Memorial Day Weekend - Kicking off the Summer

After such a busy couple days, we wanted to keep the next few as easy going as possible. Dave went to pick up the kids from my mom's before she went to church, and while we normally attend services every Sunday ourselves, we stayed home. Not only did we need the rest, but Hadley had a very runny nose too.

She'd had a mild cold before we left for the beach, but I was pretty sure it had developed into a sinus infection. Being that it was a holiday weekend and that the doctor's office wouldn't reopen until Tuesday, we thought it best to go ahead and take her to Urgent Care to see if we could get an antibiotic, hoping that it would clear up quickly since we had another trip planned for the following weekend. Daddy ran her to UC while I stayed with the boys, and the doctor agreed with Mommy's diagnosis that an antibiotic was the best course of action.

In keeping with the Memorial Day tradition of everyone opening up their pools, I pulled out the baby pool and added some water so it could warm up for the kids to enjoy later in the day. Hadley fell asleep on the way home from the doctor, but when she woke up she was definitely up for some water fun - the first pool opportunity this summer.

As I was lotioning her up against the sun, I found this unwanted intruder stuck on the inside of her precious little ear! Yep, she must have picked up a tick playing in the yard at NaNa's, and this pest was not budging. I don't have a lot of experience with removing ticks, and though I've already found two in my own ear this summer, neither of those were stuck. I called my Grandma who gave me an old school remedy, but Dave found on the CDC website that that might not be the best route. My sister sells Essential Oils and said she had one that would make the tick let go, but Dave was leary and didn't want to wait that long. Instead, taking some tweezers, I tried to follow the CDC's directions to grab the bug up near it's head and pull steadily upward until the head came out. Thankfully, it worked, though Dave had to hold on to Hadley so I could do it. 

For days the poor girl kept talking about having a bug in her ear even handing me the tweezers on one occasion to get it out again.

Once all that excitement was over, she had a little time to enjoy the sunshine some more.

Caleb, who'd been napping, came out to play for a bit too and almost immediately got several splinters in his foot from our deck as a result of not putting shoes on like Mommy warned. A laid back day? First Urgent Care, then a tick, and now this. So, once again, out came the tweezers (plus a pin) for another surgical procedure by Dr. Mommy.

I removed the sliver that was causing the biggest of the problems and a little while longer, he was ready to try going out again. This time with shoes!

Reid just hung back in the stroller and watched the fun.

Though the next day was a holiday, Monday kind of started out like any ordinary day for us. Dave doesn't get Memorial Day off, but he did get to work from home, which was nice because rather than commuting, he got to sleep in and got a little extra time with us. For the main part of the day though, it was our goal to stay out of his hair so he could work.

Playing toys it was...for the majority of the morning.

"Pretty baby," she says as she pets Reid's head.

But, I found a chance to fill up the baby pool again that a.m. While managing all three kids outside is a bit much for me when they are all going different directions, two is definitely more doable. So when Hadley went down for an early nap, I decided to take the boys out for a swim.

This was Reid's first time in the pool and he needed a lot of help from Mommy keeping him from falling over, but he enjoyed it.

Frog legs, anyone?

I tried to take a picture of the boys in their matching swim suits, but Caleb did not want to participate in this photo opt.

Look at those muscles!

Caleb was more excited about the toy water hose nozzle he has than he was about the pool. The trouble was that Reid and I had to make sure we didn't get squirted accidentally!

After lots of fun in the sun, it was time for some lunch. Reid got to try squash for the first time. 

He liked it!

Eating squash looks like serious business.

Then it was time for the boys' naps and Hadley's lunch. While Caleb and Reid rested, my girl and I got back out in the sun for her daily dose of pool time.

Finally, to round out the day, we went to visit NaNa for a picnic. Dave and I picked up some shrimp and mac and cheese to go with the crabs and scallops my sister's fiance Brandon brought, and we had a good meal. 

The kids ate quick and were ready to run...

...but when NaNa said "ice cream," you can imagine which way they headed.

The adults took a lot longer to get through their meal, picking crabs long after the little ones had finished their desserts and were on the move again.

Happy Memorial Day! We're thankful to those who've sacrificed and those that continue to do so that we can have the freedoms and quality of life that we do.