Another Spring Break Gone

Today is the last day of spring break, and I will be ready to go back tomorrow.  We had a good combination of traveling and relaxing at home.  But Sam can only do so much relaxing at home before he drives us all crazy (and truthfully, Maria does get bored and drives us crazy too).

We have accomplished a few things - almost have everything ordered for Maria's room, and have a week set aside in late April where Ben will strip wallpaper and paint whenever he's not at work.  We do still need to order carpet for both kids rooms - probably next weekend.  And Maria and I bought everything for her 4-H project and she has started her book, although we haven't actually started the sewing projects yet.  We still have a few months - I'm just glad to have that shopping trip done.

We also spent some "quality" family time together - visiting my parents for Easter, going to Great Wolf Lodge, and the kids spent Friday evening with G. and G. K. while Ben and I went out to an adult dinner with friends Jenny and Chris.

The weather didn't cooperate much, there was only one day the kids could play outside.  But it is still March in Ohio, so we can't expect much.

All in all, I'm ready to get back into a routine when we go back to school tomorrow.  And the spring is always so busy it will fly by and be summer vacation before we know it!

Eye Update

I saw the eye Dr. this morning, and wasn't surprised when he concluded that my right eye is still near sighted by .25.  I knew that there was still blurriness in that eye.  The cornea is healing fine, however.  

So he said that it may still get better.  Honestly, though, he didn't sound very optimistic.  But for them to go back and do a correction (yes, another surgery) you have to be at least .50 off.  So for right now, I am hoping it gets better.  It may be that I have to live with it.  And its really not bad compared to what I was - just a little blurry looking far off into the distance.  But its annoying to go through this and not have it be perfect.

We're Home

We got home around 2:00 today.  This morning we told the kids that we would get at the water park when it opened, and stay 2-3 hours and then have lunch on the way home.  After about an hour and a half, they were done.  Sam was so tired!  Both Maria and Sam slept part of the way home. 

Check in later for more pictures.

Great Wolf Lodge

The kids are having a great time here. We arrived around 1:00 (after canceling our stop at IKEA due to time, and having lunch at Skyline with Grandpa K. on the way here). Ben had to wait in line for a half hour to check in while the kids and I roamed around the lodge. We had two sessions in the water park this afternoon, cleaned up and ate dinner at the Grill downstairs, and then went back for a couple of hours tonight. Now we are having a snack in our warm and dry pajamas and watching Dancing With The Stars. And Ben went downstairs to get us each a well-deserved beer.

The kids really like to wave pool the best. They also spent time on the small and medium sized water slides, and all four of us went tubing in the Lazy River (although its not very lazy with kids chasing each other through there all the time). I have been wearing goggles and doing a pretty good job of keeping water out of my eyes. Ben has been doing a bigger share of taking care of the kids in the wave pool, which I appreciate. The fact is, I don't really like water being dumped on my head - I don't consider it fun. I don't like rain or even the shower much either. But I knew that when we planned this vacation - and the kids are having a blast.

Ben and I are ready to come home in the morning. The kids want to stay all day. We'll end up doing something in between.

Oops!

Today we took the kids to the Bunk and Loft factory to check out a new loft for Maria's room. We had done our research online and had a pretty good idea of what we needed. So we got everything ordered and it should be done by mid-April (they make them to order). She'll have a loft with a ladder and a bookcase headboard to put her alarm clock, etc., on. And Sam did not seem bothered that Maria was getting a loft and he was not - that may change when we actually get it home, though.

Leaving the factory, Ben was looking behind him while backing the van out of the parking place. But he had forgotten that we had to park at a weird angle next to a telephone pole. So he turned the wheel backing out and you guessed it - slammed the left front end of the van into the pole. Good news - everyone is fine, the van still runs fine and the headlight works. Bad news - its fairly beat up on that end. So he spent the rest of the afternoon at the body repair shop and the insurance agent's office. It will cost over $1300 to repair. We only have to pay the $500 deductable. But they can't get it in until April 7, and then it will take 4 days to repair. At least its drivable now. And since we work in the same place its workable to only have one car for several days - inconvenient, but doable.

In other news, Sam said after dinner tonight, "Guess what? Now I love soccer!" He and Ben just left for practice - we'll see how much he loves it after being outside in 44 degrees and flurries tonight! He wanted to take the new soccer ball from his Easter basket from G. and G. L., but its the wrong size. So we talked him into taking his new water bottle instead.

My eyes are great! Haven't felt dry at all today. Tonight is the last night I have to sleep with goggles on too! I have to buy swim goggles for the water park tomorrow - I don't plan to do much but cannot get pool water in my eyes.

