Happy Father’s Day!

I hope Drew has had a good Father’s Day.  Drew got presents, Bojangles for lunch, and a long nap.  I think that makes for a pretty good day in his book!

It seems like it was a long week with a good bit going on.  Lindy FINALLY finished school on Tuesday.  Seems like it was never going to end!  They had an awards ceremony and little graduation for the two students graduating from the hearing impaired preschool classroom.  Lindy was supposed to graduate but since she is going back two days a week next year she didn’t get to.  Will and I went at 10am and watched a cute slideshow her teacher had put together, saw all the kids get their awards and saw the two graduates in their caps and gowns!  We had snacks and then we were out of there around 11am.  We swung by Krispy Kreme for an original glazed doughnut milkshake as a special end of school year treat.  We came home for lunch and then Aunt Jamie called to see if we wanted to meet her at the mall.  I thought, why the heck not, we’re celebrating today!  We met her at the mall and had fun shopping. I spent some gift cards and got some new shirts.  Our mall has added a little train that you can pay to go on a ride around the top half.  Seeing as it was the last day of school, Lindy, Will and I went for a ride.  Aunt Jamie wouldn’t go.  The kids loved it.  Will was just giggling the whole ride!  We left the mall and headed home and both kids were out like a light in the car.  We were headed to a church cookout for dinner so we swung by and got Drew and we let the kids continue to sleep in the car for a little while.  We had a great time at the cookout.  The couple hosting it live at the base of Pilot Mountain and it was a gorgeous view.  They had a great yard for the cookout and it was a beautiful evening.  It was seriously the exact right temperature for a cookout!  The kids had a blast.  Will wanted to play with all the fun games in the basement and somehow convinced Mr. Bernie to take him down there!  Lindy went from person to person trying to take drinks from the soda cans or bottles of water.  I seriously couldn’t leave her alone or she was filching someone’s drink.  Tuesday was a busy day!

Wednesday we took it easy and slept in on our first day of summer. 

Thursday we reverted back to Lindy’s baby days and she had three doctors’ appointments.  When she came home from the NICU we had multiple appointments a day all the time.  That was 3.5 years ago and I’m a lot older.  Lindy and I were WORN out at the end of the day. 

She started the day with an audiologist appointment.  It was the first appointment with our new audiologist, since our old one moved this spring.  The first thing they do is a tympanogram – which checks your eardrums.  Lindy’s eardrums were not moving.  Neither one of them.  That was the first time that had ever happened.  She had a little negative pressure in her ears in February (which means there was a little bit of fluid then).  We tried putting her in the testing booth but she was not cooperating at all.  She kept messing with the things in her ears and the clips on the shirt and talking and telling me to be quiet.  She kept playing with the blocks and games she uses when she hears a sound.  She was doing everything but listening. 

Thankfully our second scheduled appointment of the morning was with the ENT.  Drew met me at the ENT office because we thought we would be talking about her paralyzed vocal cord (not her ears).  He checked her ears and said they were not infected but there was definitely fluid in there.  He can’t tell how long it’s been in there but because her ear drums were pulled back a little he thinks it could have been there awhile.  We talked about her allergies and how she has been congested a lot this spring.  The plan is to treat her aggressively for allergies for one month and see if that clears up the fluid.  If it doesn’t then it looks like she could be headed for tubes.  They take fluid in the ears of a hearing impaired child pretty seriously.  It’s making her already poor hearing even poorer!  We’ll see what happens in a month.  The other reason for the visit was to talk about her vocal cord and the possible surgeries.  There is a new surgery that our hospital is doing on kids as young as 3.   At this point we’ve decided to wait.  We’ll kind of take stock again when we see how she does in a class with typically developing kids this fall.  Drew went with me so he could hear about the surgery and ask questions.  Big thanks to our friend Katie who kept Will while Drew came to the appointment.  Will had a blast playing with Micah and Claire!

Lindy and I meanwhile ate our lunch in the car and then headed to physical therapy to get Lindy’s new braces (that we casted 2 months ago and the paperwork got messed up on – ugggg).  Heather worked the whole time getting her braces right and then at the end told us that she isn’t going to be seeing kids in the clinic anymore.  She is going to be working over at the hospital full time now.  It was a surprise to hear but I’m happy for her because I know this will be better for her.  She is a working mom and it will make her life better so we can’t be upset.  We’ll miss her but we hopefully weren’t going to be seeing her that much anyway.  She thinks Lindy is doing great!  Lindy actually ran in the door – really ran.  It was the first time Heather had seen it.  We will be seeing Jill in a month to check on her braces.  We saw Jill while Heather was on maternity leave a few months ago.

