Can someone turn down the heat on the oven???

Last Thursday Alex (the little boy Travis spends with his days with until the 23rd) got super sick. I had to pick Travis up at 10:30am that day.....what do you do with a 4 year old that is in perfect health?!?! Go to the pool for 3 hours-that is what you do. We packed a cooler with our lunch and made the day out of it. Thankfully Evan got me the IPhone for Christmas so I was connected with everything at work while I watched Travis splash around. He had a blast and probably thought it was Saturday!

Friday Alex was still sick so Evan and I split the day. I worked in the AM and Evan in the PM. This worked since Travis had his eye appointment in the afternoon. He got through that fine-his Rx hasn't changed which is good. His vision is 20/20 with his glasses on which is also good. :) They said he will need to wear his glasses until he is 8 or 9 years old. That is apparently when the "connections" in the brain are fully connected/formed. Since lazy eye is just a mis-wiring that should be the trick! He said in about a year or two the connection is fixed but the other years are like a retainer when you've had braces. Made sense to me when it was explained that way. After we got back from the eye doc we headed over to the pool for another 2 hours! Then we headed home to change clothes and it was off to Herndon Live. I already can't remember the band that played but the kids had fun playing and that is what matters!

Saturday Evan was off to Europe again. This time to Amsterdam-yes I know that sounds fishy but it's for work I swear! Travis and I went to the pool in the AM for a few hours and then it was off the our neighbor Sean's 6th birthday party. For those that aren't in the DC area...the past week or so has been ugly here weather wise. Saturday was about 98+ and no breeze to speak of. The kids at this party didn't care since they were playing on a mondo water slide pool thing but the adults were ROASTING! My legs were sweating! Hello? When does that happen-oh yeah-when it's one billion degrees outside! IT was gross. After this party we went home for about 2 minutes for Travis to put on another bathing suit and then we were off to Sam's birthday party! They had splash pools etc for the kids but we were late because of the 1st party and got there just in time for the pinata. The kids had fun with that and then it was time for cake! The funny thing is after cake Travis asked Suzi if he could play inside because he was hot. She said it was OK so we played in their basement for about 30 minutes to cool off. The rest of our evening was getting ready for bed and preparing for the next day ahead!

Sunday was more of the same for us-we spent 4 hours at the pool! 11-3pm we were there! Travis had a blast and made a few new friends at the same time. I also met a couple whose 2 kids go to Discovery Oaks (where Travis will be going in a few weeks) and they LOVE it there! They couldn't stop telling me everything they love! They said all of the classes are basically a grade above so the pre-K is basically a K and so forth. One of their sons is a year older than Travis. After that Mom and Dad came over since I had some HVAC questions for Dad. A few years ago he took some classes and is our family HVAC source-he saved us hundreds once on a repair! :) Basically I need a de-humidifier and a longer tube somewhere to catch some overflow. The issue is the people that lived in our house before us finished every square inch of the basement-so when something in the AC/hot water heater/storage space has a problem...it's all over the carpet in the basement bedroom. Fun! Afterwards we all went to Old Dominion Brewery for dinner-Mandy and Charlie met us there as well. Just an impromptu but a lot of fun! Travis ate all his dinner and stayed in his seat which is always a bonus! Rest of the evening was same old same old!

Travis' birthday extravaganza!

Travis and I spent Memorial Day with Mom and Dad. We had a great breakfast and started our day. Dad wanted to wash the Volvo and get Travis to help. You didn’t have to ask him twice! He had a great time using the sponge and the hose! Mandy came over and we all went over to GG’s to say hi. Travis was a good boy and even gave her an unsolicted hug! It’s always good to see her. Then we got to go to the toy store to pick out a treasure. It took awhile for him to pick something out and finally settled on a backpack containing rescue vehicles. No surprise he wore it out of the shop! When we got home Travis wanted to run around in the sprinkler. He had fun and Dad got to water his lawn! Always fun for Travis to hang out with my parents…..

The week was a crazy one for me at work. It was the end of our fiscal year and there is always a push to find one more deal. It usually is code for late nights etc but I couldn’t do too much of that since Evan was in Europe for the week. His parents came into town on Friday and picked Travis up at Alex’s since the very last day tends to be a long one. They were coming for Travis’ birthday party on Sunday anyway and made it up a little early to watch Travis on Friday night for me. Al and Jamey picked him up and grabbed a Happy Meal for him for dinner-he was happy! I got dinner for us on my way home from work around 8ish.

