Botanical Gardens Japanese Celebration

 Every year the Botanical Gardens puts on a Japanese Celebration.  They make beautiful lanterns and place them throughout the gardens.

My friend Michelle and I decided to get out and see them. 

We went during the day, so we didn't see everything lit up, but they were amazing during the day, I can't imagine how cool they would look at night!

 My kids absolutely love the Hedge Maze. I love it because there is only one way in and one way out, so they can go play and not get too lost.  : )

 Building a log cabin.

 This thing is made entirely of china dishes.  It was amazing.  Plates, bowls, & spoons. 

 Playing dress up in front of the green screen.  We sure love the Botanical Gardens!

Our Adventure

 Is there anything better than waking up to the morning glow streaming through your open window as a cool breeze ruffles the curtains? Then going out to ride big wheels as the sun comes up in your pajamas?

...and then everyone ran into the house because Grandma's delicious pancakes were ready to be eaten!

We went home for a quick weekend trip to visit family and get Sterling's car since he will be gone for 2years, so Matt can use it to get to work every day! (Yay! The kids and I are no longer home bound during the day!)


It was so fun to have Grandma and Grandpa all to ourselves.  We don't get to spend so much time with them it seems.





The weather was perfect too! So we played out in the open spaces a lot.

 I love these.... Houston told me he wasn't going to give me a smile.... I think I got it.

 Matt left Sunday afternoon to go back home and get to work, but since we now have two cars... the kids and I stayed to visit with my family till Thursday.

We had a great time!

Since Grandma and Grandpa work during the day we had a lot of down time.  It was nice to not have anywhere we needed to be and just enjoy.

 This drainage tunnel is the highlight of our walks for the boys. It goes under the road and is SO cool.  I remember as a kid being told that a gang lived in there and they would kill you if you went too close. I was terrified of it till I was about 17.

We did have a couple injuries though. One ER visit. It was all Heath.

The first one happened when He and Houston were wrestling in the living room.  Houston came running to me and said, "Heath had a quarter in his mouth and it slid down and it is stuck!"

I ran to check on Heath. He was still able to breathe but could feel the quarter stuck in his throat. I called Matt and he said to just take him in. Better safe than sorry. I swear things like this always happen when we are away from Matt.

I called my Mom to see how far she was from being home.  The poor lady was at Sams with a mostly full cart.  When I called she left the cart and came strait home to be with Houston and Hannah.  What a super Grandma.

Heath and I went into the ER. Mercy has a great pediatric ER if you ever need a good place to go. We were like the only people there, and were in and out in under an hour.  They took his vitals and decided to do an x ray to locate the quarter.  As we were walking back to the Xray area Heath turned to me with shocked eyes and said, "Mom... I just felt the quarter slide down."

Sure enough it was right down in his stomach.  The Dr we talked with said that it was good to bring him in though because when kids swallow something,  if it is not down past the diaphragm it can come back up while they sleep and cause them to choke.  Good to know for future reference. : )

They said it should be smooth sailing, but there is a tight spot just before the small intestine that is tricky, so watch his stools for several days to see if it passes and take him in if he has any bloating, cramping or bloody stools.

The next day Heath was trying to do a Tarzan swing from a low lying branch. The branch snapped and he fell flat onto his back. His head landed on a rock and split right open. We shaved, then butterflied this one. 

 Grandma and Grandpa treated us to the FIRE restaurant.  It is so deliciously yummy!

Hannah really loved the fire this time.

 Grandma also treated me to a Braums Burger! Oh how I love them!

 The last day we were there Hannah started throwing up.  It was pretty pittiful.































She was really in a snuggly mood though, so Grandma didn't mind.

 We decided it was time to go home before someone else got hurt or sick....

Mi 28th Birthday

 Heath worked super hard to make me a super awesome Pinata.  He mixed all of my favorite colors together for me! : )

Matt surprised me with a babysitter and an outing to the World Festival. It was like a huge market with vendors from all over the world.  Each country had a food tent and a tent with hand made crafts. It was so fun to walk around and see and smell everything. We stopped at Argentina's food tent and got an Empanada to share. It was amazing!   

 After the Festival Matt took me to a new Japanese Buffet we've been wanting to try that was suggested to us by our friend Karen from Taiwan.   Let me tell you. We practically had to roll ourselves out of that place.  It was so Yummy!

 Houston spread the whipped cream for my cake and Heath took my pictures.

 We had made a Chocolate Orange cake for my birthday. It was super delicious!



























It was a perfect day.  It was especially fun to spend so much of it with my best friend in the whole world!