A whirlwind of a vacation and then a whirlwind of sickness all when Phoenix turns 18 months!

A couple of weeks ago on Sunday the 12th of July we had a neighborhood picnic. It was a great success. We had over half of the neighborhood in our park grilling food and spending time together. The only picture I managed to capture was of Phoenix chilling with Nishka. Phoenix was in love with their chairs and spent most of the time climbing up and down the chairs. 

Axel attended Vacation Bible School for the first time, at Westgate Church,  now that he is old enough. He had the most amazing time. We picked him up an hour early to head to the airport on Thursday the 17th. He was bummed to miss Friday, but he was also excited to see his old buddy Mason. We were headed to Camas, Washington to visit an old coworker and friend of mine/ours (Kaia and Andrew) and Axel's old daycare mates (Mason and Carter). Axel is wearing his VBS t-shirt below that says living inside out, looking at the plane that just crashed on television. Hence, his mouth opened.

 On Friday we enjoyed some time at a local park and then a lovely hike through their local woods.

 Mason's little brother, Carter, who isn't so little, is running with Axel in the picture below.

 The views were breath taking.

 Here are the three boys at our turn around spot. As you can see Carter and Mason are almost the same size even though they are two years apart.

 On Friday afternoon we hung out in their backyard and Andrew grilled up the tastiest steak Keith and I have had in quite awhile.

 On Saturday we headed to Bonneville Dam. On our way we stopped at the look out for Beacon Rock. You can hardly see it in the distance on the left hand side of the picture, but once we arrived at Bonneville it looked much bigger than the image below. The Columbia River was amazingly beautiful no matter where we saw it from.

 A family picture of the backdrop outside of Bonneville Dam.

 The Generators!

 The kids playing with the generator displays.

 The Eight of us on our own personal tour. I was the lucky one who got to wear the ranger's hat, although it looks funny sitting on top of my sunglasses :)

 We got to go underneath and look at the fish going through the fish ladder. The lamprey like to stick to the window. They were a little interesting looking to me.

 We got to see plenty of other fish right their way up the fish ladder, although you can't see them as clearly. Currently the salmon are making their way to the other side of the dam.

After the visit to the dam we enjoyed a picnic and hike along the Columbia River. 

 It was a beautiful day.

 We even got to see a giant slug!

 Here is a great picture that Keith got of Phoenix on our way home. Here first modeling wind pose :)

 After nap time we enjoyed making very delicious home made ice cream together and another tasty meal grilled by chef Andrew.

We left early on Sunday to get home and get ready for the next week. 

Axel had another week of swim lessons planned. Unfortunately, on Monday daddy came down with a bad cold and stayed home from work. I felt the onsets of it but was pushing through my short work week until I got a phone call from daycare on Wednesday morning at 9:30am. Axel had also come down with the virus and had a fever. I was actually really glad to go and pick him up because I also felt quite feverish myself. Axel took a monster nap of 3.5 hours once we got home and I was in and out of sleep for nearly 3 hours myself. After Axel got up to eat a little food he went back to bed for a couple of hours. I had to carry him to and from the car in order to pick Phoenix up from daycare. This was only the second time I remember him being as sick.

 Luckily, Axel was feeling better on Thursday, but was still running a mild fever. We skipped swim lessons for the second day in a row and headed to the library to get more Magic Tree House books and then to Phoenix's 18 month check up. I told our Pediatrician that the entire house was sick and that Phoenix would likely be next, but we both decided she should get her immunizations anyways. Within 2 hours she had a fever. I can't remember the last time I had the privilege of holding Phoenix so much. It wasn't until Saturday morning that her fever broke.