Lindy and I literally crashed on Thursday evening.  We were so exhausted from all the appointments.  We’re not young whipper-snappers anymore!  ha ha.

Friday morning we returned the favor and we watched Micah and Claire while Katie had a doctor’s appointment.  The kids loved having friends over to play.  Friday afternoon Lindy had one more doctor’s appointment at the pediatrician's office to check on a rash on her side that she’s had for weeks now.  It wasn’t going anywhere and seemed to be getting more red.  The PA said it was nummular eczema.  We have a prescription hydrocortisone crème to put on her for a week and see if that clears up.  She has never been bothered by it but something was definitely up and it wasn’t looking so pretty.

The only other excitement of the weekend was that Katie, Kris, Micah, and Claire came back over on Saturday night for a sewing playdate!  Kris and Drew watched the kids while Katie and I sewed dresses for Lindy and Claire.  It was so much fun figuring them out and sewing together.  If I do say so myself, they are so cute!  The girls wearing them are even cuter!!

This post was long and Lindy-heavy, but she had a big week.  Now for some pictures!

Lindy’s first day and last day of school pictures!  I think she has changed a ton.  She looks so much older!I tried to get the same angle but don’t think I did so well.  I was trying to compare her head to the door knob to see how much she grew.  She grew a little this year!Getting her award from Mrs. AsburyLindy’s class. They are a motley crew!Lindy and Mrs. AsburyLindy and Ms. MaryLindy and Ms. GlennRiding the train at the mall!Will was practically squealing when we first took off!A couple of happy train riders!Claire and Lindy modeling the dresses Katie and I made for them!Lindy was fooling around and Claire thought she was funny!  These two are becoming good buds!Drew opening his cards and presents this morning.We Love Daddy!Headed out the door to church!  I might have found another clothing option for their 4 year old birthday pictures next month!

I do want to wish my father a Happy Father’s Day.  He is a great dad and Papa.  He has always supported us in everything we do and at the same time made sure we did the best we could do.  He is a generous person – from which I have benefited greatly   I should also wish my father-in-law a Happy Father’s Day.  I got pretty lucky in getting that SOB (Sweet Old Bob) for a father-in-law.  Another kind, supportive, and wonderful grandfather in our lives.  We couldn’t live without our dads!

Lake Junaluska

We spent the last half of the week up in the NC mountains for Drew’s work meeting, called Annual Conference. 

The only news of interest before we left for annual conference was that I took Will to a ‘gym’ on Monday morning.  A local magazine put on a kids morning out at a local gym.  I don’t usually take just one kid to a fun event (I feel bad that the other didn’t get to join in) but last week I just decided to do it.  I’m thinking about putting the kids in gymnastics next fall so I thought this would be a fabulous (and free) way to check it out.  Little Man had a BLAST!  He literally jumped all over the gym, even when he wasn’t on a trampoline!  They (and I mean the couple hundred kids that showed up!) had the run of the place.  They could basically do any activity they wanted.  Will spent the most time on the long trampoline and in the big foam pits.  He really had so much fun and we are going to think pretty seriously about gymnastics in the fall! 

Drew left Tuesday afternoon for annual conference.  This is the big, yearly meeting for all the ministers in the Western North Carolina Conference.  Annual Conference is held at Lake Junaluska.  Drew rode up with a church member so that we didn’t have two cars up there.

Will and I picked Lindy up after school on Wednesday and we headed to the mall.  We ate lunch and then I let the kids play a little in the kids area.  It was actually the first time they have ever played in it and they did have fun.  We just never go to the mall.  I had thought about going to the park but it was so hot that I had to come up with an indoor plan.  We eventually loaded up and we headed out for Lake Junaluska ourselves.  It’s about a 3 hour drive.  We stopped one time for some ice cream and then traffic from a wreck but we made it safely. 

