Warm Weather Transformation

We have been LOVING this gorgeous Minnesota spring weather! We spend as much time as possible outside. Elijah has been very interested in riding our "big-boy" bike around the neighborhood (with me trailing close behind, of course). I love that he is finally wanting to be on a bike! He is doing great.

Sammy has been into RUNNING. He loves to run and asks me to time him as he runs to the end of the sidewalk and back. I can't remember if I've mentioned that he is starting soccer this weekend. All of us, including Sammy (surprisingly), are excited for his new adventure!

I frequently run into things like this in our house. Seriously.

And this. Love these silly cutie pies.

I snapped this photo the other day as we were walking home from the park. It looks like such a sweet picture, but Sammy was actually pretending to be holding Elijah captive. :) They sure didn't seem to mind walking like this. I love that they love each other so much.

I'm thankful that this the extent of our weekly update. We have had a great past week overall. School and behavior has been up and down for Elijah, but we all see a small amount of progress (yay!) in every area. Two steps forward, one step back. We will take it!

Thanks for peeking in!

Presidential Satur-Danger

What in the world is happening to time? It goes by so quickly that my head spins! Here we are again at Wednesday. This past week has brought a bit more difficult behavior from Elijah. He had a TINY upper respiratory cold for most of the past week, so that interfered with sleep a bit...enough to make a difference in behavior. His teacher sent me a few emails regarding his heightened potty talk and diminished self-control.

For the past few days we have been focusing on these issues and talking A LOT about correcting them. Elijah had a great past few days at school. It seems like when we talk talk talk about a specific issue, he can pull out some self-control.

Today Elijah was "special-k" for the day at school, which (among other things) means he got to share a talent with his class. On Monday as I tried to think of what his talent could be, I thought...uhh, presidents! He knows the US presidents better than anyone! That is most definitely a talent! So today he stood in front of his class and recited the presidents in order, by memory. He worked hard to make it happen. He was so happy and proud when he stepped off the bus today.

Dan is adjusting to his new job. I do my best to squeeze projects in between Sammy and Elijah snuggles (I much prefer the snuggles). Second grade is sadly wrapping up for Elijah. Sammy adores his family and still worries so much about tornadoes and bad guys.

Speaking of my awesome, sweet lil' Sammy.. here are a few funnies from this past week:

- We were driving in the car together and I glanced back to see him peering out the window. I asked him what he was thinking about and he said, "Well.. When I'm older.. When I go skydiving.. I am going to land on a cloud and then JUMP off that cloud!" Super-smart thinking!

- He buried his face in his empty cereal bowl, so I asked him what he was doing. He quickly shoved his bowl in my face and said, "I'm giving you a bowl full of breath!"

- Sammy now calls "Saturday" "Satur-danger."

- While playing our tickle game that we do at least twice/day, I said, "You can't move away from Mama!" He replied, "YES! I! CAN...ADA!"

- He knows that Elijah does not like being called Eli, so he has taken to calling him the LAST part of his name: JUH. More specifically: JUH the Jellyfish. Needless to say, Elijah does not love this.

And that is our week in a nutshell! I hope you are all having a great one!

An important anniversary

Wednesday seems to be my day for updating! Another week has flown by. In the past week we have noticed some changes with Elijah. Certain behaviors are getting difficult to manage, so we have had to get stringent. It seems like this is necessary every few months or so. Sleep is still overall SO MUCH better than it was two months ago. There was a stretch of time during the winter when I honestly do not know how we all survived! We were consistently waking up FOR THE DAY between 2:00 and 3:00 am. Now it is more like 5:00 or 6:00. Sometimes earlier and sometimes later, but a MUCH better scenario overall.

Guess what today is?! It is the 7th anniversary of Elijah's second open heart surgery - the big one! Every year on this day I experience a host of emotions. That was such a huge, important, intense surgery that had an incredible outcome. If I could travel back to April 15, 2008, and tell myself what present-day Elijah is like...I don't know if I would have believed myself! Super-spunky, smart, friendly, huge vocabulary, great big brother, silly, strong-willed, great reader, snuggly, fun.. I don't know what it was I was expecting for him in the years that followed that surgery, but he is doing better than I ever could have imagined. I think in those early years we were so focused on baking the cake (keeping him alive) that it was difficult to imagine that we might be able to put frosting on top some day. And sprinkles and cherries and gummy bears.