Unfortunately, when I went to change her morning diaper I noticed that she had a big pocket of fluid/mass under her knee. It looked infected, whatever it was. I immediately called the advice nurse and we received the bad news at the doctor's office, later that morning, that most likely it was a staph infection or worse yet MRSA. It really makes me mad because she had fallen while we were hiking and the little scrap seemed to heal quite quickly. I had no warning signs what so ever that the little scrap was going to get infected. Now she is on this super strong antibiotic to kill whatever kind of infection it is. How has our environment gotten so bad that the doctors won't even culture it and just give the strong medication anyways? The doctor said, "most staph infections are resistant anyways, so even if it is Staph and not MRSA, you will still need Clindamycin." Good thing is her gross little mass is almost gone after a few doses. I hope that she doesn't have to go on this for a long time or ever again!

In other news her stats at her 18 month check up are 20 lb 15 oz (although with clothes and shoes on she only weighed 20 lbs 9 oz on Saturday after being sick for a couple of days) which is the 28th percentile. Her height was 32 3/4 inches, which is the 80the percentile! Her head circumference was still in the 20th percentile at 17 3/4 inches. She is growing really well!

I was able to capture this cute picture on Monday the 21st (Phoenix, 18 months) of the kids eating apples before dinner. So cute!

I had forgot to mention in the last blog that Axel had started taking showers. He is really proud of himself for being such a big boy. Well, Phoenix felt quite left out and decided that she wanted to take showers with Axel as well. Lets just say after a few times Phoenix decided it wasn't for her, but Axel still really enjoys them. Now bath time gets a little tricky when they don't want to get clean together, but I understand that Axel will be showering independently in the very near future!

We are all on the road to recovery and hope to be 100% healthy by the end of the week. Axel has space camp and swim lessons all week so we are hoping that he wakes feeling good since he has such a fun filled week. Good thing he put himself to sleep at 6:30 pm tonight!

Visitors, The Zoo and More!

On Sunday night Keith made his second delicious peach pie. On Monday Grandma Sonia and Grandpa Bruce arrived. 

 We had a mellow day hanging out around the house as they arrived late in the morning.

On one of our trips to the park I caught Phoenix being her silly self with her hair bands. She knows they go around her head/hair, but she is always coming up with a new way to put them on!

 On Tuesday we celebrated daddy's birthday by going on a long ride and having a BBQ. Grandma and pa took the kids to miniature golf while we rode.

 Apparently, Axel got multiple holes in one. Go Axel! Phoenix had more fun watching others play and playing with the balls then actually putting.

 Daddy grilled a great meal. We all enjoyed the beautiful weather and a pleasant evening together.

On Wednesday we went to Jack Fischer Park in the morning. Axel and Grandpa rode/ran around the entire park multiple times while Grandma pushed Phoenix on the swing. After an hour or so we headed home because the wind was blowing such a cool breeze Phoenix was shivering. We decided to stay close to home in preparation for the Happy Bird show that was at our local library that afternoon and Axel's hip hop class that evening. 

 As usual everyone had a great time. Axel sat by himself at the front of the kid section. It was the first time I remember him not needing to sit by someone familiar. He was clapping and thoroughly enjoying himself. Grandma/pa also enjoyed seeing the show for the first time. Phoenix was mesmerized by the birds and was fully enthralled the entire 45 minutes. Grandma and Grandpa also seemed to enjoy watching Axel's hip hop class. They even memorized the routine and practiced with Axel at home after class.

 On Thursday we headed to the Oakland Zoo. We were blessed with a hassle free trip the entire time.

Phoenix and

 Axel had a great time!

 I captured a few really good pictures of the animals, but decided to just share photos of us viewing them :)

 Once we made it through the entire zoo we went on the train ride to check out the Emus.

 And after the train ride the kiddos hopped on the Merry Go Round.

 Axel went on twice as I accidentally purchased an extra ticket, which he didn't mind at all!

 Both kids were completely wiped out.

 Phoenix closed her eyes as we were pulling out of our parking spot and Axel nodded off after about 15 minutes on the road. I was so proud of Axel for walking and/or running the entire day. Usually he wants to sit on the end of Phoenix's stroller. It was a perfect day!

On Friday morning we went out to Mimi's for breakfast and then said goodbye to Grandma and Grandpa. We had a lovely visit. The kids adore them and can't wait to see them again! We are now gearing up for our big neighborhood picnic tomorrow and our trip to Vancouver, WA next week.

