It was a good weigh in for Sax on Sept 28th, and I'm expecting another good one this Wed too. He was up to 14.6 kg. The Prilosec seems to really be working well! Yay - making some progress!! We also just got his PediaSure and DuoCal refilled, and this time they gave us the PediaSure 1.5, which means we get 50% more calories per can before adding the DuoCal. That should really help too!!
Daddy and I went out last Saturday to celebrate his birthday. We were only gone a few hours and the kids were home with a sitter. Just as we were packing up our leftovers, the sitter called to say that Sax was sick and throwing up all over :( We hurried home. He was still on antibiotics, so I was surprised when we got home and he had a fever. He threw up again after we got home. The sitter stayed with Raine while Scot and I took Sax up to the Emergency Room, since Urgent Care was already closed.
While we were in the Emergency Room, Sax threw up again. The doctors checked him over and didn't really find anything. They figured it was just a stomach virus. They gave him a dissolvable tablet to stop the nausea, with another one to take home with us and a prescription for more if we needed it.
When we got home, the sitter's mom came to pick her up since she was out and about anyway - and it was still before 10. Sax and Daddy curled up together in Daddy's chair and ended up crashing there for a couple hours. Raine and I watched some stuff on Nick for a while, and I ended up falling asleep in the recliner. He seemed fine the next day, but was mad at me since I wouldn't let him go to Sunday school.
The little man has been testing his limits lately, which is getting really frustrating for me. Daddy has been working on Saturdays now since my doctor appointments are moving to a weekly basis. The boss said he could go to my appointments as long as he makes up the time. It gets frustrating at times because the kids seem to listen to him better than me. Maybe it's just because they spend so much time with me. Who knows. They're both napping right now, so I'm going to enjoy the quiet :)
Saturday, October 8, 2011
Friday, September 23, 2011
Prilosec Pills and Omnicef
I have some updating to do, as usual. Up until today, we haven't had too much in the way of health issues for the little man. Or, not major ones anyway.
Sax just moved into his sister's room into new bunk beds. He likes going to bed more now because he has a big boy bed now! The top is a twin bed (Raine's bed) and the bottom is a full-size futon (Saxon's bed). For now we're leaving it set up in couch format since that's all the bigger his crib mattress really was anyway. It seems to be ok with him, plus he kinda sinks into the crease, so he doesn't move around too much and hasn't fallen out. As a precaution, Daddy has been putting up the baby gate in the hallway so that if Sax tries to go from their room to ours, he can't accidentally fall down the stairs. (This isn't too much of a problem unless pregnant Mama needs to use the bathroom in the middle of the night!! lol!!)
We tried Sax on Prilosec liquid suspension for a while. This was a total failure. He hated, and I mean HATED, the taste of that. No matter how we tried to disguise it or hide it or mix it into anything else, he still wouldn't take it. Well, Vicki came through for us again. She called and asked if she had heard me right when I said before that Sax was swallowing his enzymes whole. This was GREAT for the little man!!! There is a 10mg Prilosec capsule that is very similar in size to Saxon's Creon 12, which is the right dosage for him. Well, since he'll swallow his enzymes, we just told him it's like a white enzyme, and he swallows it with no problem! If this works like it's supposed to, it SHOULD cut down on his tummy problems even more, help him absorb more of his food, and boost his weight. We're keeping our fingers crossed! He's already started eating more!
We are also monitoring Sax's weight since at his last appt he was down again. I have set up bi-weekly weigh-ins with the clinic here in town. Last week, Sax weighed in at 14.2 kg. Today, when I had to take him in to Urgent Care, he weighed in at 14.4 kg. Pretty good for only a week.
Yes, we were in Urgent Care today. Not fun. Tuesday Raine had been sent home from school with a sore throat and fever. She's started a cold around Saturday or Sunday with a little coughing and a runny nose. Took her into Urgent Care when the school said that strep throat was going around. Sure enough, strep and an ear infection. 10 days of antibiotics for her. I kept her home Wednesday, per doctor's orders, while the antibiotics took effect. Wednesday night she was up half the night blowing her nose and coughing again like she did Tuesday night, so I kept her home on Thursday too.
The problem with having a sick child at home is that the other will usually end up sick. I'm surprised it took as long as it did.
I tried to keep the kids separate, Raine kept her hand sanitizer and Kleenexes with her at all times. (Poor girl has been blowing her nose so much that she's been having nose bleeds.) I told her she needed to rest so that she'd feel better. Couldn't send her to her room to lay down because then the little man wanted to be up there. He wouldn't nap and would just keep her up, so I just told her to lay on the couch. Her number 1 complaint? "It's no fun having to rest and watch your brother play!!" Of course, this meant about every 5 minutes I was telling her to get back on the couch, or telling him to get off the couch and off his sister, or telling her to put his toys down before he spread too many germs.
