I was going to check in and post before we left on vacation, but I never got a chance too. I was too busy trying to get caught up on everything before we left. So now I have to really get caught up here! This will take forever. Bear with me. I will do what I can to not make it a novel. Don't count on that though, okay?
Last time I stopped in here it was June 15th. We are not at July 5th! We were getting ready to head to Ryan's birthday party on Saturday the 16th. God that feels like it was forever ago. The five of us went to Ayi Meri and Uncle Joe's little guys birthday party. The weather was great. We sat around and ate burgers and dogs and just enjoyed the sunshine. The kids all had a blast and really played very well together. It was nice to just sit back and chat with friends and spend the day doing virtually nothing.
Sunday was Father's Day. We didn't do anything special for it. My nurse came by to change my bandage that day as the next day she was going to be too busy. Bill worked for the fire department from 6:00 pm -10:00 pm that night. Other than that, we puttered around the house and did some cleaning and organizing.
I had an appointment on Monday, but I cancelled it. So we ended up staying home for the day and did some things around the house. We have been trying to organize one of our garages. It is still not done yet. We have another one to go after this one is done. It was nice to be home for the day. I was feeling pretty good about being caught up on things.
On Tuesday, I met my sweet friend Christine at the British Beer Company for lunch. We wanted to get together to plan our getaway for the following week. After lunch I came home and did some things around the house. Bill worked from 6:00 pm - 10:00 pm. He was also supposed to go to the Fire Department, but that was cancelled.
Ping had an unbelievable day on Wednesday the 20th. I signed her up for a bubbles class through the recreation department in town. She attended that from 10:00 am - 12:00 pm. Then she had lunch there and then took another fun class on recycled art from 1:00 pm - 3:00 pm. She had a blast. The two younger ones napped, but had a great day playing in the house when they were awake. It was so hot out that day. That night we took them to the gazebo where we watched a kids show and kicked off the summer reading program. It was a lot of fun. Then it was home and bed time.
On Thursday, I had lunch with my friend Mindy at Not Your Average Joe's. It was great to see her as it's been a year or so since we have had some time to visit. She is super busy selling her house. Not sure when we will see her next. She is moving back this way though. Westminster is where she is moving too. She just needs to find a home. Lunch flew as it always does. I then ran a few errands and headed home. Bill was on call that night for the Fire Department from 6:00 pm - 10:00 pm.
On Friday, Meri, me and the kids all went to the Larz Anderson Car Museaum. It was super hot out. The museum was pretty boring, but the kids enjoyed it. It was supposed to be a special kids event day. All they meant by that is that they would have some coloring pages of cars. Very lame, but nice to spend time with the kids and Meri and her family. We then fed the kids in the car as they were starving and then stopped at a restaurant for lunch for us. That was fine, but full of activity from the kiddos! Bill was on call again from 6:00 - 10:00 pm, so we didn't go anywhere.
On Saturday we stayed home. We had a birthday party to attend, but I didn't feel very well at all. My stomach was giving me a really hard time. It had been since the afternoon before. So we laid low. We did a few things that needed to be done around the house. Do not ask me why we have so many projects in this house. It's never ending. I was sad to miss my friends daughter's birthday. The weather was so nice too!
On Sunday, we decided to venture out to what we thought was a free fair put on by the Masons. This was in Charlton. We thought we would check it out. It was gorgeous out and we wanted some fresh air. So we piled in the car and headed to Charlton where we parked and took a bus to the fair. What an absolute joke. Nothing was free. Nothing. Not the food as it had been before, not the rides, nothing. We were so disappointed and badly prepared. To ride one ride for the three it was $10. I said to Bill "let's get the heck out of here." We did have the kids do a craft and get a balloon. They were bummed out about the rides and who can blame them. However, my kids adore kettle corn, so all was right with the world when we grabbed a big bag and headed for the shuttle! We then did a few errands on the way home. Once home, we were done for the day!
On Monday, I took the kids alone to see their dad. I took Ping because she wanted to come as well. We left Daddy home to do some things. We visited for two or so hours and then we headed home. Ping did a craft once we were home and Manny and Yamira napped. They were exhausted. Shayla and I then went to the dentist for 4:00 pm. We both had cleanings. Then it was home for dinner, books and bed.
On Tuesday, we all piled into the car to do errands and to take Manny and Yamira to their teeth cleaning appointment at noon. We then headed home to pack for our trip to NH the next day. The kids napped, Bill did some more errands and then we packed. It's hard to pack with three helpers! Ping absolutely has to help pack the package. She loves it. So I pull out their clothes, have them help carry them to our room and then have Bill and Ping put them in the suitcases. We then gave the kids dinner, read a few books and put them to bed.
