Rock Falls Day 2 part 2

Here are some pictures I took Sunday evening. This place was the coolest place in Sioux Falls if you ask me. They had a light show every night around 9:30 that flashed on the biggest part of the falls. They also told a little history of Sioux Falls. We watched the light show the night before.

This night was just Coltan, Carson, and I. Cody went on with his team to eat pizza. This area was very cool. They let the kids play out on the rocks and in the water but Coltan was too cool for that. He did walk around on the rocks and helped me with Carson so I could take some pictures.

This is just one section that we walked out on. This water fall and rocks was every bit of a couple blocks big. These pictures just doesn't do justice for the the beauty of this place. You could just sit there for hours and enjoy the view! This is how the area was all around the falls. A lot of people were out walking on it.

Coltan NOT smiling. He says it was because the sun was in his eyes....yea right.

Just the three of us. Wish Cody was with us.

This is my favorite one. That was a house that was built in the 1850's. I cannot remember all the history in it between reading a lot of history in all the places we went and keeping an eye on Carson.

This area here was part of the light show. The lights would change between blues, reds, yellows, to white. Very cool to watch. Now I'm sad I didn't try to take any pictures.

Another one of my favorites to look at.

This was at the bottom of the falls.

Day 2 of South Dakota

This is actually day two of South Dakota. Day one we played Kentucky and for some reason, I forget to bring the camera. Knowing we had guarenteed three games, I wasn't overly disappointed that I forget it. So we ended up playing and tied Kentucky 3-3. It was a very intense game.

After that, we went back to the hotel. My funds aren't the greatest so we decided to buy lots of food for this trip and eat the free breakfast at the hotel, I made us lunches most of the trip, and then we ate out for dinner. So we went back and Cody showered and then we ate lunch. Because we got in so early/late, and the game was at 8:00AM, Carson and I took a very long nap.

This tournament in Sioux Falls was suppose to generate $9.9 million for the city. So I guess because of that, they had a 4 block festival for all the teams Saturday night in their downtown area. It was a lot of vendors selling food and drinks, few t-shirt stops, and most of the businesses kept there stores open for people to shop at, and they also had a band for the adults to listen to and on the other end they had a DJ with the kids. It was kind of cool how they set the event up, kids were on one side and adults were on the other. After that, we went to dinner at Valeninos. It is a really good Itialian Buffet. We ate at one in Omaha a few years ago and I was excited to see that they had one in Sioux Falls as well.

After that we went to the Rock Falls park that has a waterfall. It was a really awesome view. I thought because of the time of night, the camera wouldn't pick up the beauty in the falls so I decided to go back the next day in the daytime.

So then on day 2, our game wasn't until 2:30. We stayed at the hotel the whole morning and then it was off to our game against KS. This also happens to be my good friend Denise's son's team. Well it wasn't the outcome that we had hoped for but it did help KS finish in second for the whole tournament. So Alec, congrats from us!! We followed you through the internet when we were in Rapid City. My phone service was terrible in the mountains so when we text you on Tuesday, it showed back up in my outbox as unsent.

So back to this game, we showed up, and just before the game started, it started pouring....hard! It lasted for about 15-20 minutes of the game. I sent Coltan out to get our umbrella that I stole from my mom and guess what? It was missing about 24 inches of the pole. It was actually pretty funny. Looked like it belonged on the top of your hat. So Denise was kind enough to stand on the enemies side and share her great big umbrella with us. Carson however had different plans and got absoulutely soaked. Coltan was soaked as well. I was just glad I didn't spend the time straightening my hair. HAHA. After halftime, Carson decided to have a blowout in his diaper. So as I was walking back towards the car, KS scored their second goal. I took Carson back and took off all of his clothes, cleaned him up, and found a t-shirt that belonged to the boys and put it on him. By this time, I could tell he was tired so I put him in his car seat and waited for the game to end.

After the game it was back to the hotel for everyone to shower and change again and since Carson was still asleep, I took advantage of another nap! The team was invited for pizza for dinner later that night. So Cody went with his team while Coltan, Carson, and I went back to the Rock Falls Park for more pictures and for dinner. I will post those on the next post.

On a side note, my sister gave birth to a healthy baby boy named Kriasten. I think that is the spelling.....

So I will get some pictures as soon as I can and post them as well. Also, My Niece Ali just celebrated her birthday and my cousin Stacy just turned 40. OMG, are we really getting that old? HAHA

Also, I'm saddened to say that Charlie's dog Brigg who just recently moved back in with me passed away Friday night/Saturday morning. Carson would always open the back door and let him sneak in or would run outside and play with him. He would tell me that he was staying outside all day long with Brigg and wouldn't come back in. So with all the above, I ended up having a fairly busy weekend!

Hope everyone has a happy Monday! Here are the pictures of MO vs KS and I started taking pictures as soon as the rain stopped so you will see the boys soaked and muddy! Cody is #3 white jersey.

Can you see all the mud on him? Makes it for a very interesting time when your out of town and the hotel your staying in doesn't have washer or dryer for public use!

WERE HOME!!

Well we rolled into Kansas City at 6:00AM this morning. It has already been a very long day.

We left last Friday for South Dakota and really had a great time. As you can imagine, I have lots of pictures so I will be spreading them out over the next few days.

