Memorial Day Weekend – Part Two (Strasburg Railroad)

After our trip to Dutch Wonderland on Saturday we stayed at a little B&B in Strasburg, Pennsylvania so we could go ride the trains the next day.  The B&B was a HUGE hit with the boys when they realized that it was above the Creamery and Deli store.  This place was awesome!  They had tons of ice cream flavors and homemade waffle cones with a viewing area so you could watch them being made along with homemade candy, including fudge, peanut brittle, chocolate upon chocolate and more chocolate!! 

After we enjoyed our homemade breakfast of waffles, eggs, Canadian bacon, fresh fruit and lost of pastries on Sunday morning we left for the train station.  

We bought our tickets and waited for the first train to leave at 11:00am.  Both of the boys announced they had to use the bathroom, which of course was all the way at the other end of the station, so we walked all the way back to where we started.  While waiting, Jaxson spotted Thomas the Train and insisted he needed to ride.  He was so excited!!

 

We soon boarded our train and waited to depart.

There were conductors on each train car that spoke and told stories about the different areas.  At one point we stopped and listened for a “ghost train” to respond to our train’s whistle.  Peyton thought this part was the best! 

After about 20 minutes we stopped and the engine that was pulling our train switched to the opposite end so they could pull us back to the station.

 

It was an absolutely beautiful day.  The windows were open in our car and the ride back to the station was very peaceful.  I think when you add all this to the exciting day we had the day before, it just proved too much for the youngest of the family….

Poor Jaxson, but I have to say I enjoyed the ride back to the station with him just as much as the ride out.  He’s gotten so active I don’t get a whole lot of cuddle time anymore!

Once we were back at the station it was time to check out the shops and get some souvenirs to take home.  Peyton had such a hard time.  He knew he wanted a train, but the models were way too expensive and the others were too babyish for him.  After going back and forth between 2 or 3 stores we finally settled on this.

He loves this train and has been playing with it nonstop since we arrived home!

Jaxson on the other hand had no trouble finding something he wanted to bring home!  There was one store which was completely Thomas the Train.  Everyone knows Jaxson is very musically inclined and makes everything into a drum at our house.  So, of course, there was no stopping him when he found this.

 

As we searched store to store for Peyton’s train Jaxson walked around playing his drum.  At one point I turned around and I swear it was like he was leading his own parade!

After leaving the train station we found a little playground and pond area for the boys to have free time to run around before dinner.  Peyton’s favorite part was obviously the pond with the ducks and geese.  He loves all kinds of animals and was pretty funny as he chased some of them around.

Jaxson really loved the big boat that he could climb on.

On Monday morning we stayed in Strasburg to watch the Memorial Day parade.  PNC Bank had kids handing our free water bottles and small flags to wave during the parade.  In our travels we also found a really nice memorial on Main Street.

 

Positively our best Memorial Day Weekend to date!  Thank you to all the veterans, past and present, who made it possible for us!

Memorial Day Weekend – Part One (Dutch Wonderland)

Memorial Day Weekend was soooo much fun! 

It started the Thursday before when Peyton and I went on his school field trip to see the Orioles.

I know, I know, anyone who follows baseball has to be thinking, the Orioles???  They don’t exactly have the best record and frankly Peyton likes the Yankees and tells me that the Orioles stink, but it was still a really fun field trip.  Of course, this is also about the same time the 100 degree heat wave started and we only got to watch into the 3rd inning, but all in all, a pretty good field trip to attend.

Friday was Field Day at Peyton’s school so I took another vacation day.  The morning consisted of outside activities for the entire school.  Each class traveled around to different stations set up such as tug of war, water sponge duck duck goose, obstacle course, relays, etc.  Sorry, I tried really hard to find some pictures, but they all have other kids so I can’t post.

On to Memorial Day weekend!!!  Jason and I planned to take a couple of long weekend trips this summer since we aren’t going to be able to make it the LPA Conference in Anaheim and don’t have any other big vacation plans.  Last year we took a trip to Dutch Wonderland and had a BLAST so we thought we’d do a repeat, but stay the weekend and add in a day at the Strasburg Railroad.  We all had soooo much fun.

