Summer Fun 2013

I've gotten so behind on this blog that I hardly know where to begin.  Sometimes it seems easier to just give it up all together.  However, I really do love being able to go back and look at what we've been up to and how much my kids have grown and changed, so I'm doing my best to stick with it for now.  In an effort to get semi-caught up and not be so overwhelmed with the whole thing, I'm going to group most of our summer into one big post.  I've document the boys' birthdays and a couple of short trips we went on in previous posts, however.  Here's to our Summer 2013!

June 2013

Our summer started out by sending Andy to Florida for a technology conference, so the kids and I headed to mom and dad's house for some R&R.  Unfortunately, R&R is far from what we got!  I spent the majority of the week back and forth from doctor's offices with Colton.   The stress, headache and anxiety of that, coupled with the fact that my sweet little boy turns into a demon at night (aka he will NOT sleep!) made for a less than relaxing trip.  I started the week with a GI appointment at Primary Children's which proved to be frustratingly pointless.  The doctor basically told me I already knew what was wrong with Colton and I was wasting my time.  Say what?  I have no idea why this child will not sleep, constantly throws up and can't be left with anyone besides his mom or dad.  Whatever, doc, glad I just paid you big bucks for NOTHING!  After that frustrating experience, I spent the rest of my week doing anything & everything I could to get him into an allergist.  I mostly just didn't know where else to turn, and I had a sneaky suspicion that he may be allergic to milk.  Anyway, long story short, we were able to get into one and spent several trips back and forth from his office and lab trying to figure some things out.  Colton ended up testing positive for allergies to tomatoes and peanuts.  Negative on the milk, but we still think he's probably lactose intolerant.  So the plan for now is to avoid tomatoes and peanuts all together, and continue with the almond milk rather than cow's milk.  We're also adjusting his reflux medication to see if that helps.  The allergist really encouraged me to cut dairy out of his diet all together, but he doesn't have me convinced that's what is best, and Dr. Morgan seems to agree with my thinking.  Colton is still tiny, and the majority of his calories come from dairy (cheese, yogurt, etc) so I'm hesitant to cut so much from his diet.  We'll try the tomatoes, peanuts and milk for now, then reevaluate in 6 months time.  The first week of the summer was certainly one to remember :)

On a lighter note, during June we got to have lots of fun finally getting the boat out on the lake.  Unfortunately, the fun only lasted for so long.  Another year of minimal water meant that Palisades was low most of the season, and gone by the end of July.  Boooo!  We had fun while it lasted though.  Here are a few pictures of our trip out with our good friends the Johnsons.

July 2013

We were lucky enough to sneak in 2 more boating trips with friends before the water was completely gone from the lake.  One trip out with the Taylors, and another with the Hallams rounded out the boating season.  Here's to hoping we have a better water year next summer!

Andy and the boys also attempted to go to a Fathers and Sons camp out in July.  Unfortunately, they didn't last long.  They had fun getting ready to go, eating dinner and playing around the campfire.  But come bedtime, Colton's nightime demons came out in full force.  Crying, screaming and hysteria ensued.  Andy tried unsuccessfully to calm him, but the darkness & unfamiliarity was too much.  They packed up and headed home in the dark.  Poor Ryan was pretty sad, and Andy was disappointed too.  Perhaps they'll give it a try again next year.....without Colty :)

August 2013

August was fairly uneventful, at least for my camera.  We spent the first week of August enjoying the activities of the County Fair.  It was a lot more fun this year since Ryan was old enough to get excited about it and want to go every day.  After fair week, Andy finished up spraying for Weed & Pest, and then we had one week before he had to head back to school.  We took advantage of our last week off and headed to Cedar City to visit his family.  I only got one picture (of a Sunday walk up Cedar Canyon) but we had lots of fun visiting family, swimming, going to movies and trying to stay out of the heat!