The Month of March in Photos

We've been crazy this past month with lots of activities, Dan going on a European tour with students from his school, and Emma having major surgery.  Those last two deserve their own posts, so I'll just update on the happenings in March for now.

My cousin, Kyle, came to Chesapeake on a work training assignment, so we met for dinner one night.  It was great to catch up with him!

We met my sister-in-law, Robin, and her girls, Naomi and Miriam, one sunny day to play at the Air Power Park in Hampton. They had a small museum and some actual airplanes and shuttles to look at, but the girls were most interested in their playground. 

It was too windy to stay outside, for long so we visited the Bass Pro Shop nearby.  Naomi and Emma got a kick out of the animals.

Our attempt at a group photo in front of the aquarium - so typical with toddlers. Ha!

 Emma and Naomi found a cave to play in, so they pretended to be bears. 

All three girls hitching a ride through the store.

 We visited Virginia Beach one afternoon and had a great time even though it was pretty chilly. 

Emma and I visited Blue Bird Gap Farm on our way to Williamsburg one day, which is a free petting farm in Hampton.  They have farm animals to see, a garden to explore, and a big playground to play on. We had a great time!

This friendly deer wanted to lick/tickle our fingers through the fence.

Cute little bumblebee

 Checking out the albino peacock that was roaming around the farm

And some big tortoises 

The following day, we joined some of the Jester family at the Jamestown "Military Through the Ages" festival. Hundreds of actors dressed up and reenacted life for soldiers and their families from the Roman/Viking ages through World War II.

Our nephews Aaron, Nathan, and Benjamin were recruited and taught how to do rifle drills

Emma got to step inside a military camping tent that they said slept about 6 soldiers. Good grief!

When Emma and Josiah (the youngest kids in our group) got tired of watching the reenactments and hearing historical facts, Mom Jester, my sister-in-law, Dawn and I took them to play on the tall ships.

Josiah is a year older, but Emma is determined to keep up with him.

Mom Jester picked up an admiring sailor while we were there!

Cousins holding hands. So sweet, and they will hate this picture when they're older.

We also explored and played in the buildings at Jamestown settlement.

Checking out the cozy straw beds

And the comfortable wooden pews in church

 When I picked Emma up from preschool one day, she was having intense UTI pain, so I took her to urgent care that night to get her started on antibiotics. She is showing off her awesome new tongue trick.

A closer look. It saves us a bundle on Kleenex. Heh!

She has also learned to wink recently. Of course you have to hold your mouth just right.

On Easter Sunday, someone was feeling pretty in her fancy dress. She danced through most of the music in the service.

We had an Easter basket for her to open while we drove to Williamsburg for lunch with my parents and the Jester family and friends.

She got a Peeps kabob from my parents and was a *little* excited about it.

This clay Olaf was one of her Easter goodies

We had a great time visiting, playing, and Easter egg hunting with family and friends that afternoon. Left to right: my dad, Dad Jester, and friends Pete King and his daughter, Kimberly, sitting in front.

Left to right: Cousins John, Carrie, and their daughter, Chloe Gibson, our niece Naomi, my mom, and friend Joyce King

Left to right: Brother-in-law Rob, nieces Naomi and Miriam, and Dan's sister, Robin

Left to right, nephew Benjamin, sister-in-law Dawn, Dan's brother Tim holding nephew Josiah, and Mom Jester

Emma and Naomi loved playing with their big cousin, Chloe!

Busch Gardens opened for Spring Break weeks, so we picked a warm sunny day to go play!

She loves the Oscar Whirly Worm ride. It makes me sick, but I can tolerate it once or twice to watch her giggle and smile every time we spin.

Dad and Mom Jester met us at Busch Gardens and we also ran into some of Dan's coworkers at the park that day.

One of the school friends we saw there has a son the same age as Emma, so we stuck with them for an hour or so to let the kids play together.

Emma's really come a long way when it comes to riding rides. She used to be afraid to go on them, but she was excited to ride some of the kid rides, even though she had to go without me.

There's a fun kid section at Busch Gardens called Land of the Dinosaurs where there are rides and a climbing area for kids of all ages. Emma was pretending to hatch from a dinosaur egg.

Unfortunately Dan missed out on some of the fun this month since he was in Europe for two weeks chaperoning his Senior class trip. I know, poor guy. :) We missed him tons and were really happy when he was home again!

While We're On Hold...

Emma's surgery, which was scheduled for tomorrow, has been postponed due to a UTI she developed over the weekend.  She was sooo close, too!  But obviously we and her surgeon don't want to risk surgery while she has an infection, so it is currently rescheduled for April 6th.

So while we're on hold, here are some pictures of our weekend at Disney World.  I ran the Disney World Princess Half Marathon on Sunday, and we planned a long weekend around the race.  Although Emma wasn't feeling well, we made the most of it and still had a great time.