On Wednesday we headed to NH. We left around noon. We got there around 4:00 pm or so. We immediately saw Christine and Mason and then checked in to our room. We immediately started to unpack the car as we always do. Bill discovered he left my TPN in the garage. UGH!!!!! Needless to say, you can leave anything at home because you can always buy yourself what you are missing. Forgot your toothbrush? No problem. Socks, get them at the local store. You can't skip the TPN though. It is made specifically for my body chemistry and you can't skip having it nightly. So after explaining to Christine, we decided we would go to dinner and then head back to the place we were staying at. Christine and Mason would stay in our room with the kids. She would watch TV and read while the kids slept and Bill and I would head all the way back to our house and then turn around and head back. What a ride. We didn't get back to the inn till 3:30 am! I went with Bill to help keep him company, but also so I could get on TPN the minute I got home. I have to be on it for 12 hours. I didn't want to wait an additional 3.5 hours for him to return before getting on it as we had plans the next day. Once home, we crawled into bed as we were really pretty tired!
We got up around 9:00 am or so on Thursday and got ourselves ready and headed off to Storyland. Nine years ago today, Bill and I got married. Whoever thought that nine years later, we would be at Storyland with three kids! The weather was perfect. It wasn't too hot, so it was a nice day to walk around. The kids had a blast. I was shocked to find out they close at 5:00 pm at night. I think that is a bit early for a park. I know it's for small kids, but some people don't want to get to the park the minute it opens. Anyway, we went on every ride. We didn't get to see any shows, but we were all fine with that. After Storyland, we headed out for dinner. Last night we ate at Horsefeathers in North Conway. This night we ate at The Scarecrow. The food was great. We ate fairly quickly because we had to get the kids back to the hotel. Christine was watching them this evening so Bill and I could go on a Moose Tour that I had tickets for. We got the kids ready for bed, set out a book, thanked Christine and hightailed it to the meeting spot for our tour. That was wild. The guy that owns the tour company was a bit odd. He didn't really believe I had tickets for the tour. He couldn't remember ever having done a gift certificate, so he was very skeptical of what I had in my hand. That really angered me as the gift certificate logo matched the logo on his bus perfectly. Clearly he had made this gift certificate. So he finally let us get on. The first thing he did was put on a moose video. That was interesting. Then we stopped at a store to use the bathrooms there. A nice set up between him and a friend for sure. We stayed there for 15 or so minutes and then headed down the street to look for moose. So we drive down a street for 5 or so miles, we turn around and drive back down the other way for the full 5 miles. We then turn around and do it again and again and again!!!! Hell I could have run the moose tour. Too funny. Anyway, we had a nice time and saw three moose and two babies. So cute. We didn't see them that much as they moved pretty quickly when we pulled over. The owner then said we were going to get our groove on for a song and he turned on these disco lights in the van. It was so bizarre, but funny. We then listened to some awful songs about moose, sung by what sounded like a moose. One of the songs was the "Mooseketeers!" Oy vey! We then headed back to our meeting spot. Before we got to our spot though, we saw a deer and also a black beer. The beer was eating out of a grease trap in the back of a restaurant. It was really cool to see. We got back around 11:30 pm and headed back to the inn. Mason stayed sleeping. Christine headed to her place and I sat and read a little. Bill watched a little bit of a race on TV. He then went to bed and I passed out on the couch. Shocking!
On Friday, we got up and headed straight out to Santa's Village. It ended up being a gorgeous day. When I first woke up, it was pouring. It cleared up fast though. So we piled into the truck and headed off for a day of fun. We had a great time. The kids loved it and were fairly well behaved despite no naps and late bed times. We left at 6:00 pm when the park closed. We then stopped at a restaurant called the Red Fox. I actually was not a fan of the place, the food or the waitress. We then headed back to the homestead so we could get the kids to bed as it was late. I did a little more reading of my book and Bill watched a little bit of TV. Ping slept up in Mason and Christine's room. First time she has ever slept away from us. She had a great time.
On Saturday, we got up and headed to Attitash. Bill took Mason on the mountain coaster and I went with Ping. Christine watched Manny and Yamira. It was expensive for one ride. I felt bad that we only took the older ones, so I promised Manny and Yamira a special treat. They were not thrilled, but did pretty well with the news. Ping and Mason they climbed a rock wall and then they jumped on a trampoline and did a water slide. Ping didn't have a bathing suit as we didn't expect to be there for more than the coaster, but for the same price, they could do a few more things. So we let them. We then headed out to lunch at Mary Kelly's I think it was. An Irish pub. We then headed to a few shops where I picked up a little special something for the younger ones. They were thrilled. We then went back to the inn and let the kids swim for a few hours. That was great as they all love to swim like little fishes! We then got ready and headed out to dinner at the Muddy Moose. Then it was time to head back to the inn for bed as it was late.