The boys have been fighting more than usual lately. They both have such strong wills and they clash pretty often. MOST of the time, though, they adore each other. If they are apart for more than an hour they start saying, "I MISS MY BROTHER!!!!"

Ironically, Elijah has been super interested in Veggie Tales again. It's ironic because that was his FAVORITE thing during the heart surgery that we are remembering today. He saved up birthday money this year and bought a Veggie Tales sing-along CD. We owned it years ago but watched it (and played with it) so much that it got scratched and cracked. I couldn't believe how excited E was to get a new copy and how many times he wants to watch it...over and over and over. Sammy isn't as interested in it, but he knows the words to all of the songs (don't we all).

The boys also both love Captain Underpants books right now. Elijah has read every word of every one of the books. Dan and I have considered so many times taking them away because potty talk has definitely increased since the discovery of these books. But...he reads! A ton. He doesn't read any other book with such interest. There are days when he will literally read for two hours. Book time trumps potty talk. :)

As always, Sammy has a constant stream of hilarious material spilling from his mouth. I can hardly keep up! Here is a sampling (the ones I write down!)..

- We were running to the car in the wind one day and he yelled up to me, "I'm a natural kite flyer, kid!"

- Enduring my daily onslaught of hugs and kisses, he said, "Ok, ok, enough with the hugs and easy on the kisses!"

- I told him "Great idea!" about something and he said, "Yep. I'm always thinkin' in my head."

- Yesterday he said to me, "Mommy, I love you more than anything in the ENTIRE Univers......al Studios." :)

- A load of laundry was spinning like crazy in the washing machine. Sammy said, "Is it gonna blow? RUN FOR YOUR LIFE!" When he realized no one else was alarmed, he calmly said, "I don't think so, Sweetheart."


That's about all for now! 

A colorful week

I can't believe a week has passed since my last post! Where in the world did that time go? We have done a lot in the past week! 

We colored Easter eggs, which is an activity the boys look forward to every spring.

My cute egg decorators..

We also celebrated Easter! The boys had a fun time searching for eggs FILLED with candy (lucky ducks) and meeting their new stuffed animals.

This year it was so much fun to see that the boys understand the true meaning of Easter more than ever. We talked about it A LOT. 

We enjoyed time with family after church. 

The boys always have such a fun time with their cousins! I love this photo. It's one of my favorites from the day. Look at these two cute faces!

This is such a precious photo of Grandma and Grandpa with all EIGHT of their grandchildren.

The boys with their cousin Miya and dog Oreo (pronounced by Sammy as "Oriul"). And, er...not sure what is up with Elijah's outfit and pants on his head. :)

On Monday I brought Elijah to his 6-month cardiology check-up. These appointments always cause a tiny bit of anxiety for me. Not a ton, thankfully. It's always in the back of my mind, but somehow I've managed to never over-stress. On the morning of the appointment I had a stomach ache, so I worried that it was a sign of bad news to come. I over-analyzed the tech's facial expressions as she performed the echo. I convinced myself that open heart surgery was right around the corner and that the blue and red colors were mixing incorrectly on the monitor. Thankfully Elijah was oblivious of my concern, as he always is. I love that he doesn't worry about these appointments. I hope it stays that way.

The cool and collected Dr. G entered the room to explain that...are you ready for this?...NOTHING has changed with Elijah's heart since last year. AMAZING! His heart function and pressures are basically exactly the same as they were a year ago. We expected a heart cath last summer and it wasn't necessary. We 100% expected one this summer. And again it's not necessary! Dr. G's best guess is that he will need one in the summer of 2016. Sigh of relief. Thank you, God.

So that has been our week. Colorful, fun, filled with family, meaning and good news. And silliness! I'll close with a few Sammy funnies. This boy cracks me up!

As we walked out the front doors of church, we could hear music playing over the outdoor speakers. Sammy said, "Mommy! WHERE is that music coming from?" I said, "From the speakers!" He said, "Oh. I thought the music was coming from Heaven."

