Family Reunion in Newport, Oregon

I was going to start out by saying last month, but it’s been nearly two months now! Typically for Christmas we alternate between who’s family we spend the holiday with but as our kids grew older and nieces and nephews were added to the family, it became harder to get everyone together for the holidays. Instead of meeting for Christmas, we all agreed to meet at a different time for a nice, stress-free vacation. After some deliberation on dates and location, the decision was made to meet sometime in July in Newport, Oregon for about 5 days. We rented a beautiful home which had an amazing view of the Pacific Ocean. (You can check it out here!) It was so relaxing to watch the sunset over the ocean and very entertaining to watch the whales come out of the water. 

The house had a trail leading from the backyard down to the beach. It was about a 5 minute walk to Beverley Beach. We didn’t spend a ton of time there, but it was nice to be able to have the beach a short jaunt away. On our first full day, we spent the entire day exploring around near the Devil’s Punchbowl at low tide.

All the kids had fun looking for crabs, starfish, clams and whatever else the could find.

Do you even know how hard I had to work for this group selfie? Those kids were too excited to stand in one place for more than 3 seconds!

This is a panorama taken right outside the Devil's Punchbowl. It was beautiful! And the weather was amazing too! I was worried about it being cold and windy the whole trip, since every time I had been to the ocean before, I was miserable. Of the several days at the coast, we only had one windy day!

I think HD would have held every creature if we would have let him. He loves hunting for critters that's for sure! While he was playing in the tide pools, JP and his cousin were buried in sand, while Ms.Gail and their other cousin dumped water on them. It was so fun to watch!

The next day we spent a good portion of the morning/afternoon at Agate Beach. When we first arrived, most of the kids ran off with Grandma to see if they could find any agates (Grandma likes to collect them!) so Perry and I were left alone on a nearly empty beach. I had never made a sand castle before and this seemed like the perfect time and spot to do so! We spent at least two hours on this monstrosity! The kids helped a little. Just a little. We were very protective of it!

Perry and I were both proud of how it turned out. I was mainly the moat digger :)

Another fun activity the kids and I took part in was jump roping! Or kelp jumping as the case may be. I forgot how much fun jumping rope can be! It was a nice break from the castle building!

This was our view of the ocean from the deck. No need to zoom or anything. Simply beautiful! Makes me want to move to the coast!

And my handsome JP. He was pretty quite the whole trip - most every beach we explored, he insisted on being buried.

In good fun, I had the boys pose like this for me. I love it so much. We had some passer-bys giving me strange looks, so when I was done, I ran over to them and showed them the result. They loved it too!

It wouldn't be a vacation without s'mores! I just love this little girly!

After a windy morning at the Devil Punchbowl (we went back because we enjoyed it so much the first time!) the mom's stopped in for a wine tasting at the Flying Dutchman Winery. I have never done a wine tasting so this was a first for me, and it was wonderful! I ended up purchasing a bottle of raspberry wine and a new stemless wine glass for my itty-bitty collection.

For our last dinner on the coast, Perry, his sister and I went to town to see if we could find live crab to cook. We lucked out on our search by running into an old fisherman who gave us directions to find the boat "Chelsea Rose". If there's any to be had, that's where they'll be, and he was right! Thankfully we snagged a cooler before we left and managed to fit 6 live crabs inside. I believe we paid about $120 for the group of them. Not too shabby! HD was in HEAVEN when we brought them back!

Uncle Colin taught Perry the ins and outs of cooking crab. We had a little incident with one crab not fitting in the pot. Unfortunately HD was in the perfect spot, with his shirt off, to get a nice splash of boiling water on his chest when Perry tried to flick the crab down. Panic in the kitchen!

We ended up with *so*much*crab* but boy was it tasty! I already want to go back and do it again! Ms. Gail slept through most of dinner prep. I woke her up when we took the crabs out to fight on the floor. All the cousins (except for Ms. Gail) had a blast with the crabs shuffling around the kitchen. 

It was so so nice to see everyone again. We hadn't seen Perry's brother's family for almost two years, and at least half a year had gone by without seeing his sisters family too. It was a bittersweet vacation! I loved spending time with everyone, but goodbyes were hard, especially for me because the boys then went alllll the way back to spend the summer in MT with Grandma and Nanny. 

Here's to the Start of a 504 Plan

I did it. I requested a 504 plan for HD. He currently has one in place for the upcoming school in regards to his education in the classroom. He'll be enjoying priority seating, (next to the teacher's desk) and things like weighted blankets and short pencils. Several other things, but I can't think of them off the top of my head. They aren't huge, but it needed to happen.