Saturday Travis and I got up around 7am and went to Dunkin Donuts to pick up donuts and coffee for everyone. Travis loves going to the donut store! Later we went to the “May-fair” at Travis’ new school. It was basically a party for current, perspective and new students. They had food, drinks, moon bounce, activites etc. It was a chance for Travis to see his new classroom and play in the HUGE yard/playground! The school backs up to Claude Moore Park so you can imagine the yard/playground. Travis had a lot of fun and it gave me the chance to turn in his paperwork and for me to pay my deposits. Jamey had fun watching Travis play on everything. We went to a nursery after that to pick out some flowers and then off to Home Depot to sit on the riding mowers/let Jamey pick out some more flowers. Then we got Al and went to Red Robin for lunch. Travis loves playing the racing game in the lobby there-we did that a lot before the meal arrived-lol. We picked up Evan at the airport in the afternoon-Travis was so glad (as was I) to have him home! Though he does go away again in about a week…. Evan and I went out to the Fox Chase Tavern after Travis went to bed to see Cal’s band play there. It was fun!

Sunday was the day of Travis’ party. He and I went to the pool in the AM for about an hour and then it was back home to start prepping for the 85 people coming over at 3pm! I had ordered a bunch of party trays and people were bringing a lot of stuff so it wasn’t too taxing food wise. Evan grilled for about an hour straight-but that was his choice-lol. Travis picked out a Nascar cake and Hot Wheels decorations so we were all about CARS this year! Paige brought over her moonbounce for the kids and my sisters got Travis a sandbox and a ton of sand toys. That was a hot spot as well for the kids. We had 2 pinatas but must have picked the strongest ones ever since all 30 kids got 2 whacks at it and it wasn’t even budging open. Finally Evan poked some holes in it and that helped-but when it finally opened the kids got whacked on the heads by the lollipops inside. There were a few tears but the candy made it all better-lol. All of the kids seemed to have a great time and judging by the amount of alcohol consumed so did the adults-lol. Thank goodness his birthday only comes once a year!

Firetrucks, BBQ's, the park and a VERY COLD POOL

Friday we went to Herndon Live for the 1st time all season. It was a reagae band that we have heard every year-though it did sound odd since the guitar player wasn’t there. Travis was really good and stayed with “our section” the whole time! This is a huge improvement over years past-normally he would dash off constantly. He and I walked to Dairy Queen and he ate his 1st Blizzard. He’s eaten the ice cream treats there but never an actual Blizzard-he loved it! We left around 8:30/9 and Travis fell asleep in the car on the way home.

Saturday AM we walked across the street to the start/finish line of the Cascades 10k. It was sponsored by the local firehouse and they bring a bunch of firetrucks, ambulances etc. Kelly and Travis had a great time checking them all out … sitting on them etc. They even got to try on the helmet! After we had walked around for about an hour we left and walked to a park. The kids had fun playing on the playground with minimal fighting and Elise and I just chatted. The weather was beautiful which made it even better…..

Evan left for Germany in the early afternoon for a week….Travis and I went to Will’s 4th birthday party at Little Gym. The kids had a blast though I did have to calm Travis down a few times. Activities like that are hard for him since he gets wound up and can’t wind down quickly. He was bumping into people on purpose and some kids aren’t as rough and tumble as he is so there were a few conversations. Travis did have a melt down when it was time for cake because he didn’t want to wear his shoes. Basically he was thtowing a fit because he wanted his flip flops….well they were at home. I told him if he wanted cake he had to put shoes on-eventually he got over it and put on his shoes (without socks but I could have cared less).

After Will’s party we went to Mike and Erinn’s annual cookout. Travis was so good playing with the other kids! Though he did have too many M&M’s since they were at “kid level”. LOL A lot of the kids were running around with chocolate all over their faces! Everyone got to meet Paul and Patsy’s twin girls-they are soooo cute! It’s always a good time to eat, drink and catch up with friends. I love the fact you can let the kids play at this age and check on them every once in a while-no more constant watching! At the end of the night Rock Band got broken out and Chris and Barry sang a few songs-it was quite amusing to watch. We left around 8:30 and Travis fell asleep in the car-no shock there.