When the four of us were running to the car because of the never-ending cold, Sammy (who was holding my hand and couldn't stand that Dan and Elijah were going to "beat" us) said, "Let's get to the car QUICK! I CAN'T HANDLE THIS!"

Randomly the other day Sammy told me, "Mommy, you do NOT win the trophy for best human."

After tasting some frosting from a cake at Easter, Sam said, "I did not like the taste of that frosting. It was DARN ishy."


Thanks for peeking in! I hope you all had a wonderful Easter! xo

Spring Break 2015

It is spring break week! Our schedule has been all over the place and every day feels like it's Saturday. We have been trying to make the most of this time together. Dan got home from DC on Friday morning, so we had from then until this morning as a family. Today Dan started a new, exciting job, so the boys and I are back to hanging out!

Elijah and Sammy play their Perplexus games every chance they get! They are GOOD at these!

Yesterday we took a family trip to the Children's Museum. We had tons of fun! Sammy enjoyed being a mail carrier (the cutest one I've ever seen).

Both boys spent a ton of time in the water area. Can I admit that Dan and I enjoyed ourselves here, too?

Look! He also transforms into the cutest turtle I've ever seen.

I found a couple Chick-Fil-A gift cards in my wallet, so guess where we stopped on our way home?

Lucky boys!

We have been LOVING the weather. After another long winter, it feels so incredibly good to be able to go outside again without body parts freezing off.

Things with Elijah are still overall better. We have been experimenting with different essential oils and I think I made a connection last week. I had been putting two different oils on his feet at night before bed...one is a blend of oils and the other is Frankincense. We ran out of Frankincense, so I substituted it with something else. A few days later I noticed that E was starting to unravel again. Sleep started getting worse again and he wasn't able to control himself like he had been in the previous weeks. I quickly ordered more of the Frankincense and we are back on track. Could it really be that easy?

I would still like to find someone to do cognitive behavioral therapy with him so he can develop coping skills for his anxiety. I have a list of recommended names, now I just need to schedule something. We have a cardiology check-up on Monday and we never know what to expect going into those. Please pray for a good report!

A few funnies before I make dinner for the boys..

Today we took a walk to the park and it was WINDY. When we were walking into the wind, Sammy said, "The wind does NOT want us to go this way!"

The boys gave Dan and I some new silly names the other night. Our favorites: El Loro and Mrs. Minnesota. Today they were scrambling up president names and I became Gerald Jefferson. :)

I hope spring has come wherever you live and that you all are having a great week! Thanks so much for checking on us!

Goose Egg

Yesterday morning after Sammy and I got home from running errands, my phone rang. It was Elijah's school and as always, my heart sank when I saw the number pop up. This time, though, I heard something I did not quite expect! When E was walking into lunch from recess, a classmate accidentally ran into him which sent Elijah's forehead straight into the corner of a wall. He got a nice goose-egg and cut on his sweet head.

When the nurse called, she was concerned about Elijah not being able to tell her what exactly had happened. I think she was mistaking his inability to articulate under pressure as a concussion. After chatting with him for ten seconds over the phone, I assured her that he was just fine. When Sammy and I walked into the nurse's office ten minutes later, my sweet Elijah was crying uncontrollably. When he saw me, he said, "I WANT MOMMY!" and cried even harder. Then, "HOLD ME, MOMMY!"

He was fine. He was in a bit of pain (it's an impressive goose-egg!) and I think he felt a little embarrassed about the fall. Sammy and I loaded him up on LOVE...lots of hugs, gentle kisses and an afternoon movie. This morning he was back to new, minus a slightly bruised forehead.

The boys and I have been having a great week (minus the fall, of course)! We have played a lot of games, done tons of tickling and laughed a lot. We miss our Daddy this week and we can't wait to see him bright and early on Friday morning!

Happy Spring! Ha!

We got a heavy, wet, large snowfall overnight last night that the boys and I had so much fun with today. Dan is out of town for the week for work, so he sadly missed out on the block's coolest, tallest, most awesome snowman. This one takes the cake! (Based on its height, guess who built 99% of it!)

