A trip to the beach!

On our D.C trip I looked at a map and about died at how close and yet so far we were from the ocean.  Tyler promised that at some point in the next year we would go, but that wasn't good enough so we did some talking and figuring and decided to make things happen.

 We decided on Ocean city, MD somehow, and looking at it on a map sort of gave me the chills as I pictured a tsunami sweeping us off that little strip of land.  We didn't tell the girls but let it accidentally slip the night before we left and they went bonkers.

 It was a 6 hour drive and we left earlier in the day, but with children and food stops we didn't make it to the beach until evening.  After checking in we decided to take a stroll and look for shells- our hotel was on the beach and the whole set up was just perfect.

 Of course no one stayed dry for more than 5 minutes and Quinn just wanted to sit and be eaten by the waves.  It was exhausting holding her up because she would make her body go limp and I'd have to lift her with every wave and drag her as we walked so she wouldn't go under.  Fortunate or unfortunately this didn't last a single day and she spent the next 2 afraid of walking in the water.  I was pretty nervous because I have an crazy fear of the ocean and Tyler was strapped to Tommy and I was convinced Heidi and Alex were going to be swept away or eaten by a shark that evening.  They had no fear at all.

 The next morning we were at the beach by 8:30 am and I was surprised to see umbrellas and chairs everywhere!  Apparently people get up early and set up their stuff and then leave.  The beach didn't get crowded until later in the morning but we ended up about 3 rows back in the sand even after getting there so soon!

Tommy hung out under the umbrella in a tent and just slept while Daddy studied for boards.  We took turns watching the baby and keeping the big kids alive.

 Tyler's favorite part of the ocean were the waves.  I had told the kids not to go out past their knees (so sharks wouldn't eat them) which was impossible with the tide coming in.  Tyler kept picking them up and taking them way out so they could enjoy bouncing in the waves.  This turned out to be especially cool because of the pod of dolphins that was swimming near shore.  I didn't get a picture but Tyler took the kids out and got within 20 feet while I freaked out on shore.

 Quinn especially liked to be carried out into the waves.  She loved the ocean, but for some reason day 2 brought with it the fear of walking into the waves no matter how shallow.  She would run and cry every time a wave came in unless Tyler was holding her.

 Alex and Heidi had no fear, and the water was the perfect temperature.  It was a warm and humid day so the water didn't seem cold at all.

 We played and played and played for hours.

 As we were about to leave for lunch I went to the waves to rinse off a bucket and shovel just as a blue crab washed up with the waves!  I scooped it up and put it in the bucket and the girls were overjoyed!

We had planned on going crab fishing that afternoon but with this luck scrapped that idea and stayed and played with our new friend.

Alex adopted him as her pet and new best friend and was of course broken hearted when we made her set him free that evening.

In the early afternoon there was a thunderstorm so everyone had to clear the beach.  This gave us a chance to eat lunch, but everyone was so sandy we cleaned up while we watched the rain.  When the storm stopped we walked down he boardwalk a bit and then decided that the big kids and I would go back to the beach to play.  So we got in our suits again and decided everyone would come, went and played for 30 minutes before another storm rolled in and we had to leave.

 This time we went to the hotel pool for awhile until the kids were shivering and it was dinner.  So back to the room to change and eat.

 After dinner Quinn fell asleep and Alex, Heidi and I decided to go hunt for shells during low tide.  Back into the wet swimsuits we went and had a blast walking down the beach for hours and playing in the waves and hunting for shells.  The beach had been pretty empty all afternoon after the first evacuation and I wish I had taken my camera on our stroll because the lighting was perfect and the ocean was beautiful and the kids were in heaven.  We filled our bucket up to over flowing with every broken bit of sea life we could find- it was the perfect age to take the kids because they were super excited about every "treasure" they found in the waves and got overly excited about whole or big shells.

 Wednesday morning marked our last day at the beach and we got up and get their early enough to get a front row spot.

 We tried to get all our fun in so we could get back to the hotel, shower and check out at 11, but it was still sad to go.

 Quinn had warmed up to the water a bit and I spent nearly the whole time sitting making castles for the waves to knock down, while Tyler took the girls and enjoyed the deeper water and the waves.

 We caught a little burrowing sand creature by chance and enjoyed him for a bit.

