4th of July

Every year since we bought our house, we have hosted a big, crazy 4th of July party. We usually invite about 30-40 people and we usually end up with about 30 that show up. This year was no exception!

Keith and I were smart this year and we started preparing the week before the party. This meant that Sunday was spent doing just a few small last minute things. The weather cooperated with us again this year.  This is a constant fear of mine because we don't have room for everyone to fit inside.  As you can see from the picture above that's a lot of people to fit in our tiny house.

Four of my little cousins, Keegan, Dylan, Ben and Josh were all at the house.  Add in Jack and Kasey and you get one hell of a water fight, which is exactly what happened.  Dee and Mark brought water balloons, which I let the boys have a blast with.  Cyle had to one-up it by going to buy a bunch of water guns.  By the end of the day, all of my flower misters and every water gun were in use.  The boys even stole my garbage can lids and storage bin lids to use as shields.  They had a ton of fun and I was happy to see them all playing so well together.

The parade was pretty good (as far as parades go).  We are towards the beginning, so the boys all scored massive piles of candy and goodies.  As is par for the course, almost everyone left right after the parade.  There were a few brave souls left (Craig, Oscar, Dee, Mark, Jack, Aimee, Jaramy, Kate, Shannon, Cyle, Holden, Jim, and us).  We quickly started playing Just Dance which is this crazy dancing game Oscar brought.  It was a ton of fun and Dee busted out her cheerleading past and kicked everyone's butt.

At some point in the day, I decided to bust out my birthday gift from my friend, Matt.  Now this gem is a life sized replica of Gonzo.  I have to admit that everyone was a little creeped out in the beginning.  After all, he comes in a satin lined box that kind of resembles a coffin.  He quickly became a hit though.

Once it got dark, we headed over to the fireworks.  Now this is the most boring part of our celebration, but we do it anyway.  After a lackluster display, we headed back to the house to play a little Mario Cart.

All in all, it was another great year.  I can't wait for next year!

One BIG Blog for the last month and a half

Yet again I have been remiss in my blogging. I have kept track of the major events though, so here is a quick blurb on each of them:

5/23/2010: Softball

The morning after we returned from Disney World, we were up and out the door for our monthly softball get together. For some reason, there weren’t many people there, so we couldn’t play a game, but we did have some fun doing batting practice. As always, the food after was great.

5/27/2010: The First Gift Arrives

My friend, Matt, sent me my first birthday gift of the year. Matt and I go all the way back to La Roche. He is one of Keith’s friends and we ended up taking a few of the same classes, so we became good friends.

Well, he sent me a gift that would be off the wall for most people, but it was perfect for me. He got me a life sized replica of Gonzo. I was shocked when I opened the box. He is so awesome that I am afraid to take him out of the box. One of these days I will and I will post the pictures.

5/29/2010: Day Out With Thomas

Keith’s Gramma Kane was in town for about a week, so we decided to go to Day out with Thomas on the Upper Hudson River Railroad in North Creek. I don’t think Kasey knew what to expect, but he was thrilled when we got there.

It was cute and pretty fun. The train ride was only about a half an hour long, but he was on cloud nine the whole time. After a quick lunch and a stop at the gift shop (Kasey conned Meme into buying him a red Thomas shirt), we made the long drive back home.

5/31/2010: BBQ at the Deyo’s

To continue our celebration with GGMa (Kasey calls Great Gramma Kane this), Shannon and Cyle had a BBQ at their house for Memorial Day. The weather was wonderful, so we hooked up two Slip ‘N Slides together and the little and big kids had some fun! The water pressure got critically low, so we set up just one for Kasey to use.

During this time, Abby was hooked up to a lawn mower wagon. She is so strong that she ended up pulling it all around their lot. We all laughed hysterically, but Kasey got the biggest kick out of it.

Once we had a shivering little boy, we brought him in, changed him and we dug into some really great food!

Did I mention that I got my birthday cards/gift while I was there? My wonderful in-laws bought me a Pandora bracelet. The charm has by birthstone, which just happens to be a pearl. I just love it!

6/1/2010: Birthday/Migraine

Now here is where the fun begins. I woke up the morning of my birthday with a slight headache. I went into work and we had our normal beginning of the week meeting. When I came out of the meeting, I was starting to see double of everything. I went home for lunch and took a nap. When I tried to return to work, my vision was getting worse. I went home and slept for three or so hours.

When Kasey and Keith came home, we had hamburgers and potatoes on the grill along with some corn on the cob (Keith insisted on still cooking me dinner). I was able to eat, but my headache was still pretty bad. Keith was also coming down with a cold and didn’t have much energy. After dinner, Kasey was begging to go to the ice cream shop, so I drove him to get some. When I walked into the door, Keith had a cupcake with a candle in it. Kasey was really happy because he got to sing Happy Birthday again.

Needless to say, I made it an early night because I was still feeling off. My 28^th year was not off to a good start.

6/2/2010: Migraine/Back

I woke up the next day and I nearly passed out immediately. I made it downstairs long enough to e-mail work to tell them that I was going back to bed and to change my out of office message.

Believe it or not, I slept ALL day. I was in my pitch black bedroom and my head was getting happier. By 2:30, I was feeling a lot better, so I hopped in the shower to get ready to go to my parents’ house for our weekly visit.

As I was getting dressed, I bent over to pull my pants up and I pulled a muscle in my back (pathetic, I know). The pain was AWFUL! I had this happen last summer, too. I remember that I was bending down to pick up Kasey and the same thing happened. I just wanted to cry. I still made it to my parents’, but I was pretty useless. Between the headache and my back, I was in a “lovely” mood.

That night I laid down to sleep. Unfortunately, I got stuck. I literally couldn’t sit up and I had to pee. Needless to say, Keith tried to help me, but it took half an hour to get up. From that moment on, I slept sitting up. I had to go to the doctor’s the next day. It was just too awful not to go.

6/3/2010: Doctor’s for Back

I went into work the next morning, but I was barely able to sit down. I called the doctor and the nurse told me that I should come in so they could prescribe me some muscle relaxers. Of course, my doctor wasn’t available, so I had to see someone else.

When I got there, he told me that my back was barely spasming, so he wasn’t giving me anything other than ibuprofen and he ordered an x-ray. When I went to get the x-ray, I got stuck on the table because they made me lay down. I felt so bad for the girl doing to x-rays because she needed to have me lay down, but I knew that I couldn’t get back up. It only took me about 5 minutes to slither off the table this time.

So, $65 later, I left with a bottle of prescription strength Advil and even more pain. They did tell me that they would call if they found anything. They never ended up calling and my back felt better after about a week and a half, so I cancelled my follow-up appointment.

6/4/2010: Anniversary/Kasey Sick

This day was our 5^th wedding anniversary. We didn’t plan anything for that night because it was a Friday and my week had already been awful. It was a good thing that we didn’t!

Keith had been sick most of the week. Of course, Friday is the day that Kasey comes home sick, lethargic and miserable. He literally just laid on the couch all night. He didn’t even try to play Mario Kart with us. Keith was still under the weather, too, so we went to bed early and caught up on some sleep (sad, I know).

6/5/2010: Anniversary Lunch & Movies

We had agreed to not do anything big for our anniversary as we had just gone to Disney World. Keith was trying to get a weekend in NYC planned, but it was going to cost too much. What he didn’t know was that I had already made plans.

In the morning, we dropped Kasey off at Meme and Pap Pap’s. I then took the keys and drove us to Koto for lunch. This made Keith happy as it is his favorite restaurant. It is one of mine, too.

Once we placed our orders, I handed Keith my phone and told him to pick a movie. I thought this would be the easy part, but he was truly torn. I guess I should have narrowed it down for him, but I never let him pick a movie. In the end, he settled on Get Him to the Greek.

We enjoyed our meal and headed to Target to waste some time. After time finally ticked away, we were off to the movies. I have to say, it was pretty damn funny. There were some parts and characters that were a little too over the top for me, but all in all, it was a good flick!

6/6/2010: Sick

After Keith and Kasey were sick, it finally hit me on Sunday. I spent the whole day sleeping and lounging around the house. I felt miserable. I did still go in to work on Monday though. I was already too far behind on my work!

6/10/2010: Furniture/Aimee’s

On this day our furniture was finally delivered! We had ordered it the last week in April and I was happy when it finally got here. I had stayed up late the night before shampooing carpets in my empty living room so they would be wonderful when the furniture came. Then, I remembered that I have the worst luck in history!

All was well on this fine day until I realized that they weren’t coming until 2:00. This irritated me because I could have worked half a day and come home later, but they never called me to give me a timeframe. So, I sat in my nearly empty living room and read my eReader.

Finally at 2:30, they showed up. As they pulled up, it started to pour. This resulted in mud all over my freshly cleaned floors and wet furniture. I was not too thrilled. The guys were really nice though and they did what they could to minimize the mud. The new furniture looks great and it is really comfy, too!

Once everything was in place, I headed to my friend, Aimee’s, house. She is a seller of vintage clothing and she had a ton for me to go through/try on. I was there for a couple of hours trying on lots of lovely things. In the end, I bought four dresses and a skirt. She also gave me the most wonderful jacket ever as a birthday gift. I went home a happy girl.

