Five minutes after leaving the water park

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My Little Mermaids

This week since I had a couple of vacation days to use, we decided to take the kids to a water park. Let me tell you it went over with a huge splash:0) The girls were in sensory overload for the first half hour we were there. If you did not already know, Angelman children are very , very ,very fascinated by water. The picture above is of Becca , Kayla ,and I in the wave pool. I am not sure what was harder, keeping the three of us upright or trying to keep the girls from trying to drink the pool dry. I know for a fact I had as much if not more fun than they did.

This is Becca and I on one of the smaller water slides. We only made a couple dozen trips down the slide before I had to cut her off. To be honest I was having a lot of fun ,but I don't think my trunks could bury themselves any farther up my backside at that point. There were some larger slides at the park, but the girls were a little bit too small to ride them. The fact that I do not "love" heights kept me from trying to talk the attendants in to making an exception.

All in all, the day went way better than expected. The girls had a ton of fun, Luke and Maddie got to run wild,and Cindy and I got some much needed sun!! I am so glad we decided to go, I am not sure how many things like this Becca has ever done before. I know Kayla has experienced a lot of this kind of stuff, but if I didn't know better, the way Becca reacted, I would have thought this was her first time. It felt great splashing around the park with my two little mermaids. The skies were blue, the water was cold, and it was in the mid 80's , what a PERFECT day!! It is a memory I will cherish.

Father's Day

This year Father's Day was a little different than I had expected. I spent most of the day trying to find new ways to break the lawn mower. I broke a belt , a tie rod end, and a battery cable. It was the longest day of mowing I can ever remember! The day was like two sides of a coin. It landed on heads and I thought of how Becca and Kayla will always have a DAD now. I think of how tough the two girls lives were when they were very little. Each day now is filled with laughter and joy, and most of all love from a mommy and a daddy. It makes me very proud to know that we are making a big difference in their lives, and to see how much progress they have made, especially Becca. Then the coin flips to tales and I think of how much i miss Jamie, and the light she shined on my life. Some wounds time will never heal, and it shouldn't. I am thankful that the memories I have of her are so crisp and clear. We have a collage in our living that Maddie made for us after Jamie passed away, I stop in front of it everyday and relive the moments of each picture in my head. Looking back, my lord we had a lot of fun. Then the coin flips back to heads and I also think of my step-dad and how much of a difference he has made in my life. He took the time and energy to raise four boys as his own. To say he is my best friend would be a huge understatement. Dad is the one person I can go to about problems I have and he listens . He is my hunting buddy, my friend , the grand father to my kids, and most of all my DAD. I love you pop!! Now most people look at Father's Day as a holiday to thank your dad.........I look at it as a day to thank GOD for giving you the GIFT of being a father and all the memories that come with it!

Luke, Becca, and Polly at the dog show

I thought I would take the time to brag a little bit !! On Saturday Luke competed in a dog show with Polly, our Schnoodle. Polly was donated to the girls to to become a service dog and is doing awesome with the girls. Polly is 6 months old right now and has to wait until she is a year old to qualify through therapy dogs international. I have no doubt that she will pass with flying colors. Luke has been taking her to 4-h classes for agility, showmanship, and obedience. The kids have been going to 4-h with our other dogs for the past couple years and really enjoy it. On Saturday Polly competed in all three events and finished fourth in showmanship, sixth in agility , and won first place in her division for obedience. She and Luke really did an awesome job. The crowds at the dog show enjoyed watching her, because she is such a happy dog and bounced around all over the place introducing herself to anyone that stopped to pet her. I would highly recommend this breed to anyone , especially those seeking a dog for service ,therapy, or as a family pet.

Crazy week

To say this has been a crazy week is an understatement! It started about a week or so when Becca was just finishing up her medicine for Mono. Cindy and I noticed another spot on her backside so we took her to the E.R. and they were pretty sure she had MRSA again. Luckily Cindy noticed it so early and we were able to get her on the meds she needed and we are pretty sure we treated it before it was able to progress. On Tuesday Luke had to go to the clinic to get a cast for his right arm.Oh ya I forgot to mention that he broke his arm last week while roller skating. While we were at the clinic, the receptionist told me that we were there a day early and that the appointment was for wednesday. Now if you can visualize it, I am standing there with Becca on one arm and Luke standing next to me with a sling on , and this lady is trying to convince me that Cindy had messed up the appointment. I knew that Cindy had made the appointment for my day off, and she was in Des moines having an 8 hour EEG done on Kayla. I just walked out of the clinic in total frustration, but not for long, the more I thought about it the more it bothered me that someone was pushing the blame onto my wife. Needless to say I marched back into the Dr.'s office and explained to the receptionist and to anyone that was within earshot that THEY were the ones that had messed up. Somehow they were able to squeeze us in and Luke now has his first and hopefully his last cast. Last night I was awake until about 2:00 a.m. because we were under tornado warnings and watches. That weather really freaks me out, I don't know why. This morning Becca woke up with 103 fever , so back to te doctor we went. Now she has strep, we opted for the shot rather than 10 days of antibiotics. The doctor told us that it is not uncommon for strep to follow Mono. It looks like we are in for another wild night of weather so I will probably be up late again, but things could be much worse mant people in northern Iowa lost there homes last week because of a tornado. It was an f-5 that almost leveled the entire town of Parkersburg. Our prayers go to all the families affected.