America the Beautiful Park

Well, the other day Courtney was "reading" a book to me. She said "Here's Courtney as a Mommy". To which I replied "aww, do you want to be a Mommy some day?" Her response: "no". I said "you don't want kids of your own?" To which she replies "no, I want to be a princess when I grow up. I am going to be Cinderella." Well, ok then. Today in the car she told me that she would like to be Lady GaGa (a singer) when she grows up. Jeez, I don't think I will ever get grandchildren from her... :)

Anyway, yesterday (Thursday) was zoo preschool day. We learned all about Naked Mole Rats. It's the special animal for the summer at our zoo. She loved it! Who would have thought a kid would be so excited about Naked Mole Rats! They got to feed them, which means they threw veggies in their little tubes. Then we went back to our classroom and the kids got to crawl through a bunch of boxes together and pretend like they were naked mole rats. She had a great time!


Then today my neighbor and I took the girls to the America the Beautiful Park. They also have the Julie Penrose fountain there. The kids are allowed to play in the bottom part of the fountain. After we played at the playground for a few minutes, we headed over to the fountain. The older girls had fun, but I was blown away by how much fun Kasey had! She would have stayed all day if I let her! She really really loved it! She had so much fun walking around and splashing in the water! It was just perfect for her! In fact, she loved it so much that I had to go and get the stroller to strap her into it for lunch. Otherwise she kept walking back into the fountain. I will have to take her back there sometime soon! Courtney of course had a great time as well! It was a good time had by all.
Hubby is in Vegas right now for a conference. He uploaded the following picture to his Facebook page tonight. It sure was a surprise to me!

Denver Zoo

I forgot to mention yesterday that Kasey now has all 4 of her molars in. AND looks like she is working on some eye teeth. Fun.

Today she said Papa twice! Maybe her vocab is going to catch up soon! But she gets her hearing checked tomorrow, so we will find out.

Today I took the girls to the Denver Zoo. Kind of felt like I was cheating on our zoo, but it was neat to check it out. I hadn't been there since I was in junior high! And the great thing was that Zak and Susan were able to come down and meet us and enjoy the zoo with us! The temp was in the high 90's, so it was hot! Lots of animals were soaking in the water or shade, or just plain laying down.





Courtney kept complaining of leg pain, so we ended up renting a wagon. Who would have known that would have also been a great source of entertainment! Everyone got a ride in the wagon (but me).


Here are some other pics from today:
Train ride!
Are we as tall as a Polar Bear?

Carousel!
Feeding Lorakeets!
Zak learned real quick why Courtney shouldn't be in charge of the map!

Cool giraffe statues out front! I want one for my yard!
We arrived at 10:30am and we left at 4:00pm! And we didn't even see everything the zoo had to offer. It was fun! We could do that again.

After we left, we had to swing by The Birdbrain to pick up food, it was not far from the zoo. Saves us $13 in shipping! Then we got on the interstate and headed for home. Both girls were out before we got out of Denver city limits. It was a long, hot day!

Once we got home and had some dinner, I threw the girls in the tub and then straight to bed. They both crashed out! I don' think I am far behind!

County Fair

I am really enjoying summer. It's going to be so different once school starts up. I am not going to know what to do!

This past week we again were busy. On Tuesday I took Courtney (and Kasey) to the library in Monument. They had mini-horses visiting! They had the kids make a cute (and thankfully very easy) horse craft, then they got to visit one of the horses. We got to pet the one named April. She was so cute!




Wednesday was her OT day, followed by grocery shopping. So, nothing too exciting.

Thursday on the other hand, was very exciting. As usual it was zoo preschool day. We learned about leopards and three toed sloths. The kids decorated boxes then put a meat popsicle inside for the leopards, and then we delivered them.

After class, as usual, we hung out with our friends the P's (we'll call them). Jared, the dad, had the day off from work, so he was with us as well. We ate lunch, rode ponies, the merry-go-round, and the train. Then we were off to feed the giraffes.

