Sydney's 5th Birthday

Sydney's birthday was interesting this year!  With having no livable house, it made things for a challenge.  Sydney's party was on here actual birthday.  Usually we don't do that but it worked out this year.  Austin had football in the morning.  Then we had her birthday in the evening at Playground World.  That is a great place to have a birthday party.  The kids all ran around and had a great time.  Sydney loves to put icing on her face when eating her cupcake.  It is the Sydney think.  Brian had the virtual reality camera there too.  Bringing all the presents home was even more of a challenge.  Part of me wanted to hide them until our house was done but I didn't.  We let her open them all.  Then they went into bags to be packed up until our house was done.  I feel bad but that is how it worked out.  She will love it all when everything is done!  Next up, start of school! 

Myrtle Beach and Solar Eclipse

We finally went to the zoo on the correct Cavs night.  It was fun!  Sydney got her face painted like a tiger. It was cute.  Austin enjoyed the train.  Austin got some dippin dots. Sydney enjoyed mint chocolate chip ice cream.  They got to feed the giraffes.  It was a great night!

With the solar eclipse being August 21^st near Myrtle Beach we decided to vacation there before the eclipse.   Our house is a disaster so I thought I would go early so the kids had plenty of time to play with their cousins and enjoy the beach and pool.  I drove down with the kids on Tuesday.  It took me 12 hours.  It was just what I expected.  The kids did great! 

Once we got there, they went straight into the pool.  They loved the pool.  It was the best for them. On Wednesday, we swam in the pool then Melissa and I took all the kids down to the beach.  They played in the sand and waves.  It was fun.  Then Wednesday night we went to Barefoot Landing and the kids did a Mirror Maze that was a disaster.  Sydney hit her face pretty hard into a mirror.  Then it went dark and everyone was scared. It was ridiculously expensive and not fun!  The kids rode some rides and jumped on the trampoline.  That was great for them. 

On Thursday, I went to Melissa’s house to watch the kids in the morning.  We played there.  The kids enjoyed the roller coaster inside.  Then we went back to Nana’s to swim for a bit.  Storms came in.  We didn’t know what to do with the kids.  We went to the upside down house but it was too crowded.  We went to Dave and Buster’s.  It was so much fun for the kids!  Graham stayed home with Nana but the rest of us had a great evening.  Austin, Sydney, and Camden loved playing all the video games.  We had dinner there and kids got to pick out a prize at the end.  Sydney got a unicorn and Austin got a football.  They were very happy. 

On Friday, Brian flew in.  Melissa got him at the airport.  We went to the Escape Room which was so fun.  I was terrible at it but Melissa and Brian did great!  Then we went for drinks afterwards and then to dinner at the Club.  

On Saturday, we went to the beach and pool for the day.  It was good until Melissa got stung by a jellyfish.  Then we did not want to be in the water.  We ended up in the pool by the beach.  Sydney was much happier with that too.   We even got milkshakes and lunch there.   Austin and Sydney really love the pools there. 

That night we went to Go Kart place.  It was expensive and Austin started with a big race track that he could not even see over the steering wheel because it’s just 48 inches.  It was a disaster.  He got hurt because he ran right into the wall.  It scared him and probably hurt some too.   We should not have let him ride it himself.   After he calmed down the kids rode littler rides.  We played putt putt and that was fun for them.  They also did the rock climbing wall and jumping trampoline.  They learned to flip on the trampoline for the first time.  They were both very excited. 

On Sunday, we went over to Melissa’s and the kids played out their outside blow up waterslide.  Then we took Melissa’s golf cart on a long ride to go get ice cream.  Ice cream is always a big hit.  Once we got back to Melissa, we went back to Brian’s mom house and the kids went swimming.  We went to Barefoot to finish off some of the tickets.  It was fun. 

On Monday, we left at 6am to get to Columbia for the solar eclipse.  We were going to drive south but the weather did not work out so we went west to Columbia.  Brian and Melissa found a shopping mall near I77 and we planned to stay there for the day.  We went to IHOP to eat first.  Kids had fun with that.  Then we went to the mall.  It had a Sears going out of business so we got a few things.  Sydney got a pretty Minnie Dress and Austin got a mouth guard for football.  There was an indoor playground so kids played there.  They made Solar Eclipse protection with paper plates for their glasses.  All and all it worked out.  We went too early but we did not know how traffic would be. 