This other 504 plan might need to happen too because diabetes sucks. I've shared about my frustrations with the school in finding him a parent-designated-adult. Everyone keeps suggesting a neighbor or family member that might be able to come to the school if needed. Unfortunately we're one of the unlucky families to not have family near us. As for neighbors...well.... So then it starts - the nurse can help - the doctor should know- the ADA can help - the principal should know - the nurse will know. I felt like a pinball bouncing from one person to the next in search of answers.

I stopped in at the school this morning to see if I could meet the new nurse. Last year's nurse decided to go part-time and is only working in one school now. Because we're starting from scratch again, I want to start the year off right. I expressed my frustrations with not being able to find him a parent-designated-adult. I was told to ask the staff members. (But only after she suggested a family member or neighbor.) They all said no without actually saying no. All were confident they wouldn't be able to administer insulin. I always felt so defeated when leaving the school. I did today too.

I sent off a request to HD's doctor for new orders, signed a couple papers, and went to my VAN and called the ADA. I really didn't want play that card because I wasn't in the right emotional state to call them. I was fighting back tears as I spoke with the nurse. However, the legal advocate I spoke with was super awesome and now I wish I'd have called them sooner. Turns out, nurses CAN administer insulin at school, contrary to what I was told all spring long. And if he needs help administering it, and he does, they are required by law to have people (not just one!) trained at school to do so. It is not up to me to find the people, it's on them. THAT is what I needed to hear.

I know he's almost 10, and should be administering it himself. I also know that he'll have to do it for the rest of his life. He's been labeled as a T1D for four solid months. Not four years. He's still new to this! Just this past summer at camp, he tried to give himself his dose, and just couldn't. I need to know there will be a person available at school to help him do it if he has one of those moments again. I can't always just leave work for an hour. It is one of our goals this school year to get him to be independent when it comes to administering and calculating doses. Counting carbs might be another year behind.

But I did it guys. I put it into words that he's needs a medical 504 plan. I don't want to worry about who is taking care of him when I'm not. I want to know that he is safe and well cared for at school, because at the end of the last school year, I didn't feel good about sending him.

Just a Fun Filled Weekend with my BESTIE!

GAHHH!!!! Guess who drove for forever to come see me?!?! One of my bestest friends in the whole wide world! 

We are able to see each other maybe one a year, and that might be a stretch too. But for her family vacation this past June, (remember when I posted in real time! Hahaha!) she brought her two girls and boyfriend out to see me (and the ocean!) - of course we celebrated with daiquiris!

The whole weekend they were here, I was quite frustrated with Perry's work schedule. Because he was down an important team member, he was having to work a late shift and close the store. Typically he'd get home around midnight? That's actually a guess. I was always in bed way before then. I was annoyed about this schedule of his because he'd miss their first evening at our house, but I grumbled and groaned about it and then let it be. Then my store got involved. My store was hosting a large event, and because my manager wasn't able to attend and run it, Perry volunteer his time so he could have Friday night off. Get this - he traded that night for work (including commute time) from 2pm Saturday to 2pm Sunday with NO SLEEP. Needless to say, he didn't really get the opportunity both Britta and I was hoping for to really get to know them. Oh hum.  

 We did still manage to enjoy our time together Saturday morning though! We took three vehicles up Mount Saint Helens and stopped at the Ape Cave for a morning of hiking.

 Aren't we so cute? While these caves were similar to the Lewis and Clark Cavern in Montana, they were different in that it wasn't a guided tour and it wasn't lit. Wearing headlamps just added to the adventure!

 There is an upper cave that involves a lot of climbing, and a lower cave (which we did) that is mostly just walking, but walking carefully. With Ms. Gail, and Britta's youngest girl being so little, we opted for the easier route.

 I didn't know what to expect when we went down the steps into the great beyond. Honestly, I was a little nervous. (This is fine....this is fine!)

 The kids all seemed to enjoy themselves. The adults were constantly telling them to slow down. And if there was a rock to climb on, they climbed the crud out it.

 At the very end of the tunnel, the ceiling gets super low to where you need to bear crawl to get past one point. I went in as far as I could with a backpack on, and then Jason went the rest of the way to get the kids. (Sorry for the butt shot!) It was a little too small of a space for me.

 They are all just so cute!! I highly recommend this little adventure to everyone! Just know that park (especially with three vehicles) is a bitch.

 #bff

 We timed our hike out of the cave perfectly because when we arrived back to the parking lot, we had the chance to meet Smokey the Bear!! So cool!

Perry headed off to work after the caves but the rest of us took a hike to see a scenic view of Mount St. Helens. I thought the view would be a *little* better than this... 

 This view however, was breath-taking! After waiting around to hear back from Perry as to when he'd be done at the event, we ended up just leaving him behind and headed west for the ocean. We ended up at Fort Stevens State Park. Our family had been there before, but not to this part of the beach. I think there were maybe 10 other people there. It was empty and perfect!

