In Which We See Mountains

The Collar hasn't been very far west, at all. The farthest west he's ever been is Lincoln, Nebraska, for a conference. I, on the other hand, have been to Los Angeles, Seattle, Montana, Colorado, and a bunch of other western states. I still think of the Rockies as mountains, and the Smokies as used-to-bes.The Collar has finally seen mountains. I took some pictures out of the airplane window so I could show Game Boy and the Wiz mountains with lots of snow on them.Here's a picture of 2nd street in Walla Walla. If you look down the street, that fuzzy thing at the end is the Blue Mountains, which also still have snow.

Pretty Posies

We leave early, early tomorrow morning. (Like 4:15 am early.) I thought I'd leave you some pictures of the flowers that are blooming around here. Our pear tree is pretty much finished, and the apple trees haven't bloomed yet. But right now we have
tulips
violetsforsythia
and dandelions (I don't care, they are cheerful).

It is supposed to be cool while we're gone, but not too cold. Our apple trees should be blooming when we get back.

Toledo

Yes, we went to Toledo for part of the boys' spring break. Yes, we are aware that it is colder there than it is here. We went up for The Collar's grandfather's induction into the Medical Missionary Hall of Fame at the University of Toledo.

Being one of our trips, things didn't quite go as planned. It rained the whole way up. I forgot the kit for The Wiz's IG. I didn't forget the IGg or the pump, but the needles and the subq tubing, yep, they stayed at home.

The hotel had an indoor pool, so the boys were able to swim. (My pictures didn't really come out.) Or, at least they swam the first night. They swam with LOTS of cousins. Game Boy has four about the same age, and The Wiz has two. But his special cousin is a girl, and they have the same letters in their name! They are both 7! Wow! (They told me a few other reasons that they are best cousins, but I can't remember them right now.)

Game Boy got really sick the next day. He often does when we travel to some place new. He and I stayed in the room. I knitted and played Guild Wars (well, there was free wireless, so why not. I can't watch kid TV all day.) and nagged Game Boy to drink more.

The Collar and The Wiz went swimming again. Twice. The Collar was tired. Then they went to an Indian restaurant with the family.

The Wiz decided he was too tired to go to the actual induction ceremony, so he stayed in with Game Boy and me. This turned out to be a good thing, as he then promptly broke out in hives. What's scary is that I am so used to it that I just broke out the benedryl and put him in his pajamas. They watched the old movie version of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and had a short discussion about which one is better. Then they fell asleep. I watched the movie.

Game Boy started getting better finally this morning. Poor kid. He wasn't even feeling well enough to get out and look at the Gemini capsule mockup at the Neil Armstrong Air and Space Museum in Wapakoneta, OH. (We stopped there for lunch.) We didn't go into the museum, but we did see the outside displays.
Now we're home. The Wiz has had his IG. Game Boy is feeling better. I planted cabbage. School starts for the boys tomorrow. The Collar and I need to get ready for our trip out to WA state.

GI and the Zoo

One of the things we try to do is have the Wiz's specialist appointments during school breaks. He misses so much school as it is, that it's pretty important to do.

Yesterday was the GI. In two weeks, it will be the Hem. His Hem is partially retired, so we have to go when he's there, which means we'll be missing some school. Oh well. (The Wiz will never have perfect attendance. Frankly, no child should. Too many parents send their kids to school sick.)

The Wiz has grown some. He's up to 43.5 pounds and is now 46 inches tall (10th percentile for weight, 25th percentile for height). He's maintaining his gain 5 pounds a year growth rate. His PI is still there, but he hasn't grown enough to need to change his enzyme dose. So, all is well. Dr. GI wants to see him in July. We rarely get a 6 month break from the GI. Oh well.

Note to self. Even if I want Game Boy to see some of the not-fun parts of The Wiz's doctors' appointments, it's not worth it to have the two of them messing around with each other. Oh my goodness are they annoying in closed spaces.

As per our tradition, we then drove the three blocks to the zoo. It's good to have fun after these things. Since we can never make it back for school anyway, we just head over there. It's educational, right?The peacocks are definitely ready for babies.The red pandas were active.The lions did their lion thing.
The polar bear was swimming.The rhino statues stayed in their spot by the front.

We had a good time, then we came back home. There are no adventures planned for today, but we'll have some this weekend.

Opening Day!

Game Boy went up to BB Fanatics for Sunday night so he could go to the opening day parade with them. The Wiz had a doctor's appointment Monday morning, so he, the Collar, and I couldn't go up then. (I know, The Wiz having a doctor's appointment comes as SUCH a surprise to all of you! He's fine.) We were going to be late, but it was opening day, so who cares?

It rained. It rained. Oh, my goodness, did it rain!

We're driving up to Cincinnati, and were certain the game would be canceled. We finally made it up there, and learned the game wasn't going to start until 3:00. Even parking at Newport-on-the-Levy and walking across the bridge, we managed to make it to the game, and not miss any of it. As you can see, the boys had a great time.The Wiz really liked his flags. They were a freebie we were given when we walked in the stadium.
The game was fun, even though they lost. Now the boys can say they've gone to 2 opening day games. I've only been to one!