A few days after Elijah's tummy was back to normal last week Dan and I both caught the bug. It was horrid. I spent two days unable to do anything. We were a miserable family over the weekend! Thankfully, we are all feeling MUCH better.

Elijah's teacher called me today with a mostly good report. She has noticed some "differences" in him in the past month. There are certain things he is fighting with his school work more than ever (math and writing) and this wasn't a surprise (this is an NLD thing). He fights these things at home, as well. The good differences that she noted are also things we have seen at home in the past month. He is able to transition much better, he handles himself socially much better and he can be talked down from an almost-bad situation much more easily.

We have noticed at home that things have been much improved. Sleep is better, using the restroom is (mostly) not a big deal anymore (umm, this is HUGE), anxieties overall seem to have lessened and situations that would have set him off two months ago can sometimes be averted easily. WHY? I have no idea. Essential oils? Prayer? We've been consistent with both of the above, so maybe one or both are the answer?? The ONE thing that has been worse than usual is his attitude toward Sammy. He is usually so good with Sam and they play together so well. Lately he has been mostly positive to everyone except for Sam. Tonight I had the thought that Elijah's confidence seems to have been boosted. When he interacts with all of us, he has a much more confident spirit. For some reason, that confidence is translated into negativity when he interacts with his little bro.

In conclusion! Ha! I have no idea what is going on, but I am accepting most of these changes with open arms and hope that they only continue to blossom into better times and attitudes. Whatever is sparking this change, thank you!

That's all I've got for now. More later, as the week without Daddy unfolds! Thank you for peeking in!

Heart mama love, jumping from buildings and tummy troubles

The past few days have been intense! I flew to Vegas to meet up with a handful of heart mamas. We all have TWO things in common...we all love Kathy (Isaac's mama) and we all have heart kiddos of our own. It was absolutely incredible. I am still processing it all and parts of it I'm not sure I'll ever be able to explain in words. Being in the presence of these humbled, kind, caring, beautiful women was an incredible thing. We shed tears, laughed A LOT and made some pretty awesome memories. I LOVE these ladies!

Memories include: a trip to urgent care, time spent in the rental house (it was beautiful!), checking out the Bellagio fountains and my favorite hole-in-the-wall Italian restaurant, getting...uh, ROUGH yet enjoyable...massages, having a feast at the house with ALL the heart mamas (some live in Vegas and were not able to join us for the entire weekend) and...one of the most memorable moments from the entire trip was JUMPING OFF THE TOP OF THE STRATOSPHERE! We had been watching people do this on Friday and the skydiver-adrenaline-junkie in me really yearned to do it. That night I dreamed about it and woke up certain that I wanted to give it a try. I talked ONE other heart mom into doing it with me. We were both scared. Really really scared. But the second I left that platform that was 855 feet in the air, I LOVED IT. It was just like skydiving. It was peaceful and enjoyable.

Andrea and me before I walked out onto the platform. Yikes!

I was SHAKING!

Looking out over the Strip, ready to plunge!

Weeee!

Looking up at the Stratosphere from the ground. The blue dot at the top is where we jumped from!

I arrived back home on Sunday and could immediately see that Elijah wasn't feeling well in the car. Dan had been telling me that his tummy was upset for most of the weekend, but it seemed like the second I got into the car things escalated. He vomited A LOT on the drive home and started complaining of a bad tummy ache. I dropped Sammy and Dan off and drove straight to urgent care. The doctor there thought stomach flu was the culprit, but she was concerned about Elijah's neck hurting whenever he vomited. I asked why and she sheepishly said, "Well...that could be meningitis." She went to get discharge papers and a wheelchair (he was hardly able to walk at this point) when he vomited again. And again, his neck started hurting. When I told her this, she said, "Go straight to Children's."

My brain was swimming. I was exhausted and wanted to be home with my boys. A nurse and I loaded Elijah into my car and I headed to Children's, crying. Three minutes into the drive, Elijah perked up. Like, he was completely back to normal. No more hurting tummy or neck or anything. I was so conflicted, especially having just spent time with a friend who lost her son because doctors had ignored important symptoms. Yet I did not want him to have to endure hours of poking and torture for no reason, either. I called a good friend of ours who is an ER doctor. I ran everything by her and she kindly implied that heading back home would be a safe thing to do. She strongly felt that Elijah had a nasty case of the stomach flu and that meningitis was VERY unlikely, given he had no fever and no other symptoms aside from neck pain (which can also occur with the flu).