 This was Britta and the girls' first time seeing the Pacific Ocean and I had so much fun photographing them! I literally said, "Put your phone down and go enjoy this!" I hardly have any pictures with my kids, so I try to make it a point to take pictures of other moms with their kiddies.

 I had water to my ankles and I was freezing. I don't know how they were doing this!

 After a family had left, our kids took over this hut and never touched the ocean for the rest of the afternoon. I might have dozed off for a minute trying to stay warm under a towel. I thought I was prepared this time for the breeze, but I wasn't.

Who doesn't love a good smooch on the beach?!

 By the end of the day, this sweet little thing wasn't feeling so hot. She quite the snuggler though!

I'm so so so happy they made the decision to come out to visit me! We had such a fun time together! Did I mention I got her hooked on playing Ticket to Ride? I think we might have played 6 games in one sitting. We put it away at 4am. I might have thrown my cards at Jason once, but I think he deserved it! I can't wait to see them again, and their NEW house!!

A Few Memories from June

I’ve been a little behind in the blogging world, but there were a few photos I want to share (out of order 🙄) that I would like to be able to look back on and go, “ahhhh!!! They were so little!” So without delay, here are the bambino’s graduation pictures from June.

Seriously, they are adorable. Never mind the fact that I did again bribe the boys with candy to look decent. Please also note, HD was cranky as &!*% and the only way I could get him to smile was by saying, “Please don’t make me say poop to you.” Or just simply “oh diarrhea.” Then he would start giggling and moving, which then made the picture blurry. 🙄 But JP and Ms. Gail! 😍😍

 Also in June, Grandma came to visit when our trip to Spokane was canceled. We spent the afternoon checking out a park in the area that we hadn’t been to before. It did not disappoint and wasn’t too far from our home!

HD had his first post-diagnosis doctor appointment in June as well. SPD got the best of us that morning. I felt like dying. He was bouncing around the room like a frog all the while making monkey noises. I think one of my eye daggers hit him because he did simmer down for a hot minute but then he moved on to making himself burp. The doctor thought it was funny. I did not. However, on a more positive note, his A1C was down to 7.5. His A1C is an average of his blood sugar measurements for the last three months. In the hospital two months prior, it was off their measurable chart of 14.5, which correlated to roughly an average blood sugar of above 400. A 7.5 is roughly a blood sugar average of about 150, and that number still had one month of undiagnosed, super high blood sugar factored into it. His doctor wants his A1C between 6.5-7.5, I believe, so it appears we're managing well, for now.

On another note, I came home to this mess one day. I walked in and my jaw dropped. I don't know if they were looking for something in the burn drawer, but we had paper everywhere. Before I could even say a word, HD showed me the video he took of his eagle. Story has it that when all the scrap paper was out of the drawer, he thought it would be fun to make a snow angel, but instead of it making an angel, it actually made an eagle. He was over the moon about this.

I often feel like I'm winning when my kids get excited to go to the library. We hadn't been to this one before, but they instinctively knew where the tablets were. Imagine my surprise when it was time to go, and Ms. Gail was *so* upset there wasn't time for her to look at books. I wonder why?

One of the final projects of the year for second graders is learning about their community. In this project they created their own business to put on Main Street. JP made a store called Jim's Electronics. The whole thing was adorable, especially because he hire me to work there, but this page cracked me up. "The very best thing about my community is griffitti." I just love the BFF's and the skull and crossbones for his picture of graffiti!

On one of Ms. Gail's last days of school, I accompanied her and her class to the zoo for the morning. We had so much fun hanging out with her friends and their moms. We did get separated for a little bit, but it gave her and I the opportunity to spend some time together. during which she touched a snake! Right next to the snake exhibit was the cat house. Of all the animals she could admire at the zoo, she was stuck on watching the orange tabby cat sleep on a cushion. Go figure!

I also accompanied HD and his class to the Rice Rock Museum in Hillsboro, OR. Funny thing. I took that Friday off of work to go on the field trip because EVERYTHING sent home said Friday. I show up Friday, and his teacher looks at me and says, "Uh, what can I help you with?" I'm here for the field trip...? "Oh...that's on Tuesday" I was livid. I was scheduled to work Tuesday and had to find someone to cover for me, otherwise HD couldn't go on his trip, because the nurse wasn't available to go. Don't even get me started on how frustrating that was. On our lunch break at the museum, his friends witnessed him giving himself a dose of insulin and all their eyes got HUGE. I can imagine that none of them know what diabetes is, but I could tell HD felt like a "cool kid" in that moment.

How could I not share this one? JP still enjoys dressing up like "princess" Dorothy and HD's Cinderella dress is finally getting a bit short on him!

I'm going to finish this random post with two pictures of Ms. Gail. This first one was at her tea party. She's so stinking cute! This last one I took of her is after we arrived home from KINDERGARTEN orientation! My baby is growing up too fast!