The Not Back to School Post

Last week after vacation I was frantically trying to finish my school planning for the year. Every day I was surrounded by school books, paper lists, and file folders. I was planning to finish everything by Saturday night. School was going to begin Monday. Somewhere in the middle of the week, my back tooth started bugging me a bit more than usual. It's been giving me bits of trouble here and there, mostly just sensitive, for months. I had the feeling it was something a little more. Seeing how we had our first outing with Skyeler's new PEACH group Friday afternoon, and that I was hoping to find a new family dentist closer than our current dentist that we love (though an hour away), I went to an urgent care dentist Friday morning. They gave me a cleaning and filled a cavity in the tooth that was giving me fits. A deep cavity that they thought might eventually need a root canal. Well, the last root canal I had was a ridiculous affair with numerous dental visits that ended with a tooth that is still sometimes sensitive and the dentist (in MI) that said I had the tiniest roots of any patient he had ever seen. Nice. So I had pretty much decided no more root canals. If it gave me trouble, they could pull it. Well, the urgent care dentist was nice enough to give me a muscle relaxer for my TMJ and sent me home. They said the tooth might be a little sensitive. Well, it was more than sensitive, it was downright painful. I spent the weekend in pain and by Sunday night I couldn't even sleep. Called our family dentist Monday and when they squeezed me in, I found out that the tooth had abscessed. They couldn't extract it Monday because they were booked. So yesterday I went back to have the thing extracted. They thought it could be saved by a root canal, but looking at my x-rays, they wouldn't be able to do it in the office because that tooth had crooked roots. I would have to see a specialist. I wasn't too keen on losing a tooth, especially one that was second from the back, but I wasn't about to spend thousands on a specialist AND the root canal. My family dentist put me in IV sedation to do the extraction. That has got to be the way to go for ALL dental work. And of course the stupid insurance company doesn't pay for it. But let me tell you, it was worth every penny I paid :) Now we have wiped out our Dave Ramsey dental fund that was supposed to be for Skyeler this fall AND I'm home recuperating from the extraction with antibiotics and Advil (since I'm can't take Vicoden) AND I'm tired and sore and tender AND we haven't been able to start school. I am hoping to feel more myself tomorrow (and caught up on all the sleep I lost!), so I can finish up that planning. School will (hopefully) begin next Monday instead.

North Myrtle Beach

I wanted to share a few more pictures from our Myrtle Beach trip. It's amazing how sleepy lying in the sand and playing in the waves can make one. Every evening after we got in from the beach and had dinner, we were all ready to just chill out. I was thinking that I would post more pictures Friday night when we got back to my parents, but our road trip back took FOREVER! By the time I got pictures loaded onto a CD for my mom and onto Cheryl's laptop, it was bedtime. Here are a few favorites ...

Pruney toes.

Aly being ... well, Aly :)

Skyeler after spending too much time inside watching "The Next Top Model" or some such show (I really don't know what it was called) with her Granny. We think it might have went to her head.

I had been planning this shot since the first day on the beach. Skyeler didn't buy a Boogie Board so she wasn't in the picture.

The beach was beautiful this morning. It was also not yet crowded. I captured this shot of Bryce, Carter, and Aly coming in on their Boogie Boards. This picture was not staged. Love it when that happens.


That morning I was also able to capture this cool shot of Skye and her reflection. If you look close, you can also see her shadow.

Carter being ... well, Carter. :)

Skye and Granny

The Younger Yahoo's and their umbrella

Our last night at the beach, Cheryl and I walked out to pick up our beach paraphernalia and saw the tide was completely out. Neither of us had seen it out so far before and it was really amazing. The beach was so wide and their were little tide pools of water left behind. We ran back to get the yahoo's and Granny from the pool. The kids LOVED running around in the tide pools.

There were some "minnows" in some of the small tide pools. The yahoo's and I had spent some time on the beach during the week trying to catch some in our buckets (we didn't bring any minnow nets with us ... next time!). Skye and Bryce ran back to the condo to pick up our buckets in hopes that the small space would allow them to finally catch one. I don't know how long we stood there while the yahoo's and Granny tried time after time to chase those little fishies into the buckets. Bryce built a wall and Skye sat real still while Granny "herded" them towards her. Skye has the patience of Job when it comes to things like that. I think she and Bryce would have been sitting there till the tide came in if we had let them.

Finally a picture of all four yahoo's. We had hoped to take portraits on the beach. I wanted a new one for my "Cousins" frame, Granny always wants new pictures, and Cheryl wanted to get her Christmas Card photo. Unfortunately, it was too windy. Way too windy. We'll just have to wait for another time.

Souvenir Shopping

I really should be resizing some pictures, however, it is almost dinner time and we are going to go to the Dairy Shack so I don't want to get in the middle of something big. This afternoon we took the yahoo's, armed with purses and wallets, souvenir shopping. We didn't want to attempt this feat on our last day AND there is a heat advisory out this afternoon, so it was a good day for this. While in North Carolina on vacation, Bryce bought a hermit crab. He shared this special news with Aly and the dream began. Immediately, Aly's one track mind went to "hermit crabs." We talked about them, we asked if we could take one home, when would we be able to go souvenir shopping... yada, yada, yada. Carter was not immune either. The helpful souvenir shop had plenty of hermit crabs and hermit crab kits and it was the main attraction. Carter bought one, Aly bought one, Bryce bought another one to keep his at home company, even Skyeler bought one to go in Aly's tank. Can you guess what we have been hearing since coming home???? "Is my hermit crab molting?" "Do you think it's sleeping?" "I think Carter's is dead!" "Can we take them out and watch them walk around?" "It pooped in it's food!!" "Look! It likes it Coco Hut!" "Can I give it an apple?" "I want to see if it likes Skittles!" "Do I have to wash my hands, I only touched the Coco Hut?" And on and on and on ...