Hubby then met up with us as we had a special event planned for our family! We got to feed the baby Rocky Mountain Goats. Man were they cute! They are being bottle fed still, and so we got to do a bottle feeding for them. They make the cutest little squeak noise. It was so neat to get in with them and feed them! We all had a blast! I think they are about 2 months old now.
It rained a bit on us, which I blame on Hubby because he rode the motorcycle down to the zoo. After feeding the baby goats we (the girls and I) headed for home and Hubby headed down to Cheyenne Mountain State Park. He had some extended family out here on a motorcycle trip, and so he went down to catch up with them. While they were here in Colorado Springs, they camped down there.

The next day, he took the day off from work and went for a ride with them. Hubby, Art and his wife Cheryl went down to Bishop's Castle. Bishop's Castle is a castle this guy has been building by hand for years. Apparently it was a nice ride there and back. Once they got back into town they caught up with the rest of the group they are on their trip with and everyone came here for dinner. We had 5 bikes in our driveway as you can see by the picture. It was Bike Night at the Kirouac's as I called it! We smoked a brisket and I made potato salad, we also had corn and a home made veggie and fruit tray. Everyone loved the brisket, and I have to say we are getting darn close to perfection!
The next day (Saturday) was the opening day for the El Paso County Fair. This is the same fair we get a cow and pig at almost every year. But this year we are only going for a pig. Much smaller and MUCH cheaper. Anyway, since Hubby will be out of town next weekend (the weekend of the auction) we decided to go this weekend. And we decided it was time to introduce Courtney to the fair. We left Kasey with Nana and Papa and that really worked out for the best.

Anyway, we went with our friends the P's. Addison and Courtney had a blast! They are only about 4 months apart in age. They got to pet goats, a pig (see picture), snakes, cows (again, see picture) rabbits (last picture), sheep, chickens, and a great dane (and probably more, I just can't remember what at the moment). They also got to ride rides and eat lots of Fair food. Gotta love those funnel cakes! Mmmm.... I got to try frog legs (not so mmmmmm...) Jared loves them, and he couldn't believe there was a stand selling them. In fact, I couldn't believe it either. But he got an order and ate them right down. I tried them, they tasted a bit too fishy for my taste. We drank tons of lemonade and had a great time! We finally said goodbye to all the rides and animals and fried food and headed for Nana and Papa's house. Kasey had taken a good nap so she was in a great mood when we got there. She got to play all day with no competition from her sister! She got to soak in Nana and Papa time all to herself. Apparently she loved it! And she also said "Nana" once! Progress!!!

Courtney on the other hand, didn't get a nap and so she was getting a bit cranky. We were scheduled to have Amber come and babysit for us, and we had planned on picking her up a bit early so that Courtney could get some play time with her. But she was so worn out that it ended up working out that I had her ready for bed and as soon as Amber got there, she put Courtney to bed. At least she got to see Amber. Kasey on the other hand, got to stay up another hour! She was rested. And we got to visit our friends and spend the evening on their new deck, kidless!

Today was a quiet day at home. After church I came home to find that Hubby and the girls had come up with a new game. It's called "rip up the Sunday ad's". Kasey found it to be quite fun, as you can see by the picture!


Kasey also finally said "Dada" again today! It's been about 2 months since she last said it. Hopefully she continues on this path of adding new words. But she does have her audiology evaluation this coming Tuesday. So, we will see what that says.

Courtney has always had a hard time "shutting down" at night. Once you put the kid to bed it took her an hour plus to fall asleep. Almost no matter what we did to try to deter this, it didn't work. Her OT and regular therapist feel this is a part of her sensory stuff. So, we have tried many things to help her be able to shut down. It has taken us a LONG time, but we think we finally may have found the answer. We really have to feed her sensory system prior to bed by either letting her swing outside or do her "spinning" inside on the spinning board we have. Follow that with a regular bed time routine and then we added in spoken books on her iPod and I think we have a winner! I think the trick really is the spoken books. She has to lie still and concentrate to listen to them. We don't keep the volume up, so she really does have to work to hear it. This causes her to be still which is then letting her body shut down and then she falls asleep! Since we have started this routine, she is falling asleep within 20 minutes or so of putting her down! I can't believe it! It's the small miracles that make me happy.