6/12/2010: Dozer Day/Keith’s Test

This day always proves to be fun with Kasey. Every year, the local Kiwanis puts on an event called Dozer Day. Basically, kids get to play in the dirt with every truck, tractor, and bulldozer imaginable. Kasey really loved it last year, so my father in law asked to take him again. I wanted to go, too, so we made the plans.

The only snag was that Keith had his last certification exam that morning, so we were going to be in town REALLY early. So, we piled in the car at 6:45 on a Saturday morning and Keith dropped us off.

We all went to breakfast and then decided to brave the weather and go to Dozer Day. Of course, it started raining the moment we pulled in. Kasey didn’t seem to care though. When we walked in, Denny paid for a chance to dig for a diamond. He let Kasey dig and, much to Linda’s surprise, Kasey pulled out her birthstone! I guess it made everyone happy!

Kasey had a blast and he even got to see his Nana there (she was volunteering). Unfortunately, the weather made us cut the day a little short.

When we returned to Denny & Linda’s, Linda and I headed out to the mall. I needed to get a new suit for a conference that week and Linda needed some new shorts. Once we finished there, we picked up some pizza for a late lunch. All in all, it was a good day!

6/13/2010: Cadyville Field Day

Another yearly tradition is the Cadyville Field Day. Now Keith and I have both been going to the Dodds’ house every year since we were little kids. We just don’t remember meeting each other until we were in high school. So, it is always nice to go and see everyone. A bunch of the Seton crew is always there and Kasey loves going in the pool.

The weather was GORGEOUS and the parade was fun (as always). Kasey had a blast collecting candy and he laughed his butt off when the horse pooped right in front of us. Once the parade was over, Kasey made me get in the pool with him. He does this to me EVERY year and he freezes EVERY year (I freeze, too). This year, he had more fun because the guys were all jumping off the diving board. Of course Kasey wanted to do it, too, but I wouldn’t let him. Instead, Shannon threw him into the pool. Once he was an ice cube, we got out and got changed.

By the time we got back outside, the guys were playing their annual basketball game. I had Kasey screaming at Keith, “Let’s go, old man!” It was so funny. After we ate some marvelous food, we headed to Target (Kasey had to have Hungry, Hungry Hippos) and home.

I did manage to get really sunburned on my chest and neck. It took nearly a week to go away and I still have awful tan lines from it.

6/15/2010-6/17/2010: Global Supply Chain Management Conference

This was the 2^nd year for the Global Supply Chain Management Conference at SUNY Plattsburgh. Our company is a sponsor, so we have quite a few people that go from our office. I traditionally don’t ask to go to conferences because I am the backup for two people in the office. That means, if I go, neither of them can go.

This time, I was asked to go because another lady in the office couldn’t go. It was pretty neat and I was able to meet a lot of people that I have either heard of or spoken with on the phone, but haven’t been able to meet them in person. I also got to see a lot of people that I haven’t seen in quite awhile.

I went into it not knowing what to expect, but, in the end, it was really enjoyable. I hope I get to go again next year!

6/18/2010: Relay for Life

For quite awhile now, I have wanted to volunteer at the Relay for Life. For a ton of bad excuses, I never have, but this year was different. Not only did I get extra vacation time that I could use to volunteer, but work also gave us one paid day to volunteer. So, I called up Mark and his mom, Joan, and volunteered my services for the whole day. Much to my surprise, Aimee was also able to volunteer with me.

I arrived at 8:00 in the morning ready to go. With my coffee and sunscreen in hand, I was ready to work. Joan quickly got me started with decorating. If you saw a balloon tied to anything, odds are we blew it up. I ended up losing about three layers of skin on two of my fingers from tying balloons. We worked in the crazy heat until 1:30, when my blood pressure dropped and the heat kicked my butt.

After a near fainting spell, I drank tons of water, ate and I was happy again. I didn’t realize what time it was and, anyone that knows me, knows that my blood pressure doesn’t like it when I eat. I am one of the few people I know that has low blood pressure, which does have some benefits.

Anyway, we finished our decorating and headed to the luminaria filling station. This was so much fun (except for the sand getting into my balloon wounds). I have to admit that I did cry once. I tried not to read the bags because everyone’s story is sad (to some degree). I did happen to see one for a little boy who died and the luminaria was from his parents. I just lost it. After I regained my composure, I was a bag filling machine. I tried to grab the bags for everyone I know so that I knew they were done and filled correctly.

Once all of the bags were filled, Aimee and I were beat. Dee had arrived and we watched Jason and Vanessa set up the photo booth. After a test run in the booth, Aimee headed home to spend some time with her parents and her hubby. Dee and I watched the photo booth. This involved me staring at people until they gave a donation and reminding frisky teenagers that we got a CD with every picture, so they better make sure it was appropriate.

Finally Keith and Kasey arrived. Keith and I ate really quickly and we waited for Jack and Colette (Dee’s Mom) to arrive. While we were waiting, Kasey and Dee took a turn in the photo booth. Kasey had a blast and he quickly jumped back in as soon as Jack arrived. The boys had to go twice so they could each get a sheet of photos and they turned out just wonderfully!

Colette, Kasey, Keith, Jack and I took a lap around the track. We look at the luminarias and we checked out all of the tents along the way. When we made it back to the front, Kasey and Jack decided it was time to shake their butts to the music. Jason and Vanessa got some great pictures of us having a blast. Keith had to leave to get the dog, but Kasey and I stayed a little longer. I finally convinced him to leave, just before bed time.

I had a blast, both volunteering and watching everyone work together to find a cure. I can’t wait for next year!

6/19/2010: Races

Kasey is a huge racing fan, which is good with a name like Kasey Kane. Regardless, he always wants to go to the races to see Papa and Uncle Craig. This day we didn’t tell Kasey what we were doing as the weather didn’t look very promising. We didn’t even put his racing shirt on until we got their, in fear that it would rain.

Much to our surprise, the weather held out and we got to see a good race. Papa and Uncle Craig were in the same heat and it was great to watch those two fools trying to beat each other. Craig did really well in the feature. He did get bumped in the last couple of laps, so he dropped from 3^rd to 5^th. Right as their race ended, it started to sprinkle. As the sprinkles changed to rain, we headed out. It was fun and I am happy that Keith came with us. It doesn’t happen too often!

6/20/2010: Father’s Day

I have to say that I think I enjoyed Father’s Day more than anyone. Keith and I agreed to not buy anything for Father’s Day because we were going to watch Toy Story 3 in 3D. Of course I had already bought his present when I made that “promise”. I showed it to Kasey the night before and he nearly ruined the secret. Luckily I sent him to bed and the next morning he gave Keith his gift. I was able to find an autographed copy of Mike & Mike’s new book. Keith was shocked and thrilled. That made me smile.

We got ready to head to my in-laws. We had planned a brunch for 11:00. When we arrived, Linda, Shannon and I started cooking. We had a ton of food and I ate until I was stuffed! The moment Kasey was done eating; he asked if he could go to the movies.

When it was finally time to go, Keith and I were nervous because Kasey was not so great last time I tried to bring him to the movies. Regardless, we bought the tickets and got in line. The line was crazy long and Kasey waited as patiently as a 3 year old could. We finally were allowed in the theater and we sat Kasey in his booster seat. He had his Sprite and Twizzlers and he was ready! He put on his 3D glasses and he look like such an adorable little geek. It made me laugh.

As the movie came on, he was an angel. He only tried to ask one question and we quickly shushed him. He did ask out loud at the end of the movie why that kid kept kicking his seat, but I didn’t shush him for that!

It was a great movie and I can’t wait for it to come out on DVD. Kasey has already gone to see it again with his Meme and he will be going AGAIN this Saturday. He just loves all of the new characters. I keep asking him if he is Mr. Pricklepants and he tells me, “No, Mommy. I’m not a pork-e-pine.” I just love it.

6/26/2010: Andrea’s Graduation & Jack’s 3^rd Birthday

This day began, yet again, really early. I had to be at my parents’ house by 8:15, so we had to be up, moving, and out the door by 7:45. I was going to my cousin, Andrea’s, graduation at Franklin Academy and Keith and Kasey had Jack’s 3^rd birthday party from 11-1.

So, I arrived at my parents’ house and I piled in the car. I had the cutest dress on and some lovely wedge slides. I even broke out one of the vintage purses I bought in NYC this winter. I made sure to bring a matching umbrella because the sky didn’t look promising.

When we arrived at graduation, we were told that they were having it outside, rain or shine. The invitation stated that if it rained, it would be inside. Needless to say, there were a lot of unhappy people. Mom decided that we could stay dressed the way we were. So, we dropped off Andrea’s card to Aunt Wendy, gave our apologies and got back in the car. The humidity and the climb up the stairs did not agree with my asthma and I actually had to take my inhaler when we got to the car.

Dad stopped at Stewart’s to get breakfast. I decided I was pretty hungry, so I got some breakfast sandwich and what was supposed to be French Vanilla Cappuccino. This cappuccino was so hot that it burnt my hand through the cup! Let’s add that Mom’s car doesn’t have cup holders in the back, so I was juggling the cup back and forth while trying to eat a breakfast sandwich. NOT FUN!