On Sunday, we let the kids swim for an hour. Bill took them and I packed. We then checked out, kissed Mason and Christine goodbye and headed out to stop at a few shops and then we headed home. Once home we had the dreaded task of unpacking, opening mail, checking emails, listening to messages, cleaning and all that jazz. I hate all that stuff. We are gone for a few days and come back to things that seem like they have been ignored for a full month!!!! We had a great time though and so it was worth it.
On Monday, I got up early and headed into Boston for a pre-surgery appointment. I was there for a few hours. I then headed home. I spent the rest of the day cleaning the house and organizing things. Like I said, I came home to a bunch of things that needed to be done. Especially since I have surgery this coming Monday. So I am sort of sandwiched between the two weekends to get some things accomplished. I got some stuff done, but not as much as I wanted too. Before I realized it, it was dinner, book time and bed for the kiddos.
On Tuesday, Bill worked a full day at the Fire Department. I took the kids to the library to fill out our chances for the books they read. We then went to the post office and CVS before heading to Clinton for our hair cuts. We all got our hair cut and then we headed home for dinner. The kids napped in the afternoon as they were desperately needed. Ping actually did some craft projects and also did some reading. Bill got home slightly after 6:00 pm and I already head the kids eating dinner. We were leaving at 8:00 pm to head to Rutland for the fireworks. We met Ayi Meri and Uncle Joe halfway there and followed them. We both parked and then met up to sit together. The kids had a great time. We all had fun, but getting out of Rutland was an absolute nightmare. We didn't get home till shortly after 11:00 pm which is ridiculous. We sat in one spot for an hour. I don't know why things were not moving at all, but we were both growing tired of the wait and we are really patient in traffic usually. The kids were overtired though and we were both really hungry.
Wednesday was the Forth Of July. We got up and packed the truck and headed to Connecticut to visit our friend Stephanie, her daughter Lexi and her new boyfriend Mark. The kids had a blast on her slip and slide. Lex was across the street at a friends house swimming. Bill played on his iPhone and Stephanie and I caught up on the latest stuff that we have going on in our lives. Mark joined us for dinner. We had a very nice and relaxed time. We then headed home. We got home around 11:00 pm and put the kids right to bed. They were exhausted. I then watched a movie from Netflix.
Today was a busy day, but I was home all day long. Bill went out and did some errands. I stayed home and paid all of our bills, filled out a bunch of paperwork for vacation bible school, school stuff for Manny and a few other things. I had a lot of paperwork. Fed the kids lunch, had the younger two nap, Ping did some painting and I did a lot of cleaning. Don't want to leave the house a mess when I go in for surgery. It wasn't a mess anyway, but I felt like it was. I feel so overwhelmed with projects right now. I was really shaky today too and I hate that. Not sure if it is from being overwhelmed or low blood pressure. Surgery is looming too. Usually I am really good about surgery, but at this point I am not. I feel like I have had one bad surgery and then two needless surgeries. Now this one is supposed to fix me, but there is no guarantee. Then on top of all that, I am not sure how long it will take to recover. Will it fix all my stomach issues? Will I be able to eat again? How about ice cream? Can I have ice cream without keeling over in pain? I have eaten quite well the last few days. My weight is excellent right now. I just don't want to disturb a good thing. However, if I don't get fixed, I will always be bypassing my small intestine and I will never be able to take in any vitamins and minerals. What is worse is that my surgeon is away and I can't even speak with him. So frustrating. I would feel better if I could talk to him. He is in Israel right now though. He is due back on Monday. Can you say jet lag???? All I know is that tomorrow is Friday and I don't know what to do at this point. Do I reverse or do I see if I can get off of TPN first and see how I do? So frustrating. Not sure which was to turn. I better figure it out by tomorrow, right?
Okay, time to post a few photos and head to bed. Got to get up early to take Yamira to therapy and we have a few errands to run.
Mama Out!!!!!!
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| Ryan's Birthday party |
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| Toyota sold to me |
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| Larz Anderson |
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| Masons Fair |
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| Mother Hubbard |
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| Nice ride |
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| Duke |
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| Bear |
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| Sleigh ride |
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| Saco River |
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| Fireworks |
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| Slipping and sliding |