Seems like there has been an influx of hurt/ill kids in my life recently. The funny thing is that I don't know any of them! I will explain.

Claire is the granddaughter of a couple that goes to my church. I go to a very large church in town. A couple of people in my Sunday School class know the grandparents. They shared a few weeks ago that Claire (who lives in TX) had been in a near drowning accident. She was without a pulse for 30 minutes before she was revived. Due to the lack of oxygen to the brain for that amount of time, she has been completely changed. She was in the hospital for about a month, then to a rehab place for about a month and now she is finally home. She might never be as she was before, and they have a long road ahead of them, but she is home! Her dad has been updating a blog just about nightly with Claire's progress. I read it daily and I know several of my friends do too. (the blog address is: http://ourclaire.wordpress.com/ )

Then there was a little girl here in town who was attacked pretty bad by a lose pit bull. They had several stories about her in our local paper, including one that had the web address to a blog the little girl's mom is updating. She lost her upper lip, and part of her nostril, among other injuries. She is going in for surgery to repair her nostril tomorrow. Her name is Meagan and she is 6 years old. (her blog address is: http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/meagangarrow/journal?jid=5845745 )

THEN, I found out Thursday night that one of the mom's from my MOPS group had her baby and the baby has been having difficulties since birth. The baby's name is Evelyn. Evelyn was born without a full esophagus, and a hole in her heart. They had to immediately fix the esophagus. They expect the hole in the heart to heal itself. But then baby Evelyn started to have seizures. She had an EEG and they don't see any reason as to why these are happening. Good news, they think that means it will fix itself. But this poor little kid has gone through so much already and they have a feeling the battles aren't over yet. (Evelyn's blog address is: http://evelynsheridan.wordpress.com/ )

I am just amazed at the way we all communicate these days. I have had this blog since October 2004, and it is such a great way to update everyone at once! It's sad to think that these 3 families are using it for the same purpose, but in a much different light. At least all 3 have had nothing but good news to report. So, if you can, please say a prayer for these 3 girls. All of them need it.

And then there is Facebook! I am amazed at the people I have reconnected with. It has really been wonderful! And it is such a great way to stay in touch as well. Funny how we all seem to be getting more connected now a days. For a while there it felt to me as if we were getting disconnected. It felt like all we would do was to email. Then along came Facebook. You have the ability to communicate, chat, and share pictures! Plus I think text messages on cell phones help as well! I am now starting to feel much more connected to friends. And with Facebook reconnecting me to so many, I feel like my circle of friends has quadrupled! What a wonderful thing! Life is good!

I can't tell you how blessed I feel every day. I have a wonderful family, we all have our health and we get to do wonderful things together. I am so thankful for what I have.

But what I need is sleep! So, I need to finally end this here and go crawl in bed and maybe read a chapter from Pride and Prejudice. It is taking me FOREVER to get through that book!

HUGS!

Summer

How can anyone dislike summer? I know, it gets hot, but the memories you can make! Tonight after dinner we spent the evening out back. The girls swung on the swing-set while Hubby pushed them. I finished cleaning up dinner, fed the animals, folded some laundry and then joined them.

After a while Courtney wanted to play in the sandbox. Hubby originally told her no, it's too messy. I reminded him "you are only a kid once". So we let Courtney open the sandbox. As soon as Kasey saw what Courtney was up to, she wanted to play too. So, the two of them played in the sandbox for quite a while. Then we finished up the night with some more swinging. We spent about an hour and a half out there, enjoying the evening, letting the girls run. It actually wore Courtney out. For once she is asleep before Kasey. Let me tell you, that is a RARE thing!

