2013 - July 31st

Chris, the kids and I went to the mall for a little bit today to start school clothes shopping (because it rained most of the day.) I found a couple of things for each kid and got a couple of things for Ella's birthday at the Disney store....I could have spent a fortune in there because she loved everything!

When we got home Ella and I did a little reading and a few worksheets.

Hunter went swimming (I didn't get any pictures) and then rode his bike. After dinner and his shower he played on the IPad!

2013 - July 30th

We spent another day in the pool....my kids will NEVER get tired of it!!!!!

Even Ruby joined in the swimming fun : )

2013 - July 29th

Today we went to my Grandmom and Grandad's house! Grandmom's sister Vickie is visiting from California, it was nice to see her!! Marie and Paige also came over to play for a couple of hours!!

The girls playing dinosaurs on Grandmom's bed!

Ella and her cousin Paige.....Ella is almost 7 and Paige is 4!!!!!

Hunter is FINALLY tall enough to drive the tractor all by his self!  Grandad taught him how to drive it and Hunter did lap after lap up and down the road...he did great!!!

Grandad and Hunter

Grandmom and Ella were twins today : )

Grandmom and Aunt Vickie

Hunter was so excited, and thought it was pretty funny, to be almost as tall as these two!

2013 - July 28th

Day 2 in Georgia and the kids swam for 5 hours!!!!!!! These kids LOVE the pool!!!!

Funny face Hunter : )

The kids played this game with Grandad for at least an hour....Grandad would throw the beachball and the kids would jump in to hit it!

Desite her energetic appearance Ella had a pretty good cold going!

2013 - July 27th

We made it to Georgia and of course the first thing the kids wanted to do is swim!

I don't know what the kids were doing in this picture but it made me laugh!

Surfing

2013 - July 26th

I am SO glad this day is over. It was HOT again, which means that my house is HOT. I never enjoy the day before going on a trip because I feel like I have a million things to do (and I do) and packing is not my favorite thing. I had a chiropracter appointment this morning because my neck has been bugging me. Then Ella had her hearing test and ENT appointment. The good news is that she does not need her ear drum repaired, the bad news is that we got a referral to set up an appointment with the hearing aide people. Ugh. Her hearing tests have been steadily getting worse over the past 9 months and this one took a pretty good leap for the worse. Don't ask me if I can tell if she is having problems hearing. One second I might tell you yes, she sometimes hears the wrong work I am saying like instead of "honey" just this morning when talking about a sandwich she heard "happy," and others times I will simply say that it is too hard to tell with Ella. I do think that she talks great for her age and having Down syndrome but she has recently qualified in school for articulation therapy which she never has before...so again who knows. We will see what the hearing aide people say (I am sure they have a title but I don't know what it is.) I do have a month to not have to worry about it but that means that she will be getting them once school has already started. How hearing aides will fit on her tiny ears that already have glasses on them I have no idea. I am hoping that Ella will totally rock this too, as she has her blood draws and nasty meds for her Graves Disease, her glasses and her stupid CPAP machine, but it's just not fair for her to have to put up with one more thing. After we left that lovely appointment we headed to the medical supply place to pick up yet another CPAP mask to try, some day this will be easier right? When we got home the house was nice and toasty and I continued to pack and rolled my ankle somewhere in the process...sure hoping it feels better tomorrow....or in a few hours when I get up at 4am.

Crazy Hunter....I'm pretty sure his mustache is upside down : )

Ella with her magnifying glass, which apparently you cannot use and wear glasses at the same time, and the suitcases in the background : )

2013 - July 25th

Today Nana came and picked the kids up so that I could get some stuff done to get ready for our trip this Saturday, including taking the dang dog to the vet to get a health certificate because the vet insists that the airlines AND the state of Georgia require it. I am pretty sure that neither give a crap about our dog but I would hate to not be able to take her. Did you know that it costs $76 for them to take her temp, listen to her heart, and look for a millisecond in her ears. Wow. Anyhow, I got a lot done, the kids and I have all of our clothes packed! It was freaking hot again today, I cannot wait to be in the air conditioning.

After I got the kiddos back and fed them dinner Hunter of course headed outside. "Mom get your camera and come watch me..." scary words for me. This is frightening enough, lol.

But then the "tricks" started.

I may have closed my eyes and snapped pictures.

I do love that my boy is obsessed with playing outside and is active, but man he sure scares me sometimes (and yes I realize that this is mild : )

Ella was a GREAT (insert sarcasm) helper when I was packing. At one point her suitcase contained a bathing suit, 5 baby dolls, and her tea party set!  The girl knows what is important!!!  Here she is cuddling with my old baby doll....I can't tell you how much I love it everytime I see her playing with it....and watching a movie, while giving me stink eye!

Tomorrow Ella has another hearing test and appointment with her ENT. I am hoping for good results or at the very least that they are the same!

2013 - July 24th

We made it home today! We picked Ruby up from the boarders, Chris went to work, did some laundry, went to the chiropractor because I had neck pain the whole time I was gone, gave Ruby a bath, more laundry, unloaded the van...and enjoyed our 93 degree house. Ha!

Hunter of course begged for outside time, so I let him go out once it started to cool off a little bit.

And Ella was very happy to be reunited with her babies, she carried them around all day!!!!

2013 - July 23rd

Tuesday we started our journey home. We drove from Denver up to Butte, MT where we stayed the night! We stopped in Billings, MT for dinner at Fudruckers and the kids got balloon...things. Ella picked a flower and Hunter picked a zombie. LOL!

2013 - July 22nd

On Monday we went to the Denver zoo (Nana, the 4 of us, Marie and her daughter Chrys and her hubby and kids!) It was a very hot 98 degrees but we all survived and had fun!!!!

Hunter, Kalani (who is 2) and Ella

Ella compared to a polar bear : )

Hunter and the bear!

One of Ella's favorite things was the fish. She was especially excited when she found Nemo and Dory and Nana was blown away when Ella informed her that they live in the sea annenomies : ) Yay Finding Nemo!!! (this is neither of those fish)

We watched a presentation on Bodhi (pronounced like our last name) the elephant. It was really neat!

Ella and Kalani

One of Ella's other very favorite exhibits was the penguins.....she gained her love for them from yet another movie, Happy Feet!

The kids playing drums!

Kalani

Keone