We made it back home and Keith picked me up for Jack’s party. I didn’t bring a change of clothes because I was only going to be at the party for about a half an hour, according to the original plans. I showed up way overdressed and I was freezing. I quickly grabbed a fleece from Dee and warmed up a bit. Then the rain came. The party moved inside and Kasey had a blast. He was very well behaved and didn’t try to steal Jack’s presents before he opened them. After he opened them is a different story!

Kasey and Jack were wrestling with Cliff, Mark’s step dad. They had so much fun. All of a sudden, Kasey jumped up and had to go to the bathroom. As he was running, with only one Croc on, he fell and twisted his ankle. He went to stand up, but it hurt and he fell again. He had to go so bad that he started to pee his pants. Keith tried to get him to go in the toilet, but Kasey ended up peeing on Keith’s face instead. I couldn’t help but laugh.

Dee and Mark got a new cat, name Mortimer. We put him in Dee & Mark’s bedroom, but then he went missing. We searched high and low in every nook and cranny and we couldn’t find him. Finally, we told Mark and Dee and they found him right away. Apparently there is a super secret hiding spot under their bed that he goes in. All that worry for nothing!!

6/27/2010: The Snake!

On Sunday, we planned on getting a lot of work done around the house. I got up and got ready to go paint our front steps. As I was out there, my friend, Laurie, stopped by to chat. Then, the neighbor brought their dog over to play with Kasey. During this time, Keith and I are feverishly trying to get our work done so we can go over to Shannon and Cyle’s to let Kasey use the Slip ‘N Slide.

Finally, I get a coat of paint on the steps and Keith gets his buckets filled with the rocks he had been digging up and we all get in the car. As soon as we got to Shannon’s, Kasey wanted to get wet, so we set everything up. We were having fun sliding him down the Slip ‘N Slide and Cyle threw him down it. My arms were getting a little tired, so I went to sit on the front steps with Keith.

As I was sitting on the steps, I felt something brush up against the side of my foot. I looked down and it was a SNAKE!!!! I screamed, jumped up, ran to the other side of the lawn and cried like a baby. Keith didn’t even know what was going on at first. Cyle killed it and took it to the fire pit. I guess it was “just” a garter snake, but I don’t like any of them.

Once Kasey was shivering AGAIN, we went inside and played a game. We ended up staying for dinner and then we went home. Kasey did puke up his dinner while we were there, but that is starting to become a regular occurrence.

On the way home we stopped at Price Chopper to do our grocery shopping. Keith was impressed because I spent only $2 more than I had planned for (which was due to Kasey wanting ice cream) and I saved almost as much as I spent. We went home, tucked in Kasey and called it a night.

6/30/2010: Spanish Class

Just a quick note about Keith: He started his 6 credit Spanish class today. It is about a month long and it seems to be really intense. I hope he does well!

7/1/2010: Lego Harry Potter

Shannon preordered Keith Lego Harry Potter for his birthday, which was January 27^th. It was just released this week. Isn’t that crazy? They kept pushing back the date. Well, Keith and I played it for about an hour and it is pretty fun. I can see lots of hours wasted playing Wii in our future. At least we will be doing it together!

Disney World 2010 (Sorry, no pictures)

Keith was kind enough to take blame for my significant lapse in blogging.  To be honest, it is mostly my fault.  I let things go for way too long and then I didn’t know where to start.  I guess Keith just wiped the slate clean for me.

With that being said, I will start again with our trip to Disney World.  As many of you know, Kasey has been potty training for a long time.  One day, several months ago, Kasey all of a sudden decided it wasn’t cool to poop in your underpants.  We were elated, to say the least. 

Now Pap Pap Kane had mentioned once in passing that he would take Kasey to Disney World if he started pooping on the potty.  Well, he never forgot the promise and called it in the second accident free day.  Unfortunately, Mimi & Pap Pap weren’t able to swing a trip to Disney World this year, so Keith and I decided to bite the bullet and go on our own. 

Yes, I realize that it was probably not the best idea for us to do financially right now, but we had a lot to celebrate.  Afterall, it was the end of Keith’s night classes, Kasey was fully potty trained, it is nearly our 5^th anniversary, nearly my birthday, and it would be our first family vacation with just the three of us (no other family members!).  So, I did my research and managed to get a trip that included airfare, hotel, food and a $500 gift card for a somewhat reasonable price and we dove in.  Let me say right now, that I am glad that we did.

Here is a quick outline of our trip:

Saturday:  We left early in the morning to get to the airport.  Yes, Keith was right and we did leave a little too early, but I’d rather be there early than miss the flight.  Kasey was amazing in the airport and on the plane.  He did ask to go to the bathroom three times in three hours, but once I turned Toy Story 2 on iPod, he was an angel. 

We had a great flight and hopped on our bus to Disney’s Caribbean Beach Resort fairly quickly.  Upon arrival, check-in was speedy and our room was ready to get into.  This made me happy because I wanted Kasey to be able to see the pirate theme before he just woke up in it.  Needless to say, he was THRILLED to be able to sleep in a pirate ship.

Next, we quickly sorted through our backpacks and carry on and headed out to Epcot.  To be honest, Keith is not a fan of Epcot.  Personally, I really like it, but it does have some drawbacks.  When we walked in Kasey was amazed by the giant golf ball.  I stopped for a little bit to admire all of the flowers as it was the Epcot Flower and Garden Festival.  We quickly made our way to Test Track and got our FastPasses.  By this point, we were starving because it was 3:00 and we hadn’t had lunch, so we stopped for a quick lunch. 

Once we had some food, we went over to Finding Nemo.  It turned out to be one of Kasey’s favorite rides.  Then, Keith let me go to Mission Space while he and Kasey went to search for characters.  The green line for Mission Space had no wait, so I opted to do that.  I was really disappointed to see that the wait for Soarin was crazy long, as it was all week.  Needless to say, I didn’t get to go on that. 

We continued to walk around the worlds in Epcot until dinner time.  Now dinner was something to remember.  It wasn’t because of the food, but rather that Kasey got to eat dinner with Cinderella, Jasmine, Alice, Snow White, and Aurora.  He LOVED it.  He was even kissed by Alice (she left the evidence behind).

Following dinner, we dashed over to Test Track to redeem our Fast Passes.  Kasey is a thrill junkie just like me! The faster and crazier the ride went, the more he loved it.  Once we got off, he asked when he could go again.  By the time we got out of the ride, it was time to watch the fireworks.  As I figured, Kasey didn’t want anything to do with the fireworks and he was tired.  He actually asked to leave.  So, we changed him into his pajamas and took him back to the hotel.

Sunday was a pretty relaxing day.  We actually didn’t have any meal reservations, so we got up when we wanted to and took our time.  We had a quick breakfast at the hotel and hopped on a bus for Magic Kingdom.  The bus took quite some time because of a triathlon that was going on, but once we got to Magic Kingdom, our day went well! There actually wasn’t any wait for most of the rides.  Kasey LOVED Splash Mountain and Thunder Mountain.  He also became addicted to Pirates of the Caribbean.  This began the transformation of Kasey into a pirate. 

Being that the park closed early, we hopped on a bus and headed to Hollywood Studios.  We had planned on checking out Toy Story Mania, but the line was CRAZY long.  So, as it started to pour, we ate a quick dinner at Pizza Planet.  After the rain let up a bit, we headed to MuppetVision and walked around for a while.  Kasey was pretty tired, so we didn’t stay out too late.  He got is picture taken with Mater and Lightning and we headed back to the hotel.

Monday was when the insanity really kicked in.  Animal Kingdom was the park of choice for this day.  We got there right when it opened and we quickly made our way to the safari.  Kasey LOVED it.  There was even a baby rhino, Lola, who was running around like crazy right next to our vehicle.  Then, we had breakfast at Tusker House in Animal Kingdom.  Kasey was excited because he got to see Goofy, Mickey, Donald, Daisy, etc.  He just loved seeing all of the characters so close.  Did I mention that the food was good?  Because it really was! 

Once we were stuffed, Keith and Kasey went to find characters while I shopped a bit.  I met up with Kasey and Keith just in time to get a picture of Thumper.  I had two happy boys!  After that, we headed to Dinosaur.  I had no intentions of getting on it, as I am deathly afraid of dinosaurs, but Kasey and Keith tried to go.  The lady claimed that Kasey was too short and he was really bummed out about it.  So, we headed to the flying dinosaur ride, which seemed to make everything better.  Next, we went on a jungle trek to see the tigers, as Kasey HAD to see Raja.  Then, we headed back to Tusker House for lunch.  While there weren’t any characters, it was still a really nice little lunch. 

