I've put this off long enough

It's been a while since I've actually updated my blog. I'm feeling lazy lately and the thought of having to write and share my summer vacation seems a bit overwhelming. Honestly, the vacation was mostly just hanging out and being with family. While in Washington we went to Orcas Island in the San Juans for a family reunion for my mother's father's side. It was a lot of fun, although sleeping with your children who woke up multiple times a night wasn't fun. It was pretty there, with a lot of pretty scenic areas like Mount Constitution and the lake that was on the property of our campsite. We also went whale watching and to Friday Harbor to go shopping. It was nice to get to know some of my relatives a little more, and I enjoyed spending some quality time with my own family away from televisions and game consoles. Plus the cooking was delicious- salmon cooked on cedar planks, slow cooked roast, and as much Diet Dr. Pepper as I could drink!

Olivia on the whale watching boat. It was freezing outside but she loved to watch the water and look for animals. Jack stayed back at camp with the baby sitters that my father hired, bless his heart. I loved having baby sitters there! Thanks Dad!

Adam, Olivia, Jack and I on top of Mount Constitution. It is really high on the island so you can see a lot, including Bellingham, WA (I think!) and lots of other islands. It's beautiful up there, although my paranoia set in and I kept my kids as far from the wall by the cliff as possible.

After Orcas, Adam and I went to Vancouver for a couple of days to see his family. It was nice to see Amy and Sarah and their families, and it's always wonderful to see Sharon. Olivia still asks when we are going to see Grandma Sharon. Olivia loved playing with her cousins and their toys. Adam and I loved playing and rocking out to Guitar Hero. I wouldn't be surprised if that game makes it onto our Christmas list this year! We also went to see Ed at his office. He met Jack for the first time and bought pizza for all of us. Marni was there with her twin boys who are so so so cute. They all threw a birthday party for Olivia, who got to wear a princess dress and fairy wings. She was so excited to be dressed up and even more excited to blow out her candles.

Olivia's birthday party. She got a lot of awesome presents. You can see Emma in the background in her dress up outfit as well. Next time we'll have to get Amy to dress up as well!
Olivia rocking out while we are playing Guitar Hero on the Playstation. She can't really play so Amy let her use another guitar so Olivia felt like she was playing. She totally played the part.

When we got back to Lakewood, I had a horrible headache that I couldn't shake. I had started it while in Vancouver and thought it would go away in a day or so like my bad migraines usually do but by early Friday morning it was so bad I was throwing up and really dizzy from the pain. Adam took me to the ER around 4:30am and I was released a couple hours later with a migraine. That day Adam and Olivia went with the others to Wild Waves and I stayed home. By 2:30pm I was in even more pain so my mother took me to the ER again where I was given a spinal tap and diagnosed with viral meningitis. The only way to describe it was that it felt like my head was going to explode, the pressure was so great. My mother was there with me until almost midnight when I made her go home. What a great mother, staying with me for almost 10 horus with nothing to do, just to make sure I was okay. I am so blessed. There is no "cure" for meningitis so they admitted me in order to treat the symptoms, like nausea and headache and neck pain. I stayed from Friday night to Sunday night, missing Olivia's 3rd birthday party (which was postponed until the following Tuesday) and missing Adam leaving back to Cleveland. And sorry (Stina!) I did not take any pictures of the ordeal and neither did my family, so you'll just have to take my word for it! I'm feeling better now, but for the first few days out of the hospital I was really weak and tired but I feel 100% better now.

Olivia on a ride at Wild Waves. She loves "fairs", except for the roller coasters and apparently the big slides (I saw an awesome picture Celeste took of her and Adam on the big slide. It was like she was on the roller coaster again!).

Who let Hayden drive?! Olivia, Rix and Hayden on the boats. They are having a great time without me!

Anyway, when that was all over we had Olivia's second party in Lakewood. Celeste and Bryan and their family were gone and so was Adam, but everyone else who was there came over for cake and ice cream. Olivia wore her princess dress from aunt Amy and a crown from Nana. Jack even got into the festivities and wore a crown... for like 2 seconds before he pulled it off and tried to eat it. Instead we gave him some cake and he went to town. Olivia loved her second party and got to blow out candles again (so did Hayden) and open presents again. She had a blast, so thanks everyone!

Princess Olivia and her tiara. Hayden also wanted to wear a pretty dress, but he had to settle for the king's crown instead. Olivia was such a good sport- Kelli, Nana and I were snapping pictures of her like she was a celebrity!

Jack getting his cake and eating it too. This is just a precursor to his 1st birthday party. We will definitely have the wipes (and maybe a bath!) ready for him.

King Jack. This was a hard picture to take, especially since just putting on the crown tickled him so he would duck his head.

Now for some random pictures:

My little Jack-Jack at the park. I love his red hair. It is so bright in contrast to the grass! He loved the swings. He insisted on leaning forward like this and giggled the whole time. If I pushed him back into the swing like he is supposed to sit, he would cry. What a weird kid...

Nana and Olivia with the dress Nana made for her. She loves this dress and told every one at church that Nana made it for her. Nana worked really hard on it too and it turned out so cute. Thanks Nana!

Well, that's it in a nutshell. We are back in Ohio and I'm dealing with learning how to keep Jack out of everything, like the fireplace (his hands get so black!), the bathroom (he's obsessed with the toilet, especially if Olivia is on it), and the kitchen (mainly the garbage, but if I let him he would crawl all the way into the dishwasher!). We are going to Cedar Point with Kelli and Jeremiah on Saturday so I'll post some pictures of that, if I remember to take any! Love and miss you all!