We let the dogs run too. Bristol and Maggie RAN around the yard, we played some ball with Bristol. Buddy just meanders and eats a lot of grass. That's his thing. We wore the dogs out too. Maggie and Bristol fell asleep on the floor of Courtney's room while I was putting her to bed.

Seriously, you just have to love summer....

Meanwhile, I have been working diligently on getting rid of baby stuff. Julie, Esten's wife, is pregnant, and so she has been the recipient of a TON of our baby stuff. I had it all piled up in the basement, but was having a hard time letting go of it. I think I was just emotionally attached to it. So, this is just what I needed to let it go. It feels good to be able to give it to someone who needs it and that I know. For some reason I am able to let go of it much easier when I can give it to Julie. I gave her all my maternity clothes, and now she has all our baby stuff (swing, bouncy seat, tub, command center, etc.) Now we just need to wait and see if it's a boy or girl (they are making us wait until the baby is born) to see if I can pass along our stockpile of clothes. Meanwhile, I am boxing up baby toys Kasey is outgrowing and today I found a whole pile of receiving blankets that are not gender specific. I now keep a box for Julie that I throw things in as I find them. It's already half full! Like I said, this just makes it easier for me to actually get rid of this stuff! Ahhhhhh.....

Everyone loves a parade!

We were able to go to the parade Tuesday night! It was hot, but it wasn't too bad. Our car themometer said 99 degrees when we got in the car after the parade (and it wasn't parked in the sun), but it didn't feel that hot. The parade was fun, lots of horses which of course made Courtney happy. We met up with our neighbors down there, so Courtney had a friend to enjoy the parade with. Kasey sat in the umbrella stroller the whole time, but she got into it! She waved at the people, and she waved the flag that someone walking down the street (in the parade) gave her. It was so cute!

There were even a couple horses in the parade that had their foals walking with them. They were SOOO cute! And we saw some young kids riding horses unassisted in the parade, it was pretty cool!

This parade was to kick off the Pikes Peak or Bust Rodeo. We won't be attending. Maybe some year in the future, but I am really not a big fan and the girls are still too young to get into it or sit still for that long.

The next morning Hubby had to leave to go on a 2 day trip. Quick trips are nice. But at the same time, I missed him even more than usual, maybe because it was a quick trip. Not sure. But either way he was only gone 1 night and he was back before we knew it.

Meanwhile, on Wednesday Courtney had her OT session. That always makes me feel better. How does that make ME feel better if it's Courtney's OT you ask? Well, her therapist always makes me feel better because I go in just about every week saying "is this or that common? what do I do about this?" She makes me realize that I am not crazy, and that a lot of the odd things that Courtney does is part of her "brain stuff" as we call it for short. And she always is offering suggestions on trying to help remedy an issue we are suffering with at home.

Thursday was zoo preschool day. We only have this month and next month left and then we are done with it until Kasey turns 3. Courtney starts school late August, so she will be in school on Thursday mornings. I sure will miss zoo preschool. The experiences we have received and things we have learned just can't be duplicated by just hanging out at the zoo.

Anyway, Thursday we leaned about alligators. After we learned about them and did our craft we went over and fed the kids to them. No just kidding. The kids got to feed them alligator pellets, or as Courtney said "it looked like dog food".

Then as usual we hung out with our friends afterwards. But this day was different because instead of my friend Whitney being there, her husband Jared was there with their daughter. Whitney was getting a pedicure getting ready for their trip to Vegas this weekend. She is in a wedding there. So, the girls and I hung out with Jared and Addison.

The next day we didn't have anything planned, thankfully. All week the weather had been HOT. Not just HOT, but H-O-T hot. So, my neighbor and I decided a water day was in order. I got out the pools at 7:45am and filled them, hoping the water would be somewhat warm by the time the girls got in them, and not that freezing cold hose water.