I felt a ton better after talking to her and headed back home. E stayed home from school today. He didn't throw up all day, and was able to keep food and water down. I limited his eating and it drove him crazy! He was soooo hungry and kept sneaking into the fridge to steal handfuls of sliced turkey. After dinner he complained of a tummy ache again and then had an accident and went to bed feeling crummy. He still didn't vomit, so I'm hoping tomorrow will be the turnaround day. I'm thinking he will be staying home from school tomorrow, too. Poor guy. I hate that he isn't feeling well, but I am SO THANKFUL that meningitis is not a likely outcome. I had about an hour of total panic yesterday after the doctor uttered that word.

I hope you all had a nice weekend! My head is spinning a bit after so much excitement. I want to see my heart moms again...I miss them. At the same time, I'm so happy to be home. I love my boys!

Thanks for checking in!

Climbing the mountain....slowly..

Today was a day of overwhelmedness for this mama. I'm heading out of town tomorrow..SOLO..so wrapping up a hundred loose ends has been a little bit stressful. It'll be worth it 24 hours from now! I'll report more about my trip after I get back. It is going to be a hugely momentous and awesome adventure! Something I will certainly never forget.

First, birthday party pics!

Isn't this so like Sammy to be a unique part of the picture? :)

I have a few things I wanted to write down before I leave town. The most exciting news is that I took Elijah in for his ENT follow-up today. Dr. L wanted to see how his hearing compared to six months ago and after his most recent ear surgery in July. His hearing test today revealed that the hearing in his left ear is even BETTER than it was six months ago! His left ear is now officially completely within the normal range. Amazing! Dr. L was literally stammering over his words. I don't think he said one entire complete sentence. What I heard: "This is...just...unbelievable. I am...stunned. Un. Believable. See you in six months." The outcome of this whole ear ordeal has been a HUGE answer to prayer. I will never ever forget the miracles that have happened to Elijah in this area.

A funny thing from the appointment today.. While he was getting his hearing test, the audiologist directed some white noise into his right ear while testing his left. Elijah stopped her and said, "Um, excuse me, but are you giving me challenging wind?" That's my boy!

Overall, we have been seeing gradual improvements with our oldest boy recently. He has been so much better about telling us details about his day (good or bad) and about expressing his feelings. He also can occasionally catch himself when he is doing something undesirable and he can express sincere apology more than ever before. A lot of the things that "they" tell us Elijah will never be able to do...he is starting to do. At 6:00 pm, when Dan walks in the door, he will remember that at 7:00 am Dan had a sore throat and he'll say, "Daddy, how are you feeling? How is your throat? I hope you are feeling better!" In Elijah-land, these things are a pretty huge deal.

Sleep recently has mostly been average to good. We have had very few "bad" nights recently, although Dan and I are still waking up early because we've been trained to do so. :) The end of daylight savings has been a blessing because we haven't had to change Elijah's internal clock, yet he's going to bed later and waking up later!

I think I forgot to mention Elijah's recent well visit with Dr. Judy. Everything looked fine, but she was surprised and disappointed that the ASD label had been thrown on him. She has never believed that it's a suitable label for him. I agree, but if it is helping him get the assistance he needs in school then I'm not against it. School has been going much better since he has been receiving more one-on-one support. We love his teachers. They work really hard to keep him happy and productive. I still don't feel like he is completely understood, but he is a tough one to understand!

I think I've covered what I've wanted for the week. You won't hear from me again until at least Sunday. Have a great weekend!

Snow play!

Still kickin'. I have been so behind in updating. You see, I have this problem. When time opens up for me I go right ahead and fill it up with thirty projects, all of which I want to finish NOW. I'm super excited about some personal projects I'm working on. I keep thinking about writing an update here and I get caught up in those other things.