Dan's parents booked their timeshare for us to stay in that weekend. They drove and picked us up from the airport on Friday night and we spent the next day at Disney Springs (formerly called Downtown Disney).

We headed to the ESPN Wide World of Sports, where the race expo was located.

I picked up my race bib and t-shirt

I dressed as Princess Belle for the race, and stopped for a photo op after running through Cinderella's castle in the Magic Kingdom

My carriage awaits. Unfortunately, there was only a mile left before the finish line.

Dan's cousin Karen (next to me), and her daughters Megan and Christine ran the race, also.  They were an incredible help to me! They were staying at a Disney hotel, and let me crash there the night before the race since we were all getting up at o'dark thirty to get ready. We rode a shuttle to the start line, and the race began at 5:30 am. 

After I raced and showered, we spent the day at the Magic Kingdom.  We stayed on top of the Tylenol that day for Emma's fever and my poor aching legs!

This was definitely a highlight of her day!

And lest you think I'm the only cheesy one around here wearing costumes, just check out the pictures below.

When I let Emma pick out her clothes, a tutu and dress shoes usually make it into the mix.

Howdy.

My mom has an apron for Emma to wear when she helps around the kitchen at their house. So adorable!

She was watching Peter Pan, and had to run put on her Tinker Bell dress.

Having a tea party with Cinderella

 Dan has even gotten into it. His school had "character day" during Homecoming week, and he dressed as Gru from "Despicable Me". Ha! 

Ear Tubes, Log Cabins, and Winter Weather

We kicked off the new year with ear tubes for Emma at the beginning of January. I think she had about 6 ear infections since we moved here 6 months ago.  She had fluid trapped in her middle ears that wasn't draining out on its own, which made her more susceptible to getting an infection every time she caught a cold at preschool.  The ear tube procedure went well - she had a rough time waking up from the anesthesia, but was back to herself within a couple of hours. She had one minor ear infection a week after her surgery, but she didn't seem to have pain and didn't develop a fever, so it was much milder than her past infections. We treated it with antibiotic ear drops and she's been fine ever since!

A week prior to her ear tube surgery, she had to undergo general anesthesia for some tests on her kidney and ureter function.  So she's been through the wringer at hospitals recently.  We met with a new urologist who agreed with her prior San Diego urologist's opinion that Emma needs surgery to correct the reflux she has when she urinates. Her surgery is scheduled next week, on February 24th, and it's a much bigger ordeal than anything she's been through. We'd appreciate your prayers for her during surgery and recovery, which sounds like it'll be rough for about a week afterwards.

We had a fun weekend visiting a luxury campground in Gordansville, VA with Dan's parents.  They rented a log cabin for us to stay in, and we enjoyed seeing the beautiful countryside and spending time with them.  We also got to attend our niece, Miriam's, baptism at River's Edge Bible Church in Hopewell, VA, where our brother-in-law, Rob preaches.  We love being close enough to drive to special family events!  

It's also been fun to have snow during the past few weeks!!  Dan's school has closed three times in the past month because they shut down all the schools as soon as there's a threat of snow.  We aren't complaining, of course. :)

Poor Emma getting cuddles after getting her IV in, while waiting for anesthesia. I comfort myself with the fact that she'll probably have very few (if any) memories of these tough visits to the hospitals.

A week after getting ear tubes, she woke up with blood in her ear (I'll spare you from that photo, but the doctor said it was just a symptom of her ear infection). It was a Sunday and urgent care was insane, so we walked to McDonald's next door to kill some time and I treated her to her very first Happy Meal. She's a big fan!

We celebrated my birthday in January at Texas Roadhouse with steak and potatoes and rolls with cinnamon butter. Yum!

Dan "hid" a birthday card and some peanut butter M&Ms by Emma's bed on my birthday for us to find in the morning. Someone was happy to eat candy on the way to school that morning. :)

Special time with Grandma at the log cabin in Gordansville

Dan and Emma walking to see the ponies they have at the campground

The sky was just gorgeous that day!

We stopped to play on a carriage that was parked in the stables. 

Cinderella and Prince Charming are ready to go to the ball!

A view of the lake by the campground. Did I mention how pretty the sky was?

We ate lunch at Michie Tavern near Monticello while we were in the area, which is known for its authentic Colonial atmosphere and cuisine.

Dan's first snow day from school! We went to the mall to play and eat lunch indoors for a while. 

Then, when the snow had accumulated, Emma got to build her first snowman!

She was so proud! But she wanted us to make an entire snowman family, complete with Daddy, Mommy, Brother, Sister, and Baby (like the "Finger Family Song," if you've had the pleasure of hearing that one).

The finished Snow Family product. My parents came over to have lunch with us, too. It has been such a blessing to have them living in our neighborhood!