Jaxson loved playing in this little play area while we waited for Peyton and Jason to ride the Log Flume.

  

Here’s the boys on their log ride

Next Jaxson and I watched a few ducks and geese while Peyton and Jason rode the bumper cars.

It was pretty warm again that day and Jaxson was ready to ride something so we decided to grab a few icees and take a boat ride.

Peyton was a great big brother that day!  He had lots of opportunities to ride stuff that Jaxson couldn’t but also took the time to ride some of the slower stuff that Jaxson could also enjoy.  Jaxson was so excited to be able to drive the monster truck and shoot from his fighter jet!

Peyton loves riding the big swings whenever he gets the chance so he absolutely had to ride on them as soon as he saw it.  Actually, I think he rode them at least twice that day….Jaxson and I took the opportunity to listen to a little folk music ;) 

And later, Jason gave me a chance to ride my favorite ride with Peyton – the Spinning Turtles!  We all four rode last year and Jaxson cried the entire ride :(

Can you believe Jaxson actually asked to ride the Carousel this year?  Anyone who remembers last years post can understand why I was pretty hesitant, but he really wanted to go and we were walking right past it on our way out so we thought, oh well, let’s give it a shot…..Much better outcome!!!

Unbelievably fun day! 

Part 2 coming shortly – Strasburg Railroad

Mother’s Day

What a GREAT Mother’s Day! It started when I dropped Jaxson at day care Thursday morning. When we walked in his daycare provider pulled him aside and handed him a bag that was full of fun things he made me, including the bag itself!

Jaxson only goes to daycare on Thursday and Friday so they must have worked on all of this the week before. He decorated the entire bag, including the bottom. He also colored the picture frame and painted the flower pot. Jaxson has an AMAZING daycare provider and I just love all my presents!!

Peyton brought home lots of really fun stuff from school on Friday. He made me a beautiful crown so I was a princess for the day! And he also wrote about 10 reasons why he loves me. He was so creative with his answers and I love getting all these little momentos to keep!

On our way to my niece’s birthday party Saturday night Jason was telling me about the flowers he picked up for his mom earlier in the day. He got her a bunch of gerber daisies, which happen to be my favorite too. He also mentioned the nice hanging baskets they had and I said “Oh, I wanted a hanging basket” to which Jason replies, “Yeah, I know. I got that too”! I think if he hadn’t been driving he would have literally smacked himself in the forehead. All Peyton and I could do was laugh! I thought it was so funny that he slipped up and told me about one of my presents that he worked so hard to keep secret. Poor thing…………

Sunday morning started off with breakfast in bed all courtesy of Peyton. He got up, dressed, and went into the kitchen to make me toast and a glass of milk all before anyone else woke up. He’s such an awesome boy!

We took Jason’s mom her flowers and spent some time there with his parents around lunch time. After that I met my sister at my parents house to make dinner and spend some time with my mom. We brought her flowers and a card and plan to take her to brunch or dinner next weekend with just my two sisters and I. This has been our tradition for the past couple of years and it’s so nice to spend a little time, just the four of us.

I feel so blessed to be a mom. It’s a feeling you just can’t describe until you experience it and I wouldn’t trade one moment. Thank you to my mom for giving me such an unbelievable example to follow. You are an incredible mother and I love you always!!

To my boys – thank you for giving me the most rewarding role of my life, your mom! I love you Peyton and Jaxson!

Latest Round of Doctor Appointments

Jaxson has been a very lucky boy and not had very many complications associated with achondroplasia.  This past Tuesday we went back to John Hopkins hospital for a round of checkups, which included his orthopedist, a hearing test, ENT and geneticist.  It was so wonderful of all the doctors to work with so we could get all of our appointments done in one day, although I’m not sure we will choose to do it this way again.  Four appointments was a lot on all of us!