The girls and I ran to the store to get some food, and our neighbors had to run a few errands as well. We finally conviened at the house at 10:30, sunscreed up the girls and headed outdoors. Molly brought over their slip-n-slide and we set that up too. All 4 girls had a blast between the pools and the slip-n-slide. Note that I did say pools, plural. Whenever I set up one, I have to set up another one too. Bristol loves to lay down in the pool, and if I don't have 2, he lays down in one and gets it all hairy. So, he gets his own pool.

But when we first went outside, all 3 dogs were actually at the vet for their annual exams. Which, by the way, went really well. And it was so cute, because when Hubby was home loading up the dogs, Courtney ran and got her puppy (that she takes everywhere and sleeps with every night) and told Hubby that Puppy needed to go to the vet as well. She had also heard me tell Hubby that I wanted the vet to look at Bristol's eye. Courtney told Hubby that Puppy's eye needed to be looked at as well. So, Hubby took all 4 dogs to the vet, and sent me this picture to show Courtney.
Turns out Bristol needed some eye drops, and apparently Puppy needs some too. So, we have medicated ones for Bristol and we have to put saline ones in Puppy's eyes for a few days. Good news is that both dogs will be just fine.

Once the dogs returned home, first thing Bristol did was to lay down in his pool. He also really liked the bottom of the slip-n-slide.

Anyway, we enjoyed a few hours out back. Molly and I sat in the shade of the umbrella while the girls ran around an played. After a French lunch as Molly called it (meaning a little bit of this and a little bit of that), the girls played a bit more inside. Courtney is really starting to actually play with Ava and visa-versa. They used to just parallel play and now they play together. It's cute to watch. They were playing as if one of them was a dog and the other one was the owner and taking the dog to the vet. Meanwhile Regan and Kasey, the two young ones, sat and played together as well. Come nap time, we were all exhausted and we all took a nap!

You know what? I had a slip-n-slide when I was little. They sure seemed to be a lot bigger back then. Maybe it's just perception. Also, mine was just a piece of plastic that you put the hose on, or something pretty simple. The one Molly had you fill up a little pool like thing at the bottom to catch the girls. Then you attach the hose to a thing at the top and it sprays like a sprinkler the whole way down! Much fancier than the one I had growing up... Ah, how things have changed.

Today we took the girls up to something called KidSpree in Denver. Well, Aurora to be more specific. I had heard something about it on one of the Facebook groups I belong to. We told our friend Kim about it too, so she came with her 2 girls. The whole thing was free, it had lots of sponsors. We had to park in a mall parking lot and wait for a bus to take us over to the park. Once we finally arrived (we had to wait for about 3 buses to come pick up people before it was finally our turn) it was fun. The only bad part was that the forecast was for 100 degrees that day, and they predicted correct! So, it was HOT! I was prepared with lots of water and cool snacks. But it was still HOT! When we got back in our car to go home, the thermomter said 101! And at one point on the way home it said 104. That is just hot...

There was tons of stuff for the kids. In fact there was so much we didn't get to all of it. There were crafts, bounce houses, instruments for them to try, a disc dog compeition, give a ways, music and singing. They also had this HUGE sandpile that was probably 4 feet high. We hit that twice. There was a maze, there was a water wall that sprayed water out from different areas randomly (that one was popular). And there was more! It was pretty fun! It wasn't SUPER fun, maybe because it was so hot. But everyone had a good time, and the girls had a blast. Both our girls crashed in the car on the way home, which for Courtney to sleep in the car is a rare thing. I am sure Kim's girls slept too.

After a quick, cool dinner, we dunked the girls in the tub and got them into bed. They both crashed pretty fast. Once they were in bed, we took turns taking showers too. We were all so hot and sweaty and covered in sand and dirt and who knows what else.

I had fun though. It was fun to watch the girls having fun. And of course I enjoyed the disc dog competition. One of the things they did that I think Courtney enjoyed most was someone made a life sized Hi-Ho Cherry-O's game. There were wooden trees that were about 4 feet tall, with holes in them. Each tree had a spinner, so you spun the wheel to see how many cherries you could pick off the tree. The "cherries" were pieces of foam, actually they looked like a cut up water noodle, and the kids had baskets to put them in. They had to fill up their baskets with cherries. They got a sticker at the end, it was very cute.