Today we sent her back to school - she wasn't resting much at home anyway.
This morning, at 5 am, we got a wakeup from Sax, wanting to crawl into bed with us. And sounding congested. And gunky. And just plain clogged up. Have you ever listened to someone talk or breathe, and you just can't help but clear your throat or cough because you can just hear the junk in their throat?? That's what he sounded like. And as much as he coughed, it didn't sound like it was loosening up. Him and Mama went to sit in the recliner so that he'd be a little more elevated and could maybe breathe a little better.
Daddy did a thumps and nebby treatment on the little man about 6 am. Sax and I went to Urgent Care about 8 after dropping Raine off at school. The nurse thought it was cute that Sax knows the routine for getting weighed in - walked over to the scale and took off his shoes, then stepped up like a big boy!! We went to the exam room and waited for the doc from there. I made sure to let them know that yes, he's already gotten his flu shot (family activity Tuesday night - lol!! Except for Raine, who can't get hers until she's feeling better.)
The doc we saw today was a new one for us. Her name is Lynn Kelley and she is semi-retired. I was very surprised when I told her about Sax's CF, and she said she spent some time studying specifically in CF! She also knows Dr Henry, the other pulmonologist that we see at Mayo when Dr P is gone. We thought that was pretty cool, and she completely understood our concerns with Sax's breathing.
Sax did pretty good for his entire exam, including his throat culture. She said his lungs are sounding good and pretty clear. His O2 sats are 98% (which she said was due in part to his morning nebs), and his ears look fine. She did think his throat looked a little red and irritated and his glands are a little swollen. The rapid-strep test came back negative, but she said they will still culture it and I may get a call in a day or two if it changes. I asked if we could do an antibiotic to fight the cold/congestion and to head off the possibility of strep. She said that's exactly what she thought too - and the antibiotic will help prevent the cold from turning into pneumonia too. Sax is sounding pretty hoarse anyway and he's got a pretty nasty, barky sounding cough. It's the kind of cough that makes your chest hurt just listening to it.
We're running him on a 10 day dosing of Omnicef. Hopefully with the changed medications, we won't have the same digestive issues we've had in the past with it. Honestly I think Omnicef is about the best antibiotic he can be on since it seems to really take care of the problem pretty quickly. I was surprised that the dosage is so low (only 1/4 tsp) but Sax love the strawberry-vanilla flavor and asked if he could have more after taking it. We're keeping his treatments at 3 times per day - hopefully that will do it.
I'll post later in the week with how he's doing.
Sax just moved into his sister's room into new bunk beds. He likes going to bed more now because he has a big boy bed now! The top is a twin bed (Raine's bed) and the bottom is a full-size futon (Saxon's bed). For now we're leaving it set up in couch format since that's all the bigger his crib mattress really was anyway. It seems to be ok with him, plus he kinda sinks into the crease, so he doesn't move around too much and hasn't fallen out. As a precaution, Daddy has been putting up the baby gate in the hallway so that if Sax tries to go from their room to ours, he can't accidentally fall down the stairs. (This isn't too much of a problem unless pregnant Mama needs to use the bathroom in the middle of the night!! lol!!)
We tried Sax on Prilosec liquid suspension for a while. This was a total failure. He hated, and I mean HATED, the taste of that. No matter how we tried to disguise it or hide it or mix it into anything else, he still wouldn't take it. Well, Vicki came through for us again. She called and asked if she had heard me right when I said before that Sax was swallowing his enzymes whole. This was GREAT for the little man!!! There is a 10mg Prilosec capsule that is very similar in size to Saxon's Creon 12, which is the right dosage for him. Well, since he'll swallow his enzymes, we just told him it's like a white enzyme, and he swallows it with no problem! If this works like it's supposed to, it SHOULD cut down on his tummy problems even more, help him absorb more of his food, and boost his weight. We're keeping our fingers crossed! He's already started eating more!
We are also monitoring Sax's weight since at his last appt he was down again. I have set up bi-weekly weigh-ins with the clinic here in town. Last week, Sax weighed in at 14.2 kg. Today, when I had to take him in to Urgent Care, he weighed in at 14.4 kg. Pretty good for only a week.
Yes, we were in Urgent Care today. Not fun. Tuesday Raine had been sent home from school with a sore throat and fever. She's started a cold around Saturday or Sunday with a little coughing and a runny nose. Took her into Urgent Care when the school said that strep throat was going around. Sure enough, strep and an ear infection. 10 days of antibiotics for her. I kept her home Wednesday, per doctor's orders, while the antibiotics took effect. Wednesday night she was up half the night blowing her nose and coughing again like she did Tuesday night, so I kept her home on Thursday too.
The problem with having a sick child at home is that the other will usually end up sick. I'm surprised it took as long as it did.
