A tale of a horse fly & the dentist disaster

So, in my last post I mentioned that we were taking a few days off over spring break & heading to canoe the crystal, clear waters of Weeki Wachee Springs.  Let me start off by saying that it was more beautiful than I could have imagined.  I seriously felt like we were in the Caribbean sea, that's how clear & blue that water was.  So, how then did our trip turn into an utter disaster?

I'll back up to the day before our canoeing journey... I mentioned in my last post that Cam bit his lip while he was numb from his cavity filling.  He did quite the number on it & it looked terrible!  After talking with the dentist, she confirmed I was doing everything I could; ice, medicating for pain & serving easy-to-eat foods.

This blood sucking, disgusting insect is the reason that our outing was a big fat fail.  It was the horse-fly vs. me & lets just say that I lost.  Big time.  I was so relaxed as we started our canoeing journey; the sun was shining, the weather was perfect & the air was fresh.  As the morning progressed to afternoon, we decided to pull off the river to swim & eat lunch.

 The water of the springs is a constant 72 degrees so it was super refreshing.  Although I was uneasy from the get-go because we had to pull the canoe up into the brush to keep it from washing away down the river.  Florida brush = insects.  Insects & myself DO NOT MIX.  I have no fear of heights or really even public speaking, but it's putting it lightly when I say I am terrified of bugs.  As we parked our canoe, I stepped into super squishy sand on the river bottom, carefully trying to avoid the slimy seaweed.  Despite it all, I started to settle in to eat & watch Cam swim.  Everything came to a screeching halt when a horse-fly the size of my head came out of nowhere.  It buzzed all around me, zigzagging around while trying to bite me.  When I say I freaked, I'm putting this mildly.  This blood sucking, massive fly was relentless, it seriously would not leave me alone.  I screeched & flailed while Cam cried that he still wanted to swim.  We quickly got back into the boat & set off down the river, leaving the fly behind.

I paddled away, praying I'd seen the last of the horse fly.  Unfortunately, the bastard reappeared about an hour later & this time we were mid-river & I was a sitting duck.  Again, the massive beast zoomed & buzzed around, relentlessly trying to bite me.  I flipped out & in a moment of desperation, I think I tried to jump ship.  If you've ever canoed, you know the boat is not very stable & easily flipped.  Well, flipped we did & it all happened so quickly.  Thank God my kids were in life jackets because the river was over six feet deep at this point.  I found myself under the boat & very quickly swam out from underneath, desperately trying to orient myself & figure out where the kids were.  Mike had Reese, so when I realized I wasn't strong enough to right the boat, I yanked Cam out from under the boat.  I will never forget the panic & fear I saw in his face.  And it was all because I spazzed over a bug.  I continued to tell the kids that we were going to be okay & they soon calmed down.  Cameron really thought he was going to die, he later told me, "I didn't want to go to Heaven today, I wanted to stay here with you."  How heartbreaking is that?  Thankfully, two nice guys in kayaks helped us to a dock.  We were very lucky that the boat flipped in an area of the river with one side lined with homes so we could get out & drain the water from our boat while gathering our strewn belongings.

When we all stood safely on the dock, counting our bleesings, we tried to assess the damage & see what items were still in the water.  I had my brand new, Samsung Galaxy Note 4 phone in a ziplock bag in the pocket of the cooler, so I pulled it out & found that I had apparently not sealed the bag well enough because it was all wet.  I also realized my nice sunglasses Mike had gotten me for Christmas a few years ago were also lost.  If you know me, you'll know that most of the time I am an extremely frugal person.  When I do splurge on an item, I take care & protect it.  I've never had a cracked or wet cellphone in the past & here I am with the best, new cell I've ever owned & it's ruined & worse, uninsured.  In the big picture, this is nothing, I know.  Things can be replaced & I thank God that my kids are okay, but I still mentally beat myself up, knowing I had goofed in so many ways.  I put my kids in harms way by flipping the boat & I was now out an expensive pair of sunglasses & a very expensive phone because I was careless about sealing the bag.

Worst yet, Cameron re-bit his lip when the boat flipped.  It was not a proud moment for me as I stood on that small dock, looking at my soaking children, bloody lip & strewn, lost, ruined belongings. I couldn't get off that river fast enough & we still had twenty more minutes of paddling until we reached our destination.