I think Kasey's favorite today was the drumming area. I know these drums have a special name, but it escapes me at the moment. Anyway, they had this area set up with a bunch of these drums, and bongo drums, and a bunch of other fun percussion instruments for kids to try. They had the gourds with the beads around them, maracas, and all kinds of fun things. Kasey was so excited she would run from a drum to the table to get something to shake, then back to a drum and then back to the table to grab something else. She loved it. Plus it was in the shade, so we let the girls play there for a while. This way we could enjoy a break from the sun and heat.
Well, I am pretty wiped out after spending the day out the in the heat and sun. I sure hope this heat breaks soon!

Hot Hot Hot

Life has kept us busy here as usual. Which is actually ok by me!

We had the second week of Princess Dance Camp last week, and that was the final week as well. The girls were all so cute! I had to miss the recital at the end because of Kasey's 15 month check up, but Hubby got it on video and in pictures.

Kasey's doctor appointment was interesting. Her weight came in at about the 3rd percentile on their chart. She has only gained 6 oz since her 12 month check up. The doctor wasn't happy about both those things. But it is summer, and the girl RUNS now. So, the doctor is going to let it slide until her 18 month check up, then if its still an issue we may need to do something more.

Also, Kasey needs to have an audiology and speech evaluation. Her speech isn't on track for where she should be at this age and she has lost words she used to say, that really worries the doctor. So, we are working to get those appointment scheduled.

Today was my last day of bible study. I really enjoyed it! We did the story of Exodus and the Israelites wandering the dessert for 40 years. It was very interesting and I learned a lot. Not just about the story, but about my self as well. I also made some new friends that I am excited about having in my life now!

To finish up the last week, we all had a picnic on their lawn. It was so HOT. All of us were crammed under the one little tree they had for shade. When we got in the car, my thermometer was saying it was 96 degrees out. No wonder we all felt like we were melting! Good golly!

So, now that the Princess Dance camps are over and Bible study is over, what are we going to do to finish out the summer? We do still have Zoo preschool and Courtney's OT sessions, but suddenly my weeks feel so empty. There is an awesome magazine here in town that lists all kids activities. I really need to pick one up.

Tonight, barring bad weather, we are going to take the girls downtown for the Pikes Peak or Bust Rodeo parade! Courtney should really get a kick out of that, after all, she LOVES parades!

Well, I need to work on getting dinner cooked so that we are ready to eat as soon as Hubby gets home so that we can make the parade start on time!

Hugs to all of you!

my girls

I am so thankful to be a stay at home mom. I feel so blessed to have the ability to spend every day with my girls. Although there are moments they drive me batty, I wouldn't change it for the world.

Kasey is at such a cute age right now. Her babbling is so cute, and she is just a doll. She is such a happy kid, and she makes us laugh regularly.

Courtney is growing up so fast, I can't believe some of the things she says. Today she thought she saw the Statue of Liberty. Really? How on earth does she know what that looks like? Granted, it was actually St. Francis, but he was wearing a robe and he had his hand up in the air (with a bird on his finger). So I can kind of see how she thought it was the Statue of Liberty.

Of course, looking back over the past year, it really would have been impossible for me to work a full time job and take care of Courtney in the manner she needed. Meaning all the therapies she was going to. We made the decision last summer to push her through all the therapies now, instead of waiting, or doing them one at a time. Some people want to wait to see if their kids will outgrow whatever issues they are having. We came to the realization that she isn't going to outgrow her issues. And we decided to try to get her through all the therapies now while it wouldn't affect her school schedule. We are really happy we went with that decision. After all, she is off the thickener now, and she is making strides!

She also has started to become much more affectionate recently. Not sure if it's an age thing, or part of her own personal makeup, but I love it. She is always telling us she loves us out of the blue. She always wants to snuggle. She wants to hold hands. She tells us she will miss us if we have to leave her. It's all so opposite of how she always used to be, and it just warms my heart.