I tried to keep the kids separate, Raine kept her hand sanitizer and Kleenexes with her at all times. (Poor girl has been blowing her nose so much that she's been having nose bleeds.) I told her she needed to rest so that she'd feel better. Couldn't send her to her room to lay down because then the little man wanted to be up there. He wouldn't nap and would just keep her up, so I just told her to lay on the couch. Her number 1 complaint? "It's no fun having to rest and watch your brother play!!" Of course, this meant about every 5 minutes I was telling her to get back on the couch, or telling him to get off the couch and off his sister, or telling her to put his toys down before he spread too many germs.
Today we sent her back to school - she wasn't resting much at home anyway.
This morning, at 5 am, we got a wakeup from Sax, wanting to crawl into bed with us. And sounding congested. And gunky. And just plain clogged up. Have you ever listened to someone talk or breathe, and you just can't help but clear your throat or cough because you can just hear the junk in their throat?? That's what he sounded like. And as much as he coughed, it didn't sound like it was loosening up. Him and Mama went to sit in the recliner so that he'd be a little more elevated and could maybe breathe a little better.
Daddy did a thumps and nebby treatment on the little man about 6 am. Sax and I went to Urgent Care about 8 after dropping Raine off at school. The nurse thought it was cute that Sax knows the routine for getting weighed in - walked over to the scale and took off his shoes, then stepped up like a big boy!! We went to the exam room and waited for the doc from there. I made sure to let them know that yes, he's already gotten his flu shot (family activity Tuesday night - lol!! Except for Raine, who can't get hers until she's feeling better.)
The doc we saw today was a new one for us. Her name is Lynn Kelley and she is semi-retired. I was very surprised when I told her about Sax's CF, and she said she spent some time studying specifically in CF! She also knows Dr Henry, the other pulmonologist that we see at Mayo when Dr P is gone. We thought that was pretty cool, and she completely understood our concerns with Sax's breathing.
Sax did pretty good for his entire exam, including his throat culture. She said his lungs are sounding good and pretty clear. His O2 sats are 98% (which she said was due in part to his morning nebs), and his ears look fine. She did think his throat looked a little red and irritated and his glands are a little swollen. The rapid-strep test came back negative, but she said they will still culture it and I may get a call in a day or two if it changes. I asked if we could do an antibiotic to fight the cold/congestion and to head off the possibility of strep. She said that's exactly what she thought too - and the antibiotic will help prevent the cold from turning into pneumonia too. Sax is sounding pretty hoarse anyway and he's got a pretty nasty, barky sounding cough. It's the kind of cough that makes your chest hurt just listening to it.
We're running him on a 10 day dosing of Omnicef. Hopefully with the changed medications, we won't have the same digestive issues we've had in the past with it. Honestly I think Omnicef is about the best antibiotic he can be on since it seems to really take care of the problem pretty quickly. I was surprised that the dosage is so low (only 1/4 tsp) but Sax love the strawberry-vanilla flavor and asked if he could have more after taking it. We're keeping his treatments at 3 times per day - hopefully that will do it.
I'll post later in the week with how he's doing.
Wednesday, August 17, 2011
Checkups for Sax and baby
Haven't posted in a while, but fortunately there hadn't been anything to post about!! Saxon's checkup 3 months ago was good, with the exception of him needing to gain weight.
Yesterday we were back in Rochester for another 3 month checkup. Unfortunately this appointment wasn't all we had hoped it would be. Our first appt was with x-ray. Of course Daddy had to take him since Mama can't go in there with the little one on the way!! Sax did NOT want anything to do with the x-ray - he screamed and fought Daddy enough that he had red spots under and around his eyes. As soon as he was done with that, it was on to see Vicki and Dr Henry. Normally we would be seeing Dr P, but he is out on medical leave. He should (hopefully) be back sometime in Oct, but they're not positive.
Sax's weight is at 14.4 kg, up only .1 from his last Rochester visit, but up .4 from his 3 year checkup here in Albert Lea. Again we were told to fatten him up!! (We figured that one is a given.) He fought the throat culture like crazy too, when he had been doing them so well. Dr Henry pulled up Sax's x-rays when Vicki was done with him, and the films didn't look too well. She pointed out how there was more infiltration in the upper lobes of his lungs and along his heart line. (For now we are upping Sax's CPT to 3x per day and adding in 5 minutes of manual CPT on each side for those upper lobes. The way his vest fits, the upper lobes are where the straps are, so there isn't as much compression in that area. Hopefully this will work!!) She said there was a spot on the lower part of one of his lungs that she was concerned about. Dr Henry said the spot is either a dense clogging of mucus, or could also be a spot where part of his lung has collapsed. This showed up on the May x-ray also, I guess, but Dr P never mentioned it. Sounds like for now they are just going to watch it. Sometime next week we should have the results back from Sax's throat culture. After discussing the awful effects of Zantac with friends on CysticLife, we've also gotten Dr Henry to give Sax a prescription for Prilosec to see if that will work.