Following lunch, it was getting really hot.  We had passes for reserved seating at Finding Nemo, but we decided against it.  Instead, we decided to go to Bug’s Life.  What a mistake! Not only did Kasey declare that he had to poop before we walked in, but he got really scared and panicked.  Once Kasey was settled down and had gone to the bathroom, Keith and I quickly went on Everest and then we went on the wildlife train to the back of the park.  Our reason for going back here was to find Jiminy Cricket again.  Well, that was a success, but you will never guess what I did! I touched a SNAKE!! You all know how afraid of them I am, but Kasey wouldn’t touch it unless I did.  Let’s just say that I will NOT be doing that again.  Kasey, however, fell in love.

This pretty much concluded our Animal Kingdom.  We had time to quickly run back to the hotel to cool down a bit before heading to Downtown Disney to meet Tiffany, Tony, Conner and Owen.  Tiffany and Tony are our friends that live in Florida.  Keith met Tiffany at SUNY Plattsburgh (I think) and we have met up with them at least once each time we have gone down since then.  Conner and Owen are their infant twin boys.  Kasey just loved them to pieces and I really did, too.  Conner was a cuddle-bug, which made me happy.  Owen was pretty tired, but he was a trooper through it all.  Our visit was so nice that we planned on meeting up again the Saturday we were leaving!

Tuesday morning quickly came and we headed to the Grand Floridian for our breakfast with Mary Poppins, Alice, Mad Hatter, Tigger and Pooh.  Kasey LOVED the Mad Hatter (he calls him the Mad Mad Hatteren), but he said that he is too loud.  Once breakfast was over, we hopped on the monorail and went to Magic Kingdom again.  Kasey made us go on the teacups and Pirates again, which I was more than happy to do.  We also hit a lot of the rides that we had missed the first day. 

For lunch, we ate at Tony’s, which is inspired by the Lady and the Tramp.  It was really cute and the food was great.  Too bad there was just too much of it!

For dinner, we hopped over the Epcot to eat at the Garden Grill with Chip, Dale, Pluto, and Mickey.  This was pretty neat because the restaurant rotates and the food is served family style.  It was so good and we were serenaded by our waiter for our anniversary.  While it made me blush immensely, he really did do a great job.

Once we were done dinner, we went on Fast Track again.  We also made it on Maelstrom and Kasey and Keith went on Finding Nemo AGAIN.  It was a fun day!

Wednesday was our first full day at Hollywood Studios.  We had breakfast at Hollywood & Vine with June, Leo, Handy Manny and Jojo.  Kasey had a blast and we were the first family through the door (we got a little card to celebrate it).  Once I paid the bill, we hightailed it into line to get to Toy Story Mania.  As soon as the park opened, Disney employees guided us to the ride.  I snuck into the FastPass line and Kasey and Keith quickly got into line.  It worked perfectly!  We went right on the ride and then we had time to do the Backlot Tour.  Once the tour was over, it was time for our FastPass to go back on Toy Story Mania.  When I got over there, there were still FastPasses available, so I got another round of them.  We grabbed a quick lunch and we were able to make it to the Lights Motor Action show, which Kasey and I really like.  We also went on Star Tours. 

Because it was so hot, we headed back to the hotel a little early and ate dinner there.  Much to my dismay, Kasey puked on the table at dinner, but he felt better after.  I think he was eating too fast and it made his stomach hurt.  Anyway, we then headed to the awesome pool at the hotel for about an hour or so.

Thursday was another Magic Kingdom day and it all started with breakfast at the Crystal Palace with Pooh, Tigger, Pigglet, and Eyeore.  This place holds a special spot in my heart because this is where we celebrated Kasey’s 2^nd birthday.  I remember that his speech was really awful, but all we could hear to the car was “Igger, Igger, Igger” being softly chanted by a tired little boy.  Well, this visit didn’t fail to impress either.  Kasey was in his glory and he ate really well.  We were able to go on Pirates AGAIN and the teacups AGAIN and Buzz Lightyear AGAIN (are you catching a drift yet?).  We were able to go see Tinkerbell right when it opened, which was really nice and Kasey got to drive in the racecars, which he loved.  It was another hot and humid day, so we ended our Magic Kingdom visits with the train ride.  Kasey actually fell asleep not long after we got off the train, so we headed back to the hotel.  

Kasey slept almost the whole way to the hotel and then he was up and ready to go again.  So, we went back to Downtown Disney to do some shopping.  It was a pretty successful trip and we bought most of what we were looking for, which was nice.  We then headed back to the hotel to prepare for our last day at the parks.

Friday was CHOAS!!  We had breakfast at the Polynesian with Lilo, Stitch, Mickey, etc.  It was really nice and, I think, one of the best meals we had.  Our waitress even gave us two cupcakes for our anniversary. 

We quickly headed over to Hollywood Studios and that is where the madness began.  Did I mention that Friday was the first day of Star Wars Weekends?  Oh yeah, INSANITY!!  I managed to lose Kasey and Keith 30 feet from the entrance, so I knew it was going to be nuts.  We dashed to the back of the park to see what Star Wars characters were out.  On our way, we were able to pick up one last FastPass for Toy Story Mania.  

Keith and Kasey were excited to see the Star Wars characters, while I could have cared less.  All Kasey was talking about was Darth Vader and Boba Fett.  Keith went really crazy in the Star Wars store and me, being the good wife; I waited in line for nearly an hour to pay for it all.  While I was impatiently waiting, Keith and Kasey were getting autographs from the Power Rangers.  Keith was happy about this because, I guess; Power Rangers were sold and are no longer Disney, so they will be leaving the park.  Anyway, we grabbed lunch at the Sci-Fi Dine In and then we headed over to get the rest of the Power Rangers autographs.  I waited in one line while Keith held a place in another.  After, we headed Beauty and the Beast.  Kasey really enjoyed the show, but he was more excited to go on Toy Story Mania again.  So we finished out our trip with one of Kasey’s favorite rides.

Finally, we headed back to our hotel and ordered in pizza, again.  Then, we just hung out and watch Pirate Kasey fight with the skull & crossbones curtain between our room and sinks.

Saturday morning came all too quickly.  I woke up pretty early to get everything all packed.  We ran to get a quick breakfast and Kasey bought a pirate set (hook, sword, eye patch, etc.).  Then we went back to our room to wait for the Gisondis.  Keith called to get our luggage picked up and Tiffany, Tony, the boys and Michael (Tony’s brother) arrived.  We all got changed and headed to the pool.

Rather than going to the big pool, we opted to stay at the smaller pool right in our village.  It was a great idea! The water was the perfect temperature and there weren’t many people.  There were a couple of ducks that were swimming in the pool with us, which I thought was neat (until they started fornicating in the pool).  After an hour or so, we dragged Kasey out and got changed.  We made the hike down to have a quick lunch.  Tiffany and Tony forgot the boys’ formula in the car, so they were really unhappy and Kasey was crying because his stomach hurt again (guess what happened later??), so we parted ways.

Both Keith and I tried to get Kasey to puke in the bathroom, but he wasn’t having it.  So, we got on the bus for the Customs house and, guess what? My dear son puked on a packed bus.  Needless to say, I was not happy about the mess I had to clean up.  I changed Kasey and asked for our bags to be brought out to us.  I quickly grabbed extra clothes, just in case, as Kasey was still complaining that his stomach hurt.

The bus to the airport was very delayed, but luckily we had plenty of time.  When we got to the airport, I quickly got us checked in and we flew through security.  Kasey wanted McDonald’s for dinner, so we let him eat a little bit.  His stomach still wasn’t quite up to par, so we limited his food intake.  Then, we headed over to our gate and Kasey met this adorable little girl that was on our flight.  They played for a little while, until she got in trouble.  They lived in Stowe, so I chatted for a bit with her parents.  They were really nice!

Finally, we got on the plane.  Kasey ate a ton of chips, Twizzlers, jelly beans, etc.  He told me that he was feeling much better.  I turned on Toy Story on the iPod and he watched it all the way home.  Much to his surprise, his MiMi and Aunt Shannon were waiting for us when we landed.  Kasey was chattering nonstop about everything we did. 

Once we got our luggage and made it to the car, Kasey quickly fell asleep.  We made it home in one piece by about 10:30.  We quickly unpacked a few things and headed to bed.

Returning Soon

Hello All,

I realize that this blog (as well as my other one for those who follow it) has been left untouched for quite awhile now.

Fear not!

The blog should be up and running again soon. I have been in grad school while also working a full-time job, and Erika has been left to take care of the house and our son (while also working a full-time job). So, the blogging has taken a backseat.

I finished grad school last night - and we are off on vacation tomorrow. So, after we return we will blog about our adventures. And hopefully remain somewhat more constant in the blogging.

For the most part this will be where Erika blogs about our family, but I will chime in every now and then as well, especially if she has been too busy to post.

So, until next time. You stay classy.

Anyone Still Out There?

So, it has been about 24 years since Erika has posted anything on here. I felt the need to jump on here and at least update you on our happenings over the summer.

I will do my best to keep each part as short as possible, but I also tend to ramble on, so either way this might be a a long posting - we shall see.

I guess it all has to start with my sister's wedding in July. She was married on July 11 and pretty much all of my family was able to make it up for the wedding, which was nice. Erika, Kasey and myself were all members of the wedding party - so we felt even more involved. Well, Erika was much more involved than I was.

