July came and went before we knew it! But looking back, we sure were busy. Here's a recap of how we spent our time during the seventh month of the year :-)
***
We started out the month by heading to Pittsburgh for a few days. We hadn't made the trip home since last summer, and, of course, we didn't have Kate then. So we figured it was time that we took her for her first taste of the Burgh. We flew out on the 4th of July, and the whole family was decked out in our red, white and blue to show our pride. We were able to take a direct flight, and Kate was super the whole time we were traveling. We had an action packed couple of days filled with friends and family. It just so happened that at the same time we were visiting, my cousin Garrett, who lives in Colorado, was visiting with his wife and daughter, and my cousin Alyssa and her new husband were in town from Colorado. It had been years since I'd seen them, so we had a bit of a family reunion. We had enough time to visit my grandma (who is 97!!) and she seemed to really enjoy meeting Kate. We also go the chance to check out my dad's new house and to eat some very yummy food. Unfortunately, we were so caught up in everything that was going on that we failed to take any pictures! Despite the lack of photographic documentation, we had a great visit, and are looking forward to going back at the end of September.
-- Arriving at the terminal in St. Louis...all mom had was her crappy iPhone...why don't the pictures in the commercials ever look as bad as this?? --
-- We had a chance to do some shopping while we were visiting, and we picked out this bandana for Copper...I thought I'd try it out --
***
We took our first family vacation this summer when we joined
the Notz family for a few days along the river in Bellevue. Bouck and Lisa were nice enough to offer up
the cabin to all of us, and we were excited to relax with the family for a few
days. We’d taken a few car trips since
Kate was born, and had already realized that space in the car was pretty
limited, so we’d started looking for a new vehicle when summer started. After hours of research and cost comparisons,
and several test drives, we purchased a 2012 Chevy Traverse at the end of
June. When we started packing for the
Iowa trip, I realized just how great that decision was—we filled the Traverse
up, and we filled it up fast! Kate and I
loaded ourselves into the new car, and Brandon and Copper set up shop in the
Corolla (which we kept in the family—Shiloh and Dakota are now driving it
around!), and we headed off to Iowa. The
weather was beautiful for our visit. The
kids spent some time in their little pool outside, rode bikes, and played
together. Brandon got to spend some time
out on the river, and Copper got to sniff around until his little nose was
tired. We actually got Kate onto some
type of a nap schedule, and have been able to continue that trend ever since
(she’s now napping at home for 60-90 minutes in the morning and in the evening,
but unfortunately, doesn’t do the same at school). We had a family party to celebrate Shiloh and
Dakota’s 21st birthday a bit early, which gave us a chance to visit
with everyone and marvel at how big all of the kids have gotten. We also took across the river to Chestnut
Mountain, in Galena to ride the Alpine Slide.
The view from the bluff was so pretty that before we left, we snapped a
few group pictures. When it was time to
head back home we were sorry to go, but so thankful for the opportunity to take
a little break from the hustle and bustle of everyday.
-- Kate Bug close-up! --
-- Relaxing in the morning sunshine --
-- Kye wonders what, exactly, you think you're doing? --
-- View of the river from the cabin --
-- Copper enjoying the fresh air and sunshine --
-- Kate will love swinging here someday --
-- The cabin <3 --
-- Ahoy matey! --
-- All tuckered out after a day in the sunshine --
-- Playing with my cousins --
-- Cousin pic --
-- Laughing with Mommy and Grandma Brenda --
-- Taking a little bike ride with Kye --
-- Just hanging around at Uncle Shiloh and Uncle Dakota's party --
-- Catching up --
-- Hanging on for dear life! --
-- Snyder family picture --
-- Group shot from Chestnut Mountain --
***
Once we returned from Iowa, we had a few days to get things
in order before our next adventure began.
On July 26, my mom came into town to visit for a few days. Kate and I picked Joma (as we call her) up at
the train station and then headed home to get ready for the Relay for Life,
which was scheduled to start that evening at 6:00. I’d mentioned the RFL on the blog before, and
had been working to make sure that our team had maximum participation and was
organized enough that the event was fun and not a hassle. I hit up Sam’s Club for water and snacks,
baked some goodies, sent out email after email, and even purchased decorations
for our team campsite. We were excited
to participate and were thankful that Joma was there to keep Kate for the
night, although all four of us headed over to the track around 4:30 to set up
our team campsite and walk the first few laps together. The team began to arrive and we all gathered
together for the opening prayer and the National Anthem, and then, all of a
sudden, Kate started gagging. And
gagging. And gagging. Turns out that while she was playing, she
must have plucked one of the tiny Mylar stars from the garland we had used to
decorate the campsite, and then tried to swallow it, and it got stuck in the
back of her throat. Now, to be clear,
she wasn’t choking, and she could breathe the whole time, but it was really
scary just the same. After a call to our
after-hours pediatrician, we ended up quickly packing her up and heading
downtown to the emergency room at St. Louis Children’s Hospital. We had a wonderful experience at the
hospital. The staff was wonderful and we
were seen quickly. There were large fish
tanks in the waiting room that seemed to distract Kate and help calm her
down. By the time we were taken to an
exam room, she was back to her old self, smiling and playing. We think that once she calmed down, she must
have been able to swallow the star the rest of the way. They did an xray just to be safe, made sure
she could eat, and then sent us on our way.
We returned home and got Kate settled, then Brandon headed back to the
RFL to support the team. I followed a
few hours later to help close out the event.
All in all, it was successful, and much more exciting (and stressful!)
than we had imagined.
After our eventful Friday night, the rest of Joma’s visit
was relatively uneventful. Our streak of
beautiful weather continued and we spent lots of time outside in the yard,
enjoying the sunshine (Brandon and I were even able to sneak off and run a few
errands together…we said, ‘hey, let’s run out and do such and such…and off we
went, no kiddo or diaper bag… it was the strangest thing!). Kate really enjoyed spending time with Joma,
and I really enjoyed watching them interact together. Visits like these are so nice, but they
always leave us a little sad and wishing we were closer to family. Hopefully we won’t have to wait too long to
see everyone again!
-- Kate's snack of choice at the Relay for Life...Mylar garland --
-- One of the perks of the ER at the Children's Hospital? Baby-sized paper towel dresses --
-- Kate and her Joma --
-- Taking advantage of the beautiful weather --
-- Copper snoozes in the shade --
-- Keeping watch --
-- Quality time :-) --
-- One of Mommy's favorite pictures --
-- Spending some time in my baby-sized chair --
***
July also marked Kate’s nine month birthday. We took advantage of the nice weather and
took her pictures outside. I can’t
believe that the next milestone will be her first birthday!
***
I wanted to take some time to give a little shout out to Brandon for doing an awesome job of finding Kate a new playset...he found this little gem on Craigslist, went and picked it up and then put it back together. Kate LOVES swinging on it...thanks Daddy!!
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