After two rather uneventful flights and a dinner in the Detroit airport at a fairly good sushi bar, we are home!
Since our last update, we visited family and friends, shopped, hung out at my parents' house, then flew home today.
And unlike last summer, we did not get to spend the night in Detroit thanks to Northwest Airlines, thank God!
My brother and his wife decided that they were going to take the kids out to spend the day with them. Keep in mind, they have no kids of their own nor are they around small children frequently, as my brother told Faith. I believe the quote was "Auntie Denise and I aren't used to little kids, you're going to have to help us out with what to do." Yeah, that's the thing to tell a 5 year old.
Anyhow, Denise works as a director for high rollers at Casino Niagara so she had a whole plan mapped out--Journey Behind the Falls, Maid of the Mist, Clifton Hill. Then there were detours to the Hershey Store, the candy store, Build a Bear ...
The kids came home thrilled, Scott looked like he was going to pass out from exhaustion..jpg)
F&B pose with a mountie on Clifton Hill, note that Ben has a large chocolate covered marshmallow.jpg)
Checking out the Falls.jpg)
Faith with Uncle Scott who informed me that he thought $2 to look through the binoculars was a ripoff and for free he picked her up to look over the wall.jpg)
Riding Maid of the Mist under the falls with Auntie Denise.jpg)
And with Uncle Scott, I need to lighten this picture.jpg)
Faith afterwards with the Maid of the Mist bear (look how wet her head is!).jpg)
Faith on the way home with "Bella".jpg)
And Ben with "Peanut"
Faith has been talking about it for awhile now and I made her a deal that she had to wait till we were in Canada so that my friend Jen could do it properly. Jen is a professional body piercer and told me she'd do Faith's ears for her, but Shaun & I wanted it to be completely Faith's decision.
Anyhow, she decided she wanted them, so we went over to Jen's shop and she got them done! I opted not to take pictures *during* because I figured the flash wasn't a good idea when someone is poking holes in your child. She was a bit dramatic, cried & made Jen feel guilty, then bounced home and told my mom that it only hurt a little. Apparently, Jen's normal customers don't cry. Jen's husband Tim (he's a tattoo artist) decided he was too nervous to help, so he brought cookies instead.
My girlie & Jen afterwards
Big smiles at home
Showing me a better picture
Jen also ordered her a pair of studs that we'll switch to when we take the hoops. They are cute and titanium I think, whatever she said was the best material for it, I took her word on it.
After that, she went home and had to call everyone--Daddy, Miss Barb, Auntie Chris, Grandma. As the calls progressed, it went from only hurt a little to didn't hurt at all. I had to call Jen to tell her that Faith had recovered just fine and that she shouldn't worry about the tears.
We had an orthopedist appt today. We left my mom's house a little before 2pm (one of my aunts stayed with Ben) and didn't get home till midnight!!!
We ended up waiting forever because they were overbooked so it was close to 4 before we saw a doctor for our 2:30 appt. He was only in for a bit when he decided that the bone had slipped as well as broken, so he couldn't set it until it was put back in place. Since she's 5, he couldn't put it back into place without putting her under anesthetic.
We talked over options and while it wasn't mandatory to do it today, we had to do it in the next few days, so it was him or attempting to find an orthopedist in Buffalo who took our insurance. He gave me a rough estimate of the bills and it was fairly low, so my parents said they'd put it on their cards and we could just send them the reimbursement check (thank God for my mom & dad).
We head over to surgery, meet assorted people, fill out paperwork, answer questions, etc. They decide they can do it about 6pm. More waiting, but doable. Now of course, since we're also dealing with a form of muscular dystrophy, my child can't have regular anesthetics, so they are going to have to go the IV route (something bad about using a gas one for her).
Anyhow, 6pm rolls around and we've got a problem. While we were waiting for the original clinic (around 2-3pm), Faith had about a few hard candies and a couple of sips of water. They want her stomach completely empty, so they push the surgery back to *9*pm. I manage to somehow entertain her for 3 hours (no clue how, I feel insane right now) and they finally get around to taking her.
She's out of surgery in under 20 minutes--it took more time to do anesthetics than it did to pop the bone back in place--and she's got a "cool pink cast". But we have to wait while she is in recovery, then they move her to pediatrics for another hour or so for observation. Pediatrics is a little better, she got a popsicle, and a Build-a-Bear puppy, and an art kit that she cannot wait to dive into. They finally release us going on 11:30 and I still had to drive back to my parents' house from Niagara.
However, I cannot get over the bill. Without insurance at all (we'll submit for reimbursement), the ER doc was $150, the surgeon was $250 and the anesthesiologist was $225, no facilities charge, they covered it under last night's ER charge. I think I may have found a bargain in all this!
After the Taste of Buffalo, we came home around 6 and we were out on the deck while the kids were running around in the backyard.
Somehow or another, Faith tripped while running and landed on her arm. She came running up to me in hysterics.
3 hours and a $500 ER bill later (fyi, they will not bill insurance here, I had to pay cash and submit for reimbursement), the girl has a broken right wrist and we get to go to a fracture clinic tomorrow.
The poor child has no luck. She broke her left arm last year but at least it was spring. This is going to ruin the rest of her summer.
Today, F&B, and my parents, and Scott & Denise, and Barb & Larry, and I headed out for the Taste of Buffalo.
Lots and lots of yummy food:
real pierogies prepared by people who know what they are and how to pronounce it properly
homemade cakes and ice cream for F&B from Tops
really good Thai food that Ben stole my chicken from
Buffalo style roast beef on weck
among others.
Pictures to be added soon, as soon as I resize them and upload them onto my mom's laptop. Ben was enthralled with the Smuckers Uncrustable character and both kids spent much of their time riding on my dad's and brother's shoulders.
He's been rather busy here. There is a lot to do when you are almost 3..jpg)
He loves Stormy, except when it comes time to share his dinner.
And helping his grandfather and uncle change their brakes is hard, hungry work!
We got here on Wednesday night for a two week visit with my parents.
We flew Northwest again. For well over $100 less per ticket than the other airlines, I gave them a second chance after they stranded us in Detroit last summer. So far, so good. We were on time leaving Dallas, landing in Detroit, leaving Detroit and landing in Buffalo. We made it home easily and Uncle Scott & Auntie Denise came over to visit the kids.
Thursday was a relax day while F&B recovered from the trip and the fact that they were so wound up, it was almost midnight before they got to sleep on Wednesday night.
Today, we had lunch with Barb then the kids went swimming. Ben dove into the big pool to get a pool noodle not wearing arm floaties and freaked my mom out.
This weekend is Taste of Buffalo and I need to figure out what else to do this week, I'm thinking Marineland.
I have found the best way to keep Faith entertained for hours at a time. I call it:
The "Packing for a Plane Trip to Nana's" Game!
The rules are simple.
Hand the 5 year old a rolling backpack. Inform the 5 year old that this is her carry-on for the airplane. It is up to her to fill it with activities for her plane ride. But there is just one caveat (side note: take a 30 second break to explain the word caveat to said 5 year old).
The 5 year old must be able to carry her own bag through the airport and onto the plane. Other than lifting the bag into the overhead compartment (a mommy job), the 5 year old is now responsible for her very own carry-on. The bag can be rolled on wheels with a handle or worn as a backpack. Both are acceptable options. Techincally, the mommy can also carry the backpack, but this is not an acceptable option to the mommy.
Thus, the 5 year old needs to use her discretion as to what she packs and the weight of those items.
Now starts several hours of fun as the 5 year old makes piles of items she might want to take and carries on an external monologue of whether or not she *needs* these items and how much they might weigh in combination. Breaks are taken to ask the mommy about exactly what will be in the mommy bag (snacks & mommy books only, no matter how many times the question is asked). Further questions include what is available at Nana's house for 5 year old usage. Mommy attempts to make logical suggestions like "do you really need 4 different coloring books for one 3.5 hour trip?" and "do you really want to hunt for Polly Pocket shoes on a plane?"
As of this evening, the bag has been packed, rolled around the house, carried up the stairs and down again, and meets with Faith's approval. However, we don't leave till Wednesday. I'll lay money on the fact that this is *not* the final version of the bag.
I decided that I'm sick of the basic Blogger grey template, so I decided to switch it.
In my infinite wisdom, I save my counters/Feedjit and managed to delete my link list. Truly a brilliant move on my part.
And since it's late, I'm going to bed, I'll have to repair the damage in the morning.
This is what Faith did before breakfast ...
If you can't read her shirt, it says "Stonebridge Racers Fireworks 5K".
Shaun & I had planned to run a 5K this morning. His parents are out of town, so he was going to run with Ben in the jogging stroller and Faith was going to hang out at the race with one of my friends' husbands and her two girls. Unfortunately, they ended up sick late last night and we had to figure out a new plan.
Plan B was to let her run it with us and if necessary, Shaun was going to walk it with her.
Little Miss Bouncy ran the 5K and got a shirt and a medal! She is sooooo proud of herself and has informed everyone in remote hearing range that she ran a 5K on her own.
Tonight was the end of the year wrap-up for Daisies for Faith. Since Daisies is only for kindergarten girls, it was also their promotion to Prims. Plus, if any of the girls completed all 9 Daisy badges, they received their Honor Daisy Pin which they can wear on their sashes in Prims and later on in Stars.
Of course my girlie earned all 9 badges so she received her pin! She is so proud of herself and very excited about Prims next year.
At home before church
On stage with her fellow Daisies reciting their pledge and memory verse
Their leaders gave them a rose!
Doesn't she look thrilled!!!
After the ceremony with Miss Jennifer and Miss Deirdre (her leaders)