After camping out in a bag of dry, white rice, we confirmed that my phone was a goner.  We also waited for Cameron's lip to get better as the weekend went on, but it never did.  He was off school Monday so he stayed with me & then Mike took him back to the dentist yesterday (they were closed Monday) & he was given antibiotics to prevent it from getting infected.  He's home with me today & he'll be going back to school tomorrow.  On the bright side, his lip is slowly getting better.  It's been torture watching him suffer in pain; he's on a mostly liquid diet, can't smile & can barely talk.  Yesterday we also found out that the sales guy at T-Mobile put insurance on my phone without Mike's approval.  Hallelujah for shady service because he saved us a ton of money!  In the meantime, I will not be returning to any nature spots during horse-fly season which happens to be March-November.  At least I'll be able to enjoy the beautiful Florida springs from December-February! 

Relax & enjoy

I decided to take part of Cameron's spring break off, so I have no work for the next 5 days, woo hoo!  Although, sometimes I think I work harder when I'm at home vs. work, so it's not exactly relaxing.  When I'm home, I have the the tendency to be a bit anxious & antsy since I'm so used to an agenda with working.  I do better when I have structure & a schedule, so I get a little wound up on my days off.  I'm constantly buzzing around the house, trying to get as much accomplished as I can. God forbid I not be productive!  With that being said, Mike's taking the next two days off with me, so we're going to get out of the house & live like Florida tourists!

We're going to head over to the Weeki Wachee Springs to go canoeing tomorrow & have a picnic lunch along the river.  The water is crystal clear so it should be pretty cool.  I'm hoping we see a manatee!

Today was my usual day off so I scheduled Cam's dental filling for today which was not so fun.  His molars came through very weak & brittle which could have been for any reason, one of which were a lot of high fevers as a baby.  Whatever the reason may be, the dentist was able to catch the first three by putting a sealant on, but didn't catch the fourth in time so it had to be filled today.  The little guy did so great, but unfortunately he bit the crap out of his bottom lip so he's pretty sore right now.  Not sure how he managed to bite it since I made sure to only give him a milkshake while he was numb, but that's Cam for you!

This little bra-wearing goofball was an angel at the dentist.  See her pink dress above?  She's positively obsessed with it & wants to wear it 24/7.  I have to pry it off her when it's time to throw it into the wash!

Recently Reese and I had a girl's night in together which included ice cream & popcorn while watching Barbie in Princess Power.  She's about as obsessed with that movie as she is with the pink dress (which you'll see above, she was wearing yet again!)  We rented the movie from Redbox & when it's time to return it, she flipped her lid.  Maybe the Easter bunny will bring her a copy of her own?

While we had our girl's night in, Mike & Cam had their boy's night out.  For Valentine's Day, I bought Mike & Cam a ticket for the Lightning game since Cameron had never been to a hockey game before.  They had an absolute blast!

I tried my first French braid on Reese last night & I was pretty excited that it came out decently!  She was just sitting on my lap eating a snack when I decided to give it a whirl.  It's the little things in life that make me happy!

The toothless wonder & other happenings

Cameron lost his other front tooth after school yesterday so he's without his two front teeth!

He looks so cute without them!

In other news, work has been super busy lately, so I'm especially thankful to have my Wednesday off today.  After we got Cam on the bus, I headed out on a nice, long walk with Reese this morning.  The weather is starting to get warm again (bleh!) & summer will be here before I know it.  I sure do loathe Florida summers, so I'll spend as much time outside as I can before we're suffocated with heat & humidity!

This past weekend, we had a low-key productive couple of days.  Friday nights are usually reserved for the kids to huddle on the couch to watch a movie & munch on popcorn.  It was so blissful to sleep longer on Saturday & Sunday morning & after a cup or two of coffee, I was buzzing around the house tackling unfinished chores like nobody's business.  I was trying to come up with our week's menu plan when I noticed the freezer had gotten totally disorganized.  This led me to an impromptu freezer project.

We bought a new fridge when we moved into this house & I'm extremely grateful to have the extra freezer space with the chest drawer.  Our last house was a side-by-side fridge/freezer & we had very limited space.  Although with the extra space, it's easier for it to become a bottomless pit of freezer-burned leftovers.  It's hard to plan meals & maximize leftovers when you don't have a clue what's lurking in the depths of the freezer.  So now I can sleep more peacefully knowing my fridge & freezer are purged of junk.  It's the little things in life!

Back to normal

All our visitors have left sunny Florida & headed back up to the frigid cold of Chicago.  We had a wonderful time visiting with everyone, but it's always good to get back to the normal routine.