This week Elijah had a "mostly on" week at school. He had his moments, but for the most part did fine according to his teacher. They have been able to get him more one-on-one help, which helps. He still doesn't have his own para, but we're working on it! His sleep has been up and down and up and down. It seems like every other night is ok and every other night is not ok. He gets SO TIRED in the evenings.

When Sammy and Elijah aren't fighting like brothers do, they are loving each other! Their new favorite place to play (and cuddle) is behind the chair in our living room. It looks cozy back there!

We haven't been able to get out to play in the snow much this year because it has been so cold. One day this week it was snowing and NOT below zero, so we bundled up and made a small little snow-dude. Sammy named him Cutie. I think he names all of our snowmen Cutie.

Then I put the boys to work! And their most favorite part...hot chocolate afterward.

This morning my stepmom and I were able to go to Elijah's classroom to watch this week's Reader's Workshop. It was so cute. Elijah did great! He followed along and read great!

I just remembered that I have pics to share from last weekend! We had family over to celebrate Elijah's 8th birthday. It was fun! Pics to come!

Rainbows and smileys

Hello! We are still alive! I have been immersing myself in personal projects, so I haven't made much time for this beloved blog. School for Elijah is going ok. He has "pretty good" days and some pretty rough ones still. At this point I am taking it one day at a time, trying very hard not to over-analyze or stress out. There seems to be absolutely no consistency with behavior/sleep patterns, which can make me crazy if I think about it too much. Sleep is still overall pretty rough, but we are continuing with the oils. Dan and I get by on so little sleep because we are basically awake for the day at 4:00 (sometimes earlier). I still have not heard back from Dr. M regarding another med recommendation. I haven't put a second call into him because I secretly don't want him to recommend anything else.

I feel like we've fallen into a good place during a rough stretch. Does that make sense? We have learned how to make the most of a sleepless/impatient/stressful time. We are doing fine. Tired, but fine. We have each other and tons of love and faith. Thank you so much for peeking in! It means so much to us!

I have saved up a few Sammy funnies from the past week..

Sam is so good at thinking through things ahead of time. There was a coloring sheet of a rainbow that he had colored at the club a couple times. The next time he was there, they were out of that particular sheet. So the next day at home he sat down with a black sharpie and drew the outline of a rainbow on a white piece of paper. Then he brought that "coloring sheet" with us to the club and colored it while he was there. I thought that was impressive!

Another thing he likes to do is take band-aids from the box, draw hearts or smiley faces or rainbows on them...and put them back in the box! He told me his drawings will make owies heal much faster. :)

Driving through the grocery store parking lot, Sammy said, "Mommy, go faster! Speed makes me come alive!"

Other Sammy quotes: "If you don't give me whatever I want, my heart will explode!"
"Will you do me a huge favor, Mommy? Will you please take away the whole world?"

He is constantly worried about things he does not need to be worrying about. I field at least 100 questions/day about "bad guys." He wants to know if bad guys were bad kids? Do bad guys watch us through our windows? Can good kids turn into bad guys? Can bad kids turn into good guys? What would I do if a bad guy tried to steal him? Could a bad guy get in our house through our windows? Where do bad guys live? What is prison like? What kinds of food do bad guys eat in jail? Are their beds comfortable? Seriously...and that is just one topic. Other topics of choice: tornadoes and car crashes.

Needless to say, our front door is ALWAYS locked. He asks me a bunch throughout the day, "Is our door locked?" and then runs to check it.

Sammy: What happens if my foot turns purple?
Me: Then your foot probably needs blood. 
S: What if it doesn't get blood?
Me: Then you could lose your foot. 
S: .......
Me: Having feet is important, right?
S: No-ight. (a new, creative version of "no-kay")
Me: Sammy, you are the funniest person I know.
S: You don't know me! I live in Russia.

Happy 8th birthday, Elijah Daniel!

Today was a strange, happy, tearful day. Little bouts of crying surprised me a handful of times when I would think about Elijah turning eight. On one hand, I feel like the past eight years have lasted 20 years. On the other hand, I can't believe our oldest boy is EIGHT!

This boy. His beautiful, smart, funny little self has transformed me into a kinder, more faithful and patient person. He has added a great deal of color, richness and depth to our family. Dan, Sammy and I love him to pieces. We would not be the same without him!

