LONG OVERDUE FAMILY UPDATE

Okay, last time I updated this blog I was somewhat sane, it was 4^th of July and things were a breeze. What have we been up to? You asked – here comes your novel…

First of all, we thought it was time to experience OUR FIRST FAMILY VACATION! We packed up our gear, packed up the kids and headed, yes in the car, to Oregon. We started off 3 days before we had to be in Oregon so that we could take the coast and see the views.

On our way up, we stopped by the beach. This was the first time that the kids had ever been to the beach. It was foggy and overcast and extremely chilly but the kids enjoyed the water and sand. Lexie fell in the waves – it was hilarious. She didn’t think so as it got colder but thank goodness we had extra clothes packed in the car.

We stayed in Mendicino the first night and the kids loved swimming in the indoor pool. The next day we headed up through the Redwoods. The kids were pretty good for the most part. It's hard to expect little kids to stay well behaved, but they were pretty great. We did cut across the state and take the quick way up Highway 5. Good thing. We made it to Salem just before midnight. If we took the coast, we'd probably still be on the road...

We went up to Oregon for a Gardner/Beaird Family Reunion. While we were there we went to the kids 1st baseball game. Boy, was that the wrong thing to do. The Red Robin mascot, The Chuck E. Cheese mascot, the Oregon Beaver Mascot and some Bumble Bee mascot scared the CRAP out of Lexie. She went into complete hysteria. At the same time, Lauren went into an uncontrollable hysteria too. It was so bad that we had to leave the ball park. I was attributing Lauren's horrible behavior to the possibility that she was teething. I was soon to find out that I was wrong in that assumption.

We spent a lot of time at Grandpa Bob's apartment. The kids couldn't get enough of his pool. These kids swim better than fish now-a-days. Lauren didn't sleep much during this trip and had me up every night. I was functioning on 3-5 hours of sleep each night. It was sure the worst trip I had ever been on.

The last day that we were there we spent in 3 places. We went to visit my cousin Mick & Julie's house in Salem. They moved up there about a year ago. Cute place - it's just too far from us! :-( After a good couple of hours over there, we went to Aunt Gloria & Uncle Lee's house (Mick's parents). Bella & Lexie know them foundly as Mimi and Papa Lee. They are in love with their dogs because they're just the right size for a 2 and 3 year old. Lauren was a pistol the entire weekend and we finally got her to smile ONCE for a picutre with Mimi. As for Lexie & Bella, they have a secret crush on Papa Lee.

Well on our way home, we found out the true reason why Lexie had been crying the entire weekend and why she was so fussy. When we got to Lake Shasta I took a peek at Lauren. She was covered from head to toe with the Roseola Measles. (Symptoms: fussy, unconsoleable, restless, won't eat, fever - for 3-4 days before spots show up.) Yup! That was Lauren. All the kids had it when they were small so we knew just what it was and how to treat it.

Now that we're home and things are back to normal, Lexie has been potty training since the beginning of the month. She was doing great the first week but she seems to be slacking off now. However, when she does use the bathroom, she's so excited and proud.

Here are the links to the other pictures in the albums. In fact, there are so many that I've put them into albums by month. Here is the link to the albums that I've created. The password is DEBBIED:

http://deardebbie.shutterfly.com/action/?a=8AaMWLRq3ZNGz9

Oh yeah, the other good news. Bella & Lexie are in preschool. I haven't uploaded the pictures from the camera yet but as soon as I do, I'll post the "big girls" on the blog. :-)