Papa used to run a Chicago White Sox fantasy camp where he made a baseball card each year.  Even though he doesn't do the fantasy camp anymore, he still makes an annual baseball card to pass out as he schmoozes with people.  This year's came out so cute!

We also take a picture with Grammy & the kids before she heads home each visit.

 

It's always sad dropping Grammy off at the airport!  She's such a big help when she visits.  It's always a transition getting back into the swing of the normal hectic schedule after she's gone.

In other happenings, my little baseball player had opening day last Saturday.  It's unbelievable to me what a commitment it is to have a kid involved in a sport.  We were at the fields last week all day long; nothing like having one of two of your weekend days gone!

Since Mike's a coach on Cameron's team, it's on me to keep this little girl occupied & entertained.  Usually it's no big deal, but opening day was a mob scene & Reese was having some fits, wanting to play in the bounce houses.  After a little bribery from the Dippin' Dots stand, she calmed right down!

This little nutter butter had crazy hair day at school last week, so Mike snapped this shot in the morning.  He's such a goofball!

This is how Reese went shopping with us last week!

This little girl is still gaga for the princesses & taking it upon herself to have many wardrobe changes each day.  She goes off into her room, closes her door & comes out in a different dress.  I try to discourage it since it's increasing the laundry load, but if it keeps her occupied & allows me to help Cam with his homework or work on dinner, I let it slide.  Sometimes you just have to pick your battles.  Especially when it comes to a very headstrong, feisty three year-old gal!

Recent happenings

We've had a heck of a lot going on these days & I haven't found a free moment to update, so it's been a while!

 

Grammy's been in town for the past couple of weeks & Papa came down to spend last weekend with us.  We had the best time with the most incredible weather.



Our weekend started out Friday morning since we kept Cam out of school so we could head to Lego Land.  The day began on an exciting note since Cam lost his first top tooth!  He looks so cute with the missing spot, but I was still a bit sad to see it go since it's just another indicator that he's growing up too quickly!

 



Cameron was dead set on winning a minion from one of those carnival type games & I got it on the first try by knocking down three stacked cans.  Then he was dead set on winning the unicorn for Reese & apparently I lost my touch because I dropped way too much money & still didn't win the damn thing.  I was sick over the money I dropped, walking away prize-less, as Cam carried on about "really, really, really wanting to get Reesey the unicorn." 



Low & behold, Papa used his business skills & after dropping $10 & not winning it, he talked the girl into letting us just have it.  Yay!

Saturday afternoon we went canoeing at Lettuce Lake Park.   It was quite hilarious watching Grammy & Papa struggle & bicker while flailing around the river.  Although I shouldn't laugh too hard at them because I woke up with the sorest back Sunday morning.

We ended the day with dinner out on the beach at Whiskey Joe's.. nothing like waterside dining in February!

 

We wrapped up the weekend at this amazing Thai Temple in Tampa that opens to the public on Sunday for stands upon stands of amazing Thai food.  If you're in Tampa, you must check it out.. it only took us 10 years of living in the area to discover it, thanks to Mike's coworker.  Click here to check it out.



They also have a garden area where you can pick up some herbs as well as an endless selection of orchids.  Needless to say, I couldn't pass up such a beauty, so I'm now the proud owner of my first orchid.

This weekend we have unexpected guests in town, so it'll be another fun one!  We came home Wednesday evening to find Mike's brother & his best friend lounging on our couch.. I could not believe it.  They wanted to surprise it & they definitely accomplished that!

Sick in an instant

My poor little gal pal has been suffering from a cough since Thanksgiving & it seriously won't go away!  Despite that, she's been feeling well, energetic & her appetite is just fine, so we haven't taken her to the doctor. 

A couple of Wednesdays ago, on my day off, we had taken Cam to the bus stop & headed to the park where we happily played & ran around.  As I was pushing Reese on the swing, her squeals of laughter stopped & she turned back & said, "I want to go home."  With the tone of her voice, I knew something was up.  From the moment I got her into the car, it all went quickly downhill.  

This happy face went from smiling to hysterically crying, agitated & restless.  At first I tried to tell myself that she was just tired.  That lasted about two seconds until my instincts told me to call the doctor & get her in ASAP.

