Another Year Older

I had a great birthday yesterday. I am truly blest with a thoughtful family and friends. I received many cards and phone calls, and my co-workers took me out to The Olive Garden for lunch. Eric and the boys bought me the new Chicago XXX cd and portable player. After seeing them in concert, I really wanted the cd.

We went to Bennigan's last night for dinner. They had sent me an email with a certificate for a free meal and dessert. You can't beat that! Then I received a wonderful surprise. The manager came to the table and asked if I was Rachel. I told him I was, and he presented me with a bottle of wine and a glass of Budweiser for Eric. Delana and Dale had called the restaurant and asked them to bring it over. She is so thoughtful. Chase sang, "Happy Birthday" to me which made my night. It was a special day for me.

Tony's 9 Month Check Up

I took Tony yesterday for his check up. He didn't have to have shots, but he did have his fingered pricked for a blood test. They needed to check his iron level and for lead exposure. His iron was really good, so we could start giving him whole milk if we want. He is 21 lbs. 13oz. and 31 inches long. I told the doctor that as of Saturday he wasn't wanting to take his bottle. That is why she said we could give milk in a cup if we wanted. Well, she went to check his ears, and said his right ear was full of fluid and his throat was swollen. So that explained him not wanting to suck the nipple. She then did a throat culture, to make sure he didn't have strep. It came back negative. She prescribed Amoxicillin and he is already feeling better. He drank his bottle last and this morning in record time.

Trip Home

The boys were up at 6am Monday morning. That gave me plenty of time to finish packing and take Chase to Pine Island. Pine Island is a beach on the gulf, about 10 miles from my grandparents house. He had been asking for several days to go there and play on the "pirate ship." Grandma stayed with Tony and Eric and I took him to play. It was a beautiful morning, and I wasn't really looking forward to driving for 2 hours and being on a plane for 3 hours, but all good things must come to an end.

My plan was to leave at 10:30am and to the airport by 12:45pm, which was 2 hours before our flight. We said our good-byes and were on the road at 10:30. At 10:50, Eric's cell rang. It was my grandma calling to say I left my purse and cell on the couch. I would have asked her to send it, but my driver's license was in there. I can't get on the plane without it. So we turned around. I then called back and asked if grandpa would start driving towards us, to help make up some time. I got my purse and off we went. Ten minutes later Chase says he has to pee. So we pull over at a McDonald's. There isn't a 4- lane highway to take to Orlando from Spring Hill, only 2 lane and a lot of small towns until the suburbs of Orlando. Well, it was Monday, and there were trucks galore. Plus Chase had to pee an hour later. We very well couldn't tell him no, since he is trying so hard. Well, time was dwindling away. We finally made it to the Florida Turnpike and then the toll ways. I looked at the map, and told Eric we still had 30 miles. Chase then says he has to pee again. I finished my water, and told him he was going to pee in the bottle. I held the bottle and he stood up and went! We still had to fill up the gas tank before dropping off the rental car. We were trying not to panic.

We were flying out of Orlando-Sanford. There is only one flight a day from there to Des Moines. If we missed the plane, we would have been there another day. We pulled up to Alamo at 1:20pm. I ran to get two carts, and we loaded up. Of course I picked a car rental company that is 6 blocks from the terminal. We hustled over as fast as we could. We get inside, and the line is really long. Thankfully they had 5 people working at the counter. We only waited a little over 15 minutes. We got up to the counter and I asked if our flight was full. It was indeed, and Anthony would be on our laps, bummer.

We made it through security and to the terminal at 2:05pm. At 2:10pm they started early boarding. Since we were so late in checking in, we ended up in the last row of the plane. The air on the plane was not working very well, so it was really hot. We didn't have a window, we were right by the toilets, and our seats didn't go back. We felt really trapped, especially when the people in front of us pushed their chairs back. When they realized we had Tony on our laps they moved them forward again. When I look back, the boys really did great. Anthony only had a crying jag for 5 minutes. He was hungry, and after I figured that out, all was well. Chase shared his seat with Tony for part of the time. Nevertheless, it was the longest 3 hours and 15 minutes of my life, since we boarded 30 minutes prior to take off. We were so happy to land and deplane. It felt good to be back in the heartland.

