So, about Katie’s bedding.

You just can’t predict what your kids will do or like. I wanted to get Katie new bedding for her new twin bed. I really really wanted the pretty stuff at Bed Bath & Beyond but I also didn’t want to pay $80 for it. (Normally I wouldn’t have thought twice about it, but we’ve had to buy A LOT of stuff for this new place.)

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So I decided I was going to just walk down the bedding aisle at Target and see what caught her eye. I was positive it would be Doc McStuffins or Frozen or possibly Despicable Me.

So what caught her eye? As you’ve seen: Sesame Street. Big bright bold colors—red, blue, green, and yellow (Elmo, Cookie Monster, Oscar, and Big Bird). I really didn’t think I’d have an opinion on what she chose, but I honestly really would’ve preferred Doc McStuffins (she loves it, and it’s pinks and purples). And I even tried to get her to take that one—or even Frozen or Sophia the first—but she just kept saying Elmo Elmo Elmo. So I bought Elmo. And it’s fine. And she seems to like it well enough…but it also kind of irritates me a little every time I look at it because I don’t love it. But I also felt a little guilty because I never let Owen pick what he wanted—at the time I was ready to relinquish that control (age 5) I hadn’t even thought of Target so had him pick something at BB&B which wasn’t kid-related. (He doesn’t complain at all, though…so since I still felt guilty I let him pick a new sheet set and he chose Minions.)

Kids are difficult when you’re a perfectionist.

Our first Virginia farmers market

We went to our first farmers market since moving here. It’s pretty much right up the main road about two miles away. It’s a small one (maybe seven booths) but it’s a Wednesday!

The kids tried fresh kettle corn (being made as we watched).

We tried and bought homemade honey mint dressing (better than you’d imagine) and zesty balsamic dressing.

We bough fresh corn on the cob, pickles, cabbage, and multi-colored carrots.

We tried pumpkin chocolate chip bread and white cheddar garlic bread (and bought that one).

We sampled cookies…and bought some.

Then we got the kids some Venetian Ice (I think it was called) and went to sit on the lawn in the shade. There were some kids nearby eating some as well and Owen desperately wanted to go sit with them. So we said okay.

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Then Katie wanted to go sit by Owee…

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Family pool time!

Another day, another afternoon at the pool…but today, Owen got to wear his new goggles (like all the other kids have!)…

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…and Katie got to test her new “puddle jumpers” (a life jacket that keeps her perfectly afloat). THEY WERE BOTH IN HEAVEN.

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She wasn’t thrilled about this hooded towel, but it is dang cute (and a hand-me-down from a friend!).

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Katie’s ankle checkup

I took Katie in to get her ankle checked again. The new office is only about 12 minutes from us via back roads—but of course it feels farther because I have no idea where I’m going yet (comparatively, it took 20 minutes in Jacksonville).

She liked the waiting room.

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A decent picture of her new hand-me-down cousin outfit.

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Playing peek while waiting for the doctor.

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Of course, they were running behind today…so by the time we saw the doctor, we had been there almost an hour and a half (they wanted us there early for new patient stuff, even though I told them I had printed all the forms and filled them out, then we waited in the patient room for quite some time). That said, the doctor was nice and apologized for running late. And Katie was very good the whole time between playing, watching videos on my phone, and looking at books.

The doctor looked at her ankle and agreed it was swollen and agreed we should get new x-rays. She also asked if Katie had been sick lately—or, really, if any of us had been—and I said no. She said she wanted to take a strep test! Wait, what? Yes, a strep test. She said it was a long shot, but it was a quick and easy test to rule out some type of arthritis. (She explained it and I googled later, and strange as it may seem, the same bacteria that can cause strep throat can cause swelling and joint pain. And since it had been going on so long, she wanted to rule it out.) Katie didn’t love the strep test, but she was a trooper and recovered quickly. (On that note, the nurse who performed the test didn’t have greatest bedside manner in my opinion—she was older and very matter-of-fact-get-the-job-done which worked, but didn’t give me any warm fuzzies.) The results were negative, so then it was off to a walk-in imaging clinic for x-rays.