As it turned out I had to go to a science class on the day of the wedding. And, luckily, I was finished in enough time to get to my parents house to get showered and dressed, then head up to the wedding.

Everything went off without a hitch, and I think everyone had a great time. She married a wonderful guy who seems to treat her well, while also calling her out (which she sometimes needs). Although he is a Patriots fan - I guess everyone can't be perfect.

The weekend before, I went over to Burlington with many of Cyle's friends for his bachelor party. I am not much of a drinker anymore - and I guess you could say I have matured (who knew?) over the years, because I really didn't fit in with the guys much. But, Cyle had a good time and that is all that matters.

The other HUGE news was that I finally was able to finish all of my undergraduate classes this summer and was able to get the grades needed to start my grad school work. I was very worried with the above mentioned science course - but I busted my butt and landed a B.

I started my grad school classes on Monday and it seems like for the most part it is going to be fun, but also looks to be a lot more work. So, I might be spending all of my free time doing school work for the good part of a year. Looking forward to getting through all of this.

After my final summer class finished, the family and I had about a week and a half before my grad school classes began - so we took a trip to Pittsburgh to visit my family, eat a lot and do some site seeing. Kasey was of course the hit of the week as everyone continues to fall in love with him.

Those were pretty much the three main things that we did this summer. Hopefully Erika has the time to post in the near future - she has done a little bit more this summer than I have, with all of the planning of things she has done.

I will do my best as well to post some updates of my grad school classes and what I am going through, if anyone is interested.

The three things we are looking forward to that are coming up in the next few months are Aimee and Jaramy's wedding, Kasey's 3rd birthday party, and getting new siding on our house (which I am very excited for). Hopefully we will update you on all of those.

Yesterday's Chaos

We’ve been so busy lately that it is just impossible to blog about everything. I’ll try to be better at it, but I can’t make any promises.

Yesterday was utterly chaotic and wonderful all at once. I took the whole day off to get some much needed errands done. First thing in the morning I had a burning appointment. Oh wait, I meant tanning. Anyway, I got done there around 8:45 and I headed home to work on Shannon’s bridal shower favors. Sadly, I only got about half of them done before I had to leave at 10:30 to run errands.

Once I got to Plattsburgh, I dashed around like a crazy woman trying to get as much done as possible without Kasey in tow. Don’t get me wrong, I love taking him with me, but not when I have a million places to go to.

So after a quick lunch I picked Kasey up at his Meme & Papa’s for his play date with Gage (Barbie’s little guy). When I got there, Kasey was sitting on the potty, where he had been for almost a half an hour. Needless to say, potty training is a bit of a challenge. He didn’t pee and decided he was ready to go.

We me Barbie & Gage at the Beekmantown Town Hall, but the playground was PACKED. So, we tried the school, which I forgot was still in session. Finally we went to the little rec park behind the West Chazy Fire Sation. There were a few swings, a slide, and a spinny thing. The boys liked it just fine.

Much to my surprise, Kasey was pretty wonderful with Gage and vice versus. They took turns on the slide and Kasey was a little scared of Gage (as he is with all kids), but by the end of it all, they were playing in the dirt together. With the exception of Kasey peeing in Barbie’s shirt, it was a great time. Kasey played model for Barbie, since he loves posing to get his pictures taken. I even got to swing with Gage in my lap, which was so sweet. He is such a great kid and Barbie is a great mom. I can’t wait for our next play date!

Once Gage’s therapist showed up, Kasey and I headed out for my doctor’s appointment. This was when all hell broke loose. I intentionally didn’t let Kasey play with his little tractors all day so that he would be more excited to play with them at the doctor’s office. This worked for the most part. He did act up quite a bit though. First of all, he only has one volume, LOUD. He finally started to get the point that he was supposed to whisper when he realize he had to go poop. This is when everything goes downhill.

He decided he wanted to go poop in the “little potty” which is a training potty we bring with us everywhere. Usually, I have Keith’s SUV and he just sits in the back and we deal with whatever may (or may not) come out. Well, this isn’t really possible in a car, which Kasey didn’t realize. So he threw a fit and I made him sit on the potty in the middle of the parking lot. After about 30 seconds, he wanted to go back inside to go on the big potty. Needless to say, that didn’t work either and he was pissed at me. We needed to go back into the waiting room and he started to really melt down. He was sassy, loud, and just plain rude. The ladies there were laughing, but I felt bad. Finally, he calmed down and the nurse came to get me.

Now he was good with the whole waiting for me to get my pulse taken and weighing in, but once we were in the room waiting for the doctor, he started to unravel again. He managed to poop in the 5 minutes between the nurse leaving and the doctor showing up, which meant a changing at light speed.

When the doctor came in, we were trying to talk about weaning me off a medication I am on and Kasey kept interrupting with, “Man, what are you doing?” “Man, play tractors with me.” Now my doctor isn’t the most personable guy, so you can just imagine the look on his face. Needless to say, he didn’t smile the while time. It actually kind of made me laugh. As we were walking out I let Kasey carry the clipboard and he only hit me with it once.

After this drama, we headed to the mall to pick up a couple of movies and a book. We met Keith there and Kasey was suddenly a gem. He just loves his daddy. He did say “Keith, leave me alone” once, but other than that he was good. We let him have some Auntie Anne’s lemonade and a pretzel and, of course, he bought two new Matchbox cars at Target (a tradition whenever we go to the mall).

At 5:30, Kasey and I headed to my parents’ house to fix my car and Keith went to the movies (he had free tickets). Kasey didn’t eat anything for dinner, even though my parents made him chicken nuggets, fries, and peanut butter and jelly. My dad got mad and told Kasey that he couldn’t help my dad and I work on the car. After a fit of tears, my mom managed to get him to eat green beans and half an apple.

During this time, my dad and I took off my old brakes to bring them back to Autozone (they have a lifetime warranty). What cracks me up about my dad is that he thinks I haven’t learned anything from watching him in the garage my whole life. Much to his surprise, I took my wheel off and even had a general idea of how to put my brakes back on.

We headed to Autozone to get my new brakes and my stuff for my oil change and we went to get ice cream. Every week since the Tastee Freeze has opened, my dad has brought Kasey there for an ice cream.

Once we got back, we got to work putting my car back together. I put my wheels back on my car, but I made Dad tighten them a little more because I can never tell if they are tight enough when we use the impact wrench. Dad changed my oil and we headed into his racecar trailer to put in a new winch.

During this time, my mom was trying to entertain Kasey, but all he wants to do is help us. So, we threw him in the racecar and gave him a wrench. He checked the bolts on the steering wheel to make sure they were tight (they don’t move to begin with). After I was a totally greasy and dirt covered mess, Dad fix my defrosters and we were on our way home.

It was so much fun spending the day with my peanut, but man did it ever tire me out. I appreciate my mother-in-law so much because I know she does this all day every day. I look forward to having another day just like this!

March for Babies

I know that I have sort of let my wife take over this site, but we had a pretty meaningful day here at home which I thought I should post about.

Erika, as you have read, is on the West Coast soaking up the sun in California. So, unfortunately, she was unable to walk with us in in our annual March for Babies.

Every year our family takes part in this wonderful cause for the March of Dimes, which is an organization that helps with premature births and birth defects. We have been taking part now for about five years - mostly due to the fact that my cousin, Ashleigh, and Erika's cousin, Kaitlyn, were both born extremely early - and both are living amazingly healthy lives as we speak. March of Dimes deserves a lot of the credit for this with the help that they have been able to provide to families, as well as research to doctors to help raise the percentage of life after premature birth.

In 2006, we welcomed our first child, Kasey, into the world - and he came a little over two months early. He stayed in the NICU at Fletcher Allen in Burlington for a few weeks until he was able to move to CVPH for the remainder of his month's stay in the hospital for his transition stage so that he could come home. Two and a half years later we have a healthy and very active toddler running around our house - and we are truly blessed by the help and support the March of Dimes and all of the doctors and nurses were able to give our family, especially Kasey, during his time in the NICU.

So, despite already walking for this amazing organization, we have yet another reason to walk - our amazing son.

We raised a good amount of money again this year, and I want to thank everyone who donated you are great people, but I think we came a little short as to our overall goal - but in the end every cent you can raise is able to help out a family in need - and hopefully wipe out premature birth and birth defects in the very near future forever.

I got up to the OVAL in Plattsburgh very early on Sunday by my wife's orders and collected our t-shirts and tote bag which we were given thanks to our donations. Kasey and Nana (Erika's mother) met us there a little bit later, and Mark, Danielle and Jack also came out to walk with us and keep us company.

Saturday was an absolutley gorgeous day that appeared to almost reach the 90s, so it was only fitting that the walk the very next day would be about 40 degrees with a bit of a wind. Oh well! Once we started walking we began to warm up, and the walk was very nice. It was also nice to get to spend some time with the Brown family - we have all been living some pretty hectic lives as of late and have sort of been absent from each other. But, I hope that changes and we get to see them a little bit more often soon.

Despite the cold weather, the day was spectacular and it appears our small North Country group raised a ton of money for the March of Dimes - which is the main reason we were there. I am hoping and praying that our next child is born on or very near his/her due date, but it is always great to know that if something unexpected happens the March of Dimes will always be there to support us in any way we need them.

