I'm so far behind, what's a few more days.... Right?
I successfully had kidney surgery on Tuesday morning, after a few fits and starts involving scheduling, of course. Just because nothing in my life is easy or normal, it turned out that I had already passed the kidney stone without realizing it sometime before the surgery. So, essentially he did some internal exploration and sent me home. The good news is that all I had to recover from was the anesthesia and the pain from having exploratory surgery, not from the stone. The bad news is that the entire thing was pretty much a waste.
I had some wonderful friends come and spend the day with Katy and I yesterday to make sure that we were OK while I recovered. Around 5 pm I suddenly felt MUCH better, so I shooed everyone out and have moved back into living life as normally as possible.
I'm still working on uploading the hundreds of photos from our trip to Garmisch. I'm making good progress, so I swear I'll get that finished soon.
We go to pre-school orientation for Katy this afternoon. Our baby is growing up and starts school NEXT WEEK. I'm not sure that I'm fully ready for this. Sending her to day care a few hours a week had a different feel and ring to it than the thought of sending her to pre-school. But, I also look at her every day and realize ow much she's growing up; she's getting to be such a big girl.
So, that's our world in a quick nutshell. I'll update as I'm able, but part of the growing up process is that little ones also stop taking consistent naps. I am suddenly finding myself with less free time than I had before....
Thursday, August 28, 2008
Friday, August 22, 2008
Garmisch, Day 3
By Tuesday morning we were all a tad bit tired from the long drives, adventures and lack of consistent sleep. Plus, the weather wasn't very nice, so we decided to stay local and hit the pool for the day.
But first we had a quiet morning of getting ready slowly. Diane had pulled out her computer to show me something, which turned into her showing Katy how the camera works on it, which turned into six kids piled around her playing with the camera function.
Finally we got ourselves together and headed off to the pool. Shannon was actually brave enough to bring her small camera in, so I have her to thank for the following shots of Katy having a good time.
We did the water slides, played in the wave pool and just generally had a great time. But, for the first time ever, Katy let me know that she was ready to leave the pool. She went to our bag, pulled out her towel and started toward the exit. I guess it was time to go! We headed back for naps and playing quietly for the afternoon (the big kids stayed at the pool with Diane - so it worked out well for everyone). What a great way to rejuvenate for the day.
Katy spent quite a bit of time stealing Ella's precious toys, such as her baby pictured below, and trying to hide them or playing with them in full view of Ella, knowing how upsetting that is to her. I think Katy's going to have to be confirmed as an only child because she would certainly intentionally torment a younger sibling.
There was some serious negotiation work conducted about what should be watched on TV. Actually, Dan was watching sports, which Katy watches with Ryan all the time.
Finally we ordered some pizza, fed the kids and just played the evening away. Katy and Kyra (we call Katy mini-Kyra all the time, just for her resemblance to this Kyra) finally connected and played and played and played.
There was some peek-a-boo involved.
But mostly it was this game, which none of us understood but Katy. She would "herd" Kyra to the fence using just her head, giggle, then run away creaming. Kyra would follow and the herding would begin again.
The dew felt good on heads hot from so much running.
I just love this picture.
Somewhere around here Kyra came screaming up to me that Katy had rubbed in some stinging nettle. Katy was oddly quiet about the entire thing so I wasn't sure that it really happened. but, I went and found some neosporin with pain reliever in it and slathered it all over her arms as a precaution. Sure enough, in about 20 minutes the back of Katy's arm bubbled up. She never cried, for which I'm thankful, but it certainly was a close call. Kyra saved me on that one!
It was a wonderful day full of playing. Of course, true to form, we adults didn't go to bed until after midnight, again. There was just too much catching up to do!!!
By Tuesday morning we were all a tad bit tired from the long drives, adventures and lack of consistent sleep. Plus, the weather wasn't very nice, so we decided to stay local and hit the pool for the day.
But first we had a quiet morning of getting ready slowly. Diane had pulled out her computer to show me something, which turned into her showing Katy how the camera works on it, which turned into six kids piled around her playing with the camera function.
Finally we got ourselves together and headed off to the pool. Shannon was actually brave enough to bring her small camera in, so I have her to thank for the following shots of Katy having a good time.
