but as usual before bed, I shut them, locked them and closed the blinds. I fell asleep probably about 11:00pm. About 11:30pm the doorbell rings. The dogs go ballistic as they usually do with the doorbell. I crept down the stairs and peered around the corner. If it was a neighbor, I would have been okay. However, it wasn’t a neighbor. It was a man I have never seen before.

I was scared to death. He tried the door as I was standing just to the side of it, but I had the screen door locked too. I ran to the kitchen and found my cell phone in the dark. I called 911. The man stood on my porch for quite a while, while the dogs were trying to tear a hole in the door to get to him. It felt like an hour, I am sure it was more like 5 minutes, and he disappeared. I mean disappeared. I went up and looked out an upstairs window and he was nowhere to be seen! I am still on the phone with the dispatcher at this point.

Then a pickup truck comes driving by really slow. A guy gets out of the pickup and comes and gets the guy who must have been standing by my garage door. It was the only place I couldn’t see from my window. The new guy lead the other guy back to the truck, like the guy from my porch was drunk. He put him in the bed of the truck and also got in. Then the truck started up the hill. They were going extremely slow. Finally, just as they got out of sight around the corner, the police showed up. Since I was still on the phone with the dispatcher the whole time I was updating her as to what was happening. So, the police skipped right past my house and went right for the truck.

I guess after they sorted things out with them, one of the officers came to my house. He said that they guy was elderly and confused and that was his family coming to take him back home. Not sure how much of that story is true or if he was just trying to make me feel better. But I felt a whole lot better after the police got there.

And as you know, Hubby is out of town, so it was just me and the kid in the house. Now I know why people are afraid of mother bears. You mess with their kids in any way shape or form and they will kill you! And I was so thankful I had the 4 dogs that let their presence be known. It certainly didn’t deter the man from standing there and trying the door, but it made me feel a bit better having them there.

You know, I was held up at knife point when I was 18. This was much scarier!

So, word of advice to all of you. Close and lock your main level doors AND windows at night!!! And get a dog, or two, or three!!!!

The dog days of summer

The dog days of summer are here! It’s been HOT HOT HOT the last week. Yesterday was 98 degrees! But it’s not as bad as Las Vegas, where Hubby is now. It’s HOTTER there!

We started off this past week with a visit to the vet. Bristol and Buddy were due for their annual exams. Hubby took them in early Monday morning. All went well; Bristol is now weighing in at 60 lbs, and Buddy at 29 lbs! Last time Maggie was in she weighed in at 44 lbs.

Tuesday was my last test for this semester. I was very happy to have that done and over with. I also got my stock project back. I got 100%! Yahoo! So, overall I got an A in the class. Now I am 2 for 2!

Tuesday night we did something extra fun! One of the things we had purchased at the zoo ball auction was a Moonlight Safari. This is where you and a large group of your friends get an afterhours tour of the zoo, plus dinner. We had split the purchase of it with our friends the White’s. So, they brought 13 people and we brought 12. Their group ended up being mostly teenagers as they used this event to celebrate their oldest one turning 16 a few days before. She had about 5 friends come up and surprise her at the zoo.

We started with dinner (hot dogs and salad) and after dinner we made s’mores. It’s been so long since I have done that. Yum, I had 3. They were tasty!

After we were all in a sugar coma, we walked it off by taking our tour of the zoo. We got to hear the wolves howling at dusk. We got to feed the giraffes (you know I loved that), we got to pet a snake. Lots of cool stuff. Here’s hubby holding the snake:

We learned we are supposed to get another female elephant soon! And we apparently spooked the Emu’s. They started running back and forth like crazy when we walked by. It was hilarious! We learned the lions names are Elston and Angie. They were trapped in the wild when they were young. That doesn’t sound good, buy both of them had been in a situation where there was a lack of prey, and so had they not been trapped and sent to a zoo, they most likely would have died of starvation. We saw the new baby giraffe and I fed some giraffes crackers off the top of my head.

Oh, and we saved the beaver. Someone had given the beaver a bag to play with. But whoever did, didn’t realize the inside had a plastic coating. We noticed the beaver had a plastic bag and told the keeper. She had to go in and get it from him. Here he is with the plastic bag:

We left Courtney with Nana and Papa. This event ran until 10pm. She never would have made it to 10pm. We had a 4 year old that went with us and she barely made it. She stared melting down towards the end.

One day this week I made Crockpot lasagna. My friend had tried it recently, and said it worked great. So, I gave it a shot too. I came home at lunch one day to start it, as it really should only cook for about 4 hours. I came home at lunch, browned the ground beef, and then layered it in the Crockpot just as you would in a pan. I also mixed in a zucchini from my garden. Then when we came home that evening for dinner it was ready! I put the noodles in uncooked, and when I pulled out a piece of lasagna, the noodles were cooked! It was so easy it was great! And it was tasty!

Hubby left for Las Vegas on Friday. Our biggest conferences of the year started yesterday. I leave to join them on Thursday. I am looking forward to it, other than the fact that it’s hotter there than here.

Yesterday we celebrated my mom turning 60! After Courtney’s last swimming lesson, we went down to my parents’ house. We had to take an alternate route than our normal route thanks to the US Senior Open. They are playing at the Broadmoor and thanks to that, lots of roads are closed.

Courtney had an exhausting day. She wore herself out! She also ate corn on the cob for the first time!

After a fun filled day there, we came home and Courtney was past done. It was at her normal bed time, but she took a really short nap, if she even fell asleep at all. I had to dunk her in the tub, she was really dirty, but she had a major meltdown right before I put her in the tub. After a quick bath, and 1 book and 1 song, I put her down. She fell asleep in a matter of moments. Something she hasn’t done in a long time.

Later that night one of our cadets came over. We have acquired her through her ex-boyfriend. Toby is one of the cadets we have sponsored since Doolies day out. Kelli was his girlfriend and she started to come over with them. They broke up at the end of the school year last year, but Kelli loves coming here so much, she just comes over on her own now. She got here late last night, but she got up and started playing with Courtney this morning early! She loves playing with Courtney.

Since it’s been so hot, we decided to play outside but beat the heat while we were doing it. So, I got out the dog pool and the kid pool. I also brought the umbrella down to the grass to make us some shade while Courtney played in the sandbox and the pool. The dogs had fun getting cool too. I set up their dog pool in the dog pen in the shade.

But I couldn’t keep them out of Courtney’s pool too!