This is where we were spoiled in Jacksonville—the x-ray clinic was literally three buildings down from the pediatric clinic. Today it was a 15-minute drive (of course in the complete opposite direction from home). It was approaching nap time, so I had to decide whether to wait and do it another day or just bite the bullet and finish it in one day. I decided to finish since Katie was being really good. So we had another 15-minute wait after the drive and then Katie was a ROCK STAR getting her x-rays—just like before. The tech had me stand next to her and hold her still but there really was no need—Katie didn’t move a muscle for either x-ray. (I tried to get a picture of her laying there nice but of course she started playing with her feet.)

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It was over in about three minutes and she got two Elmo stickers and was happy. And then stayed awake for most of the ride home but fell asleep about three minutes from home. THREE AND A HALF HOURS AFTER WE LEFT. Egads.

So now we just have to wait to see what the x-rays show and then likely get a referral for a specialist depending on what they see.

Introducing our community pool!

We finally went to check out the pool today—and wow is it ever nice! It’s about a 10-minute walk (twice as long as at the last house), but it’s definitely worth it compared to the last pool. They have nice attached bathrooms and showers (which you have to walk through to get to the pool area), two lifeguards at the main pool, a kiddie pool, tons of lounge chairs and tables (some even with umbrellas) and a basket of pool noodles! Most of the pool is 3’6″ deep with the very center section being deeper (not labeled but I’m guessing about 5′).

We started in the kiddie pool where Owen tested out his new goggles and snorkel (he did really well!) and Katie splashed around (she was a bit peeved that it was too deep to walk around on her hands like she likes to do). After about a half hour, we moved to the big pool where Owen slowly but surely (but actually quite quickly for him) got comfortable in the deeper water—he clung to the edge for awhile but then was out and about away from the edge playing. There were some older kids (guessing 12-14ish) there that had brought water guns and Owen was having a blast just watching them…so imagine how excited he was when the kids started spraying him! The moms were in the pool, too, and warned their kids not to get him but I piped up and said “Oh no, he’s loving it!” Then they let him use a gun and he was in heaven! Katie loved being in the deeper water, too, because she likes being carried. She also liked “jumping” off the steps—which really means leaning forward and falling into my arms. 🙂 Owen was doing so well on his own that I actually left him in the pool by himself for about 10 minutes while I went back to the kiddie pool with Katie (I could still see him, of course).

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I am sure we’ll be back quite a bit in the next month before it closes September 1.

There’s nothing like ending an 11-hour road trip with a little vomit in a car seat.

We were about five minutes from home when we heard an unexpected and unidentifiable noise from the backseat, then Katie crying, then Owen telling us that Katie puked. Wait, what?

I unbuckled and turned around and HOLY CRAP did she ever barf. Ugh. So I was trying to clean her up as best as I could while Tom was trying to get us home (we had been planning on stopping to pick up dinner but then cancelled that so had to get back into traffic). We pulled in, stripped her down in the front yard, and I immediately took her upstairs for a bath. She didn’t seem any worse for the wear so we had no idea what caused it.

Then it was time to try cleaning the car seat. What a nightmare. I think I’d rather buy a new one than try to clean vomit out of one. Seriously. They do not come apart easily—and once you do get it apart, you still have to clean vomit out of all the plastic crevices…with a toothbrush and Q-tips. (I guess I’m lucky this is the first time it’s been this bad…?)

Not quite how I envisioned our return home…

Sleeping Beauty

It was a rough night… It started just fine with Katie and Owen on an air mattress together and both going to bed with no issues. This is when we went to bed at 10:30.

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Then Katie starting whining/whimpering/crying about 1:30 and was keeping me and Owen up so I traded places with Owen to hopefully keep her quiet. Yeaaaah…it didn’t work as great as I’d hoped. She was wide awake staring at me or still whining or asking for her baby or something else. I think she (I) finally fell asleep about 2:30…and then this was her when it was time to get up.

