The Patient

We had been noticing for a while that Amita's hearing was off, so we worked with our family practice doctor to try a few things.  When those didn't seem to work, we met with an Ear, Nose, & Throat specialist who let us know that Amita needed ear tubes put in and her tonsils and adenoids out.  For a family who didn't even go to the hospital to give birth, that was pretty scary!!

The day before the surgery, we had a special night with just the three of us (Ansel went on his first solo visit to Papa and Nana's) where Amita got to pick what we did, what to eat, what to read, etc.  She enjoyed being in charge of everything!  

We got up early the next morning and headed to the clinic with all the supplies recommended to us.  It went surprisingly quickly and we didn't have lots of time to worry as someone was always updating us with her status.  The first hour afterwards was pretty rough for her, but I'm sure it's scary to be so young and wake up from anesthesia and not understand why everything hurts.  We did lots of hugs until she asked to leave the recovery area.  Her exact words were, "I want to get out of here RIGHT NOW!"

The surgery went exactly as it was supposed and Amita seems to have a lot of toughness (that I think she gets from her Mama!).  She soldiered through the pain and was back to normal in under a week.  Her breathing and hearing are greatly improved, so we're glad we made the choice to move forward.

Here's a few photos of our little patient.

Fantastic Gymnastics

By some perfect twist of fate, the local parks and rec department was offering gymnastics for 2- and 4-year-olds at the exact same time in the exact same location.  I couldn't NOT sign the kids up, since it seems unlikely anything as amazing as that will ever happen again!!

Both kids really enjoyed trying out the different gymnastics stations, but neither of them is so interested in the sport that they would like to keep doing it after this summer's class. It was fun to watch them try it all out, though. 

Here's Amita leaping from the horse!

And doing a back bend. 

The lines worked out perfectly so they were both on the balance beams at the same time. Amita prefers the low beams; Ansel prefers the high one!

Amita did try the high beam...

... And did a great job jumping off!

Ansel loved the monkey bars!

Somersaults were his least favorite but he really liked the teacher!

Swinging was Ansel's favorite!!

No matter the result, it's important to finish!

Best Dance Moves: The Running Man and The Sprinkler

Last weekend we got out the sprinkler to water the garden and the kids got in on the fun too. 

They loved running into the cold water on a hot day!

Ansel was especially thrilled with our backyard water park. We could barely convince him to come inside for lunch!!

Mama's taking us to the zoo...

We got to spend a day at the zoo with Papa and Nana and we had a fantastic time!  The weather was perfect and we found a shaded picnic table for our lunch. The kids got snow leopard toys that they are still sleeping with, so it was a pretty great day for all of us. Here's some of our best shots. 

The chairs are a perennial favorite!!

Ansel couldn't wait to see the lion. It was our first stop!

The tiger pacing in his cage was fun too. 

The elephants put on a show for us. First they ate. 

Then they took a mud bath!

The elusive polar bear emerged (first time we've seen it!!). 

We also got to ride the train and the carousel. 

Amita really enjoyed all the fancy animals on the "merry-go-round"!

4th Was Last

The 4th of July was spent recovering from more than a week of vacation. We did a lot of laundry, worked in the yard, and did various other chores. We did squeeze in some fun too. 

What's more American than corn on the cob?

Here's Ansel hanging out. Both kids insisted on rain boots even though it was as dry as a bone!

Both of the kids enjoyed playing outside for a while in the afternoon before crashing for an early bedtime. 

The view from our back porch after the kids went to bed. 

Bishop Wins

While in the UP, we took the kids to the Bishop Baraga shrine. Selfies fail to capture the sheer size of the statue. The kids weren't sure if it was cool or scary. Either way we had fun running around!

It was pretty quiet when we were there so the kids could explore and make all the noise they wanted. 

For perspective, the snowshoes are 10 feet high, so the entire statue is really impressive. 

Sugarloaf Mountain Hike

While on vacation in the UP, we got the chance to head to Sugarloaf Mountain near Marquette for a hike.  It wasn't exactly great weather (40's and rainy!) but the kids were willing to give it a try.  On the plus side, there weren't any bugs!!

We took the difficult trail up and both kids walked the whole time, which was impressive given the rough terrain and the steep staircases.  At one point during the hike, Amita grabbed my hand and said, "Mama, I love hiking with you!" so I guess they had a pretty good time.  I know I did!

Here's Ansel on the difficult trail.

Here we are at the top.  The kids loved the lookout platforms (which they called castles).

The view of Lake Superior.  On a nice day, this would be an amazing view!!

He's the king of the world!

Our way back down the trail and through the series of stairs and platforms.

One final family photo near the bottom.  The kids were still smiling, although we were all getting pretty tired by this point.  We stopped by Jilbert's Dairy on the ride home as a treat for all our hard work!