We stayed with our friend Katie for the 6th straight year at her parents’ house at Lake Junaluska.  We’ve stayed there as long as they have had their house.  (We actually stayed with Katie the year before when they lived near Lake Junaluska – so that makes 7 years that we’ve stayed with her).  Katie  is also a pastor in our conference.  She brings her kids Micah and Claire with her and it turns into a big family vacation for us.  The kids have stayed there for their entire existence.  They were in the womb in 2007, but they were there!  This makes the 4th year they have stayed there since they were born. 

Thursday morning Katie and I got up early and walked 3.5 miles around the lake while Drew watched the kids.  Late that morning we headed to the Waynesville Recreation Center with all our kids and we met up with another friend, Mary Allen and her three kids to go swimming.  It was such a great pool!  It was inside, so we didn’t have to lather anyone up, but it was perfect for our little kids.  It had the zero entry and the first section was only 1 foot deep.  It went up to 2 feet, 3 feet, and 4 feet deep but we mostly stayed in the 1 foot deep section because they had all these cool sprinklers.  I have never gone swimming by myself with the kids so I was a little nervous but this pool was great.  Lindy and Will loved it.  They had a blast with the sprinklers.  We all had a great time for about an hour and then the pool got shut down – by little Claire (Katie’s daughter).  Her swim diaper leaked and there was a poop explosion.  They had to shut the pool down for 8 hours to shock it with a ton of chlorine!  They did have a normal big pool that we decided we would try out.  I had just gotten life jackets on the kids and we were walking down the ramp to get in when they blew the whistle and told everyone we had to get out – because of thunder.  We ended up calling it a day with the swimming and headed home for naps.  Thursday night we ate dinner with our friends Richard and Kristen and Baby Buff on the way. 

Friday morning I walked the kids down to the big auditorium to see some friends.  We walked to the other side of the lake for lunch with some friends who had gotten commissioned (all part of the United Methodist process to being ordained).  We walked back after lunch and met up with Janice.  Mike and Janice were up there as delegates from Palmyra.  Janice and I played with the kids for awhile but then it started thundering so we headed up the hill to the house and got there just in time for a big old thunderstorm.  We waited for Mike and Drew to get done with the afternoon session and then we all headed out to dinner.   Friday evening Kris, Katie’s husband (and Drew’s old roommate from Divinity School) came up.

Saturday morning Katie and I got to walk around the lake again in the morning while the guys watched the kids.  We spent the morning getting ready and then went to eat lunch at Butts on the Creek – our favorite BBQ place in Maggie Valley.  Late Saturday afternoon I went to a bridal shower for a friend, Lauren, who is getting married in July.  The malfunctioning chocolate fountain was the entertainment for the party!  It might not have worked correctly but it was tasty! 

Today we got up and packed up and headed back down the mountain.  We hated to leave but Lindy Lou still has two more days of school.  She skipped school on Thursday and Friday so we could take our little mountain vacation.  A big meeting of Methodist ministers probably doesn’t sound like much fun, but it actually is!  It’s fun to catch up with friends you don’t see very often and Lake Junaluska is just so pretty.  Drew goes for the working part and the kids and I tag along for a vacation. 

We got home this afternoon and got everything unloaded and changed clothes and then headed out to a graduation party for a girl at church.  It was nice to not have to worry about cooking dinner tonight.  The kids were wired though.  They crashed tonight going to sleep!

Two more days of school and then we are officially free and on summer vacation.  I hope it goes FAST – I’m so ready to be done with school!!!!!

Waiting to play at Salem Gym.Can you see how hard he is laughing?  He had so much fun!A great picture of Drew and Lindy!The first night we got to the lake we went and fed the geese and ducks.Three of the four kids watching the train in the Terrace Hotel.The really cool Waynesville Recreation Center.Lindy LOVED this fountain and kept trying to drink it!Will was singing his favorite song in the car on the way to dinner!Pretty Lake Junaluska!Playing with Janice Friday afternoon.We saw our friends Drew and Vaughan.  Drew was a Duke student intern at our old church one summer.  See Drew, I told you I wouldn’t put this picture on Facebook  The kids slept in the same bed for the first time ever.  It was a king bed so I made them their own little sides.  They did amazingly well.  I really thought they would play and it might not work but they surprised us!Our annual front porch swing picture!Will and his buddy Micah!The best one of the four kids together!Lindy and Claire.  There is a little over a year difference in them.The annual Butts on the Creek picture!A Butts on the Creek collage!Lindy and Kris.  Swinging this morning before we went home.Our home away from home at Lake Junaluska.  This house is 98 years old!