2013/05/08 Wednesday: Zoo Date

We went to the zoo with Jamie and Miss C.  Their favorite part was that we splurged and got ice cream at the end.

Gigi is too daring.  She climbs on everything.  She hasn't made it up the fence yet, but she'd like to.  She goes to bed crying for her bike.  She wakes up asking for it.  I think she likes it.

2013/05/07 Tuesday: Baby Holding Baby

She says "I want to hold it" when referring either to babies, or to something that you're eating that she wants.  I was just a little worried she wanted to eat the baby.

The sister missionaries stopped by today.  The group we have in our ward right now is really great.

2013/05/06 Monday: Last Day of Preschool

This was our last day of co-op preschool, and Henry still skips 15 every time he counts to twenty.  We used numbers to build a skyscraper to make practice a little more interesting.

2013/05/05 Sunday: King of the Mountain

The little playground is one of the top reasons my kids always want to jump the fence and go play with the neighbors.

2013/05/04 Saturday: Timber!

This is another project that we thought we wanted to do as soon as we moved into the house, but for one reason or another, we haven't done it until now.  There were two large bush/trees in front of the windows on the west side of our house.  It kept out a lot of the already limited light, and they were pretty unsightly too.  I thought we would have to call a landscaping company to cut them down (one of the reasons for the delay) but it turns out Nick was able to cut off each branch, then push the trunk out of the ground.  It was still hard work.  Then he had to bundle the branches so the yard waste collection would take them.  It was lots of work, but you really can tell a difference in the light inside.  My friend Janette drew up a garden plan for us, but it may take us a while to get it implemented.

This morning Henry played t-ball with his friends and really liked it.  

2013/05/03 Friday: How She Rolls

We went to Savers looking for some new clothes for Gigi.  The real prize was her new bike.  She saw it, climbed on it, and wouldn't let go.  Even though I didn't think she was quite ready for it, she's showing amazing aptitude.  Sometimes she just pushes it forward with her feet (which is what makes this bike better for her than the German tricycle we already had).  I am amazed that she is actually able to petal a little bit too.  She has to sit all the way forward, and move her whole bum from side to side to do it, but she is moving.  She was crying for her bike when she went down for her nap and ran to it as soon as she woke up.  I think it was $5 well spent.

Happy Birthday Harry!

2013/05/02 Thursday: In the Swing of Things

I'd complain about the cold, but so many of our friends posted pictures of a foot of fresh snow.  So, hey, jackets at the park (and still being a little cold) aren't that bad.

2013/05/01 Wednesday: Flying Home

We had a nice time at the airport, grabbing lunch at Cafe Rio with Jessica.  We hopped on our plane, and until the last possible moment it looked like we would have the row to ourselves.  But then one more person got on the the plane, and our empty seat was the only one remaining on the plane.  It was a little weird when the new neighbor asked me how to buckle the seat belt.  She also seemed surprised by take-off, so she must not fly often.  The kids were both great on the flight, and each took a nap on board.  Caesar was also very good throughout the flight.

Nothing is harder on strollers than flying.  I don't know what they did to it, but when Southwest gave it back to me the front was all broken.  But I knew what the risks were when I checked it.

The kids (and dog) were really excited to see Nick, and so was I.

 

2013/04/30 Tuesday: They Drive Us Crazy

The five youngest Smith Grandkids (E not pictured) had a ball at the children's museum.  My mom, Shannon and myself managed to not lose any of the kids, despite the sea of 100 kindergartners playing at the museum.  They look so serious, but they were really having a good time.

In the afternoon, my mom took Henry on a Frontrunner, the commuter train, adventure.  She said he was a little hesitant to step off the platform onto the train, but once aboard loved it.

2013/04/29 Monday: Gigi's First Real Haircut

This is the before picture, and you can tell her hair is getting a little wild.  She was having lots of fun playing outside with cousin B.

Even with bribes, she didn't like the haircut all that much.  Samantha did a great job giving her cute little bangs and evening the rest out into a little bob.  We did it outside since the kids didn't want to go in, and it made for really easy clean-up. Gigi has had a "mullet trim" a couple times before, but I call this a real haircut since it's the first time we have cut hair from the front.