Thanks everyone.

Los Angeles (so far)

As in my previous blog, my day on Saturday started at 2:00 am. I was on the road by 2:45 and I was in Burlington by 4:00. The one thing I never remember, though, is that TSA doesn’t open until 4:30, so I sat on the floor waiting for security to open up. My flight left right on time (6:00) and the flight was pretty nice. I managed to take a short nap. I woke up just a bit before JFK and the other guy in my row started talking to me. Normally, I hate talking to people on the plane, but he was really nice and I had just woken up from a nap, so I dealt with it. He asked me to take a few pictures, including one of Statue of Liberty for him. Of course, I obliged. We had to circle around JFK twice because the navigational equipment wasn’t turned on in JFK yet, but other than that, everything was seamless.

My flight from JFK to Long Beach was quite uneventful, which made me happy. It took about 6 hours and I slept for about 1.5 of it. I know, I know… Once we landed, I realized how weird that airport is. 90% of it is outside. It reminds me of the old Burlington setup. You get off the plane outside, you walk outside to the terminal, you go back outside and you get your luggage outside. Odd. Anyway, I headed to Hertz to pick up my rental car and there was a long line. An hour later, my compact car somehow became a Rav4, which I didn’t mind, and I was off to LA.

Now, the one thing I hate about LA is the traffic. It took me 1.5 hours for a trip that should have only taken about 20 minutes. AHHH!!! I was tired, I had a headache and I just wanted to lie down. Finally, I made it to the Crowne Plaza at LAX.

After navigating the parking garage, I went inside just to find out that they stick to the 3:00 check in time like it’s the Bible. So, I had to sit around for 45 minutes until a room was ready. Once I got my room key I had all I could to not run to my room. I was thrilled to find out that my room is in the quiet zone, which means no loud noises from the hotel staff or neighbors. They actually ban kids from this floor (he he). I loved it!! That was, until I realized that the bastards gave me a room on the side facing the airport. AHHHHHHHH!!! Did I mention that LAX is a 24 hour a day airport? Yup! Planes taking off and landing all day and night. Luckily, I was able to turn on the A/C unit and it drowned out the noise. My room isn’t the cleanest, but that’s why I bring Lysol wipes anyway.

It didn’t take me long to realize that I wasn’t going anywhere for the night. I had a migraine, so I went down to the gift shop to buy a $9 mini bottle of Tylenol. Once that kicked in, I ordered a $35 room service dinner and I ate dinner in bed. By 9:00, I was in la la land.

I woke up at 5:30, which is 8:30 east coast time. I had no idea what I was going to do today, with the exception of going to Downtown Dinsey in Ananheim to get Kasey a couple of replacement Tiggers (he loves his one from Disney World and I am scared to death that he is going to lose it and panic). Anyway, so I turned on the local entertainment channel and they were talking about neat things to do in LA. One thing that jumped out at me was the Los Angeles Zoo. How could I forget that there was a zoo here? I knew I wanted to do that, so I mapped it out. It was only going to take me about 15 minutes, so that was a go. I also promised Keith that I would try to find the Scrubs set to take a picture for him. Finally, I wanted to see the Hollywood sign and I found out that you could see it from Griffith Park Observatory. Add that to the list!!

So, after a blueberry muffin and a cappuccino, I was on the road by 8:30. First up, the Scrubs set. The address didn’t actually exist in my Garmin, so I just picked the closest address. Unfortunately, I had to do a couple of U turns before I could get in the right area. I parked the car and walked about three blocks and there it was. This place looked like crap. It was an old rundown hospital, but there wasn’t any doubting that it was the right building. Though there weren’t any building numbers on it, it was the only hospital in the area. So, I took a picture, sent it to Keith and hiked back to the car.

Next destination: Los Angeles Zoo: I got the zoo around 9:40 and it doesn’t open until 10:00. Regardless, I got in line behind about 40 people and I quickly realized that I was the only person there that wasn’t Hispanic. I had to laugh. Once the zoo opened, I charged like a rhino. :) I forgot just how big zoos are. It took me about 2 hours to see everything and to take a bunch of pictures. I bought Kasey this cute alligator shirt and a toy alligator to go with it. Oh yeah, this zoo has 6 giraffes and 3 of them are babies. I was wondering about that until I was something I’ve never seen before. That’s right, two giraffes mating. I now understand why there are so many babies… I think I’m scarred.

Next up: Griffith Park Observatory/Hollywood Sign: Now Griffith Park Observatory is only 5 miles from the zoo, so I figured it would be a quick in out and done trip. Boy was I wrong!! Luckily, I had done my research and I knew that there was very little parking and everyone and their brother likes to come here. So, on my way up this massive hill, I found some parking on the street and I quickly took it. I was sure to leave plenty of room between the car in front of me and I headed out. Now the walk up this hill was hell and I had on flip flops. Granted it wasn’t my brightest move, but there were so many dumb broads dressed to the nines with 4 in stiletto heels on. HELLO?! So, I made it to the top of the hill and there it was: the Hollywood sign. I think my mouth may have dropped open. I took some pictures and I kept going to the observatory. Now I’m sure all of you have see this building before (I think it was in one of the Charlie’s Angels movies), but it nonetheless, it is beautiful. I walked around a little bit, took some pictures and headed back down the hill. I finally found my car and I hopped in. Once I got it started, I put it in reverse and apparently the car behind me wasn’t as nice as I was and I bumped into it. That’s right, I hit a car. Luckily it didn’t do any damage to either cars, as far as I can tell. You see, my car has a lot of previous scratches and dings, so they all blend in (lucky for me).

Finally: Downtown Disney, Anaheim, CA: My last stop for the day was Downtown Disney. As I said before, my entire purpose was to go there to get replacement Tiggers. I can’t bear the thought of Kasey not having a Tigger. It took me about an hour to get there and the parking lot was a long way away, so, yet again, more walking. I walked in and I headed into the ESPN store to see what they have that’s new. I didn’t see anything I couldn’t live without, but they did have a new basketball t-shirt for Keith, so that was purchase #1. As for the rest of the shopping, I was pretty good. I bought 2 Tiggers for Kasey, 3 lollipops for Kasey, a shot glass for me (they call it a toothpick holder), a pin for each of us (we collect Disney pins), a tie-dye t-shirt for Kasey from Rainforest Café, and a cute frog fork & spoon set for Kasey from Rainforest Café. See? I was a good girl. By the end though, my feet were killing me, so I headed to ESPNzone for dinner. Now this is a place any sports lover should go to at least one (kind of like a pilgrimage). I walked in and stated that I wanted a table for one in the restaurant. The hostess asked me if I wanted a table or a recliner. I was stunned. Out of fear, I said a table. She brought me in and all of a sudden, I understood. There was a whole front row of recliners in front of 12 televisions and one giant screen. What was I thinking??? I should have gone with the recliner. Anyway, after a great dinner, I headed back out to the car. About 40 minutes later, I was back at the hotel. I headed upstairs, called Keith and headed to the gym. Now, I am sitting here whining about my sunburn and dreading work tomorrow. Let’s see what comes from the rest of the week!

Visits with Family

For blog two, I am going to go over our journeys last Thursday and Friday. You see, Meme, Papa, and Aunt Shannon all went to Pittsburgh for Aunt Shannon’s bridal shower. This meant Mommy stayed home with Kasey on Thursday and Friday so that Daddy only had to take off Monday.

Now don’t get me wrong, I LOVE spending time with my kid, but it is exhausting. To add to it, I had to get ready for my trip to Los Angeles (blog 3). Thursday wasn’t too bad. The plans WERE pretty simple. I had two conference calls I had to call in for and I had to be in Plattsburgh sometime after 2:00 to visit with Grandma & Grandpa Reyell. No prob, right? HA!

My first conference call was at 11:30, so Kasey ate lunch a little early and I sent him upstairs for a nap. Around 12:45, I was done the conference call and I heard Kasey trying to get out of his room. Now this is against all of the rules, so I went upstairs to tell him to get his butt in bed. Well, I opened the door and his room was trashed and he had pooped. Great… Did I mention that my next call was at 1:00? Yeah. So everything was cleaned up and the little terror was back downstairs. I dialed in for my call, but I wasn’t able to say anything because Kasey was being REALLY loud. Oh well. By 1:30 everything was done and I was packing Kasey up to go to Plattsburgh.

Kasey and I ran a bunch of errands in Plattsburgh and headed to my grandparents’ around 4:00. Well, they weren’t home. I had told them at Easter that I would be there after 2:00 and they were MIA. Oh well, I figured that we would just go to my parents’ house and hang out there. So, back in the car we went and I got to my parents’ just to realize that I took the key for their house out of my purse during my packing spree earlier in the day. No prob! I would just get the spare key. Well, guess what? That was missing, too. So, Kasey and I had to play outside for 45 minutes until Daddy showed up. Too bad Kasey was dirty and soaked by the time Keith showed up. So, we cleaned up, ate a great dinner and headed for ice cream. Later that night I talked to my Grandpa Reyell and he said that they thought Kasey and I were coming up for lunch. So, he asked me to come up on Friday instead. I hadn’t really planned on driving all the way back to Beekmantown again, but I love them both dearly, so I said yes.