We did the water slides, played in the wave pool and just generally had a great time. But, for the first time ever, Katy let me know that she was ready to leave the pool. She went to our bag, pulled out her towel and started toward the exit. I guess it was time to go! We headed back for naps and playing quietly for the afternoon (the big kids stayed at the pool with Diane - so it worked out well for everyone). What a great way to rejuvenate for the day.
Katy spent quite a bit of time stealing Ella's precious toys, such as her baby pictured below, and trying to hide them or playing with them in full view of Ella, knowing how upsetting that is to her. I think Katy's going to have to be confirmed as an only child because she would certainly intentionally torment a younger sibling.
There was some serious negotiation work conducted about what should be watched on TV. Actually, Dan was watching sports, which Katy watches with Ryan all the time.
Finally we ordered some pizza, fed the kids and just played the evening away. Katy and Kyra (we call Katy mini-Kyra all the time, just for her resemblance to this Kyra) finally connected and played and played and played.
There was some peek-a-boo involved.
But mostly it was this game, which none of us understood but Katy. She would "herd" Kyra to the fence using just her head, giggle, then run away creaming. Kyra would follow and the herding would begin again.
The dew felt good on heads hot from so much running.
I just love this picture.
Somewhere around here Kyra came screaming up to me that Katy had rubbed in some stinging nettle. Katy was oddly quiet about the entire thing so I wasn't sure that it really happened. but, I went and found some neosporin with pain reliever in it and slathered it all over her arms as a precaution. Sure enough, in about 20 minutes the back of Katy's arm bubbled up. She never cried, for which I'm thankful, but it certainly was a close call. Kyra saved me on that one!
It was a wonderful day full of playing. Of course, true to form, we adults didn't go to bed until after midnight, again. There was just too much catching up to do!!!
Wednesday, August 20, 2008
For those that are interested in more photos....
Shannon has started putting up her Garmisch pictures too - so if you're are interested, head over to her blog and catch HER version of events and a few glimpses of Katy and I taken through her lens.
Shannon has started putting up her Garmisch pictures too - so if you're are interested, head over to her blog and catch HER version of events and a few glimpses of Katy and I taken through her lens.
Garmisch, Day 2
Diane's kids had been in camp in Germany over several of the previous weeks and she needed to head off to get her oldest on Monday morning. The guys headed off to their conference for the day so Shannon and I loaded our combined four kids into her van and headed off in search of a "princess castle" for the littlest two in our party.
We didn't have to go far when, viola, out of nowhere appeared Neuschwanstein Castle (you'd think we planned it, huh?).
Since Ryan and I had been to Neuschwanstein once before I knew that the line to get in would be insane; we were there in April last time and the line was longer than we wanted to deal with. Instead, our only objective was to get the girls onto a horse-drawn carriage to take them up closer to the castle and explore the outside on foot. We bypassed the ticket line and went and waited in a line with a picture of a horse on it.
And we waited.
And we waited some more. The natives were getting restless and Katy started to display her fondness for teasing Ella (she stole her hat - you can see Ella asking for it back and Katy slyly grinning - knowing how much she was tormenting her and refusing to give it back).
Finally! A carriage arrived.
The driver asked for our admission tickets and I explained as best I could that we didn't intend to go in. He insisted. Then he finally took another route and explained as best HE could that he wasn't heading up to Neuschwanstein, but to Hohenschwangau Castle instead. After a very brief consultation we decided that we didn't care. A horse-drawn carriage ride was a horse-drawn carriage ride and we certainly didn't want to wait in another line. So, we boarded and off we went.
Goodbye Neuschwanstein!
Actually, Hohenschwangau Castle is right across the valley and equally lovely. In fact, it gave us great views of Neuschwanstein.
Katy wanted to play in the first fountain that she saw.
I just wanted to get a picture of her AND Neuschwanstein in the background. This was as close as I got....
After wandering and exploring a little we found a pretty courtyard and settled in to have a picnic (smart Mommies bring PB&J sandwiches with them!!)
We took plenty of pictures.
And just generally enjoyed the view. This is Neuschwanstein across the valley.
It's no wonder King Ludwig selected this place the build his castles; the view was stunning in every direction.
We opted to walk down the hill instead of riding the carriage again.
On the way we took in this breathtaking lake. The water was ridiculously clear.
Of course, we couldn't resist. Katy knows the drill so well I don't even have to help anymore. She saw water and instantly started pulling off her clothes. She wanted in and wanted to play!
But, she didn't want to play alone and was insistent that I get in too.
It was COLD. They kept splashing me....