Easter Egg Coloring and Hunts

It is so much fun, now that Chase is almost 4. He gets really excited about Easter egg hunts and coloring eggs. It has been or family tradition since I was young, to dye Easter eggs from Noon to 3pm on Good Friday. I was so excited that I would be with my Grandma this Good Friday, so we could color eggs. Grandma had everything ready for us to color eggs after lunch, but then Chase was crabby and being sassy. So we postponed coloring until Chase had a nap. I wanted Chase to enjoy our long standing tradition. It ended up that Chase was really tired. He slept for over 2 1/2 hours. We ended up coloring eggs around 4:30pm, and had a fun time helping Chase dip the eggs.

On Saturday, the clubhouse in my Grandparents subdivision was having an egg hunt. Eric and I took Chase up there at 2pm. There were about 15 kids that showed up. Unfortunately, there were some older kids, that probably should not have participated, since they found most the eggs before the little kids could. This one girl, who was probably five took Chase under her wing. She held his hand and led him all around outside. She ended up giving Chase three of her eggs, since she would find them before he did. I finally found two that the older kids hadn't seen yet. I picked one up, and put my foot over the other. Then I finally got Chase to come over, and told him to look around. He at least felt like he found 2 eggs. All the eggs had pennies, nickels or dimes. I think Chase would have like candy instead!

I also put together and Easter egg hunt for Chase when he woke up Sunday morning. I hid some eggs out on the Lanai. He had a lot of fun looking for them, and they were filled with candy this time! He then went looking for his Easter basket and Tony's basket. Grandma and I thought we hid them in pretty tough spots. Well, he found them both within minutes. I guess being shorter makes it easier to spot under the table, and behind some chairs. Chase was so excited that the Easter bunny remembered him, even though we were in Florida. There was a full size basketball in his basket and lots of candy. He just kept saying, "I can't believe it." He was really excited. Tony's basket had a mini-soccer ball, which he loves, a boomerang that I gave away and a yo-yo and candy, which Chase claimed as his.

We then all got ready, and headed to church for the final Easter egg hunt of the season. We got there just as they were starting. This time they had it divided. The older kids hunted somewhere else, and the younger kids eggs were all hidden in plain view. Chase very quickly found 8 eggs. After that we told him he needed to leave some for the other kids. One thing that didn't make a lot of sense was, they put chocolate in the eggs. The hunt was outside. It was sunny, humid at close to 80 degrees already. The chocolate didn't have a chance. I ended up throwing it away, but the jelly beans survived.

After church we went home and relaxed. The kids changed had a bite to eat, and went down for naps. Grandpa and I cleaned the pool and then I went swimming. Meanwhile, Grandma was busily cooking Easter dinner. They invited their long time friends Margie and Jack over for dinner too. We ate at 4:30 and had a delicious ham, mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, corn on the cob, salad, Jell-o, mixed veggies and bread. I was so happy to be able to spend an Easter with my Grandparents, and Tony's 1st Easter. We hadn't celebrated an Easter together since '96.

Eric and I then spent two hours with Chase in the pool. Through out the week he was getting more comfortable in the water. He went from playing on the stairs, to riding on my back, to wall walking around the whole pool, and by Sunday night he was letting Eric and I toss him back and forth. We played until it got dark, Monday we were heading back to Iowa.

Weeki Wachee Springs

Thursday we took Chase to Weeki Wachee. Grandma and Grandpa kept Anthony, so we could take Chase to the waterpark that is attached to it. Weeki Wachee is only 4 miles up the road from my granparents, but we had never gone before. When we first got there we went to the boat ride first. We took a 20 minute boat ride on the Weeki Wachee River. We mainly saw fish, and learned that 100 million gallons of water is pumped out of the spring a day. The water is a constant 74.6 degrees. The water park uses the spring water as well, so there is not any chlorine.