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And Owen was OUT, too.

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A relaxing end to a busy vacation.

We left Grayling a day early so we could visit and stay the night at my cousin’s house—and so the kids could play more. And we had fun… We pulled in and they said “Want to go on a boat ride?” Sure!

The kids sword fighting while we loaded the boat.

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Ready to go!

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On the boat!

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The cabin where the kids spent most of the time playing and watching movies!

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In the driver’s seat!

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Proof we were actually in the water! Yes, I’m a geek. 🙂

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When we finally got to the swimming area, Owen didn’t want to go in because he was scared. It didn’t matter that Tom was in the water, the other kids were in the water, and he could see that it was plenty shallow enough.

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So Tom took Katie in first! And she loved it, of course!

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Grilling. Off the side of a boat. Who knew that was a thing? Of course we had Timmy’s delicious brats!

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Katie was having a blast in the cabin bed—she could see out the window which was right where we were sitting!

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We finally convinced Owen to go out and he clung to Tom like a second skin. The guys were pulling the boat to a new location (trying to get in shallower water).

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Friends of theirs came and moored with us and they had brought their dogs so Katie wanted to go over to see them.

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Owen getting more comfortable in the water…

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And when he saw they had a football water toy? It was GAME ON.

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And suddenly he was having a blast!

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He told Tom he was floating just like a balloon!

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On the way home…

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It was really fun and really relaxing…and the time really flies when you’re out on a boat—we left about 1:30 and were pulling back in about 6:30! Tom and I were exhausted after all that fresh air! The cousins introduced Owen to a new video game…and Katie had to sit there, too!

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Then Owen was building with Nick’s Legos, and I heard one of the girls say that Owen builds such cool things! 🙂

Then it was time for Frozen! All the kids were enjoying it!

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Our last night at Gramma and Grandpa’s house

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After the group photo, he commandeered the tripod to use as a cannon…and then actually as a tripod and was pretending to take pictures.

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Sitting by the fire!

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Not a bad spur of the moment family picture!

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Making s’mores!

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Eating s’mores—or in Katie’s case, eating the chocolate bar off the graham cracker.

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Kaliseum, Day 2

Since we had the time, Tom took the kids back to Kalkaska to the Kaliseum for another day of swimming with Uncle Rob and Grandma Marsha! (I stayed back and went to a Parade of Gardens and lunch with my mom!)

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This is how she’d navigate the water when it was too deep for her.

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Heading up for the waterslide! He hadn’t wanted to go on it the last time, but then was sad he didn’t do it…so he was excited to go back so he could try again.

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Unfortunately, it didn’t happen, and he came back down within a minute (the time stamps on both photos are 1:06pm). Oh well.

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Fire, Fireworks & Stones

Gramma Jean wanted to try out her new fire pit…so we all headed outside. The kids loved running around and of course Owen had to get out his new water gun. 🙂

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Uncle Rob was nice enough to go in and fill up the water gun…but surprised Owen by shooting him! It’s blurry but I love Owen’s body!

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She stayed pretty far from the fire once daddy yelled at her for getting too close. 🙂

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Watering Gramma’s flowers.

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Smoke bombs! They certainly didn’t last as long as I remembered them to…

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Katie liked the pooping dog—except for the popping and crackling at the end.

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In addition to Katie’s first fireworks (MUCH earlier than Owen’s first fireworks!), she also got her first sparkler. She was okay with it…but not thrilled.

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And then we all went out to the front yard looking for Petoskey stones in the landscaping.

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Back to the city park

We couldn’t stay as long as we’d planned last night after Dairy Queen, so we took the kids back today. Of course, Katie was THRILLED to be swinging: “Look Owee! I’m swinging!”

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Owen was playing Frozen with two older girls until they left…then he looked bummed and I asked what was wrong. “I need the two girls to be my archers!” Here, he’s “just resting.” 🙂

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It took some convincing, but we got him up there.

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Then of course Katie wanted up as well.

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