Ear Tubes

Caden has had some fluid in his ears for a while now (since his first ear infection about 9 months ago).  His pediatrician recommended that we go to an ENT to get it checked out since he's had negative pressure in his ears for quite some time - which is an indication of fluid.  So we went to the pediatric ENT and she said the type of fluid he had was thick and mucous like, so was unlikely to go away on its own.  Looking at the results of his hearing tests, she said he was hearing, just not clearly and that what he could hear, sounded like what we would be able to hear if we had earplugs in.  We decided to have her place tubes in both his ears so that they can drain the fluid and he can hear better (especially at this stage of language development).  So we went in on Thursday morning at 6:30am for an 8:00am surgery.  The procedure was quite short.  He had to be put under a general anesthetic.  He did great and here he is!  We are just waiting for him to wake up.    

Look at our sweet boy!

He has oxygen blowing in his face
 

Once we were home, he and Emma were snuggling!

Cute Girl!

 Just my cute girl!  That is all!

3 years and 1 month

Can't believe a month has already passed since Caden turned 3! 

Thanks for all your smiles buddy!

Being funny before bath time with a necklace twisted around his arms! 

Western States 100

My brother in law, Mark is absolutely crazy! He is running in the Western States 100 mile trail race. He loves doing ultra distance running. I can't even imagine how he has the will to run that far in one day. I was on his "crew" with my sister and Mark's Uncle Leo, and his Pacer - Zach, until he ran with Mark at mile 62.  I was the official photographer and support for my sister! We commiserated together about why our husbands like to do crazy endurance events (like Chris doing the Ironman and Mark doing this race). It was a very long day, but also incredible to be part of such an experience. Mark finished 82nd place in 22 hours, 29 minutes and 29 seconds. The race starts at 5am in Squaw Valley, Lake Tahoe and ends in Auburn, CA.
 

Here is all of Mark's support team!
 

Our matching sweatshirts with Mark's number on the back - 76!

Mark and his friend/pacer, Zach
 

Here's the starting line at 5am
 

Here are Mark and Zach coming into the Forrest Hill aid station at mile 62 of the race
 

I'm putting more sunscreen on Mark
 

And here he is at the finish line at 3:30am

Flour and Rice

This afternoon after naps, I gave Emma some flour to play with and just explore!  It was so much fun to see her experience this for the first time.  Caden loved it too and also discovered he loves the taste of flour - silly guy!

Sweet girl!

Hmmm...

Love that face!

We've added some colored rice into the mix

Love my little explorers

Trying flour straight up - and he likes it surprisingly!

Teepee and what a night!

 

We love to walk down to this teepee that has been made in the "forest" by our house.  We add a few new sticks each time we go.  The kids love to make music down there and drum on the seats and "play guitar" with small sticks that we find inside! 

 

Caden also had another busy night tonight!  He took everything out of his dresser before bed.  What a surprise to wake up to :)

Chrissy Field picnic

This morning was beautiful so I took the kiddos down to Chrissy Field by the Warming Hut.  We brought the tricycle and Caden loved riding around with Emma chasing after him!

Enjoying our picnic lunch!

Caden loved that this ladybug landed on his thumb!

Emma loved watching all the birds!

We enjoyed giving the bread crusts to the birds!

Holding hands on our walk after lunch.  Love these two!  

Boise 1/2 Ironman

We had a wonderful time visiting Boise!  Chris decided (a bit last minute) to do the Boise 1/2 Ironman again this year. The weather was not cooperating on race day, so the bike portion was shortened from 56 miles to about 15.  The race director was worried about people getting hypothermia because it was so windy and cold - which was too bad as that is Chris's favorite and best part of Triathlons.  Chris had a great race nonetheless.  We are so proud of him!  

Playing at the park across the street from Auntie and Uncle Mark's house

Hanging out in the morning
 

We went to an awesome trampoline place that had a ton of bouncy houses, trampolines, huge blown up slides, and a foam pit! The kiddos were so sweaty and worn out after that! They had great naps!

Hanging out with Auntie in the morning
 

We loved playing with our "cousin" Hank!

After naps, Uncle Mark, Caden, and Auntie watching Dora on the computer

Waiting for Dada to finish the race!

Yay Dada!!!
 

Nice going! Chris had a great race and no medical tent this time! Yay!!!

Emma and Mama
 

Whole family after Dada's race. Great job Dada!

After Dada's race, we visited Uncle Mark's Fire Station.  Caden loved getting to sit in the truck and "drive" just like Uncle Mark!

More driving

Emma also enjoyed exploring the firetruck

Emma and Dada

Caden, Uncle Mark, and Emma

Dada and Caden (and Hank) sliding down the slides at the park across the street

Stickers

Night 4 in the big boy bed and Caden put all the stickers from one of his Curious George books up on the wall! No wonder it took him so long to fall asleep! He was sure busy!

Clifford at the Discovery Museum

We love going to the Bay Area Children's Discovery Museum! Such a wonderful place for the kiddos to play and explore! The traveling exhibit for the summer is Clifford. Caden and Emma love the big red dog!

Clifford and Emily Elizabeth (And Caden and Emma)!

Emma sliding down Clifford's tail

Caden turning the conveyor belt to get Clifford's bones into his bowl!

Emma in Clifford's dog bowl with his big bones!

Caden driving the ferry boat to Birdwell Island

He loves to drive the boat!