 We ended up leaving with a grocery bag full of shells, broken crab arms and various other dead beach life that made the car smell just wonderful on the way home.

 Quinn was great at throwing beach fits, and it seemed most of the people on the front lines of the umbrella rows were older couple who came to be amused by the children and disprove of the parents.

Despite all the tips I'd found on doing the beach with kids, and our attempts at sunscreen slathering- everyone got sunburnt and Quinn ate plenty of sand.  Tommy spent the days semi wet from being held and nursed by swimmers, but never went in the water and never got sandy except for day 1 when Alex yelled "SNOWBALL FIGHT" and slung a handful of sand at Tyler (who was wearing Tommy) and I.  You can imagine how thrilled we were at that.

 I wanted to take one last picture but of course no one would cooperate as they were fighting over pinecone people.  So I took the source of contention away and got this picture as a result.

We left Ocean City and drove to Washington D.C. so we could swing by the temple and get some time in there.  We got a hotel for the night and Tyler got up early to do a session while the rest of us slept in.  I took the girls down for breakfast in a large and crowded hotel lobby and after getting everyone successfully fed with no incident and Tommy strapped to my chest I was told that I had the best behaved kids that a older couple had ever seen and that compared to their 2 year old grandson Quinn was very advanced.  I was so proud until we hit the elevator and the kids unraveled again and went nuts.  But it was a proud few minutes.

 After Washington we decided to swing up to Gettysburg and recreate a picture.  I mean why not when it's only an hour away?!  We took a similar picture exactly 2 years ago when it was a baby Quinn on Tyler's lap and couldn't pass up the opportunity to visit uncle Abe and get his blessing on another baby.

 The visitors center was crowded so we went to see the canons, or canyons and Heidi calls them.

 The weather was perfect and the kids had a blast.

Almost everyone got their picture with a cannon.

 Quinn was wearing her beach dress and looked like a complete hippie.  It made me laugh every time I looked at her.

 Tommy, though yet to cut his first tooth, was determined to throw his lot in with the North. Here he made his stand with Lieutenant Butler and his canon corps against the dreaded Colonel Sanders and his Confederate finger lickin' chicken.

 The girls gathered sticks and made weapons to aid in the battle.  Heidi chased Quinn off while saying "We are making weapons, you could get hurt!"  Quinn then became the bad guy and ran around shooting everyone and every statue with her stick, and then it turned into a directing stick for a few minutes while she led the music and it was adorable.

 Tommy was a good sport.

Of course when it came time for the fun to end Heidi was not at all pleased and stomped her way to the car. 

Tommy's breathing and the Zoo

After D.C. and during Tyler's Graduation weekend we had some Tommy drama.  Before we left and all during our trip we had noticed that he had gotten louder and louder with his squeaking.  When we got back I called the ENT referral from the pediatrician and they got us in that evening.  He put a fiberoptic camera down poor Tommy's nose and throat and saw that his vocal chords were not moving.  Previously it had been thought he had tracheomalasea where the esophagus is a bit floppy and makes the sound.

He told us we needed to go to the hospital for tests on Monday, but Sunday morning his breathing was off and he had congestion that was complicating it all.  We were really worried about his cough so we went into the ER.  The minute the triage nurse heard him she had him rushed to the drama bay where about 8 nurses and doctors were waiting.  After Tyler explained everything in medical speak and explained he was a PA, they calmed down and we waited for the ENT team to come see us.  We were admitted for the tests and poor Tommy went 12 hours without eating for the anesthesia he had for the MRI and scope.  Good news is that nothing was wrong with the MRI and the scope confirmed the bilateral paresis for the vocal chords.  We came home with a breathing and heart monitor and a slew of tests to go and do but after talking to the pediatrician we have since decided that none of them will alter the treatment plan and are pretty unnecessary at this point.  Whew!  It was a crazy weekend and we were glad Grandma and Grandpa Brady were around to watch the kids for us so we didn't have to stress about babysitters for hours and hours on end, but it was sad not seeing them while they were here!  With Tommy it seems that 80% of cases like his resolve on their own and the other 20% require surgery or have long term effects.  We are rooting for the 80% and aren't too worried now that we know the source of the dinosaur breathing.

Since we are a week away from moving we decided that we should take advantage of our proximity to the zoo while we can and went to see the new exhibits that just opened this month.