We had to wait two hours until she could be seen so I gave her Motrin since I suspected it was her ears.  We laid on the couch watching Sophia the First & she thrashed all around my lap, intermittently crying hysterically.  It was awful.  After about twenty minutes, the Motrin finally kicked in & she felt so much better.  We played until it was time to head to the doctor where we left with the diagnosis of a double ear infection.  Poor kid.  It was not the day off I had hoped to spend with my buddy, but I was so thankful it happened on a day I could take care of her & get her the care she needed.  The doctor isn't concerned about the cough since her lungs sound clear, so it's just a virus that's sticking around.  I love that our doctor doesn't over-prescribe antibiotics since I'm all about riding things out whenever possible.  A raging ear infection?  That warrants some antibiotics!

So happy to see this smiling face!  Speaking of this smiling face, I commented on Facebook that Reese tends to look homeless by the time I pick her up from daycare.  She's taken her hair out & resembles a disheveled sheep dog.  But, she's still cute! Reese is seriously something else though.  Lately she demands that I play with her & her princess castles, even when I have a million things to do after working all day.  When we do play, I notice just how bossy & aggressive she can be while playing dolls; she often puts them in timeouts, yells at them & even puts them in "locker doors" which means they're locked into timeout.  Um, should I be concerned?!?!  Not sure where she gets this from or why she's aggressive with them, but she does have quite the imagination & she is incredibly dramatic.  If she's not on Broadway I will seriously be shocked.  Always something going on over here!

Eat a rainbow

Reese's daycare (formerly Cameron's daycare/pre-K) asked me to come talk to the pre-K students in honor of their Nutrition Week.  I'll be heading over Friday, so I've been doing a lot of thinking about what subject to focus on.  Since I work in the hospital with very sick, mostly elderly patients, a group of five year old kids are way out of my element!  I finally decided we'd talk about eating a rainbow.

{source}

Since most kids (and adults!) don't eat the recommend 5-a-day servings of fruits & vegetables, I thought this would be a good subject.  We'll talk about the colors of the rainbow, examples of fruits & vegetables of each color & then we'll make a smoothie to share since it's a fast & easy way to get a healthy dose of fruits & veggies. Our smoothie will have all the colors of the rainbow: Strawberries, carrots, bananas, spinach, blueberries.

I thought these rainbow fruit skewers were super cute too!

Are you & your family eating 5 a day?  Don't worry if you're not! Many times myself & my family aren't either & I'm a dietitian!  The more you think about it, the more likely you'll be to remember to include more fruits & vegetables in your day! 

5 tips for 5 a day: 

1) Start your day with a serving of fruit.  Like I mentioned earlier, a smoothie is a great way to start the day.  Yogurt with fruit mixed in or cereal or waffles topped with berries or bananas. 

2) Snack on fruits or vegetables.  Reese is known for wanting a bowl of frozen fruit as a snack.  Sometimes she eats it frozen, sometimes she lets them thaw.  Veggie slices with a ranch or hummus dip also makes a quick after school snack.

3) Puree, puree, puree!  I'm often whipping out my Nutribullet & blending fruits or vegetables to add to recipes.  Many times when I make a red sauce, I saute red peppers & carrots & blend them with tomato sauce in the Nutribullet with a heaping mound of baby spinach.

{source}

I also blend spinach in a little milk & mix it in with eggs to scramble.  We call them "Dr. Seuss Eggs" around here.

{source}

Pureed blueberries & milk also get mixed into my pancake batter.  Yes, I could just top the pancakes with berries, but Cameron is much less likely to eat them in the whole form.  He's awesome with veggies, no so much with fruit.  Reese is the opposite.

{source}

4) Buy frozen.  Frozen fruits & vegetables are always in my freezer since they're inexpensive, quick & I don't need to worry about them spoiling.  After a hectic day at work, popping steam-in-the bag veggies into the microwave for 4 minutes is a super fast way of including a serving of veggies to your meal. 

5) Try a new fruit or vegetable each week.  Walk around the grocery store with your kids & work together on discovering a new fruit or vegetable to try.  Let them help you prepare the meal to increase the likelihood of them eating it.  Try, try & try again!  Sometimes it takes many tries for your child to be accepting of a food, so don't give up & stop serving that food altogether.  Take baby steps & implement a try it before you say you don't like it rule.  Cameron would often play the, "I don't like that!" card, but we'd tell him he had to take one bite before deciding.  There have been many times he'd eat more after that initial bite when he realized that he actually did like it. 

Take baby steps in getting your family to eat more vegetables.  If five a day is a major stretch at first, try to eat all the colors of the rainbow over the course of a week rather than a day.

{source}

There are even charts you can hang to encourage & remind your kids about trying more, colorful foods throughout the week.  I know life gets busy & healthy eating may slide, but small steps can really make a big difference in keeping you & your family healthy!