Sunday we ran some errands and then went to the pool for the 1st time this year. Travis rode his scooter over there which was a nice change from having to pull the wagon last year. It was nice out but the water was VERY cold. Travis only lasted about 40 minutes before he was “done” because he was so cold. When we got home Travis wanted some hot chocolate! After we got home and cleaned up we got our stuff together to go over to Mom and Dad’s for a cookout. Travis fell asleep in the car and was NOT HAPPY when he woke up. Typical tantrum….I don’t want to be here….I want to go home……etc etc etc. Considering he was picking out things to take over there about 30 minutes earlier I knew this was complete crap and only because he fell asleep and was grumpy. Eventually he calmed down……then Tammy and Sean arrived and he was fine. They didn’t get to see Travis in all of his glory! We had a nice cookout-yummy food as always and after dinner Travis and I went to South Run park with Tammy and Sean. Travis had a great time playing on the playground! He actually crossed the monkey bars-I had no idea he could do that! Then we played with this huge frisbee-Travis loved to tell Sean to “come and get it” only to fall on top of it when Sean got close-it was funny to watch but I’m sure Sean was tired! When we got back we had cupcakes and then got ready for bed.

Action packed weekend! I will include Memorail Day in my post for next week! Whew!

Long wait at the doctor and lots of RockBand

Last week Travis went “down the town” with Alex and his mom Jen and his grandma. “Down the town” is what Alex calls DC and so Travis started calling it that too. They decided it would be a fun thing to take the boys to DC for the day. They went to the museum of Natural History and the highlight of the trip was the DINOSAURS! Travis thought they were soooo cool! He talked about them for days! Apparently Travis didn’t want to touch the bugs they had on display there-who can blame him? Bugs are gross-LOL. The boys were both good and got to pick out a toy on the way out. Travis (no shock here) picked out a safari Jeep and Alex picked out a peteradactyl (sp?). He was wiped out that night-more so than usual since they walked a lot etc. I’m glad they had a good time and they were BOTH good.

Friday my parents watched Travis since he had a pediatrician appointment in the AM and they wanted to take him to the Air and Space Museum. Dad brought him to the doctor at 10:45-his appt was at 11am. Dad went home to pick up Mom….. Evan and I sat with Travis in the waiting room for about 15-20 minutes. We were called back and sat in our room for an HOUR AND 15 MINUTES!!!!! It is really hard to keep an active 4 year old in the room for that long. Travis did remarkably well and only “broke free” once. He watched fire trucks videos on my phone for a lot of the time-gotta love You tube! The doctor finally came in and apologized for taking awhile. Travis lost a pound since starting his meds but we told her overall is seemed to really be helping. She upped his dose since he was tolerating it well and to help with the wear off late in the day. So far the new dose is going well. Travis was unhappy when we left since I guess he thought Mom and Dad were going home too-he cried for about an hour with my parents. Sorry Mom and Dad….. We had a nice dinner that night-Mom and Dad got carryout from Macaroni Grill-yummy! Mandy and Charlie came over for dinner as well…..after Travis went to bed we all played RockBand until around midnight or so.

Saturday was actually a lazy day for the most part. We were going to go to the air show but decided against it-too crowded and we weren’t sure if Travis was going to be happy with all the noise. I went to the mall with my sisters to help Tammy find a dress for a wedding she was going to that night. Otherwise it was laundry, playing, errands and dinner out. I can’t even remember what we did Saturday night!

Sunday it rained almost all day so we did the usual-grocery shopping, errands etc. The sun did try to come out in the late afternoon. We played outside some with Kelly. After Travis went to bed Cal and Wendy came over to play RockBand. After many bottles of wine we finally called it a night at around midnight-ish.

Packed weekend.....Happy Mother's Day!