The kids are excited about the water park tomorrow. We will leave mid-morning, and check out the IKEA store on the way there. We can be in the water park from 1:00 tomorrow until 8:00 Wednesday evening. But after 11:00 Wednesday morning everything goes into a locker since you have to be checked out of your room. We'll probably stay until mid-afternoon Wednesday. Not sure if I'll be online or not, so there may not be any blog posts until we get back.

More Easter Pictures

Here's some more pictures of egg coloring last night. We drove home this morning, where there were Easter baskets waiting on the kids. Most of the day was spent playing with new Easter toys and unpacking, laundry, etc. Maria has made some real progress in the cleaning out of her room, too. We threw away a lot of stuff.

No Sunday blues - spring break this week. Tomorrow we are doing some shopping for Maria's new room and then we're off to Great Wolf Lodge Tuesday and Wednesday.

Coloring Eggs

Tonight we colored eggs. Sam took more interest than he ever has before - he kept asking to color more eggs once we were done with the dozen. In previous years he's done maybe one egg and then ran off to play. And Maria was in charge - she really took care of things - all Mom and I really did was mix dye and supervise. Maria took care of transferring all the completed eggs into their container too. By next year they may not even need me to help. We have more pictures to post tomorrow once we are home and have the cord.

Egg Hunt Snowed Out

We got up to a few inches of snow on the ground here - which meant no Easter egg hunt. That was fine to me - hunting eggs in wet 35 degree weather through mud didn't really sound like much fun to me. I really wish the winter would end soon - it doesn't seem that I am usually quite this tired of snow.

This afternoon the four of us plus my parents went to see Horton Hears a Who. This story holds a special place in my heart since Maria was in the Fairbanks High School production on Seussical two years ago when she was in first grade. And she was an awesome Cindy Lou Who. So I really enjoy these Seuss stories that we became so familiar with, but at the same time I can't believe how much Maria has changed in the last two years!

Anyway, the movie was good and just the right length. Sam only went to the potty once and stayed in his seat the rest of the time! And I only slept for 10-15 minutes in the middle (I have a bad track record for movies in the middle of the afternoon). It was so nice to take a little nap and not have to re-wet my contacts immediately. My eyes are doing great! I keep putting all the drops in, but can't feel a thing today. And I did sleep better last night with those goggles than the previous night.

After the movie, we stopped at the mall where the kids each picked out a new Webkinz as their Easter gift from Mom and Dad. Maria chose a hippo and named it Bubble Gum, Sam chose a snake and named him Snakey. Now we're back at the house playing Guitar Hero - we got the kids a second guitar the other day, so one person can play lead and the other can play bass. Its pretty cool. Tonight we will color eggs, and then head home in the morning.

Eye Update

What the eye Dr.told me yesterday was true -when I woke up this morning, everything was clear! And I got to take off those goggles finally. I still have to sleep with them for 4 more nights, and last night I did not sleep well with them on. Eventually, though, I think exhaustion will catch up and I will sleep better.

I went to have my eyes checked this morning, and he said all was looking great. With my right eye I could see 20/25, with my left eye 20/20. He said not to worry, there's still a lot of healing to be done and it should get better. I also have not really had much discomfort at all today. I'm using artificial tears every hour per doctor's orders, but very rarely have the urge to rub my eye.

In other news, we are at my parents for the Easter weekend. The drive up here seemed slow, with Sam asking all the time how much longer. We made a stop to get the kids new shoes, and picked up Bee Movie too. That helped the time go faster.

Tomorrow we are going to see Horton Hears a Who and then the kids are going to pick out as new Webkinz that my parents will get them for Easter. And of course, we will be coloring Easter eggs too.

I Can See Clearly Now...almost

I had my LASIK surgery today, and it went well. Definitely uncomfortable, but not painful. The actual surgery was unpleasant, but at least it was quick. And the first couple of hours at home were pretty rough. I slept, but not soundly, and kept waking up to wipe the tears that had slid from underneath my goggles onto my cheeks. Looking out the window, though, I can already tell that things are much clearer than they are without contacts or glasses before today.

Right now, several hours since surgery, I am fairly comfortable. I'm still sensitive to light, and my left eye feels a little like there is something in it. My right eye feels great. But these goggles, that I have to wear until tomorrow morning, are driving me crazy! They keep fogging up and so I have trouble seeing anything clearly. I do dry them off every 10 minutes or so, but it only lasts a minute or so before it goes back to being foggy. Could be a long evening. But I am able to read some and watch TV too.

The kids think I look funny in the goggles. Maria said, "Don't take this offensively, but you look like a bug." Sam is just confused as to why I can't take them off.