Back in Business

When we left for the summer, back in June, we stored away the chair cushions and put all the patio furniture and backyard toys safely under the shade. Since then, the backyard had collected a lot of dust and some cobwebs, too. An abandoned backyard...a sad, sad sight. But that's summer in Arizona, for you.

Well, our Labor Day plans to go to the cabin were sidelined when my dad wound up in the hospital (more on that, soon), and so Dylan contacted all his friends and put together a last-minute shindig at our house for Sunday afternoon. As soon as he started cleaning the patio and putting out the furniture, Gavin joined him outside. It was like releasing a wild animal from captivity. The boy just wants to be outside. He lives for it. The only problem was that he thought we were setting up yet another party to celebrate his birthday and kept saying "Happy birthday, Gavin." He even blew out the candle that was lit in the bathroom at the end of the night. In his defense, we did use the leftover construction theme tablecloth for the drink table, so I can understand the confusion.

We brought out the blowup waterslide and kiddie pool, and between that, the trampoline, the sidewalk chalk and Gavin's new playhouse that he got for his birthday from Nonna and Papa, the kids stayed well-entertained. In fact, I'd say they had a blast. I was worried about throwing a party during the summer without a swimming pool, but it actually worked out for the better because the kids could play independently without us fearing that anyone would drown. Luckily, Dylan and Max brought Max's swamp cooler over, which helped cool things down during the heat of the day. We had a few new friends over, too, and I think everyone had a pretty good time!

I took zero pictures of the whole day, but luckily Kristin got this one of Gavin and me. I'm usually behind the lens, so thanks a million, K!

The aftermath this morning...Dylan is outside deflating right now.

Dylan put carnitas in the crock-pot, and everyone chipped in with sides and desserts. We were all definitely well-fed, and it was delicious. A big shout-out to Dylan who did 90% of the party prep. Between getting the backyard all together, blowing up lawn toys, doing the grocery shopping and cooking the meat, he was an A+ party organizer. All I really did was clean the house and make a run for ice and buns. And a little bit of the planning and setting out the food, I guess. I actually had to remind him to keep things simple with this party. And with all this going on, he was still able to take care of Gavin and even spent a couple hours swimming with him on Saturday.

My lack of participation was not because I was lazy, but because I spent my mornings at the Mayo Hospital. My poor dad has been in severe pain, which started last week...a week or two after having his spleen removed, and after visiting the ER on Thursday, he ended up being admitted to the hospital on Friday. Without many answers, except possibly an inflamed pancreas, it's been a very frustrating process. He's miserable, but we are hopeful he'll get home soon and be able to manage the pain from home until it goes away.

In other medical related news, Dylan had a severe reaction to something unknown yesterday morning. He prepared the pork for the crock pot, cooked his eggs, bacon and coffee, and sat down for breakfast, then scratched his head. All of a sudden, his whole head was on fire and he was beet red, so he ran to the bathroom to wash his head and hands. By the time he came out, his body was red and swollen down to his toes. All I could do was ask if he could breathe okay, and luckily he could. So I sent him to take a Claritin, and then he got in the shower. He felt itchy and aflame. Slowly, he started to feel better, and once his skin cleared up, I felt comfortable leaving the house. I'll spare you the photos, but I've never seen anything quite like it. Has anyone ever heard of something like that? He ate the carnitas for dinner that night and didn't have a reaction, so we are very puzzled.

And my last interesting story for this overly wordy blog post has to do with poop. Gavin has been in this streak for a few weeks where he poops at almost every single nap time. He goes down for his nap, and when he's still talking away in his crib 45 minutes later, we go in to change him. Except yesterday, he was already in his crib by the time I came home from the hospital, and then I was busy with party prep, so I kind of lost track of time. By the time I went in his room, the diaper was half way off, and the poop was no longer contained. By the time we cleaned up Gavin and his sleeping area, he was not interested in napping. It was gross, but whatever. Gavin was in a total stupor by about 4pm, but he still managed to have a great time. Between being outside all day and being around the kids, he was so happy. Homeboy will be going down for an early nap today, though.

We are looking forward to shopping for bunk beds on Labor Day sale followed by a little bit of everything this week. Hope you've had a great long weekend!