Back to torturing Ella. See the arm block coming from a mile away? So did I, luckily....
We loaded some exhausted kids back into the car and headed back to the house for the afternoon.
That night we headed out for a "quick walk" to dinner; it turned out to be well over 30 minutes away. I had 32 pounds of toddler strapped to my back (and had all day since that's how I carted Katy around Neuschwanstein too) and it was exhausting! We tumbled in our chairs and let the kids run.
There was a stage set up for live performances. Since we were the only people there at that point our kids became the live performers....
With Katy dancing in the center of it all.
Dinner was excellent; I had a lovely jagerschnitzel (jager sauce is one of my favorites) and fell in love with spaetzle, a bavarian specialty noodle. Yum!
Unfortunately, the clouds tumbled down on us and we had to figure out how to drag 5 adults and 7 VERY tired kids back home through the pouring rain. One cab trip and two trips with a mini-van later we all arrived safely back at the house, tucked the little kids into bed and settled in for another night of catching up and talking until the wee hours of the morning.
Diane's kids had been in camp in Germany over several of the previous weeks and she needed to head off to get her oldest on Monday morning. The guys headed off to their conference for the day so Shannon and I loaded our combined four kids into her van and headed off in search of a "princess castle" for the littlest two in our party.
We didn't have to go far when, viola, out of nowhere appeared Neuschwanstein Castle (you'd think we planned it, huh?).
Since Ryan and I had been to Neuschwanstein once before I knew that the line to get in would be insane; we were there in April last time and the line was longer than we wanted to deal with. Instead, our only objective was to get the girls onto a horse-drawn carriage to take them up closer to the castle and explore the outside on foot. We bypassed the ticket line and went and waited in a line with a picture of a horse on it.
And we waited.
And we waited some more. The natives were getting restless and Katy started to display her fondness for teasing Ella (she stole her hat - you can see Ella asking for it back and Katy slyly grinning - knowing how much she was tormenting her and refusing to give it back).
Finally! A carriage arrived.
The driver asked for our admission tickets and I explained as best I could that we didn't intend to go in. He insisted. Then he finally took another route and explained as best HE could that he wasn't heading up to Neuschwanstein, but to Hohenschwangau Castle instead. After a very brief consultation we decided that we didn't care. A horse-drawn carriage ride was a horse-drawn carriage ride and we certainly didn't want to wait in another line. So, we boarded and off we went.
Goodbye Neuschwanstein!
Actually, Hohenschwangau Castle is right across the valley and equally lovely. In fact, it gave us great views of Neuschwanstein.
Katy wanted to play in the first fountain that she saw.
I just wanted to get a picture of her AND Neuschwanstein in the background. This was as close as I got....
After wandering and exploring a little we found a pretty courtyard and settled in to have a picnic (smart Mommies bring PB&J sandwiches with them!!)
We took plenty of pictures.
And just generally enjoyed the view. This is Neuschwanstein across the valley.
It's no wonder King Ludwig selected this place the build his castles; the view was stunning in every direction.
We opted to walk down the hill instead of riding the carriage again.
On the way we took in this breathtaking lake. The water was ridiculously clear.
Of course, we couldn't resist. Katy knows the drill so well I don't even have to help anymore. She saw water and instantly started pulling off her clothes. She wanted in and wanted to play!
But, she didn't want to play alone and was insistent that I get in too.
It was COLD. They kept splashing me....
Back to torturing Ella. See the arm block coming from a mile away? So did I, luckily....
We loaded some exhausted kids back into the car and headed back to the house for the afternoon.
That night we headed out for a "quick walk" to dinner; it turned out to be well over 30 minutes away. I had 32 pounds of toddler strapped to my back (and had all day since that's how I carted Katy around Neuschwanstein too) and it was exhausting! We tumbled in our chairs and let the kids run.
There was a stage set up for live performances. Since we were the only people there at that point our kids became the live performers....
With Katy dancing in the center of it all.
Dinner was excellent; I had a lovely jagerschnitzel (jager sauce is one of my favorites) and fell in love with spaetzle, a bavarian specialty noodle. Yum!
Unfortunately, the clouds tumbled down on us and we had to figure out how to drag 5 adults and 7 VERY tired kids back home through the pouring rain. One cab trip and two trips with a mini-van later we all arrived safely back at the house, tucked the little kids into bed and settled in for another night of catching up and talking until the wee hours of the morning.
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