Friday was sheer hell. I got up around 7:15 and got in the shower ASAP. Kasey and I headed to my work to pick up a few things I needed for my trip. While we were there, Kasey scored a Nutrigrain bar and a peanut butter cup. He was so happy to see everyone. He chattered about it all the way to my Grandparents Garrant’s house.

Once we got to Grandma and Grandpa Garrant’s, Kasey was even more excited. You see, Great Papa had the motorcycle out. Needless to say, Kasey didn’t even want to go inside. Great Papa let Kasey sit on the bike and even took him for a little ride around the yard. They both looked like they were having a blast. Once we pried him off the motorcycle, Kasey ran and called “PAPA!” Of course Grandpa followed him and let Kasey do whatever he wanted. Finally we went inside and Kasey promptly trashed the place. Around 11:30 we headed out to have lunch with my other grandparents.
At about 11:45, Kasey and I showed up and Grandma and Grandpa Reyell’s house. Kasey took off for the lawnmower (he calls it a tractor) immediately. After quite the fit, he was dragged into the house. He instantly forgot about the lawnmower and went running to the living room. The first thing he said was, “Hi Gramma! Where’s Papa?” Got to love kids! Once Kasey realized that Great Grandpa was in the garden, he started asking Great Grandma about everything he could think of. It was cute. Kasey ate really well at lunch and he was awarded with a ride on the “tractor.” Now I love my grandpa, but I think everyone agrees that he lets us kids drive tractors along a bit too young, as my cousin Kait pointed out. So, Kasey drove all the way from the garden back to the house by himself. Of course Papa was right there the whole time, but still…

Finally, we hit the road and went back home. I managed to keep Kasey up until we got home (he doesn’t stay asleep between the car and the house and he won’t go back to sleep). I carried him upstairs, put him to bed and I went to lay down myself. I had most of my packing done and the house was somewhat clean. Kasey didn’t fall to sleep, but I dozed off a bit. Keith came home early and we had pizza for dinner. Then, we walked to my tanning appointment and got ice cream before returning home. I was able to finish the laundry, finish packing and I was in bed by 9:00. Too bad I didn’t fall asleep until almost 9:30. At 2:00 am, the alarm woke me up for yet another cross country trip, but that I will save for the next blog.

I love the fact that my son is lucky enough to have three great grandmas and two great grandpas. I don't think he realizes how lucky he is, but I I know that he loves them all and knows what's special about each of them. I hope he is as blessed with family as I was growing up.

Easter Fun

Well, a lot has gone on since my last blog, so I am going to break it down into three separate blogs. This one is going to be all about Easter.

This was Kasey’s first Easter where he got an idea of what was going on. Earlier in the week we explained to him that the Easter Bunny was going to come. All Kasey said he wanted was M&M’s and eggs. Well, Easter morning came and Kasey came down the stairs with his wild hair and saw the eggs. All of a sudden, it just clicked for him. He grabbed a basket and started searching for eggs. He found a good chunk of them himself. We only had to guide him on a few of them. So, 36 eggs later, we sent him on the hunt for his basket. That was hidden a little more carefully, but he found it and loved everything. There was a little stuffed bunny and chick, which Kasey claimed were “cute.”

After that, we headed to my uncle’s house for Easter lunch. All of the Reyells were there along with Aunt Sarah’s family. It was really nice. Kasey loved it because everyone he knew was there and Uncle Darrell has real chicks and ducklings. He also claimed those were cute, too. Once lunch was over, Kasey played with my cousin Keegan for a little bit (they are only a year apart) and we headed over to Shannon & Cyle’s for Easter dinner. By now, Kasey has acquired 36 jelly bean filled eggs, two baskets, and one mondo chocolate bunny. Well, the Easter bunny also hid six eggs at their house. This time though, the he put money and M&M’s in the eggs. Needless to say, Kasey was THRILLED! Meme and Papa gave Kasey a bucket full of candy and goodies, too. After some games and yet another meal, we were on our way home. Needless to say, we were all beat.

A little update

So it’s been over a week and it looks like I am slacking again ALL over the place. This will probably be pretty short, but who really knows.

Last week was sheer hell again, but in a good way. Saturday Keith, Kasey and I went to the egg hunt at the library. Since Kasey was right in the middle of the age groups, I decided I’d let him go look for eggs with the 1-2 year olds inside the library. Most people would ask why, but after seeing the little kids out on the lawn trying to keep up with the 3-5 year olds was kind of sad. Kasey found his five eggs super fast, so he helped another little boy search for eggs. We then grabbed a couple of snacks for him and we were ready to leave. We figured all of the eggs were already gone, but Kasey managed to snag two more just before some big kids tried to take them. He was so happy that he managed to get a package of M7Ms (mnmnms as he says it). After that, we headed to Plattsburgh to drop Kasey off and go to a double feature at the movies. That’s right, two movies in ONE day. I can’t even remember the last movie I went to see in the theatres. Anyway, we went to Cumberland 12 to see Fast and Furious and Adventureland. I had to say that I liked both movies, but I loved Fast and Furious. I can’t help it. Fast cars and Vin Diesel. WOW! He he. After that, we picked up Kasey and headed to the mall. We ended up buying new shoes for Keith and Kasey. I got Kasey the cutest Converse All-Stars. I’ll have to post a picture of them. Finally, at 8:00, we got home to relax a bit.

Sunday was MUCH calmer. Kasey and I went to Price Chopper, as always. He still loves going and he doesn’t even realize that I use it as an opportunity to squeeze in some speech therapy. Once we were done there, Kasey decided that he wanted McDonald’s for lunch, so off we went. Basically, we just hung around most of the day and we watched the final episode of ER. I was sad to see it end. It’s one of the few shows that have withstood the test of time. Kasey did not take a nap, yet again, so he was a crab. He managed to land himself in time out quite a bit. I got some spring purging done, too. Hopefully I’ll be able to do a little bit more this weekend.

Last night we went to my parents’ house, like we do every Tuesday. Kasey ate SO MUCH. He had 1.5 tacos, a cinnamon bun, 2 cookies, and gummy worms. WHAT A PIG. My grandpa came down to give Kasey a chocolate bunny for Easter and that made his day. He was happy to see his Great Papa. He crashed in the car, which was really cute. He was talking most of the way and then he was out like a light.

The rest of this week will just be dashing around to get ready for Easter. Plus, I head out to Los Angeles in about two weeks, so I’ll be getting ready for that, too.

Seattle and back

Well, it's taken me almost a week, but I am FINALLY blogging about my trip. My on-site review of our office went well, but I worked crazy hours. Luckily, I was done working by Thursday afternoon. I was able to relax the rest of the day and Friday morning I drove down to Seattle to spend some time with Aunt Colleen, Uncle Dave and Jake.

Aunt Colleen works from home, so she was there when I arrived. I was able to unpack and chat with her for a bit in between her meetings for work. Once Uncle Dave got home from work, we had chicken, potatoes, asparagus and some white wine for dinner. Afterwards, we played some board games, which was a bunch of fun.

Saturday was a busy day. We went to the Space Needle, Pike's Market, and Kirkland. It was a ton of fun and the weather was beautiful (for once). To wrap it all up, we stopped at Chateau Ste Michelle, which is a winery. There is some amazing wine in Washington! Then we headed back home and played more games, drank more wine and ate some dinner.

Sunday we went to church at Timberlake Church. It was so much fun! Have you ever been to a service that's more like a rock concert? I loved it. Once we got back, we grabbed some lunch and headed to Snoqualmie Falls. Have I ever mentioned that I love waterfalls? They were really beautiful, but it was too cold and rainy to walk down to the bottom. We also checked out the Salish Lodge, which Uncle Dave's company manages. If Keith and I head out the Seattle to visit, we will be spending a night there. It has a fireplace in every room and it overlooks the falls. When we got back, we relaxed, played some wii, ate dinner and I headed off to the airport.

My flight home wasn't too bad. I didn't get too much sleep and I was a total bitch by the time I got home. Once I got home I crashed for a few hours and awaited the arrival of my family. I made some spaghetti for dinner and Kasey came running through the door. He was so happy to see me. Keith was pretty happy. too. :) I bought Kasey a couple of things while I was gone and he loved them.

On Tuesday, Kasey and I hung out all day. We went to visit my grandparent's Reyell. Grandma finally came home from the hospital and she was happy to be home.

The rest of the week was crazy busy at work. Tonight, Keith and I are going to see The Loggerm which ought to be a blast. Hopefully the rest of the weekend will be relaxing.

From the other side of the country

I had the intention of blogging before I left for my trip, but that didn't go as planned. Last week was somewhat calmer and I am so grateful for that. I managed to not get anything done until Thursday night. That night, I got my haircut and I worked on my packing. Let's just say that the few things I threw in the suitcase last Saturday were far short of what I actually took with me.