After the boat ride we went over to buccaneer Bay. They had just made a kiddy pool and slide, so it was perfect for Chase to play in. While Chase did that, Eric and I took turns going down the waterslides. I wasn't brave enough to go down Pirate's Plunge, which looked way too fast and steep. As we were packing up to go back over to the mermaid show, the lifeguards cleared the water, because an alligator was spotted. We didn't have time to look for it, because we wanted a good seat for the underwater mermaid show.

The mermaid show was the highlight for Chase. He was just telling Miranda all about it yesterday. It was really fun to watch. The women dressed up as mermaids and performed, "The Little Mermaid." They had hoses underwater to get oxygen from. The lip synced the words and songs. It was really cool, because a school of fish and a turtle swam right by them, as they were performing. After that we headed home. Chase was sad, because he wanted to see it again. We told him he would have to wait until next year. He wasn't very hip on that answer. Here is a website telling about the history of the mermaids. http://www.roadsideamerica.com/attract/FLWEEmer.html

Lawson Conference 2006

I had never attended a work conference for over 4,000 people before. The majority of the conference was at the Marriott, and the rest at the Caribe Royale. They had buses to shuttle us back and forth. Lawson did a fantastic job of organizing the event. The hired an additional outside firm to help with it. There were over 300 sessions available, and a lot of hands on lab training as well. I met people from all over the U.S. Monday, I went to breakfast and ended up sitting down next to a guy from Des Moines. We didn't know there was another company in town using Lawson.

Sunday night they had a Welcome Reception. The reception and our breakfast and lunch were all served out by the pool. I felt bad for the other guests, because they weren't able to use the huge pool. However, there was another pool on the west side of the resort still available. The main pool was beautiful and huge. It had a waterfall and beautiful landscaping. Eric was able to go with me Sunday night. We met up with my three other co-workers. They had a bunch of stations set up with different food. They had Mexican, Chinese, Italian, roast beef, turkey and dessert. They also had all the beer and wine you wanted to drink. We all enjoyed ourselves.

Monday I had opening sessions at 8am and then breakout sessions until 5pm. I called to check on the boys at noon. They were doing great. Chase was at the beach with my mom and aunt. Anthony was eating, sleeping and drinking 6-8oz. of formula a feeding. I know he was not getting that much from me, but I continued to diligently pump 6 times a day, to keep my supply up. Eric went exploring Orlando and shopping for a tattoo parlor. After going to several, he finally found one that wasn't charging ourlandish prices and could get him in that afternoon. So two and half hours later, he had a woodpecker with a cigar hanging out of his beak with two racing flags on this calf. It is the trademark for Mr. Horsepower, a logo from the 60's. Eric got back to the hotel around 6:30pm. We then went to T.G.I. Friday's Sportsbar for dinner. I had a delicious veggie burger. I couldn't talk Eric into trying one! After that we went shopping. Eric needed a new pair of hightops, and I needed new sandals.

Tuesday I had opening sessions at 8am again, and then breakout sessions until 4pm. Tuesday night I the special event. At 6:30pm we boarded buses that took us 20 miles south of Orlando to Fantasy of Flight. The airfield has a bunch of old airplanes to look at. There was also a flight simulator to try, but the line was too long. They catered in a good ole' fashioned BBQ for us. After dinner, comedian Frank Caliendo was on stage for an hour. He had us rolling, and he didn't even swear! After that Chicago took the stage and played for 90 minutes. During this time we could have all the free beer we wanted, and a bus ride back to the hotel when it was over. Chicago was excellent. They had a trumpet, trombone and sax player. They did three of their new songs and then the rest were old. The wind died down around 8pm, and it was a beautiful night for an outdoor concert.

Wednesday morning I only signed up for two sessions, so I was back at the Marriott by 11:15am. We checked out and headed back to Spring Hill. I really missed the boys and was looking forward to seeing them. It was fun getting paid for a conference that didn't seem like work.

The Boys at the Airport

Eric and Chase

Weeki Wachee Springs

We Couldn't Take the Cheetah Home

Tony's 9 Month Picture

Enjoying Sunny Florida

I ran out of time before we left on Friday to say good-bye. We flew out of Des Moines on Friday. We flew Allegiant Air, which is a direct flight to Orlando. It was less than $200 a ticket and we didn't have to deal with a layover.