Today Mama and baby had a checkup - 21 weeks, 3 days. We found that the pocket of blood has not dissipated at all - looks to be about the same size it was before. Mama is still bleeding. Baby weighs about 1 lb now, though, is the right size, and the baby's heartbeat is strong. We weren't to excited to find out the baby still has echogenic bowel. This could mean either 1) the baby swallowed blood and it's taking a while to digest, or 2) it could be a precursor to meconioum ileus, which would mean the baby would have CF. If it is meconium ilius, the baby will likely need surgery right after birth. Of course, the surgery would have to be done in Rochester. We have told our doctor here, Dr Yahya, that we would like to have the baby in Rochester. We have already been over to see a high risk specialist there, Dr Rose. According to Dr Rose, the game plan is that we will start steroid injections at 24 weeks to help baby's lungs develop. Because of the complications I have been happening (which, according to Dr Rose, are rather rare) he said it is quite likely the baby will come before 34 weeks. He also said they would be following my pregnancy a lot closer and we would have frequent ultrasounds. I need to call him to see what the plan is. Albert Lea doesn't seem too willing to follow what the specialist says. We may end up bypassing Albert Lea altogether depending on what Dr Rose says.
Hopefully we'll find something out soon and get everyone on the same page. It's hard to manage care when people aren't communicating and the right hand doesn't know what the left is doing!!
Yesterday we were back in Rochester for another 3 month checkup. Unfortunately this appointment wasn't all we had hoped it would be. Our first appt was with x-ray. Of course Daddy had to take him since Mama can't go in there with the little one on the way!! Sax did NOT want anything to do with the x-ray - he screamed and fought Daddy enough that he had red spots under and around his eyes. As soon as he was done with that, it was on to see Vicki and Dr Henry. Normally we would be seeing Dr P, but he is out on medical leave. He should (hopefully) be back sometime in Oct, but they're not positive.
Sax's weight is at 14.4 kg, up only .1 from his last Rochester visit, but up .4 from his 3 year checkup here in Albert Lea. Again we were told to fatten him up!! (We figured that one is a given.) He fought the throat culture like crazy too, when he had been doing them so well. Dr Henry pulled up Sax's x-rays when Vicki was done with him, and the films didn't look too well. She pointed out how there was more infiltration in the upper lobes of his lungs and along his heart line. (For now we are upping Sax's CPT to 3x per day and adding in 5 minutes of manual CPT on each side for those upper lobes. The way his vest fits, the upper lobes are where the straps are, so there isn't as much compression in that area. Hopefully this will work!!) She said there was a spot on the lower part of one of his lungs that she was concerned about. Dr Henry said the spot is either a dense clogging of mucus, or could also be a spot where part of his lung has collapsed. This showed up on the May x-ray also, I guess, but Dr P never mentioned it. Sounds like for now they are just going to watch it. Sometime next week we should have the results back from Sax's throat culture. After discussing the awful effects of Zantac with friends on CysticLife, we've also gotten Dr Henry to give Sax a prescription for Prilosec to see if that will work.
Today Mama and baby had a checkup - 21 weeks, 3 days. We found that the pocket of blood has not dissipated at all - looks to be about the same size it was before. Mama is still bleeding. Baby weighs about 1 lb now, though, is the right size, and the baby's heartbeat is strong. We weren't to excited to find out the baby still has echogenic bowel. This could mean either 1) the baby swallowed blood and it's taking a while to digest, or 2) it could be a precursor to meconioum ileus, which would mean the baby would have CF. If it is meconium ilius, the baby will likely need surgery right after birth. Of course, the surgery would have to be done in Rochester. We have told our doctor here, Dr Yahya, that we would like to have the baby in Rochester. We have already been over to see a high risk specialist there, Dr Rose. According to Dr Rose, the game plan is that we will start steroid injections at 24 weeks to help baby's lungs develop. Because of the complications I have been happening (which, according to Dr Rose, are rather rare) he said it is quite likely the baby will come before 34 weeks. He also said they would be following my pregnancy a lot closer and we would have frequent ultrasounds. I need to call him to see what the plan is. Albert Lea doesn't seem too willing to follow what the specialist says. We may end up bypassing Albert Lea altogether depending on what Dr Rose says.
Hopefully we'll find something out soon and get everyone on the same page. It's hard to manage care when people aren't communicating and the right hand doesn't know what the left is doing!!
Sunday, May 22, 2011
Vacation 2011!! - Days 3 & 4
I thought there was just too much to share in one post, so here is the rest of our trip :) Saturday (May 14) started out as any of our other days, with breakfast in our cabin. Then we headed to Hill City to do a little window shopping. We had been planning on finding some Black Hills Gold jewelry, but it was way too expensive in town, and my fingers are too swollen to buy what I really wanted - a gold ring.