Happy 8th birthday, Elijah Daniel! You are a LOVED little person! I can't wait to experience many many MANY more years with you.

Waterpark Adventure 2015

I'm feeling a need to get this post done tonight because tomorrow I will be writing about a certain 8-year-old's birthday!

Our fifth annual waterpark trip was a smashing success. Dan and I both agreed that we managed our time better than ever before and we ALL enjoyed ourselves, even more than in past years. This was the first year that Sammy truly enjoyed himself. It was fun to see.

Here is the photo I take every year upon first entering the hotel/waterpark. The boys love to run to the windows to peek into the waterpark and get a glimpse of the "big bucket" and all of the action. This year we found that the windows had been frosted, so the boys had to peek through the cracks.

The first few minutes in our room are always SO EXCITING!!!!

Annual photo with Mama and boys in the top bunk!

Followed by....JUMPING ON THE BED! This year we talked Dan into joining us.

We spent an hour at the waterpark our first night. Both boys had a blast! Sammy willingly got into the water for the first time EVER!

I'm so proud of him. He stuck to a very specific area, but he went down the same slide about 100 times over the course of the weekend. Progress! A few times I tried to get him to extend his territory, but he resisted. I'll take it.

I always get photos of the post-waterpark bathers. It'll be so sad when they don't take baths together anymore! 

 I LOVE this cutie! Yikes, look at his tired mama..

Posing with the waterpark guys.

On our second day, Elijah literally RAN around the waterpark at full speed for hours on end. Dan and I could do nothing to get him to slow down, short of making him leave the place. Literally...he ran from the slides in the kiddie area to the big tube slide to the wave pool to the lazy river (with one of us following close behind)....repeat repeat repeat...without taking a breath. Toward the end of the day, Dan handed Elijah off to me and said, "Watch him!" I took one look at E and knew what he meant. He had worn himself out. He was totally exhausted and even felt sick to his stomach. He literally could hardly stand. I hadn't gotten many photos of him yet (and I always snap a few!), so I asked him to smile and pose since I knew these were our last moments there. After a dozen attempts, I got a smile..

Then he sat down in another area on the way out and after another dozen photos, I got another smile..

Then I realized I was being selfish and had Dan scoop him up and take him back to the hotel room. He was draped over Dan's shoulder like an exhausted baby! Poor guy. I got a partial smile..

We had dinner in our hotel room (a second-night tradition) and by that time Elijah was feeling much better. We headed down to the arcade for a bit of gaming fun! Both boys had a blast. Sammy keeps telling me that the 30 minutes we spent in that arcade were his favorite moments of the entire trip.

Elijah threw a ball into the teeny-tiny 1,000-point bucket in the tossing game (impossible feat), hence the celebrating..

Look! It's Sammy! Participating in games and not hiding behind a Pac-Man machine (yes, he really did that)!

We won BIG at Deal or No Deal! Hundreds of tickets, which earned us.. toy handcuffs (you can imagine how much we've loved THIS) and ring pops (which Sammy calls "Rain Pops").

A few more notable things about our adventure..

It was so much fun to watch Sammy (Elijah wasn't so interested in this) RUNNING through the hallways to get to the elevator, push the button and accomplish absolutely everything before his brother could.

I loved our family nap on our second day. It was a revitalizing intermission when Sammy watched a movie by himself while the rest of us slept like we were dead.

Trips to the ice machine! Who knew this could be sooo exciting?!

Elijah and I made a few trips down the "blue-tube-slide" together and WOW was it fast! I cannot believe how much that boy loves speed. It was a ton of fun, and each sliding experience was followed by a trip around the lazy river and then a jaunt in the wave pool.

Sammy insisted on wearing his goggles in his own Sammy way (of course). The straps folded his ears in half and hung at the bottom-back of his head. He swiped our hands away any time we tried to fix them and refused to take them off, even when they were completely fogged over.

As always, I LOVED our first hour in our hotel room. It was pure happiness and excitement for all of us. Elijah kept asking me, "Is this a dream?!" We all cherish this trip so much every year. On our way home, both boys whimpered constantly.. "I MISS OUR TRIP!" Me too, boys.. can't wait till next year!