Other souvenirs bought ... Carter - a shark tooth necklace (to remember the day he saw the shark) and a back scratcher. Aly - a t-shirt and a conch shell. Skye - some gift items and a ring.

Shark Week!

We interrupt the vacation blog with this special bulletin... While waiting for Bryce and Skye to awaken this morning, I took a stroll out to the beach. As I was coming out from between the dunes, I saw a fisherman pulling a shark across the sand. I quickly ran back down the hallway, rushed into the condo, and yelled for Aly and Carter to come quick (in their jammies) that a guy had caught a SHARK! Aly and Carter and I burst out of the condo and ran back down the hallway all the way to the beach. Cheryl, quick thinker that she is, grabbed her camera and ran down in her jammies, too. It was a Bonnethead shark. Maybe about 3 ft long. We have seen these, though smaller, in Florida at Papa Bob's. When I saw that the fisherman would be there awhile, I went back to wake Skye and Bryce and get Granny. Bryce was bleary eyed at first, then he heard the word "shark" and woke up on the spot :) So we all watched while the fisherman got the shark off the line (he had to cut it in the end) and then had to work with it in the water to revive it. The fisherman had already caught a couple baby sand sharks, a stingray, and some other fish. Carter said that he bet that the shark was what got Aly's foot yesterday (she had three or four marks on her foot after something "pinched" her in the ocean). After all of the excitement, we had four yahoo's that were not sure that they wanted to get into the ocean this morning LOL! For at least 45 min. they played in the sand or the edge of the ocean. Finally, they ventured in for a bit :)

Skyeler wanted me to include the fisherman to give the shark some scale.

Bonnethead Shark

Boogie Boardin'

We didn't get in tonight till after seven. I'm pretty tired because I was out in the waves with the kids while Cheryl lounged on the beach :) Aly and Bryce (and Skye, too) are fearless in the waves. All of us have to take turns keeping an eye on them. I'm not going to get any new pictures resized for the blog before bed, so here is a little video taken with Aly's camera. It's not the greatest quality but it shows her and Carter boogie-ing LOL!

The Atlantic Side

This morning Aly woke me by mumbling in her sleep. It was 4:46 a.m. I got up to check on her, and she was talking in her sleep (again!). I tried to go back to sleep, but she kept mumbling and for some reason my stomach was growling. Granny woke up at 5:15 a.m. Cheryl and I heard her get up. At 5:30 a.m. we decided that it was useless to try and go back to sleep (the alarm was set for six) so we woke up the yahoo's and started getting reading. We were on the road again at 7:23 a.m. Of course, we had to stop right away because Cheryl forgot that she was on E before we got on the highway :) Dan's GPS (affectionately called "Rabbit") had an identity crisis in North Carolina and for about 30 miles kept telling us it was "recalculating." Granny was ready to feed "Rabbit" to a southern hound dog LOL! We thought it only practical to stop and get groceries on the way into the condo. So to Walmart the Family Friendly store we go. ALL of Myrtle Beach was at Walmart today. Eek! I thought I was going to hyperventilate it was so crowded. It took us forever. After buying a small fortune in veggies, fruits, and junk food, we finally arrived at the condo and got the cars unloaded. Whew!



Aly and Skyeler had never been to the Atlantic side of the ocean before. They've only visited the Gulf with Papa Bob. We spent a couple hours on the beach, even though we were exhausted. The kids wore themselves out riding the waves in the boogie boards we picked up at Walmart and jumping waves. Skye and Granny went out for a short walk around 7:30 p.m. but the rest of us were in our jammies ready to hit the hay after such a long, long day! In fact, as soon as this posts, I'm off to bed. Here's a few pics from today. Remember ... the beach camera is Aly's little camera, not my usual standards :)

Ready, and SO anxious, to get to the beach!

Aly and her new boogie board

Carter

Bryce

Aly

Skyeler, no boogie board

Our condo from the water

Road Trip!

The girls are on the road again! Last summer we made some memories at Papa & Granny's house in Kentucky. This year Granny wanted us to take a trip to the beach. Dan, Glen, and Dad gave us the green light and off we went. North Myrtle Beach. Granny, Cheryl, me and four Yahoo's :) Honestly, I'm not sure that South Carolina will ever be the same. Last night we met up in Wytheville, VA and partied at the hotel pool. It's was loud and busy ... that means the younger yahoo's loved it. Skyeler, smart child, stayed in the room for some peace and quiet.

You Gotta Have Friends

Skyeler and her friends at the end of a long, hard day ... hair appointments, hanging out, and catching a movie ("Letters to Juliet"). The best way to unwind ... in the hammock with a bowlful of cookie dough :)

July 4th

We celebrated the Fourth of July both on the 3rd and the 4th this year. Dan had made homemade smoke bombs in co-op earlier in the year and the girls couldn't wait to have him make "homemade" fireworks for the 4th. They did that Saturday the 3rd and Aly was beside herself waiting for it to get dark. I think the Fourth of July is her 2nd favorite holiday :) Dan combined the homemade ones with a couple of Roman Candles and some sparklers. Someone in the neighborhood was setting off bigger fireworks and we got to see those as well. After much deliberation, we decided on Sunday the 4th to go and see the big fireworks show at the park in town. It was crazy crowded, but it had been awhile since Aly had seen some. We were practically underneath them! The fireworks were amazing and we all enjoyed the evening.

Aly and her Sparkler

Dan's homemade smoke bomb

One of the neighborhood fireworks, pretty impressive

Dueling Sparklers! Ok, so the picture is blurry, but it kind of looks cool anyway!