We spent about an hour or so wandering around from store to store, then we headed to Prairie Berry Winery. Unfortunately there was no wine tasting for me :( But Daddy was a champ and sampled a couple for me :) I brought two bottles home for after baby comes - a pear wine called Gold Digger, and a dessert wine called Strawberry Fusion. Can't wait!! We had planned on having lunch at the winery bistro, but even their kids' menu didn't seem very kid friendly.
After Daddy patiently waited for Mommy to look around the winery and he kept the kids content, we decided to head into town to the 50's Diner for lunch - major score!! The kids loved the lighted signs and the 50's decor. The waitresses were dressed in poodle skirts. The food was great - we all got shakes or malts. Sax went for spaghetti, Raine had Mac & Cheese with fries (of course!), Daddy got a chili-cheese burger with rings, and Mama got a BLT with chili-cheese fries.
The only bad part about the diner was the table behind us. I have a ton of respect for those in the military. However, the type of crude and vulgar language coming from the Army National Guards sitting behind us - in uniform, mind you! - was completely inappropriate for a family restaurant, especially when there are small children in earshot. I am VERY disappointed in these men!!
Anyway. After lunch we headed to the depot to get our tickets for the 1880 train ride. Sax was really excited that he was getting to go on a real choo-choo train! On the way from Hill City to Keystone, he sat with Mommy and Raine sat with Daddy. On the way back, Sax slept on Daddy and Raine sat by Mommy. The scenery was interesting and again we saw a lot of deer.
We spent about an hour or so wandering around from store to store, then we headed to Prairie Berry Winery. Unfortunately there was no wine tasting for me :( But Daddy was a champ and sampled a couple for me :) I brought two bottles home for after baby comes - a pear wine called Gold Digger, and a dessert wine called Strawberry Fusion. Can't wait!! We had planned on having lunch at the winery bistro, but even their kids' menu didn't seem very kid friendly.
After Daddy patiently waited for Mommy to look around the winery and he kept the kids content, we decided to head into town to the 50's Diner for lunch - major score!! The kids loved the lighted signs and the 50's decor. The waitresses were dressed in poodle skirts. The food was great - we all got shakes or malts. Sax went for spaghetti, Raine had Mac & Cheese with fries (of course!), Daddy got a chili-cheese burger with rings, and Mama got a BLT with chili-cheese fries.
The only bad part about the diner was the table behind us. I have a ton of respect for those in the military. However, the type of crude and vulgar language coming from the Army National Guards sitting behind us - in uniform, mind you! - was completely inappropriate for a family restaurant, especially when there are small children in earshot. I am VERY disappointed in these men!!
Anyway. After lunch we headed to the depot to get our tickets for the 1880 train ride. Sax was really excited that he was getting to go on a real choo-choo train! On the way from Hill City to Keystone, he sat with Mommy and Raine sat with Daddy. On the way back, Sax slept on Daddy and Raine sat by Mommy. The scenery was interesting and again we saw a lot of deer.
We kept things pretty simple on Saturday. After going on the train, we headed to the grocery store and got a few things we needed to go with supper since we were cooking over the fire at the campground. We ATTEMPTED to roast marshmallows for s'mores too, but that didn't work too well. I had a nice fire going for the steaks and hot dogs, but put the fire out to go in and eat since it was cold and VERY windy out (Did I mention that it was snowing?? It snowed most of the day Saturday - not enough for there to still be snow on the ground, but enough to make it cold!!) When I went out to start the second bundle of wood, I couldn't keep a good fire going because the wind had picked up more. Some of the wood was moldy too, which really wasn't helping the situation. We ended up making the s'mores in the microwave :/
Sunday was time to head home. Our first stop after checking out of the cabin was to go to Old McDonald's Farm. Even though our tickets were for Thursday, they still honored them for Sunday because of the bad weather. The kids had a lot of fun. Saxon tried going on the pony ride, but got scared, so Raine got to go twice and used Saxon's ticket. They got to hold and pet baby chicks and turkeys, fed some goats, sheep, pot-bellied pig, fish, piglets, ducks, geese and calves. They got to pet most of those, along with longhorns, ponies, and donkeys. They particularly enjoyed bottle-feeding the calves. It was super cute!!
Our last "attraction" to see before home was the Ellsworth Air Force Base - South Dakota Air and Space Museum. About the only thing there that the kids were interested in was the airplanes. They really didn't want to see much else. Saxon's obsession was with the helicopter and how big all the wheels were.
The rest of the way was pretty uneventful. The car acted up a few times, but we took care of that. We stopped at a truck stop in Mitchell called Marlin's for supper which was really good. We made it home about 11pm. Saxon was so happy to be home and sleeping in his own bed :) He wasn't the only one though! A few times on the trip he told us he wanted to sleep in his bed, but in spite of that, he seemed to have quite a bit of fun!!