The week was fairly quiet overall. On Thursday we took Travis to the library and to McDonald’s for dinner. He loves the library! He knows exactly which section has all of the truck/digger books and takes about 20 of those each time. We got him a Happy Meal at McDonald’s but he decided my chicken sandwich was much better and finished it for me! Lol

Friday Travis went to Grandma and Grandpa’s house for the day/night because we were going to The Cure concert. Travis had a blast playing with them and making an appearance at the toy store! The Cure show was AWESOME! They are almost 50 years old and sound exactly like their records still and played for over 3 hours! WOW! It was a great show and I still can’t believe how good they sound……you know how it happens sometimes….you go to a concert expecting the sound of the CD and get something that sounds like it was done by a group of kids-which is normally bad.

On Saturday we took a trip to Ballston to go to Rock N Romp. It was at an Arts and Crafts market outside in the middle of Ballston. Basically Rock N Romp is a concert for kids because the volume is lower, they have bubbles etc but it’s local bands you may or may not know with normal songs at a lower volume with some kids songs mixed in. We got there and Travis wanted to go to the Metro right then and there. We had told him we would take the train to Aunt Tammy’s after we had been at the rock show for a while. We wandered around the Arts/Crafts thing for a bit and bought a few things to save for bdays/christmas etc and listened to a few songs. Travis was excited about going to the train so we went to do that next. There was track work over the weekend so we waited about 15 minutes for a train but Travis didn’t seem to care. When we got off the train we noticed that there was some type of parade going on in Clarendon. There were fire trucks, policemen etc Travis thought it was pretty cool. We met Tammy and Sean down by her place and went to Hard Times for lunch…Travis once again decided my food was better than his. LOL He ate a bunch of my Vegan Chili Mac and I ate his hot dog. Then we headed to the toy store and took home a few treasures. The day ended up not so great when I rear-ended someone on the Beltway in the new car. What a bummer. Everyone was physically fine and her car was barely hurt but the Volvo has some cosmetic damage. Thankfully it had been stop and go style before that so we weren’t going very fast at all. Oh well-that is what insurance is for…right?

Sunday was Mother’s day…..always nice…… We went to breakfast at one of my favorite places-Silver Diner. I had my very favorite breakfast food-french toast and a health shake. Yummy! Travis had a massive meltdown in Target so that was fun. Not sure if something he ate triggered it or what. I ran some errands for returns etc in the afternoon while Evan and Travis played Legos. We went over to Mom and Dad’s for Mother’s day dinner which was yummy! Mandy, Charlie, Tammy and Sean were all there as well-good times! Dad picked up Famous Dave’s bbq with all of the fixings! We had fun exchanging gifts and also celebrating Charlie’s bday with gifts and cupcakes. Travis was a little more wound up than usual in the evening which makes us want to revisit his medicine possibly. Evan left to meet up with Chris to go to the Radiohead show. It took them over 2 hours to get there because of flooded roads etc. They had a good time regardless and were home around midnight.

A screw went where?!?!?!?!?!

Not much happened during the work week this past week. Going to work, Travis went to “camp” and did the normal stuff when we got home.

Friday he spent the day with my parents since Alex was sick and Jen didn’t want to deal with Travis and her sick kid (can’t blame her at all-lol). He was great for them all day! When I got there at around 5:30ish he came to me and said “Hi Mommy….I put a screw in my nose and it’s jammed way up there”. I looked around and asked if anyone knew why he was saying that….hoping that they would say he had done it but no big deal since it was still in his hand etc. Uh no….my dad went to where the screw was and saw there was one missing-missing because it was in Travis’ nose. He starts to sneeze like crazy and rub his nose. We get the flashlight, tweezers etc and attempt to get it out ourselves. This was unsuccessful. There was a point to where I wasn’t even sure if I saw it up there or if I just thought I did. So we took him to the “Healthplex” in Springfield-it’s part of INOVA-basically it’s an ER with doctors offices not a hospital attached to it. My parents have taken my grandmother there before so they knew where everyhting was-which was really nice. The doctor couldn’t see the screw in there and kept asking if we had seen him do it….the answer was always no. He also said “kids will say things like this when they aren’t true”…..well I know this can happen but there was no way in this case. There was one screw missing, he was sneezing, congested sicne one side was closed and kept saying it was “jammed in there really good”. Then they had me do this mouth to mouth type thing to him to try and blow it out the other side-everyone was laughing since I had to tell Travis a few times to put his toungue back in his mouth. That must have worked a little bit since then the doctor could see it. He pulled it out with these tweezer/magnet things and we were all done. Travis was a trooper through the whole thing and hopefully won’t be doing that ever again. Evan was at a concert (Crowded House) with his brother in case you are wondering where he was during all of this.

