Family Time

Miss Penny has been a pain lately. She got sick with a stomach bug (again) the Saturday before my family came and then she got a cough and for some reason all this equated into her never wanting to sleep again. We had two awful days and nights with Penny refusing to nap and go to bed, screaming "owie!owie!" and pointing to her throat. Tyler was gone and I was on edge so I took her to the doctor Wednesday morning. The doctor said her throat looked fine (tested her for strep and it came up negative) and her ears looked fine (just one was a little cloudy). But my doctor tends to over prescribe (which I honestly don't mind) and prescribed me antibiotics for the cloudy ear. Here we are a week later, done with the antibiotics and she is still refusing to sleep (she can climb out of her crib and bust down the baby gate so this complicates thing). She is just confirming my belief that I should NOT have any more babies.

Back to the rest of my week... Wednesday after the doctor's appointment, we picked up Mike, Oliver and Grams from the airport. I felt bad welcoming into the house of sickness but I was so happy to have them. Luckily for Oliver, we still had some snow on the ground and it was enough for him to play with. My kids didn't last very long outside with him, they are not nearly as in love with snow as he is, but they did have some fun moments shoveling with him. Oliver made a very good snow plow.

Thursday we had some super fun plans but that morning, Lucy and I woke up sick with a stomach bug. Totally foiled all our plans. We ended up dying on the couch while Grams took Mike and Oliver on a tour of Milford. So lame to miss out. 

By night time though, I was feeling much better so we left Lucy at home with Grams and took everyone else to our favorite indoor playground in Brighton. The kids had so much fun so I was glad we were able to do that: 

Everybody seemed to be feeling well Friday so we took a trip to the Outdoor Adventure Center in Detroit. Poor Grams had to stay at home because my car does not fit everyone but since it was a very kid oriented place I don't think she felt too bummed about missing it. I had a hard time there though, all my kids kept going in different directions and it stressed me out majorly. Despite my stressing, I think the kids had fun and that's really all that matters.

The OAC had a cave with a screen that had a bear that would wake up and roar and then go back to sleep. Penny and Lucy had so much fun screaming when the bear woke up and being just plain silly. Here is Lucy showing off her best bear pose:

Steven really enjoyed the fishing simulator. The line would tug when you caught a fish and then you would have to reel it in.

After the OAC we decided we should go on a ride on the people mover. We parked by the GM building and took the stop that was located in that building. Last time I did this, there were 3 adults and 3 kids. This time there were 2 adults and 5 kids. We were vastly out numbered and it was very challenging. We also looked super out of place in this business building and got several comments. One person asked if they were all ours (assuming Mike was my husband) and if they were, he told us we should have a TV show. Yes, we are that entertaining ;)

Poor Oliver came down with a croupy cough Friday night but he really wanted to go to the Henry Ford Museum and since he flew a bazillion miles to be here we decided we should definitely still go. The kids all had a super fun time. I love that this museum never seems to get old with my kids.

Steven worked hard to build a tower of Lego's that was taller than him. He was very proud of his result:

For dinner Saturday we went out to Culver's. It was a good hurrah before Mike & Oliver left us- especially because it included ice cream. While we were there Steven heard the song "Highway to Hell" and he decided since it used an inappropriate word that he would keep singing it with replacement words for "hell." Some of his replacements included: health, help, and fun.

That night Mike and I decided that we needed another hurrah before he left (ice cream just wasn't enough) so we went and saw "Arrival." I liked it, very entertaining and I felt like it had a good message. When we came home the house smelled funky to me and using my amazing sniffer I discovered that poor Oliver had thrown up on himself. Ugh, felt so bad for the little guy.

Sunday I woke up early in the morning to take Mike and Oliver back to the airport. It was definitely sad to see them go. I don't like goodbyes but I am grateful that at least Grams gets to stay with us longer.

This week thus far has been full of a still challenging Penny and Benny who has jumped on the sick wagon and had to miss some school. I am so glad Grams is here to help out. When Tyler was gone in January I thought I was handling things so good, that I really didn't even need Grandma in Feb- I could totally take care of things on my own. Ha! Heavenly Father has fed me a large piece of humble pie this week. With these sick, and challenging kids of mine, I am so glad I have Grandma here too help out. So So glad!

Lucky for Penny she is so stinking adorable. Especially when she takes off all her clothes but insists on keeping her shoes on: