Under Attack

Summer was cruising right along and then our household unexpectedly came under seige - by hives! Poor Aiden who has never had hives before woke up one night covered in them. The next day they were continuing to spread even after benedryl so it was off to urgent care. Another medicine later and we were home. Two days later, back to the pediatrician who changed his medicine again and sent us to a specialist. The pediatrician was sure it was an allergic reaction to something although we couldn't come up with anything in his diet or environment to account for it. A trip to the specialist and we were armed with the information it was viral. He'd had a runny nose for a few days before the hives showed up and she felt it was connected. More medicine to combat them and we were on our way home!

Thankfully, the new medicine regiment got the hives under control and life was able to return to somewhat normal... for a bit. And then Brendan got them.

With any kind of repiratory illness, Brendan's asthma gets aggravated and this little bug was certainly no exception to the rule. Luckily, we were established with the specialist already so we skipped all the intermittent doctor appointments and went right to them. They had done blood work less than a week before to determine some info regarding his asthma and it showed his body was fighting a virus so we were able to do a lot over the phone and to directly to the pharmacy for his medicine.

The timing couldn't really have been worse since he was loaded on medicine for the start of school and coughing terribly, but he made it the first two days. Unfortunately, by the third day of school he was covered in hives again so we went to the specialist instead of school where they put him back on steroids and also an antibiotic for bronchitis and an ear infection - as if the hives weren't enough! She also gave strict instructions for him to stay home from school that day (Thursday) and the next as well as skip his weekend soccer game so his body could rest. None of those instructions went over very well; so disappointed to miss school.
This was definitely one of the worst times they've been sick - not the 'cold' part of it, but the itching. I'll be more than happy for this particular illness to never darken our door again!

More Baseball, More Camping!

Twins game #2 and it was Brendan's turn to go. What is better than summer baseball games with your dad???

Kind of an unintentionally cool photo from the vacation bible school program.

A weekend of camping with more friends. This time we went to a local campground about 15 minutes from our house. This little pony was our best friend while we had a bag of corn to share. After the corn was gone we weren't nearly as interesting.
The kids couldn't wait to take the banana bikes for a spin! The big kids, Wellyn and Steve, went along to 'supervise'. Unfortunately, the bikes were too big for Aiden and Grace, but they understood and handled it well. They fed the animals instead.

Practically impossible to get everyone lined up and looking!
Aiden hitching a ride - he had a lightening bolt on his forehead, but it ended up being a smear!
Playing in the water... we've noticed in other pictures he has his tongue out when running. Too funny!
Mason and Brendan... best buds.
Grace and Aiden, getting super dirty!

Aiden working his charm on little Sophia while the grown ups work on rounding up some food.

Camping at Lake Bemidji State Park

Our annual camping trip with friends brought us to Lake Bemidji State Park in northern MN. We reserved a group site this time and it was the best decision ever! So much easier and more fun to have all the tents on one site. No worrying about which site the kids were at, were they watching for traffic, everyone could hang out around the campfire after kids were in bed, food was easily shared - good times!

Every great camping adventure begins with a hearty breakfast :)
Corrine kicking back to eat!
Our group of tents.
A little baseball game to get the day started.
Ethan was taking it very seriously.


Loving every moment of camping.
A little break to do some coloring. The kids all got along so well and there was always something for them to do.
A walk along the lake to see what they could find.
Finding some shells - Grace not looking to pleased to be interrupted. ;)
Love hug time!
Keaton, Kaylene and Brendan play a lot of games when camping. So fun!
Our whole group and everyone looking at the camera - amazing!
A little snack before going on the Bog Walk.
A little silly to go with the snack.
Fascinating!
The grown ups bringing up the rear - the kids are so fast and full of energy!

Family time!
Taking a break before walking back to camp.
Our two smiley boys.
Our two silly-face boys ;)

Some tired little legs getting a ride back.
Canoe trip on a nice afternoon.
The scariest Paul Bunyan and Baby the Blue Ox I have ever seen!
Getting ready for the mini-train ride.

Target Field

After the kids were back we were on the go a lot! They both had swimming camps every day, tons of friends to play with in and out of the house, camping, Twins games... we fit in quite a bit of fun.

Taking a break before bed to read a book.

Aiden's first trip to see the Twins this season. Very cool since the new Target Field is open and the Twins are doing awesome this season. Getting a very spendy tattoo.

Very sparkly!

Looking like a cool dude in his new shirt.

Gorgeous weather for their game.

Such a cool view - I can't wait for my turn to go to the stadium!
Down on the field after the game.

Two very happy fans.

Running the bases - how cool is that?!?

Nice view of the city.

Aiden at his first swimming lesson sessions. He was so excited to learn to swim; years watching his brother do things like this have prepared him for his turn.

His first time diving for rings in this video. They make so much progress in such a short period of time; it is so amazing. I must say we've just had the best instructors! Now diving for toys is his favorite thing to do. I have a video of both kids during lessons swimming next to each other, but for some reason I can't upload it yet. Someday I'll get it on here!