VACATION 2011!! - Days 1 & 2
We had a wonderful vacation!! We left Wednesday night (May 11) for Hill City, South Dakota and came home on Sunday (May 15). Of course, it rained once we got to Worthington, and rained all the way there and all day Thursday. Plus there were a million deer between Rapid City and Hill city, which isn't fun at 3 am, so the going was slow there. I ended up with about 3 1/2 hours of sleep Wednesday night since we had a lot scheduled for Thursday.
We started out with Bear Country USA. It was fun, even though it was raining. Most of the pictures didn't turn out very well because of the combination of the rain and the camera flash (my digital camera display is broken, so I'm just glad so many of the pictures DID come out!!)
Next stop was Reptile Gardens. We got there in time to see the snake show, which was interesting. He had a large python, about 12 feet long, a cobra, a rattlesnake, and a couple others too. Of course I held the python. Saxon was afraid of the snakes. Raine finally braved up and pet the python though!! :) Sax was ok with the gators, snakes, and lizards that were in the cages.
We had planned on going to Old McDonald's Farm, but they weren't open because of the rain. We headed up to Mt Rushmore instead. It was still rainy and cold and it even started snowing while we were up there. Really glad we remembered to pack the hooded sweatshirts!! We had checked the forecast and it was supposed to be in the 60's and clear. But I guess in the mountains, the weather isn't that predictable!! A lot has changed at Mt Rushmore since I was there last as far as the museum and the parking. The kids seemed to enjoy it :)
We had eaten breakfast at the cabin and we packed lunch, so we checked out Chute Roosters for supper. We were sitting down to supper - leather topped tables and leather chairs - a converted barn - and Raine cracked us all up. "Geez, Mom, this place is pretty classy!" Funny stuff!! They had really good food!! Scot and I both got steak and veggies, Sax got a corn dog, and Raine got a cheeseburger, and we shared a potato appetizer. HIGHLY recommend Chute Roosters if you make it out to Hill City!!
We tried getting to bed early that night since both Mommy and Daddy we just beat. The kids had other ideas. They weren't tired since they'd slept in the car. Sax was scared, so he wanted to sleep with Daddy and Mommy, then Raine got scared, so Mommy ended up going over to sleep with her. Man is that girl a bed hog!! And a kicker!! Sax wasn't much nicer to Daddy. Actually, when I got up, Sax was sleeping with his feet by Daddy's face. Apparently he spun around all night, so Daddy didn't get much sleep either.
Day 2 - Friday - started out with much better weather than Thursday. It was only in the 50's for a high, but it was sunny :) After eating breakfast in the cabin, we headed off to the National Museum of Woodcarving. Of course the kids didn't want to sit through the video explaining who did most of the carvings, so we headed for displays after only watching a few minutes of the video. There were a few displays that were animated and activated by coins. Sax was afraid of some of them and Raine thought a few were too graphic. I thought they were really interesting. Daddy liked the train in particular.
After the Woodcarving Museum, we headed to Four Mile Old West ghost town. Raine kept asking where the ghosts were - lol!! We explained to her SEVERAL times that it's called a ghost town because it's abandoned. She still didn't get it :/ Sax was really curious and wanted to look around at the buildings. We got to see an actual spring too, with fresh water coming up. That was pretty cool. Plus the kids posed for a few pictures in the cutouts. Some of the buildings were dilapidated since the "official" tourist season hasn't started and they were still doing some repairs. But it was fun!
After the Ghost Town, we headed to Windcave National Park. At the park entrance we saw a few buffalo grazing and a couple antelope.
We were a little early for the tour, so we decided it would be a good time to have our lunch before heading down. It was pretty cool going in the cave, in spite of my claustrophobia!! We saw the original entrance to the cave... Freaky!! Don't think I'd every be able to do that!!
Once we got inside, Sax was kind of scared because it was pretty dark in there. Daddy had a pen light which he let Sax carry, so he was fine after that. Was glad we took our sweatshirts since it was about 53 degrees in there. Some of the passages were kind of narrow, and there were places we had to duck. We went down over 300 steps as we went in. Much of the walk, when we weren't on the steps, were on downward ramps. It was a little nerve-wracking in some places where the floor was wet :/ But it was still fun. We didn't see much of Raine on the tour, since she was "helping" lead the group on the tour with the park ranger.
Our next stop for Friday was the Mammoth Site in Hot Springs. I had been there about 15 years ago, so it was interesting to see how much more they had dug up since we were last there. Sax ended up crashing, so Daddy had to carry him most of the time since he was getting pretty heavy.
