nothin' could be finer than to be in carolina...

Matthew and the youth group went on a 10-day missions trip to Romania and we decided that it probably wouldn't be the best idea for me to stay home alone with a 3 week old along with Finn and Piper. So, we packed up and after church on Sunday, July 24, we left for NC. We drove straight through only stopping  for about 2-1/2 hours total and got to Charlotte exactly 24 hours after we left. We were surprised again at how well the boys traveled. 

On our first full day in NC, we went up to Grandma and Grandpa's house. We had a fun day of catching up and chasing after the boys. 

Grandpa and Grandma (Bama and Paka) with Ollie. 

Grandma holding Ollie.  

Grandpa and Matthew made a big swing for the kids. It was definitely their favorite thing to play with! 

Finn on the swing.  

Daddy helping Piper on the swing. 

Matthew getting ready to give Finn a big push. 

Daddy and Piper.  

On the 28th, Matthew flew home to get ready for his missions trip. It was sad saying good-bye to him knowing that Finn and Piper would miss him a ton and Ollie would be 6 weeks old when we saw him again. 

On the 29th, Mom, Dad and the boys and I met Becky and her kids, Chloe (3) and Michael (1) at the Dan Nicholas Park. They had a lot of fun on the train, the carousel, and at the splash pad. \

On the train waiting to go. 

At the splash pad. Finn was all over the place running through the water, but Piper was a lot more strategic and would stand on the circles waiting for the water to fly up. 

Piper patiently waiting for the water. 

Finn running through the whole pad. 

Introducing: Finn as cow and Chloe as sheep. They really had no idea what they were supposed to do in there as you can seen in the pictures below. 

While in Charlotte, Ollie still had to have cast change appointments set up, so Piper and Ollie's doctor, Dr. Haasbeek referred us to Dr. Steven Frick. At the last minute, I decided to bring Piper along and just see if Dr. Frick could take a quick look at his clubfoot and see if he had any recommendations for us. The minute Dr. Frick walked in, he started asking about Piper as he had read the family history. He did a total examination on Piper and watched him walk, etc. He said he has a rocker-bottom foot, which explains the look of Piper's foot and he explained about Piper's empty heel pad and what treatments were available to attempt to bring it down again. (Piper's heel cord has tightened up a little and is bringing his heel up higher and is not in his heel.) I really appreciated him taking twice the time with us than he was supposed to and answering my many questions. Dr. Frick also gave us some information on some genetic testing that we can go through to try and figure out this clubfoot thing in our family. We are trying to get it through Dr. Haasbeek. 

Dr. Haasbeek had told us that he'd let Dr. Frick decide if Ollie was ready for his heel tenotomy procedure. When Piper had his done, he was 10 weeks old, couldn't eat after midnight the night before his surgery (ended up being 9 hours straight that Piper couldn't eat), had to go into the hospital and be under general anesthesia. Matthew and I had decided that we would wait to do this at home since it's a rather big ordeal, even though it's a simple procedure. However, Dr. Frick said his foot was ready for the procedure and that it would take about 2 minutes in office. SIGN ME UP! No hungry and crying baby, no hospital admission, no general anesthesia, no recovery! There was really nothing to think about. Of course, I couldn't call Matthew to talk it over with him, but this was the best thing for Ollie, so I signed the papers. 

Holly holding Ollie after his cast was removed. He ended up having 2 less casts than Piper did. 

This is all the 'equipment' needed for his heel tenotomy. I gave him his bottle, they gave him an injection of local anesthetic, waited about 30 seconds, pinched his ankle skin to make sure he wasn't feeling it and then put the scalpel in right behind the heel cord, turned it posterior and cut through. He didn't even need a stitch. They put gauze around his ankle, wrapped it and then put his final cast on. He wore it for 3 weeks and Dr. Haasbeek removed it a couple of weeks ago. 

Nana reading to Finn

Nana and Ollie

Our second trip to Grandma and Grandpa's was just for part of the morning. We stayed outside and the kids played on the swing for hours. 

Becky and Michael. He is such a photogenic baby. I think every picture of him turns out great. 

Finn

Piper

Chloe on the swing

Chloe right off the swing. I think she had a good time. 

Finn swinging

Chloe giving Piper a hug. 

A big hug!

Holly, our photographer

Oh my, this picture was pretty tough to get. In this first one, Piper and Michael are looking at the camera. 

In this second one, Finn and Chloe are looking. I supposed we could just photo shop them together...