I did have to run her to the doctor's office today. She has another ear infection. She has been fighting a cold or something for about a week and a half now, and it finally made it into her ear. In fact the Nurse Practitioner said that she had an internal and external ear infection, so pretty painful. So, she is on medication now, and drops to help the ear canal. How did I know she had an ear infection? She told me when she was screaming for me at 5am.

But Kasey and I have both had a slight cold to, so I guess we shared this one. The only downside to being a stay at home mom? No sick days. But still, I am thankful.

Just wanted to share with everyone just how blessed I feel, and I am thankful everyday...

Renaissance Festival

We took the girls to their first Renaissance Festival today. I have been a few times in my life, in fact Hubby and I went once together prior to kids. But it's been about 7 years since I have gone.

Its a whole new ball of wax when you have kids! Courtney wanted a flowery headband, and we got her some fairy wings. It is kids weekend, so we dressed her in her Cinderella dress (her choosing) for the day because there was a costume contest.

Kasey spent most of the day in her stroller, including nap time when she crashed out. There was a great area for little kids, and we let Kasey run around stroller free there. There was also a petting zoo in that same area, Kasey kept trying to feed the sheep. We bought a cup of their feed, so we had stuff to feed them, but Kasey ended up getting her little fingers munched on too. But she is trooper. She just kept trying to feed them!

We did go with our friends, and Addison and Courtney were in the costume contest together. They didn't win however, but it sure was cute!

We finally left about 3pm. It was a long, hot day. But the girls sure had fun! Hubby rode on a camel with Courtney and on an Elephant with Courtney and Addison. (Courtney was in a daddy mood and wanted Daddy to ride with her, so I didn't get to).

When we got home we moved the swing set in our back yard to a more flat location. It was kind of on a slope and that just wasn't working. After we got that done, I put the girls in the tub while Hubby ran through the shower. When Hubby was done, the girls were out of the tub already too. So, we switched, he took over getting the girls done and I took a shower. The Renaissance Festival is very dusty, and we were all very dirty, and sweaty.

We ate a light dinner (those turkey legs sure are filling), and now we are just awaiting bed time in about 30 minutes (for the girls). But I tell you what, I am not far behind!

Happy 4th of July everyone!

Kasey

I guess I didn't realize how worried I was about Kasey, until today. We had her appointment up at Childrens Hospital in Denver. We had to take Courtney there once and it was very overwhelming to both of us. The amount of kids you see there and to think they are all there for some reason made us both quite sad. So, I was not really looking forward to today. At the same time, I wanted to know what was going on with Kasey.

We made it up there just fine and we didn't have to wait long to be taken back. Then it was waiting to see the fellowship lady who came in. I guess Childrens is a teaching hospital. She said that she wanted to consult with the doctor, so more waiting. Then a nurse came in and asked us to go down to radiology and have more chest x-rays taken. That was more waiting. Then back up to pulminology to wait for the doctor or fellowship lady. Finally they both came in (we are at about 2 & 1/2 hours in now). The doctor let us know that Kasey's x-rays were clear!

His theory is that she indeed had a pretty good case of RSV last March and that it took her poor little lungs this long to heal. She is a bit of a higher risk for juvenile asthma now, but still only about a 25% chance she would get it. We were so please! We could not have asked for a better outcome!

Finally, 3 hours after we arrived, we left. I felt like shouting for joy the whole way home! That is when I realized just how worried I guess I really was. Or maybe I wasn't, and I am still just really relieved! Who knows, either way, it was a great day! It was still hard to be at The Childrens Hospital, but it also really makes me count my blessings.

Courtney spent the day at our neighbors house. It was longer than expected, so we brought pizza over with us and we all ate dinner together. After we came home to our house I gave the girls a bath, we put them to bed and Courtney crashed. She had a long fun day.

I am going to go and enjoy this nice summer evening. I really enjoy sitting outside after the girls have gone to bed and enjoying the nice evening.