Birthdays, July 4th and more!

Here is a photo of Axel and Phoenix with Max and Sophia, the neighbors that moved to Singapore, they came for a visit a couple of weeks ago. Axel made sure to be King of the house when his friends were over. Phoenix has recently mastered the sit and spin and now tries to do it standing and then pretends to fall over laughing. 

Last Saturday, on my birthday we spent the day at the beach in Aptos, CA. My work had their annual picnic here for the first time. It was a beautiful day.

The kids had a great time playing in the sand. Keith and I played catch for a short bit and enjoyed playing in the sand with the kids while visiting with my coworkers.

When we got home we enjoyed a mellow dinner and some yummy ice cream cake thanks to Daddy!

Recently, the kids and Keith purchased a bird house. My neighbor gave us a bird bath for my birthday and the kids and I picked up a bird feeder at the hardware store. We have had lots of birds and SQUIRRELS eating the bird seed. We can't wait to get a bird to use our bird house for their babies. The kids and I were a little bummed to see the squirrels eating the bird seed so we are on constant look out to scare them off and make room for the cute birds that we have seen using the bird feeder for a source of food.

Last Sunday, Daddy took us out to our favorite restaurant, The Pastaria in Los Gatos.

We all enjoyed a delicious meal!

On the 4th of July we headed to Grandma Susan's house. Grandpa Brian and Grandma prepared an amazing steak dinner. The kids had a blast playing with the Grandparents, their toys and each other.

Here is my pretty princess. I had to take a selfie, because I wanted to make sure I got a picture with both of the kids :)

After dinner we headed to the Rancho Cordova Festival/Carnival. Daddy and Phoenix had to turn around and go back to Grandma's house because Phoenix was too tired and overheated. The rest of us continued the 3/4 of a mile walk to the fun and games.

After years of talking about riding the train that runs around the park, we finally did it!

Here is my selfie of Axel and I sitting on the train. You can tell by Axel's face it was really hot out!

Here is Axel with Grandma and Grandpa after the long train ride.

When we got back home we discovered that Phoenix was not in a good place and was too scared of her new environment to go to sleep. After a couple of hours of trying to get her to sleep, we gave up. I fed her some food and then let her join in on Axel's glow in the dark fun.

They both had a blast! Luckily, with it finally pitch dark out and a full tummy Phoenix fell asleep around 9:30pm.

Just in time for Axel, daddy, Grandma and I to go outside and enjoy the fireworks! Grandpa Brian was tired from his long work week and headed to bed early.

Axel had an absolute blast being up late and .......

watching his first fireworks show! We are extremely spoiled to view them from Grandma's driveway. Axel was in bed and asleep by 10:30pm.

On Saturday was our first annual Burgess family get together. While half of the family golfed the other half swam at my cousin's house. Phoenix was a wreck from the lack of sleep from travelling and ended up taking an hour nap in the car, while daddy and Axel got started in the pool fun. By the time Phoenix and I arrived, most of the second cousins were out of the pool and drying off.

We enjoyed some extra time with Michaela and Landon at lunch and then headed over to the BBQ, which was the big event where everyone would be together. Landon was extremely sweet with both Phoenix and Axel and we were really impressed at both Michael's and Landon's hospitality (you too Dustin!)

Here are 10 of the great grand kids. Only Braylin is missing.

A silly pose as well.

Five of the 10 cousins. The only one that I had that wasn't blurry was one with Axel hanging off of me.

The five Aunts and Uncles with their spouses.

And the two responsible for all of these offspring are (great) Grandma and Grandpa Burgess themselves!

It was great to see everyone and we hope to make it a yearly or bi-yearly ritual. We have such amazing people in our family. It is such a pleasure to enjoy each other's company. We are gearing up for Grandma Sonia and Grandpa Bruce's arrival tomorrow. We can't wait to spend the week with them and celebrate daddy's birthday on Tuesday!