On the way back to the camper, we debated between going through Custer State Park Wildlife Loop or Needle's Highway. Well..... we took Needle's Highway. My first experience actually doing the driving on mountain roads. SCARY!! Daddy asked if I wanted him to drive - NO THANK YOU!! I didn't want to be the one looking down the drop-off!! We didn't see many buffalo on the way back, but we saw a LOT of deer!! And some very beautiful scenery. Of course, do you think we actually got a picture of Needle's Eye when we got up there? No. Dang it. But we saw a lot of snow up there and saw Harney Peak, which is the highest point between the Rockies and the Swiss Alps. Pretty cool :)
We'd had a pretty busy day, so we decided to just eat our supper at the cabin. Daddy got some food from the 50's Diner and shared with Sax, and Raine and I had our leftovers from Chute Roosters. But it was a good day!!
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| Our Cabin and the 'bu |
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| Breakfast in the cabin |
We started out with Bear Country USA. It was fun, even though it was raining. Most of the pictures didn't turn out very well because of the combination of the rain and the camera flash (my digital camera display is broken, so I'm just glad so many of the pictures DID come out!!)
Next stop was Reptile Gardens. We got there in time to see the snake show, which was interesting. He had a large python, about 12 feet long, a cobra, a rattlesnake, and a couple others too. Of course I held the python. Saxon was afraid of the snakes. Raine finally braved up and pet the python though!! :) Sax was ok with the gators, snakes, and lizards that were in the cages.
We had planned on going to Old McDonald's Farm, but they weren't open because of the rain. We headed up to Mt Rushmore instead. It was still rainy and cold and it even started snowing while we were up there. Really glad we remembered to pack the hooded sweatshirts!! We had checked the forecast and it was supposed to be in the 60's and clear. But I guess in the mountains, the weather isn't that predictable!! A lot has changed at Mt Rushmore since I was there last as far as the museum and the parking. The kids seemed to enjoy it :)
We had eaten breakfast at the cabin and we packed lunch, so we checked out Chute Roosters for supper. We were sitting down to supper - leather topped tables and leather chairs - a converted barn - and Raine cracked us all up. "Geez, Mom, this place is pretty classy!" Funny stuff!! They had really good food!! Scot and I both got steak and veggies, Sax got a corn dog, and Raine got a cheeseburger, and we shared a potato appetizer. HIGHLY recommend Chute Roosters if you make it out to Hill City!!
Day 2 - Friday - started out with much better weather than Thursday. It was only in the 50's for a high, but it was sunny :) After eating breakfast in the cabin, we headed off to the National Museum of Woodcarving. Of course the kids didn't want to sit through the video explaining who did most of the carvings, so we headed for displays after only watching a few minutes of the video. There were a few displays that were animated and activated by coins. Sax was afraid of some of them and Raine thought a few were too graphic. I thought they were really interesting. Daddy liked the train in particular.
After the Woodcarving Museum, we headed to Four Mile Old West ghost town. Raine kept asking where the ghosts were - lol!! We explained to her SEVERAL times that it's called a ghost town because it's abandoned. She still didn't get it :/ Sax was really curious and wanted to look around at the buildings. We got to see an actual spring too, with fresh water coming up. That was pretty cool. Plus the kids posed for a few pictures in the cutouts. Some of the buildings were dilapidated since the "official" tourist season hasn't started and they were still doing some repairs. But it was fun!
After the Ghost Town, we headed to Windcave National Park. At the park entrance we saw a few buffalo grazing and a couple antelope.
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| Original natural entrance |
Our next stop for Friday was the Mammoth Site in Hot Springs. I had been there about 15 years ago, so it was interesting to see how much more they had dug up since we were last there. Sax ended up crashing, so Daddy had to carry him most of the time since he was getting pretty heavy.
On the way back to the camper, we debated between going through Custer State Park Wildlife Loop or Needle's Highway. Well..... we took Needle's Highway. My first experience actually doing the driving on mountain roads. SCARY!! Daddy asked if I wanted him to drive - NO THANK YOU!! I didn't want to be the one looking down the drop-off!! We didn't see many buffalo on the way back, but we saw a LOT of deer!! And some very beautiful scenery. Of course, do you think we actually got a picture of Needle's Eye when we got up there? No. Dang it. But we saw a lot of snow up there and saw Harney Peak, which is the highest point between the Rockies and the Swiss Alps. Pretty cool :)
We'd had a pretty busy day, so we decided to just eat our supper at the cabin. Daddy got some food from the 50's Diner and shared with Sax, and Raine and I had our leftovers from Chute Roosters. But it was a good day!!
Wednesday, May 11, 2011
Time for a break!!
Yesterday I had to take Sax back to Urgent Care. His eyes had cleared up for a couple days, then gooped up again. His face was red and swollen up a bit, so I had a hunch, which Dr Mankoti confirmed - Sax has a sinus infection :( His sinuses are clogged, he's not able to get much out when he blows his nose. They put him on 3 mg Amoxicillan 2x per day for 14 days. Vicki is going to check with Dr P to see if he should do it 21 days instead. He seems to be feeling better already!! I was told to up his nasal spray too...
