More Summertime Fun

Is it a coincidence that tennis balls come in packs of 3?  Ethan loves to feel included with activities that involve his big brothers.

Ethan's pediatrician sent us for an EKG since she heard a heart murmur.  While everything turned out just peachy, I think he sensed we were about to violate his personal space...

Halmoni was in Korea for the summer, so that meant Pop-Pop was on grandson duty.  Trouble, in no particular oder: Caden, Evan, Ryan, Ethan, and Kai.

Silly monkeys!

My sister and I thought it would be fun to tie-dye some shirts for the Fourth of July.  It ended being a lot more work than we remembered from our camp days, but the shirts turned out great!  :o)

During the picnic where we sported our tie-dyed shirts, Evan bit into a graham cracker and was really worried because his tooth hurt and it was bleeding a little bit.  The next day while we were brushing his teeth before bed, he spit the tooth right into the sink!  He was all smiles once he realized it didn't hurt.  However, he declined a visit from the Tooth Fairy because he wanted to keep his tooth.  (The Tooth Fairy did visit a few days later with a treat and left him a note that he will have to leave his teeth under his pillow in the future.  He still wants to keep all of his teeth...)

Ethan was a great shopping companion for Daddy.

Daddy took Evan and Ryan to meet Aunt Lina, Caden, and Kai at a water park in Rehoboth.  This was their first time there, and they definitely can't wait to go back!

In mid-July, Evan and Ryan attended a morning camp at Abbott's Mill Nature Center for a week.  They were over the moon to experience all of the turtles, toads, butterflies, etc. - everything nature!

One of the days after camp, Daddy took them on a walk around the nature mill with Ethan to enjoy the sights.  Ryan was able to use his newly constructed paper towel tube binoculars along the way.

We also were able to get all of the Judy grandchildren together at the Rehoboth Boardwalk for an evening of pizza, rides, and ice cream.  Here they are in height (not necessarily age) order - Ethan, Anna, Jack, Isaac, Ryan, Leah, Evan, and Kate.

The kids' table at Grotto's patiently waiting on their pizza.

I, personally, was excited to actually get to ride the rides this year.  Last summer I was pregnant and therefore not allowed on anything...  I thoroughly enjoyed my ride with the bigs on the parachute ride!

Big ones on the teacups!  I was in line to join them, but somehow I got shuffled out...  :o)

Daddy put Ethan in the grass while he was watering plants around the house.  I guess Daddy looked away for a moment too long, and the cleanliness got away from him...

Eventful End to our June

Ethan has been having lots of fun with Daddy home on summer vacation.  And Daddy appreciates that he's been such a happy (albeit drooly!) boy! 

 Ryan taking Sneaky on a walk.

 

 Evan and one his favorite hobbies - catching toads.

 Big and Little - so sweet together!

 Dudes!

If you couldn't quite tell from Ryan's face in the picture above, but he wasn't feeling quite up to himself.  Earlier in June, Ryan was diagnosed with Lyme Disease and began a regimen of 21 days on amoxicillin.  Somewhere around day 17, after helping plant mums all Saturday morning, Ryan complained that his ankle hurt.  Upon further inspection, both of his ankles and knees were super swollen, and he had some red patches that were really itchy on his hips.  A call to the doctor recommended us going to the emergency room.  After a detour back to the house when I realized that I forgot to put shoes on myself, Ryan was in a bed in the ER:

 Since we came up on dinner time, the fabulous nurse we were blessed with found Ryan a turkey sandwich, fruit cup, and apple juice.  She also gave us a remote to the tv (I think we were in an abandoned office) so he could watch some Sponge Bob.  Ryan claims it was the best sandwich he ever had.  :o)

 He was diagnosed with Serum Sickness (which also has some fancy medical term that I cannot recall).  Essentially, he was having a severe allergic reaction to the amoxicillin.  The next few days led to full blown hives all over his body and swelling of every joint you could see - his fingers and toes were all puffy, and his knees and ankles bothered him so much, we carried him every where.  He spent a lot of time resting and hiding under his blanket...

 Some of the hives that were spread all over his body...

It's never good when the doctor dubs him the worst case of hives she's ever seen, and other medical professionals are impressed by the reaction.  After a prescription of steroids, he recovered rather quickly.  And I think it's safe to say, Ryan will join Mommy's club in avoiding the "cillin" family from now on!  We thank everyone for their thoughts, prayers, and help during this time!