Peyton missed a week and a half of school recently. She spiked a fever almost two Sundays ago and couldn't shake it by week's end. On day 5, I took her to the doctor and they told me that she had a bad cold virus but to come back if the fever hadn't broken by Day 7. Well, after thinking she was getting better on Day 8 when she awoke with no fever, I was proven wrong by mid afternoon when her fever returned. I scheduled an appointment once again for the doctor who quickly diagnosed her with Walking Pneumonia. Walking Pneumonia is a less severe form of pneumonia where they still have a fever and a wicked cough but are somewhat functional despite being tired. So finally we got some antibiotics that knocked out her fever and put her on the mend but it wasn't until after she missed a week and a half of school. A WEEK and A HALF!! I don't think any of my kids have missed that much school ever!
At any rate, she's on the mend and back to her regular school activities and sports. During this time, the only thing she really had to do was 2 practices and a competition for cheerleading. She did well despite not feeling great. I give her a lot of credit for toughing it out and not letting down her squad considering she was right in the front for a stunt group and reorganizing last minute would have been very hard and hey, she was functional with a bit of ibuprofen!
But, I'm glad she's back to school now and so is Hailey. She put a serious crimp in our morning schedule as we didn't go out much and had to cancel a lot of appointments due to her being ill. I'm just glad I wasn't working though as I remember Tom and I having to basically negotiate who had to stay home for a sick kid. I couldn't imagine doing that for a week and a half. Anyway, I'm glad she's feeling more like her old self these days - sticking to me like glue and ready to tease her sister at a moment's notice!
It’s been harder to get up to Michigan once our fall sports schedules were in full swing but we’ve managed to squeeze in a few 24 hour periods.
We start with a little work - cleaning the inside and outside of the beach house - and then it’s time for a little fun. The first weekend back we went apple picking and then sampled the apple cider and donuts while the next weekend we decided to attempt the corn maze, which proved to be challenging but was a lot of fun.
Still lots more to do in Michigan now that the weather has turned cooler including visiting the many great wineries and breweries. We also want to check out downtown Grand Rapids and maybe take a trip to the University of Michigan one day too. Skiing is also on our list as there’s a resort not far from the beach house that we plan to try out this winter.
But for now, we are enjoying the last few days of fall and getting our time in up there.
Phew! What a weekend that kicked off with Hailey turning 6 on Friday. We
hosted her first friend birthday party with 21 Kindergarteners on
Friday morning. First, we sugared them up with Stan’s Donuts. Hailey enjoyed hanging with all of her new friends
and having them sing Happy Birthday to her but what she was really
excited for was the second part of her party which included taking them
all to Build a Bear. So off we went - all 21 of us in the rain. Luckily, Build a Bear was close so we didn't get too wet!
They played games, sang Happy Birthday again, got silly and then each picked out a bear and an outfit to make and take home. Hailey was over the moon and made me promise to take her back that night so she could build another bear (or lion).
Off she went to PM Kindergarten to meet up with her friends again and be the star for the day. She got a birthday sticker and the class then sang again to her. But what she couldn't wait to do was get home and open all of her presents!
We went to dinner to celebrate that evening and then of course trudged back to Build a Bear in the cold so she could make a young Simba lion. She purchased tshirts and shark underwear and pajamas for her bears/lions too. We were all exhausted by this time...so we needed to retire for the night especially with two early soccer games the next morning.
Saturday we had two soccer games for Peyton and Hailey at 8am and 9am. It never happens this way but somehow they were on the field right next to each other which made it easy to go from one to the next. Hailey brought the snack for her birthday (orange gatorade for Halloween and animal crackers because she loves lions!). Peyton's team lost and Hailey's team won. We then headed to Michigan for the rest of the day to complete a fall corn maze and have dinner. Back early on Sunday for flag football for Austen where his team wins 12-0 with Austen scoring all the points (one on another pick 6 - that kid loves defense). Peyton and her cheerleading squad had another game to cheer at and did a great job of learning their routine for competition next weekend. They performed stunts that they had been practicing at this game and it was amazing to see Peyton lift up her flyer for a cheer. She did great!
We capped off the weekend with three other birthday parties that weren't for us - two Hailey went to and one Austen did before retiring ourselves for the night. Busy weekend that kept us on our toes but without all the craziness that kids bring, I'm convinced life would be a lot less fun (at least after the first weekend!).
Hailey playing a game at Build a Bear
Silly face!
Friends!
Dinosaur presents!
All I wanted was Lion King stuff though
Corn Maze fun
Another birthday party with a friend
Look at that base - P is center group on left holding her flyer
Austen at Top Golf with friends for a birthday party
I'm a little behind with my fall season sports posts and I have a lot of pictures and video so I'm going to recap here.
First, Austen - He just finished his cross country season placing 5th
out of more than 160 7th graders with a time of 9 minutes and 39
seconds for 1.5 miles. What's even cooler though was that his 7th grade
team placed first in their conference for the first time ever. They have
a strong team with 4 of the top 7 runners. We are very proud of him as
last year he placed 28th. Hard work pays off as he trained more this
summer for soccer and cross country. He's also playing travel soccer and
flag football where just today he had two interceptions and a pick 6.
Check him out in action.
Austen's direct kick for a goal from way far out
Austen's cross country awards ceremony
In orange socks playing defense on the football field
Second, Peyton - She
continues to play rec soccer. It's the first year I am not coaching her
team and it is hard to sit by and watch coaches who don't know the rules
and don't arrive before game time for warm ups. But I do sit because
I've coached her for 5 years and it's time to move on. Anyway, she said
she pulled a muscle in warm ups which led her to play goalie the first
half and she had some incredible saves and really distributed the ball
well from the back. She is also enjoying cheerleading and taking it
really seriously and wants to get better. Jury is still out if this is
something she'll follow through with but we shall see.
Peyton performing "Hot to Go"
Third,
Hailey - I'm the assistant coach for Hailey's U6 rec soccer team which
has been a lot of fun. This year she gets to play with other
kindergartners instead of having to play an age group up. She's got
potential as she has a big foot just like her big brother but she
clearly is no Austen although I'm not sure there are many at that age
like him. She played some good defense this weekend but she told me
she's going to play football next year instead of soccer so we'll see!
She has started taking gymnastics again but at a different gym and is
now constantly doing back bends and back walkovers off of my couch. Jury
is still out on what she's going to pursue for sports but she's still
young so letting her try everything is important too although she did
give me a big fat no when asked if she wanted to try basketball!
So
between the three, our weeks are busy but I can't imagine what else I'd
be doing if I wasn't watching my kids at some sport. Busy and active is
good for the heart, the lungs and the mind!
