Category: With My Kids

Summer Day Camps and Fun Times with the Other 4

Ariana Sullivan

I signed Brooklyn and Sierra up for a day camp this summer. They’re doing things like swimming, hiking, zip lining, laser tag, and playing games. Today while they were at their day camp I took the younger four to the park. We didn’t realize there is a splash pad at this park and the kids asked if they could play in it. Yeah, just don’t get sopping wet because we don’t have towels and have to go to Costco after we pick up the older girls in two hours.

Well… their clothes and shoes were drenched shortly.

They got so wet in fact that I bought them outfits to change into at Costco. Before…

After!

Normally I wash all my kids clothing before I let them wash it but they needed showers when we got home anyway so why not?
We actually went shopping after the kids changed into their new outfits!


I was going to take a picture of all the kids but a man saw me and offered to take one with me in it, too. I like that. Thank you, sir. 🙂




3

Everett Gets So, So Sick!

Ariana Sullivan

Everett develops a fever. He doesn’t have many other physical symptoms besides being super cranky, not letting me put him down for even one second, and being super sleepy. I manage to get him to sleep while breastfeeding and then slide him onto the couch sometimes. I rush around trying to do laundry or cook meals during those times.

I usually don’t treat fevers unless they’re causing serious issues like my kid won’t drink or sleep at all and I think the pain relief will help them do those things, which help them recover. But this time around day 5 Everett still had a 103 degree fever so we took him to the doctor. Allan was out of work for a doctor appointment of his own so he met us at the pediatrician.

The pediatrician diagnosed Everett with stomatitis and said baby tylenol would be great for him not because of the fever but for pain since that’s a really painful virus. Poor Everett! 🙁

So that night and the next day Everett became crankier than he had been. His fever didn’t go down and I worried about him. He kept pulling his legs up to his chest in his sleep and grabbing his ears and crying. We ended up in the ER.

It’s a good thing we’d gone because Everett had developed horrible infections in both his ears! We got antibiotics and added motrin to the regime.

Gorgeous Day

Ariana Sullivan

We went for a family walk over at the lake. It was a gorgeous fall day!

So clearly we had a lot of fun looking through those telescope things and taking pictures. We headed up a hill next. We spotted a squirrel.

Then we hiked down to the lake and threw rocks in the water.

Everett was super excited to point out all the birds. This toddler loves animals and birds and bugs and yeah, anything alive 🙂

Happy 37th Birthday to Allan!

Ariana Sullivan

I can’t believe Allan is 37!
For his birthday he took a day off work and while Brooke was at school we went to Cabela’s (missing Bass Pro Shops the whole time!) and looked for a new fishing rod and reel for him. Then we went to Chili’s for lunch!

At first we hung out with him at the fishing reel section but the kids couldn’t keep their hands off the reels so I took them on a walk to the fudge shop and we bought a couple kinds of fudge for Allan before heading over to the big aquarium.

The kids (especially Ember) get a kick out of this talking moose. Ember was terrified of it at first. Once we explained it wasn’t alive she loosened up!

Allan found a really nice reel and found a nice rod that was on super clearance from $100 to $18!! Or something crazy like that!

I took the kids to the aquarium and we watched the fish. Everett slept through the entire trip!

Next up, Chili’s! Allan convinced me to order the chicken avocado sandwich and he got a half rack of ribs. Sierra and Payson got mini cheeseburger kids meals and Ember got her very favorite meal on earth, chicken strips and fries. Everett shared my food.

Sierra started complaining about her bun giving her a headache so I took her hair down while we waited for the food.

Ember Anya super dee duperly loves fries!

As does Payson.

I wish I could remember exactly what amusing thing she was talking to me about. She makes me smile every minute of the day. She’s so funny and interesting and smart and loving and full of joy!

Everett eats SO much when he likes a food. He eats more than I ever think he will at one sitting. He ate most of my fries!

One of Allan’s favorite foods is ribs!

Payson remarked that his hamburger patty looked like a heart! ♥

Back to our Favorite State Park

Ariana Sullivan

Most hikes Allan ends up holding a tired Ember half the time. This time we let her sit in the stroller and Allan held Everett!

Ember used a stick to pretend to sweep this entire area we were hanging out at. There was a bench there and the kids were sick to death of hiking (mostly Ember and Everett) so we just stopped and spent time there. Ember cleared pretty much every pine needle out of the area! She was very determined!

Everett got the idea to throw rocks from the bench area we were sitting at into the trees below. We were on a hill so it was fun for him to watch it fly out of sight. He did that for a long time and got excited and proud of himself each time!

I set up the camera and timer to show us all looking off at the lake, which is what we were doing, but then everyone ran off right then to do other things and I didn’t want a picture of me just standing there alone so I just bent over and showed my rock. lol

Allan was kneeling in front of some stairs because Everett really wanted to climb down them but they were steep and dangerous.

Ember and Everett spent lots of time picking up stuff off the ground around them and throwing it off the deck we were on.

Someone texted me. Everett heard my phone beep from the stroller and helpfully went to retrieve it. If I don’t look at my phone when it beeps he gets really annoyed! haha! He likes me checking those messages!

He found a big stick and was happy about waving it around like a sword. He hit a bunch of things with it making a sword poking sound each time.

Allan Takes a Day Off and I Take a Hundred Pictures!

Ariana Sullivan

Allan took a Wednesday off work and we went for a hike at  our favorite state park. Then we picked up Brooke from school and went to Cafe Rio. Then Brooke had young women’s and while she was in young women’s we went to Wal-Mart for groceries.

It was quite chilly when we got to the trail and Ember didn’t have a sweater! We’re still adjusting to the weather suddenly being fall-like and not summer-like anymore! I let Ember wear my sweater and I just had a tank top! I was chilly!

The kids were using all the sticks and rocks as weapons. It was adorable.

Usually Allan wears Everett but I wore him this time. He kept me warm!

I couldn’t stop taking pictures of Ember hiking around in my sweater. I loved how she looked swimming in it! haha!

Running to catch up to daddy!

The trail went right by the lake.

Everett woke up from his long nap near the last part of the hike.

The clouds moved in, that was cool.

Look what Allan got! I love this picture!

Allan took this, too!

We drove to Brooke’s school to get her and then went straight to Cafe Rio! Allan took these next two pictures while I was ordering the food.

This is when Everett saw me walking back from ordering. He lit up and smiled and waved! AWWW! So glad Allan took this!

When we were getting ready to go Payson and Ember went outside (there was a door right next to our table) and did funny faces and made up sign language through the window 🙂

And lastly we went to Wal-Mart that night. It was a fun, busy day!