Quinn was really into the animals which was so fun and made me sad that we weren't going to be around as much this fall.  But with the big sisters in school we may just make the drive anyway to find something to do during the long quiet days.  I'm equal parts nervous and excited about the big change.  I think the girls will love it, but I worry about all the little things like friends and stress and am sad they will be gone for the majority of the day everyday.  After spending the last 2 years homeschooling I'm not quite sure what I'm going to do with my days!  Maybe healthy meals will actually become a priority and I can develops some hobby's again and maybe read a book for fun, gasp!

Quinn was obsessed with wearing Tommy's blanket on her head and saying "I'm a princess" as she walked around.  I am excited to spend quality time with that stooge everyday.  She seriously needs more Mommy attention.

At one point she wandered off while I nursed Tommy on a bench and we sent Alex to retrieve her.  Watching the attempted piggyback ride as they returned was beyond hilarious.  She is going to miss her sisters SO much.  Especially Heidi- they have become the best of friends this past month and will play WITH each other for hours.

Tyler and the girls fed a mouse their lunch while Tommy ate and I watched the elephants.

We love our Pittsburgh Zoo and I love these girls.

It was requested that I take this picture.

Quinn is still on the line between loving sister and unintentional bully.  We are emphasizing the word 'soft' right now and trying to keep her away from his eyes and eyelids.

But every now and then she is really sweet and gives him soft kisses and little hugs.  Heidi is often yelling at her in the car for pinching his fingers and taking his blanket.  She found an old pacifier which we let her adopt for car trips just so she would leave him and his alone.  None of the girls ever took pacifiers as babies but suddenly they are fascinating things.

Washington D.C.

With life being so crazy we decided it was the perfect time to go visit the temple, so the week after the 4th of July festivities we loaded into the car and decided to squeeze a trip to the temple and capital city in before Tyler's graduation ceremony.

It was a hot humid day and we were all sweating to death.  Tyler took the kids and wandered around the visitors center while I went in and then we switched.  It was madness that second hour as the kids were already bored with everything inside and it was too hot outside, but well worth it.

After the Temple we drove to the National Mall in hopes of seeing a few monuments and going to a museum or two.  It took forever to find parking and we were nearly to the Lincoln Memorial when our stomachs led us to a concession stand instead.  Bad move.

It started to rain, and then it started to pour and there was NO shelter.  Alex had randomly grabbed an umbrella from the car which saved her and Tommy (who were having their turn in the stroller) from getting soaked through like the rest of us.

We were sopping wet when we made it to the shelter of the Lincoln Memorial- It looked like we had jumped into a swimming pool with our clothes on.

It was a pretty pathetic sight.  Tommy was crying and hungry, Quinn was just sopping wet and our pretzels were soggy bread.

We spent a few moments being grateful for the humidity which kept us from freezing, and for the shelter of the awesome memorial and then decided to walk to the Washington Memorial (in the background).  About the time we got down the steps it started to rain again so we rerouted to the car and called it a day.

I remember going to a lot of these places when I was a kid with my parents on a special trip when I was about 11.  It was fun taking my kids and seeing it all through their eyes.

The kids have started dressing themselves alike on their own.  

Every now and then they come running when I call.

The next day we devoted to the Smithsonian Museums, which means we made it through 1.2 of them.  We started with the Museum of Natural History and got tickets to the butterfly room per Alex's request.

And of course we broke the rules on not touching them, because everyone else was catching them and it was Alex's dream to have a butterfly land on her.

It was pretty magical I will admit.  Especially when I giant blue morpho butterfly landed on Alex's dress and hung out for 5 minutes.

The mall is a LOT bigger in person than it looks on the map, and so walking from there to the Air and Space Museum and then back to the parking garage knocked us all out.  Quinn fell asleep in the stroller and Tyler ended up carrying and pushing ALL the kids.  It was amazing.

We stopped by the sculpture garden to soak our tired feet.

And noticed rain drops starting to fall.

So we loaded up and booked it back to the car to avoid a repeat of the day before.  It was a fun experience even if we saw less than 1/4 of what we had hoped, but it's not so far and a great excuse to head the D.C. way instead of Columbus on our temple trips.
I think the kids favorite part of the whole adventure was watching shark week in the hotel at night.