The kids became so dirty playing, mostly due to the fact their favorite thing to play with was a pile of dirt and little shovels.  We gave them a bath before we left Samantha's, and I think you could have planted flowers with all the dirt they left in the tub.

Afterwards we went to visit Nick's dad's family, and the kids had a great time on the playground there.  We were only able to get them back inside because it was getting dark and the other kids had to go home too.

2013/04/28 Sunday: Feats of Strength

First we have a baby, being held by a baby, being held by an adult.

Liz lifted up O, then V, then V lifted up Liz.

And Grandma got tackled by every grandkid at once, except E, who's not really mobile yet.

2013/04/27 Saturday: All Good Things

We woke up, swam in the hotel pool (since we hadn't all week,) and then drove to the LAX airport.  Nick boarded a plane to Chicago, and two hours later I boarded one for Salt Lake to go retreive our children.
When I walked in the door, Gigi shouted "momma" and wanted me to pick her up, and was clingy for the next couple of days.  Henry said, "hi, mom." and went back to playing with toys.

2013/04/26 Friday: Burn Conference Ball

Friday was the last day of the burn conference.  Nick presented his research of the persistence of anemia following burn injury.  I think he did a great job.  After each presentation, people are given the opportunity to ask questions.  A few of the questions asked were outside the scope of the presented research, such as the use (and it turns out futility) of EPO in burn patients, but Nick was able to give them good answers.  I thought to myself "That guy is totally an anemia expert."
We then went to a wound care symposium, which was fascinating.  It was an open discussion, moderated by two surgeons, one of which is with the military and retrieves burn patients from around the world.  Pharmacists, nurses, doctors, and physical therapists were all involved in the discussion.  Hospitals had very different ways of doing things.  Different products, methods, and philosophies were all discussed.  Children's hospitals had very different ideas of what should or shouldn't be treated in a patient's room.  I think some of the practices shared will lead to changes. 
We went out for ice cream in the early evening.  I thought the coconut ice cream was one of the most delicious things I had ever eaten.  Nick thought it was flavorless.  To each his own.

The evening (and conference) ended with a gala dinner.  After the dinner, there was a live band and dancing.  We joked "We must be too old, because this music is too loud."

2013/04/25 Thursday: Meanwhile Back In Utah

The kids have been doing really well at my mom's house.  People are sharing the workload of watching them for the week, but my mom is certainly taking the brunt of it.  We have been told the kids are doing really well.  I think that's largely because they get to do whatever they want, all the time, so of course they're having a good time.

We had a break in the late afternoon, and decided to take the Palm Springs tram ride to the top of the mountain.  Nick has a pipe-dream of hiking to the top (which some people do, and they are crazy.)  The temperature was about 50 degrees at the top.  We took a hike, briefly got lost, found the trail again, had a nice conversation with a researcher from Texas who Nick had seen present his experiment on wound coverage.  After the tram, we met the other participants from Loyola for dinner, and then went to the street festival.

2014/04/24 Wednesday: Steak Dinner at a Price

After a day of conference, Nick and I went to a very fancy steak dinner.  It was paid for by a drug company that manufacturers a wound care product.  So the dinner is free, but you have to eat it while looking at a power point slide of horrible wound pictures.  In reality, the product and case studies were really interesting, but the waitress was shocked that we could eat while watching it all.  We went to a drug-dinner last night for IV acetaminophen.  The drug was interesting, largely because it seems so unneeded   However, that meal was pretty terrible.  We talked with some nice local nurse practitioners that do wound care for diabetics, but it was kind of like a dinner date since no one else sat at our table.  I was not there as a doctor's wife since the government doesn't allow that anymore.  I was there as Kara, RN.  I even had to register with my license number.

I attended several presentations at the conference today that were very interesting.  A couple seemed interesting, but I didn't have the niche scientific background required to understand them.  And there were a couple of others that the presenter had such a thick accent I had no idea what they were saying.