The boys were really good on the flight. Since we didn't have a full flight, they let me take Anthony's car seat on, so I didn't have to hold him the whole time, which made such a difference. The ride from Orlando to my Grandparents in Spring Hill took forever. First we went to the wrong car rental place. I was sure it was Avis. They didn't have our reservation. I finally found my reservation, and it was Alamo. Opps! If we took the insurance for the car, then they would upgrade us to a SUV, so we did it. We were already going to take the insurance, because American doesn't insure in Florida. So that was pretty cool.

We were starving, so we found a Wendy's. After waiting in drive thru for 10 minutes and not moving we left. Then we stopped at McDonald's. It took 15 minutes getting through there. Our fries were hot, the sandwiches were cold. But it was after 11pm on a Friday night. We finally got to my grandparents at 1am. There is no direct route, and there are a lot of little towns and stoplights one must contend with.

Saturday we took it easy. We went swimming for a couple of hours, went out to lunch and took naps. My mom and aunt arrived around 6pm. We ate dinner in and hung out. This morning Eric and I left for my conference in Orlando for Lawson.

I am here now, and just got done with my second session. I have the rest of the afternoon off. It is cloudy, but it looks like the sun is trying to break through. They haven't had rain in 40 days. Wouldn't you know, it rained last night, and it is cloudy today!!!

I handled leaving Anthony pretty well. I gave him a quick kiss and jumped in the car. My mom told me to have a good time and not worry. There were three experienced mothers there. So I am going to learn lots and have fun.

My conference is over Wednesday afternoon. Then we will head back to Spring Hill and spend Easter with my grandparents. We fly out on Monday, April 17th. So this will be the last time I blog until I get back. My grandma has Webtv and it won't bring up the website for me to get on.

I hope everyone has a wonder Easter!

The Sky is Falling

I forgot to write about this earlier. Thursday we had really severe weather. When we went into the store, it had been raining, but not too bad. Well, within 5 minutes it drastically changed. The wind grew with intensity, it was pouring and it started hailing dime size hail. I had one umbrella. Chase broke his umbrella on Monday. He has gone through three umbrellas in the last year. I need to stop him from playing with them in the house!

I wasn't going to just stand and wait to see if it would let up. Anthony was hungry and we needed to get home. I told Chase to put his hood up, and we would make a run for it. We checked for cars and I gave him the go ahead. He was suppose to go to his side and get in. I was putting Anthony into his car seat. I get Anthony strapped in, and Chase's door still hasn't opened. I run around to the other side. He is standing in a puddle, his hood down and getting drenched. Thankfully it was warm out. He says, "Ice is falling from the sky mommy, and my pants are soaked." I told him we call that hail. He says, "No mommy, it is ice and it is everywhere." I wasn't going to argue. I just wanted him in the car.

We had a great time driving home. The road was really flooded, and the water was splashing up on the windows and windshield as we plowed through it. Chase kept asking me to do it again and again. So I went out of my way to go through the puddles, or rather ponds on the roads, just to hear Chase laugh hysterically.

Pictures and Practice

Saturday I wanted to be in two places at the same time. Church was having its annual spring cleaning day, and Chase had team pictures and his first practice. All the ministry team leaders were expected to help out, so I really had to be there. The plan was: Eric would take Chase to his pictures and practice. I was going to go to church and clean for an hour and then meet up for practice.

Well, we didn't have nearly enough people show up to clean, and Anthony was fussy. It took me a lot longer to wipe down the heat registers, than I had originally anticipated. I was planning on putting Anthony in the exersaucer and then run room to room. Well, Anthony is to that stage of really crying when I leave the room, even for a few seconds. So I had to keep him next to me the whole time. I was counting on pictures being delayed, due to so many teams, but they were pretty organized. Needless to say I missed Chase's first practice. I was really disappointed and so was he. He calls and says, "I just had my practice and you weren't here." I felt pretty low. I told him I would do some individual practicing with him in Florida. That seemed to make him feel better. When I got home he was still in his uniform. He had just received his shirt and hat before pictures. He looks really adorable. I wanted to take a picture, but he ran away. So I won't be posting a picture for the time being!