Saturday for the most part was errands, the mall and doing stuff outside. Glory, Amber and Chance came over after a birthday party they had gone to out in Ashburn. We had a great dinner on the grill and the kids played nicely. After they left and Travis went to bed we went in the basement….Evan played Grand Theft Auto 4 and I got caught up once again on my scrapbook! Though technically I am now behind since I took some pictures on Sunday.

Sunday I went to my investment club meeting while Evan and Travis chilled out at home. Later in the afternoon Travis and I went to the Reston Zoo while Evan did some work. Travis loves feeding the animals there….you are so close to them! Travis has been to the National Zoo a few times but this was a completely different experience for him. He really enjoyed it and next time I will be sure to get the large bucket of feed for the animals. There will be pics posted in the May album later this month. Sunday night we had Cal and Wendy come over and we had a great dinner on the grill. I love summer since we grill almost every day and the fresh veggies on the grill are one of my favorites! After dinner we watched one episode of Rescue Me and then it was off to the basement for a little Rock Band time! I think Wendy is officially addicted to the game-lol. We finally wrapped up our “gig” at around midnight. Here’s to next week!

"Camp", Aiden's Birthday and RockBand

Last week Travis was in his “trial week” at the Birchmeier’s house. He and Alex are only days apart in age and Jonathan is 7 years old. Apparently the week went pretty well since he is there his week also! That is a load off our minds in the short term since Jen can watch Travis until we can get him into one of the summer camp programs at the schools we are looking at. The school we really want to send him to-Village Green Day School-isn’t sure if they will have a spot for him in the fall class. I’m keeping my fingers crossed since it seems to be a great school, it’s very convenient and he can continue to go there when he’s in elementary school for after care. We hope to have some more information on whether he can get into the school soon……

On Friday night we went down to Clarendon to see a band at some Irish bar. Cal and Wendy went with us and Tammy met up with us down there. One of the guys in the band used to be in one of Cal’s band. We had a few drinks and listened to the first set but had to go so we could relieve Taylor. After we got back we played RockBand until 2am! For the most part I played guitar, Wendy played bass and Cal/Evan switched off between drums and singing. We got pretty good by the end of the night-it was a lot of fun!

Saturday we went to Aiden’s 4th birthday party-it was at their house up in Boyds Maryland. For those that don’t know…as the crow flies we are maybe 5 miles apart but there isn’t a road going over the river. So we drive in basically a complete circle I95/I270 etc and it takes about 45 minutes. Crazy when you see the route drawn out on a map. :) Paige’s parents had come up from SC, a few kids from Aiden’s daycare, his cousin Katie and Uncle Sean-it was nice seeing them. They had a moonbounce set up and the kids like bouncing in it but it was really hot on Saturday and the kids kept gravitating over to the sandbox! Probably because the fabric on the moonbounce was getting warm and the sand in the sandbox was nice and cool. I got a few pics in the moonbounce but a ton in the sandbox-lol. The hamburgers and hot dogs were a hit though Paige and I had to force feed our sandbox kids….they didn’t want to leave their “construction site”. Paige had made a super cool and very yummy robot cake-you must see the pictures of that in the April album linked to the right. What’s funny is that most of the kids only ate the ice cream and not the cake-so the adults so extra cake! We left after Travis helped open some presents.

Saturday night Evan went with Cal and Wendy to a Beatles cover band while Travis and I had a nice dinner out. He chose Logan’s-it is one of his favorite places to go. We had a good dinner and he was wiped out by about 7pm from the long day etc. He went to bed and then I scrapped until Evan, Cal and Wendy came back around 11:30ish to play more RockBand until 2am again! :)

Sunday was kinda a lazy day. Evan went over to my parents house to help dad with the gutters but Travis didn’t want to go so we stayed home. Otherwise the day was spent hanging around the house, laundry, playing outside etc.