2013/04/23 Tuesday: American Burn Association Conference Begins

Nick is presenting his research later this week, and is still spending lots of time preparing, even though I think he seems really well prepared.  He went to several lectures and presentations.  I went shopping at Ross and bought a cheap dress, some shoes (the only pair my size in the store) and a doll for Gigi.
We ate lunch at a vegetarian restaurant and had the most delicious avocado tacos.

Happy Birthday to my Dad.

2013/04/22 Monday: Palm Springs and Marilyn

We started our drive to Palm Springs by stopping for lunch at Seal Beach.  We ate at a burrito place, then took a long walk on their long pier.  There were lots of people fishing, and one fisherman caught a manta ray.  It was pretty awful to watch the process of them lowering a net basket to pull it up so they could remove the hook and then throwing it back.

We stopped at the Sketchers factory outlet when we saw it off the freeway.  Nick has been needing some new shoes.  He found a couple pair, but the real prize was Gigi's new shoes.  She played with shoes just like these at a friends house and obviously loved them.  I tried to buy her some, but no one had them in her size.  Sketchers only had one pair, but they fit Gigi so it was a lucky find.  I would have bought the next size up too if they had it.

The shoes light up along the top front and the size.  They are very good at getting people's attention.

We arrived at Palm Springs and checked into our hotel, which is beyond nice.  In exploring town a little, we discovered the same tacky statue of Marilyn Monroe that was in Chicago is now here.

2013/04/21 Sunday: Our California Adventure

Nick had never been to California Adventure before.  It was another perfect day of amusement.  The new Cars land is very charming.  We saw the "World of Color" show, which was amazing.  Nick loved the Aladdin show because of it's many technical tricks and amazing theater. (He worked in a theater all through high school, and considered technical theater as a career path.)  We also enjoyed watching other people struggle with their own tired and crying children, while we partied without ours.  I love our kids and look forward to bringing them here, when I think they're old enough to handle it.  They both need to grow a foot taller, go without naps, and get over the fears of loud noises and the dark before they would think it's any fun.

2013/04/20 Saturday: The Happiest Place on Earth without Kids

We were in the park from just after it opened until they shut it down.  It was awesome.  I went to Disneyland a lot as a child, but to do it in a group of less than ten and to have no small children with you is a whole different experience.  I loved it, in large part because I love spending time with Nick.  Also, Disneyland is inherently fun.  We agreed that Henry would have been afraid of about 80% of the park, and small short kids just slow you down anyway.  We rode nearly every ride, ate lunch at the Blue Bayou, took a bath on Splash Mountain, and basically had the perfect day.

2013/04/19 Friday: He Admits it Could Be Fun

I left the kids with my mom/Kate/Liz/Toots/the rest of the village, and left for Los Angeles.  I had to wait in the airport for a couple of hours for Nick to show up.  When I saw that he was wearing a Mickey Mouse t-shirt, I took it as a sign that he was finally conceding that Disneyland was going to be fun.
We rented a car, had dinner at the LA Farmer's Market (where we totally got hosed for parking,) then tucked ourselves in at our motel across the street from Disneyland.

2013/04/18 Thursday: Meanwhile in Chicago

This is our car, sitting in a river in front of our house.  The rain was intense enough we were a little worried about our house flooding, and we don't even have a basement.  Many people with basements had serious water and sewage problems.  A couple miles downriver, people had to be rescued from their houses by boat.  I feel we have made another lucky escape by not having a basement.  If we did ever buy a house with a basement, I would insist on it having what they call an "overhead sewer."  The only people who had basements still dry had that in place.

Georgia is FINALLY recovered enough that we went to see Nick's mom and our friend Hillary and her girls.  Henry got sick after Georgia and was still better before she was.

2013/04/17 Wednesday: Everyone Loves Play-doh

Toots brought J down to play this morning.  They played with a fantastic play-doh set, which was Henry's birthday present from Darla.  It was a big hit, and as expected, everyone loves the extruder.
I went shoe shopping with Katie.  Sadly, I think I've moved up a shoe size, which is going to make finding shoes that fit nearly impossible, since they don't make 11 1/2, and 12 is too big.