He hasn't been eating much, which was confirmed yesterday when he stepped on the scale - down to 13.7 kg :( All that hard work to get his weight up, and a sinus infection made him lose it all again. We're hoping it's not going to be too long until he gains it back!!!! And hopefully he's feeling better before we leave for vacation!!
He hasn't been eating much, which was confirmed yesterday when he stepped on the scale - down to 13.7 kg :( All that hard work to get his weight up, and a sinus infection made him lose it all again. We're hoping it's not going to be too long until he gains it back!!!! And hopefully he's feeling better before we leave for vacation!!
Saturday, May 7, 2011
Great Strides 2011
Today was Great Strides in Silver Lake!! Unfortunately, I didn't even think to take any pictures today.
Strides for Sax had a small group walking this year - just the 4 (5) of us, plus Steph and Sam. It was a beautiful day out with sunshine and temps pushing near 70!! Gotta love it, compared to the cold wind we fought last year! It was spitting rain on the way there, but fortunately it wasn't raining in Roch at all when we got there.
The walk started out pretty good, but when we got to the halfway point, Mommy wasn't sure how much further I was going to be able to go.... Once we hit the 2nd rest stop, though, things were going a lot better!! A little hydration and a bathroom break did us all some good!! Sax even decided to get out and do some walking too :) He was having a really good time.
I guess a bit of an annoyance we had to deal with - not everyone keeps their kids in control :( There were girls about Raine's age who kept passing us on their scooters, then they would cut in front of us and stop and block the path. We'd go around them and keep on our way, and pretty soon hear "Watch out!" and they would pass us, pull in front of us, and stop again. It was getting really annoying after about 4 times of them doing it. Fortunately Raine had to stop and tie her shoes, so that gave them some time to get way ahead of us.
The walk was going pretty smooth after that until we got to the half-way/turnaround point at Soldiers Field. We were taking a sit-down break while Sax ran around a bit and we had some more water and juice, and there were a couple other teams there. I was absolutely shocked when a couple members of one of the teams pulled out and lit up cigarettes!!! With all the CFers around who have lung damage and lung problems, this is just plain unacceptable!! Even though we have a smoker on our team, she knew better than to even think about lighting up because of the very nature of the event.
Are these people trying to poison the very people they are supposedly walking to save?
I sent an email to the coordinator Kathryn about this and asked that it be addressed for next year's walk, otherwise we likely won't be attending because I'm not going to risk my son's lungs.
We're also trying to (possibly) arrange to have our own Great Strides walk here in Albert Lea. They need to add one new location each year, and walking around Fountain Lake would be a beautiful walk. Kathryn will be getting in touch with me about this soon. I'm hoping if we have a closer walk location, maybe we can get more walkers to show up!!
Strides for Sax had a small group walking this year - just the 4 (5) of us, plus Steph and Sam. It was a beautiful day out with sunshine and temps pushing near 70!! Gotta love it, compared to the cold wind we fought last year! It was spitting rain on the way there, but fortunately it wasn't raining in Roch at all when we got there.
The walk started out pretty good, but when we got to the halfway point, Mommy wasn't sure how much further I was going to be able to go.... Once we hit the 2nd rest stop, though, things were going a lot better!! A little hydration and a bathroom break did us all some good!! Sax even decided to get out and do some walking too :) He was having a really good time.
I guess a bit of an annoyance we had to deal with - not everyone keeps their kids in control :( There were girls about Raine's age who kept passing us on their scooters, then they would cut in front of us and stop and block the path. We'd go around them and keep on our way, and pretty soon hear "Watch out!" and they would pass us, pull in front of us, and stop again. It was getting really annoying after about 4 times of them doing it. Fortunately Raine had to stop and tie her shoes, so that gave them some time to get way ahead of us.
The walk was going pretty smooth after that until we got to the half-way/turnaround point at Soldiers Field. We were taking a sit-down break while Sax ran around a bit and we had some more water and juice, and there were a couple other teams there. I was absolutely shocked when a couple members of one of the teams pulled out and lit up cigarettes!!! With all the CFers around who have lung damage and lung problems, this is just plain unacceptable!! Even though we have a smoker on our team, she knew better than to even think about lighting up because of the very nature of the event.
Are these people trying to poison the very people they are supposedly walking to save?
I sent an email to the coordinator Kathryn about this and asked that it be addressed for next year's walk, otherwise we likely won't be attending because I'm not going to risk my son's lungs.
We're also trying to (possibly) arrange to have our own Great Strides walk here in Albert Lea. They need to add one new location each year, and walking around Fountain Lake would be a beautiful walk. Kathryn will be getting in touch with me about this soon. I'm hoping if we have a closer walk location, maybe we can get more walkers to show up!!
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