Daycare, meds and the Caymans

This week we had to scramble to get daycare for Travis. My parents watched him Monday and Tuesday and Evan’s parents watched him during the day Wednesday through Friday. They were coming up this way anyway for a wedding in New York so it worked out. Travis didn’t seem to mind the change in his schedule since his grandparents love to spoil him rotten…a bunch of new toys, trips to Chuck E Cheese and the Air and Space! What a rough life! :)

I left on Thursday morning for my girls trip to the Cayman Islands. It was Erinn, Suze, Amy, Virginia and I. We had a blast! We stayed in a 2 bed/2 bath condo on the beach that had 2 pools, 2 hottubs and a swim up bar. There was a lot of drinking and laying the sun of course. We had a killer Italian meal on Thursday night-probably the best I have ever had! Friday we went shopping in the AM for souveniers followed by margartitas astarting at 10:30am. We were pretty buzzed when we walked back to go lay/pass out on the beach. Friday night we went to Senor Frogs-this is where we spent a few hours in the Bahamas as well. There was virtually no one there so the staff gave us copious amounts of shots etc for free! We were all a little drunk when we left there and only paid $28 each and that included what we ate! Saturday morning we took a trip to Stingray city on a boat-Amy didn’t make it since she felt too sick/still drunk from the night before. Dexter had a neat boat (in the pics) and it was a nice ride out to the sand bar. When we got there I almost chickened out….the stingrays were HUGE! It was a really great experience but I did scream every time one touched me from behind…..the crocodile hunter was on my mind! I would recommend doing this if you ever get the chance. The rest of the day was spent at the pool, the swim up bar and dinner. We didn’t want to leave on Sunday but we had a blast and that is what counts. :)

On Saturday Evan and Travis went to Katherine’s birthday party at Great Country Farms. Apparently the kids had a blast on the moon bounce, cow train etc. Travis was a good boy-maybe the meds are working? It was day #1 on them so Evan wasn’t sure what to expect. That night Evan and Travis went over to George’s house. The boys played poker while the kids ran around. I heard everyone had fun though and that is what counts!

I got back on Sunday and I am still unpacking-I will get around to uploading pics eventially as well. Sorry for the delayed post as well…..

Last week was..........AWFUL

Last week was a very challenging one in our house. Travis was "expelled" from daycare-he had acted out at school again and they were done with trying to accommodate him. This caused a lot of problems since we were scurrying to find ways to deal with it. I watched him Thursday and Evan watched him on Friday.

Travis was diagnosed on Thursday afternoon with AD/HD. We have thought for awhile that he may have it....he's very impulsive, hyperactive and always on the go. Right now we are working to figure out what course of treatment we are doing. It's nice to know we weren't imagining things but hard to face the diagnosis.

Saturday we went to soccer for about 15 minutes-that was about all Travis could handle. The doctor said things like that are pretty much the worst for him-too hard to concentrate and not get wound up. After we left we had breakfast at Chick Fil A and then went to Best Buy. Travis loves playing the video games when we are there! :) Saturday evening Paige, Glory and Jenni came over with kids and husbands in tow. The kids had a BLAST running around the house and playing together. It's nice they are now almost all at the age where they play nicely together with minimal fighting. Pictures to come soon.

Sunday was just playing outside, errands and hanging around the house! Next week has to be better! Oh it will be for me.....Caymans on Thursday! :)

I wrote this on Monday and just getting around to publishing it today.....

Hmmm…last week….the only thing I can really remember at this point was the 3 incident reports I had to sign for Travis. We’re having some issues with him being aggressive at school basically. Things were interesting last week at school to say the least. We are working on it with him but we may be moving him to another school-a place with more of an academic vs. daycare feel..

Friday night we went to dinner with Cal and Wendy at Café Panache. My parents had Travis for the night so it was good to have an adult evening. We had a great dinner. Great wine and ended up at a karaoke bar! Evan and I sang “love shack” and Cal sang “oh darlin”. Cal sings in a band that tours etc so needless to say he sounded way better than we did. Then we went home and christened Cal into Guitar Hero. He seemed to enjoy it!

Saturday was normal stuff…errands etc. Though Travis and I did so and get Evan his bday present (2 months early). We got him “Rockband” for Xbox 360 and American Idol karaoke for Wii. He was excited and spent the rest of the day putting it together and playing with it.

Sunday we had a nice family day-lunch at the mall and errands etc. Travis was really good the whole time we were out. Sometimes he can be a “bear” in public.