Finn was thirsty so Grandma took him into the house to get a drink. I love the next few pictures. It's a perfect example of sweet Grandma helping Finn. 

The boys and I

Grandpa talking to Piper

Bama and Paka with their great-grandchildren. 

Finn and Chloe swinging together. I think it was a fun idea, but Chloe ended up getting really scared. 

My turn! This was right before Holly pushed me into the tree.

Papa and Finn 'watching' a movie. 

Piper, Finn and Papa.

Finn practicing taking pictures. He did a pretty good job. 

Well, an okay job.

  

I think the blocks were Piper's favorite toy that Nana and Papa had. 

Ollie got a bad cold while we were there and I took him in because he was having such a hard time breathing at night. We took him to Urgent Care and they referred him to the ER for breathing treatments. In the ER he had the nicest nurse and doctor. 

Waiting for the ER doctor to come in. Holly and Ollie. 

His sweet doctor. He was very kind and explained everything that was going on very well and made sure I knew exactly what to do when we got home. 

After his examination, he swaddled him. I've never had a doctor do that and thought it was pretty special. 

Chloe turns 3!  Chloe had her 3rd birthday party at a park and for the first time the boys were able to go to her birthday party! She wanted a pirate party so Nana got the boys pirate hats, patches and swords. They got to decorate their treasure chests, dig for treasure in a sandbox, get tattoos and walk the plank (a board over a kiddie pool with water in it. 

Pirate Finn before walking the plank. 

Pirate Piper and Papa. Piper's favorite thing for the day was running away. I was very unimpressed, but he loved the game.

Holly, Ollie and I. 

Pirate Sumner. When we pulled into the parking lot of the park, my mom saw Sumner walking around and thought to herself, "what kind of people are going to be at this park?". Turned out to be her son-in-law. 

Chloe and Finn after he walked the plank and fell in the water. And he didn't just fall in, he teetered on the plank, fell on his back in the water and then the plank fell on top of him. It was very dramatic and he was soaking wet for the rest of the party. Everyone else was envious of him since we were so hot, but didn't have the nerve to jump in the kiddie pool of water. 

Grandma and Grandpa at the party. 

I love how they still sit and talk and care for each other. 

The pirate with Piper, Finn, Ollie and I. 

Since Finn was soaking wet, we took his clothes off of him and left him in his underwear for the ride home. As you can see, he didn't mind at all. 

Piper fell right to sleep after all the running away that he did. 

Ollie sleeping, as always. 

While we were in Charlotte, my best friend from school, Christy and I got to meet up with the kids in the afternoon and then later that night we went out for dessert. It was so much fun having the kids together and then going out for an adult night (something we both don't get to do a whole lot). I miss you, Christy!

Back to Grandma and Grandpa's house! We set the record for the most visits to G&G's house in one trip. It was great seeing them that much. This time we went for the morning and lunch. The kids played on the swing and in the sprinkler and then we had picnic lunches that we had brought and we ate under the pecan tree. It was perfect and the kids had a lot of fun. 

Piper hanging out in the shade. It was pretty warm out. 

Grandma feeding Ollie

Chloe in the cutest bathing suit I've ever seen. 

Piper squirming to get down. This was about the best picture we got. 

Michael, Chloe and Piper playing in the water. Michael was sitting on a riding toy that just happened to be in the line of water spraying on him. He didn't want to get off of his toy though so he just sat there in the sprinkler and cried until Becky saved him. 

Soaking wet Piper on the back deck. 

Finn with pudding on his face. 

Finn loves pudding or anything else messy. He reminds me of Sarah when she used to eat an ice cream cone. She COULD NOT eat one without it getting all over her face! Even though I'm 2 years younger than Sarah, I knew she was a messy ice cream eater. 

Piper eating fruit snacks. 

Ollie drinking milk. 

Chloe eating her lunch

Another great picture of Michael. 

Ollie

A good picture of Grandma and Grandpa. 

Nana and Ollie. 

Back at Nana and Papa's house playing with the train. 

Piper found Matthew's peanut M&Ms from his trip and then proceeded to stuff them all into his mouth. What a cute mess he was!

We left Mom and Dad's house that afternoon and had family pictures taken. While we were there and having individual family pictures taken, Grandma and Grandpa were sitting on a bench together. The four of us girls noticed that they were holding hands...just sitting together holding hands. They've been married for over 61 years. I appreciate their great example of marriage and love for each other.