Michigan Adventure: Day 2

We spent the day in my hometown, Frankenmuth.  We started with an early morning swim for my fish son, Logan.  He is making more and more improvements everyday.  Today he jumped in one end and swam to the other end.  We also attending the church of my childhood.  It was a great service and we all really enjoyed it. The sermon was about putting God and His work of sharing the gospel first in your life.

We then went to my grandparents house.  Both of them have now passed away and my uncles are working on getting the house ready to sell.  It was nice to go back in one more time.  Logan , not only my fish son but also my monkey son, loves to climb trees.  We climbed a tree that I used to climb all the time as a child.

We needed to get all of the family in on the action.

 

We spent some time with my Aunt Nila and Uncle Bob.  Uncle Bob, PaPa and Logan enjoyed some stick light saber fighting.

We spent a little time walking around town and enjoying a yummy treat.

Nathan saw it was time to move on since if was getting so late.

Just a few other photos from our walk.

Jenni this one is for you.

We enjoyed a wonderful dinner at Bob Evans.  It was so nice to spend some time with my Grandmother and George.

Nathan thought it was getting late so we said goodbye.

I bought Nathan his own watch so I could have mine back.

Michigan Adventure: Day 1

Today was our first full day of vacation.  We are taking a nostalgic road trip rediscovering a lot of my favorite childhood Michigan destinations.  Our traveling crew consist of: Mom, Dad, Russ and our crew of five.  We are really having a great time.  Most of today was spent driving.

Preston and Nathan enjoyed a yummy lunch of Skyline Cincinnati style chili.  This is one of Preston's favorites so if we are in the area during meal time we are sure to stop.  Both of them licked the bowl clean. 

Our next destination was to the Michigan Balloon Fest.  I have always wanted to attend a hot air balloon festival.  We all had an awesome time.

Logan's favorite part is this leaning tree.

There was a delay in the launch due to wind so Nathan was checking the time.

Owen enjoyed dancing to the music from the live band.

Big progress and cool assesories

Nathan is doing really well in therapy.  He walks on the treadmill 10-12 minutes and then works on standing all by himself.

When he gets really tired he starts doing his own hamstring stretches.

While Nathan was working Owen was working on driving a motorized wheelchair.  He loves to go driving and is making good progress.

Nathan and Owen received some great gifts for my birthday.  Nathan received his arm extender

And Owen received his T.L.S.O. (Back brace)

I am having an awesome birthday.  I woke up in the playroom of our new house with my 4 guys.  Logan wanted to have a big slumber party!  Preston made blueberry pancakes.  I got a really nice cream scoop from him (perfect if you know me well) and the boys bought me an electric juicer...with lots of fruit!!!  

While Logan and I were rushing around packing, running last minute trip errands, swimming lessons, etc Nathan and Owen were at our house having the best time with Miss Mary Jo (she is their primary aid at school).  They absolutely LOVE her and she is so wonderful with them. 

Right now I am enjoying some quiet time waiting for Logan to finish his last day of swimming lessons.  The end of the week show is starting soon!

Logan is the one practicing the prone float.

Swim, swim, swim, swim, swim

How many times can anyone go swimming in a 27 hour period?  How about 5 times?  Yes, Logan has swam five times (3 with the family and 2 at swimming lessons).  Apparently that did the trick to turn him from boy to fish.  He now swims underwater and will jump in over his head.  This is a HUGE improvement!!!!  We are so proud of him!!!

Between our trips to the pool today and during Logan's swimming lesson (thanks DiDi for taking Logan) Nathan and Owen went to feeding clinic.  Owen has graduated (yes I did sing pomp and circumstance in my head).  Nathan still has a long way to go and will be back in October. I mentioned my thoughts on Nathan's enlarged tonsils.  They believe it is impeding his progress because the opening in his throat is so small.  We now have an appointment with Dr Woolley on July 17 for him to look at Nathan.

So, Nathan has adopted my watch as his own.  He wears it all the time and gets upset when he is not wearing it.  His is fascinated by the numbers changing.

Appointment Tuesday turned FUN!!

Tuesday is FULL of appointments.  Before Nathan's physical therapy appointment we had 45 minutes of fun at the park.  (I am going to miss having a park 2 blocks away).

Owen enjoyed sliding with me and a light saber.  He had to protect himself from Darth Vizar (Logan).

Nathan enjoyed his time swinging too.

Nathan did a phenomenal job at therapy and even stood alone for 4 seconds several times...this was after his 12 minutes of treadmill work, so he was tired.  I can't wait to work on it at home to see him improve more and more.  He also received a prescription for twist shirts!  Sounds stylish!!!  They are to help rotate his legs back in as they have rotated too far out now.  He is being measured at BioTech on Friday while we are there doing more work on the arm extender.  I am glad we can multitask at these visits.

Next we rushed over to sign some papers for the purchase of our new house tomorrow.  We had a little time so we stopped at Which Which (a sandwich shop).  This was the first time we have ever eaten there.  It was yummy.

Then we were off to swimming lessons with Miss Emily.  Logan is making really good progress!

After my dentist appointment (fun times) we headed to the pool for some fun family time.

Birthday Weekend

Sunday night we had our annual birthday dinner.  Russ birthday is June 23, mine June 28 and Ranae July 2nd, so we always enjoy a joint dinner.  All the cousins enjoyed playing together.

Cooper

Ranae

Preston

Owen is a boy after my own heart and chose ice cream over cake.

Nathan

Logan was very excited to eat his big piece of cake.

We had Russ blow out the candles since it was his actual birthday.

My Mom ordered a special cake from Edgar's.