After the eclipse we drove all the way home.  It took us about 10-11 hours.  Traffic was bad until Charlotte then it was fine.  I drove until about 10pm then Brian finished it.  We wanted to get home because Brian needed to finish the electrical and installation.  We want our house done but there was so much that he needed to do.   It was nice to be home.  I wish our house was farther along but it’s slowly making progress! 

Sesame Place and Hershey Park

This year Melissa decided to join our at our annual trip to Sesame Place.  I also wanted to check out Hershey Park so we decided to do them together.  

Before we left, Brian and the kids were outside gathering wood from the addition when Brian accidentally stepped on a nail.  That meant he needed to go to the doctor and get tentus shot (our last dose was before our Asia trip) and an antibiotic.  That obviously hurt and the timing was terrible since there was a lot of walking in our future.  

I had developed an abscess on my right side.  I thought I would go to the doctor to get antibiotics and be done.  No, they took me to urgent care for an I+D.  I also had the kids with them. After waiting several hours, the I+D was done and they got to watch.  They were not bothered by it.  It hurt terribly!  I hope to never do that again!  It also required wound packing that Melissa got to do while on the trip.  

We left early Tuesday morning for Sesame Place.  We checked into our hotel and then went to the park to meet Melissa and the boys. Everyone rode some rides and we watched the night parade.  The biggest hit ride was the roller coaster.  

Wednesday we spent the entire day at Sesame Place.  We (meaning everyone but me because I couldn’t ride anything) rode dry rides for a bit then decided to do the waterpark.  The kids loved the waterpark however it was a bit chilly.  Cam and Graham did not like it as much.  Austin and Sydney rode several waterslides together.  It was cute!  

Then everyone got ready for the character dinner.  Everyone enjoyed that.  Sydney loved dancing to the music. She can’t wait to start dance.  We also watched the night parade again.   

On Thursday we went to Sesame Place in the morning.  Again rode lots of rides.  Then around lunch time we left and stopped at a Chick FIl A for lunch and drove to Hershey.   We went to Hershey park that evening for a few hours.  It was really cool!  

On Friday morning, Melissa got us tickets to make our own chocolate bars.  That was really fun especially for the kids.  They each made their own chocolate bar along with their label to go with it.  Awesome experience.  Then we headed over to the park for rides.  I was with Graham a lot since he could not ride as much and I couldn’t ride anything.  

The bigger kids enjoyed the roller coasters and fun rides.  The weather was great.  It was hot but not miserable.  Austin even rode the big Hershey Tower.  It is big and he was scared a bit but did it and liked it.  I am not sure I could ride that.  

Later that day, we also went to check out the waterpark.  It was fun but difficult for me since I couldn’t do it.  It rained that evening so the park cleared out however not hard.  It was a great day to be there since there was no wait for rides.  

Saturday was our last day there.  It was busy!  However we were able to do stuff together which was nice.  We checked out the zoo there.  It was small but there was a little show that Austin even got picked to be in it.  He enjoyed that.  We rode some family rides like the train.  Aunt Melissa took Austin on some big roller coaster and Brian and I had the younger kids.  Sydney loved being the oldest cousin and could take care of Graham and Cam.  We really had a great time!

When we got home the outside of our house was done with windows in and sliding up.  They had most of the inside framed up.  They started on rough mechanical.  It is coming along but not as fast as I would like.  It’s a challenge every night figuring out sleeping arrangements.  And our house is so hot without air conditioning.  Brian does a nice job cooling it off at night though.  Our kitchen is still basically still together which is nice but I still don’t have any desire to cook.  I can’t wait for our house to be done!  

Last night, I thought we had zoo night with the Cavs but it was actually next Wednesday. However we did not realize that until we have already arrived there.  I think I have completely lost my mind.  Then it stormed badly and rained.  We have moved stuff to our basement and the sump pump pipe broke off and sprayed everywhere. Luckily we had stuff covered but it was a mess.  It was another project we did not feel like dealing with.  We are all tired and cranky!  

Brian is also switching jobs.  It was a difficult decision for him but the opportunity seems right so this is his last week there.  That has been stressful for him. He’s been very busy trying to get everything set up for his old company to go on without him.  We believe everything is going to work out but we don’t really know.  We are hoping for the best in this new adventure!