Peyton has never gone to any of Jaxson’s appointments with us before because he usually has school and I never really thought he would do well with all the waiting.  However, last time we had an appointment, he made a comment about why he never gets to go and meet Jaxson’s doctors so we thought it might be a good idea to take him along this time.  I made the appointments while Peyton was out of school on spring break so all four of us were up, dressed and out the door Tuesday morning by 6:15am. 

First we met with the orthopedist.  We brought our x-rays with us, which I had done the Friday before at our local hospital, because our insurance won’t pay for John Hopkins hospital to do them.  (Yes, we have all had our issues with health insurance, right?!)  Anyway, we were a little concerned and wanted to talk to the doctor because we have noticed Jaxson’s right leg is starting to bow a little.  His left leg appears perfectly straight, but the right seems to be giving him some trouble and he has complained of his knee hurting him from time to time.  We were told that it was not really an issue right now and not to be too concerned.  The doctor says it is typical to see one leg a little more bowed than the other and that since he only complains of the knee pain on a rare occasion that for now we will just watch and see what happens.  As he gets older if the bowing becomes more severe than we will explore options at that point, but for now this seems very average.

Next up was the hearing test.  Jaxson had ear tubes placed last March so they’ve been in for a year and this hearing test was just a checkup.  He loved all the little toys in the room and the animals that played music when the technician wanted him to look a certain way, but seemed to be getting a little annoyed because she kept asking him the same questions over and over again.  All was good when she gave him his choice of stickers in the end and he found a Diego!

Immediately after the test we went to see the ENT.  The test results all came back great, but because the sound bounced off his ear drums the doctor could tell that the tubes no longer appeared to be in place.  When he checked his ears, he confirmed that the tubes were still in the ear canal, but neither were actually still in his ear drums.  So, off we went to the procedure room where we laid him on the table and the doctor asked me to hold his hands (because he was going to feel it……..)  I started to tell him to just leave them alone if it was going to hurt him and they would work themselves the rest of the way out on their own, but Jaxson was a CHAMP!  He never moved or tried to get his hands free from mine while they removed both tubes from his ear canals.

At this point it was a little after 11am and we had a nice break until our 2:30 appointment with Jaxson’s geneticist.  We decided to drive around Baltimore a little and find somewhere outside to eat and walk around a bit since the weather was so beautiful!

We found a little Mexican restaurant on a side street near the water so after lunch we walked along the dock and let the boys play with the ducks.

After such a beautiful lunch we headed back to see the geneticist and got more great news.  Jaxson is right on track of where he should be and we don’t have any major concerns right now!  So glad to hear good news and no more appointments for at least 6 months (fingers crossed!)

All in all it was a great day and I’m very glad we took Peyton with us.  I think he has a much better understanding of things and he was more than helpful in keeping Jaxson occupied while we waited for each doctor.  I couldn’t have been happier or prouder of both my boys or what was a very exhausting day for all us!!!

Easter 2011

Easter was such fun this year.  Jaxson is old enough now that he really enjoyed decorating Easter eggs this year, although I must admit they are still sitting in our refrigerator because I forgot to take them for our Easter egg hunt………Oh well, it was fun decorating them!

Peyton was never much into putting stickers on the eggs or drawing on them so the typical egg decorating kit of just plopping the egg in some colored water never really held his attention for long.  This year I found a really cool kit that came with sponge rollers and different colors of paint  so you just paint the eggs any way to wanted.  They both seemed to have lots of fun doing them this year so I guess it was a hit!!

The kit came with little round pink disks that the eggs were supposed to sit on while you painted them.  As you can see Jaxson couldn’t quite figure them out……..

I swear once the Easter bunny was done this year it looked more like Christmas than Easter, but at least everyone, including both sets of grandparents, cut back on the candy part this year!

 

The Easter Bunny was so generous to both of the boys.  Peyton really loved his new rain coat.

And Jaxson got a really cool Diego flashlight!

Jaxson sure loved the chocolate that was in his basket.

But, was not very happy when I told him that was the last piece for a while!

The boys had loads of fun hunting Easter eggs after dinner at my parents too! 

 

What a beautiful Easter!!