Friday was sheer chaos. Kasey and I headed out at 7:00 to meet with his therapists and case manager for his speech and special instruction. Kasey was discharged from his special instruction and his speech was dropped down to two days a week. Everyone couldn't believe how far he's come in six months. So that's the good news. The bad news is that he will only get services for the next six months, so I had to start thinking about preschool. Well, I actually enrolled Kasey in nursery school at the YMCA. It's only two days a week for 2.5 hours, but he also gets swimming lessons, which is really great. I am so sad that my little munchkin will need a backpack soon.

After all of that, I managed to bring Kasey to the gym and we went to McDonald's for lunch. Then, I dropped Kasey and Meme off at Meme's house and I headed to the mall to pick up some stuff for my trip. Once that was all done, I went to go visit Grandma Reyell at the hospital. She is doing so much better. I sadly had to dash away to bring my brother to Montreal.

Now bringing Craig to the airport was fun, UNTIL I had to drive home. I did get a bit lost and traffic was a mess, but I eventually got home. When I got there, Shannon and Cyle were there which meant a rousing night of cards. It was fun. We haven't done that in awhile.

Saturday, I'd just rather not even talk about. I basically flew around packing, grocery shopping, cleaning, etc. I was in bed by 9:00 because I had to leave the house by 2:00 am.

After VERY little sleep, I rolled out of bed and was out the door by 2:30 am. I got to the airport just in time to find out that Continental AND TSA open at 4:30. So, I had to wait around for people to get to work. One of the x-ray machines was down, so security took forever. My flight to Newark was a bit rough, but at least it was fast. I managed to take a quick nap. My flight to Seattle was a nightmare. We boarded a little late and I was hoping to have the seat next to me empty. Unfortunately, that wasn't the case. A very nice man from Tel Aviv sat next to me, which wouldn't have been a problem if he had showered or brushed his teeth in the last week. It was all topped off when he fell asleep. He happened to start snoring AND FARTING! It was SO gross. I almost puked. The plane was full, so I couldn't move. Let's just say that it was a really long six hours. Once we landed I grabbed the shuttle to Enterprise and picked up my car. After two hours of driving, I finally arrived in Bellingham. Now, I am just relaxing and trying to stay awake.

I hope this week goes well. It's really beautiful up here in the Pacific Northwest, but I really miss my family. I guess Kasey kept asking where I went and he doesn't really get it. I feel so bad. Oh well. He'll forget all about me by tomorrow. Anyway, I get to see Aunt Coleen and Uncle Dave at the end of the week, so that will be really exciting!

Another week has gone by...

Well, the week was relatively calm until all hell broke loose on Thursday. Can’t we just go one week with a bit of normalcy?

Thursday morning, my mom sent an e-mail stating that my grandmother was brought to the hospital by ambulance. Apparently, she fell down two stairs and broke both of her ankles. My poor Grandma Reyell has more stuff happen to her, I swear, but this was pretty bad. Her and my grandfather had just gotten back from there sojourn in Florida a few days before the accident. It turns out that she had a hairline fracture on the left ankle and a compound fracture on the right. Here’s what I don’t understand. The hospital kept calling it a compound fracture, but it never broke the skin. Anyway… I guess after she fell grandma dragged herself to the cordless phone just to find out it was dead and she had to drag herself all the way to the kitchen to get the wall phone.

On Friday, I decided that I would go to the hospital to wait with Grandpa while Grandma was in surgery. They didn’t come to get her until 3:15. They didn’t even know at that point if they could operate because her ankle wasn’t set correctly twice on Thursday. Luckily, they opened her up and she was out of surgery in a half an hour. I can honestly say that I cried when I first saw her. She’s so little to begin with and to see her in that much pain, it just broke my heart. Go ahead, call me a wuss, I dare you!

Backtracking a bit… I went to the gym with Kasey Friday afternoon. Linda, my mother-in-law, said that Kasey is really nervous and timid around other kids and that he wouldn’t going into this bouncy house they have. She said my goal was to get him into the bouncy thing. Once we got there, Kasey was a little shy. Once he went through his little icebreaker of saying “Hi” to the other kids, he was playing and having a blast. I also got him to FINALLY go into the bounce house. The first time, I had to crawl in with him. About halfway through, I snuck out and he was fine. I actually had to coerce him to get OUT of the darn thing. Later on, he got in line to go again and he went in all by himself. I’m happy he’s starting to get over some of his anxiety, but at the same time, he was a little bit of a bully, too. I guess you can’t have everything…

Friday night we were supposed to meet Aimee, Jaramy, Dee, & Mark at PSU to go to the Laramie Project. Crazy us didn’t buy tickets beforehand and it was all sold-out. So instead, we headed to Friendly’s for ice cream and then we headed back to Dee & Mark’s for awhile. Around 1:00, we got home, unloaded the kid and dog and crashed.

As for the rest of the weekend, we didn’t do much. Kasey and I took a long walk on Saturday and bought two street hockey sticks, which he LOVES. On Sunday, Keith and I watched The House Bunny. Other than that, I was trying to get everything figured out for my work trip next weekend. Hopefully it will be warmer in Seattle/Blaine. I’m sick of the cold!

Blood, Bruises, and Other Chaos

I apologize for my delay in posting anything new, but it seems that we are always busy. I realize we probably create the craziness ourselves, but oh well.

Now, let’s see… Going back to 2/21, Kasey and I drove to Albany for Emma’s birthday. I realize that driving three hours each way in one day sounds like a lot, but my kid is awesome and I like traveling with him. With that being said, please note that his bladder does not travel well. We were about an hour into the trip when I noticed that Kasey’s cheeks were bright red. Can anyone say sunburn? What can I say? He’s irish, he burns in any sunlight. So, we stopped at Target in Aviation Mall. I had intended on taking him to the bathroom there, but he had already peed through his pull-up, pants and into his car seat. Needless to say, he was changed in the back of the car and we went to Target to get a towel for him to sit on, an extra pair of pants, and sunshades. We bought a few extra things and we were on our way again. We somehow managed to be only about 10 minutes late, which is quite impressive for me.

I arrived just about the same time as Stacy and Robin. That’s right! I finally met Robin! Her mommy travels with kids, too! She looks so much like Stacy when she was little. I almost feel like I’m watching my best friend grow up again. Anyway, Kasey had a BLAST at the party. There were about ten kids, including Kasey. He just loved every minute of it. We stayed until just before Kasey’s bedtime. I then packed a sleepy kid in pjs into the car and we were off. Kasey fell asleep around 8:30 and slept until about 10:00. Then, he woke up and finished watching his Backyardigans DVD. That’s right, I cheat. Anyway, we got home around 10:30 and Kasey was up to party. Too bad he was swiftly carried to bed for the night.

As for Sunday, we just relaxed. I think I even took a nap in there somewhere.

On Friday, we had to take our cat, Hermione, to the vet’s. Apparently she has gingivitis, which resulted in her having two teeth pulled and an extensive cleaning. She was really out of it Friday and she was still a little loopy on Saturday.

This Saturday, we just hung out around the house. I cleaned through most of my kitchen cabinets and I washed all of my stemware. Once that was done, I just read a book and took a nap. Kasey helped me make spaghetti for dinner, which was fun, but he is a little too excited to shake oregano into the pot. Oh well. How else do they learn, right?

Now yesterday sort of sucked. To be honest, it started out fine. Kasey and I went to Price Chopper, like we do every Sunday and he helped me grocery shop. He was really good, so we had McDonald’s for lunch (Keith also asked that I pick it up). After lunch, Kasey went upstairs for a nap. Two hours later, he still wasn’t sleeping, so we just let him out of his room. While he was upstairs, Keith and I watched Pineapple Express. What a crazy movie. If you want to read a review, check out Keith’s blog.

Here comes the sucky part… We have told Kasey about a million times not to play on the stairs and not to ride his big Tonka truck anywhere near the stairs. He actually has log rolled down the stairs twice, but he didn’t get hurt, but rather it just scared the hell out of him. Yesterday was a different story. Kasey somehow decided to ride his Tonka truck down the stairs. At the sound of the first thud, we knew what was happening. Kasey rolled multiple times down the stairs and crashed at the bottom. What scared me the most was that he had a terrible bloody nose. He also scratched up the left side of his face and got a black eye. I can honestly say, he scared me to death. What I don’t understand, is why he wanted to go play with his truck as soon as the blood dried. What is it with boys??

Anyway, Keith and I had planned to go to my in-laws for dinner, so we left early to try to find a gate for the stairs AGAIN. I’ve been trying to find one that will work that is pressure mounted, but our newel post is only 28.5” tall, so that makes it so much harder. Unfortunately, we couldn’t find one in Plattsburgh, but I did order one that I hope will work. If not, I may have to ruin the banister by mounting a gate. I didn’t really want to do that because we don’t plan on staying in our house too much longer. Oh well. We’ll see!

As for this week, I think I, personally, will be busy. I have a work trip to Blaine/Seattle coming up on the 16th and I have to get the house, my packing, and my work stuff all in order before I go. I think on Friday we are going to see the Laramie Project at Plattsburgh State. Other than that, who knows what the weekend will bring!! Hopefully, less bruises and blood.