Last Friday we left and headed to Sioux Falls for Cody's regional soccer tournament. His first game was Saturday morning against the #1 team out of Kentucky. We ended at 2-2. Sunday we played the #1 team out of Kansas and were beat 0-2. Then Monday we played the # 1 team out of Indiana and tied 0-0. The last team we played was a great team. We played them last year in West Des Moines in the championship game and they creamed us 0-5. So I think we have come a long way. We had lots of shots at the goalie but he was awesome and nothing got through him. This game, we really dominated the ball and just couldn't sneak past the goalie.

So Cody's team is as follows, we have moved up from #8 to #1 in the State of Missouri, #14 from #28 in our region (which consist of 12 states), and nationally we moved up to #104 from #218. So I think overall, we are doing great!

The rest of the month will settle down for soccer and then his ODP (which is the state team he is on) will start back up in July.

So back to our vacation......

After our last game on Monday, we left and started for Rapid City. It was about a 4 hour drive but we did manage to make a few stops on the way. We stopped off in Mitchell SD and went through the Cabala's and the Corn Palace. We then got back on the road and got in around midnight.

Tuesday we started out at Mt Rushmore and stayed there for a few hours. It was a gorgeous day and the sky was a clear, blue day so the pictures turned out great. We also went off the path and walked up a huge hill to take some more pictures. They have a path to walk to see the different angles of the presidents and of course, history of why they were chosen, how much it cost, how long it took.....

After that, we went to Crazy Horse. I was a little disappointed in this one. It was $27.00 to get in for our car and the exhibit wasn't that great. So then we left and headed over to some stables. The boys got to ride an hour and half trail while Carson and I stayed back. You have to be at least 6 years old to ride and putting him on my horse wasn't permitted. He did however get to ride a pony around and he loved it.

After that we went to the Flintstones theme park. I am a HUGE Flintstone fan and to this day sit around watching them on TV. I actually own every season made. (I know, I'm a dork). They had a train to ride, a golf cart decked out like Fred's, a little bedrock city to walk through, and a huge playground. Carson and I hung out there for about 4 hours. It was well worth it.

Then we went back into Keystone and had dinner and then drove back to the hotel and crashed.

Wednesday we woke up and headed to Bear Country. It is a drive through zoo and was okay. The one that Carson and I did in Springfield MO was so a lot more fun. After that, we went to Custard State Park. What a beautiful area. We ended up spending the rest of the day there. We drove around and took pictures, fed burros that were so tame, saw lots of wildlife, climbed rocks, had a picnic, and then Coltan and Cody's favorite part.....we went off onto a public gravel road where there wasn't any traffic and they took turns driving my car. Cody is very cautious which I like, Coltan....we really need to work on the brakes, my neck still hurts. HAHA

While leaving the park which was about 8 hours later, we headed back to Custard and mined for gold. I think we have about a nickels worth. I didn't get to do a lot of panning because Carson was being a little monster. So I took pictures and chased him. Then we headed back into town and shopped around the little strip and bought a few little souvenirs and then off to dinner. We ended up heading back to the hotel again after midnight.

Thursday we checked out of the hotel and headed to the Badlands. We stopped in Wall SD at the famous Wall Drug. It is a block long area with lots of little shops to go in. We bought a few more things and then off to our next destination. The Wounded Knee. It wasn't really what I thought it would be but it was a very sad story. It is really sickening what these Indians went through. I didn't get to go through the whole museum because once again, Carson was acting wild.

Then we headed off to the Bad Lands and didn't end up leaving there until 7:00 PM. Now keep in mind, I'm leaving there and driving the last 9 hours home. Well we stopped for dinner, gas, a few rest breaks, and arrived home around 6 this morning. I got the kids in the house and Carson even slept til almost 10:00AM! So I'm running on 4 hours of sleep after being up close to 24 but hey, that's what vacationing is all about right?

This is our little timeline and I will download the 600 pictures I took and post some later. If I can get to it, I will try to post some tonight....but no promises. LOL

Now that I have been pretty much lazy for the last few hours, I guess I should go and get the luggage in and plan on cleaning the car out. Anyone want to help???

EEG Pics

This was from Carson's EEG that was scheduled in April. (I know, not really posting for two months got me behind in his pictures).


This test was to figure out why he was having the episodes where he was passing out. We had to keep Carson up til midnight and then wake him up at 4:00 AM. He was at the hospital by 6:30 to get started. They say when the kiddo's are sleep deprived they are able to see more on the brain waves. It turned out to be a very long and exhausting day.






This is where they were hot gluing wires into his hair. He wasn't very happy about it.
Trying to act like a brave boy.



Almost done with all of the wires.



He has about had enough here.



I got the test results back about a week later and they turned out fine. So the doctor's feel like the episodes are from his tube hitting his vassal nerve or the fact that his iron level was so low. Or a combo of the two. But the good news is.......no silent seizures!!!

Carson goes fishing!!!

The weekend before Carson's EDG I took him up north to a friends farm. He got to see cow's, horses, go 4 wheeling, fishing, and just run outside and have lots of fun. It was a very relaxing weekend. I wanted Carson to have as much fun as he could before his procedure because I wasn't sure what was in store for him afterwards.

This is the pond that we fished on. It was amazing. Carson's very first cast ever and he caught a fish. We couldn't take the fish off the reel fast enough. He was the great catch! Stopped to pose for momma.

Looking very interested in his reel. He got it tangled and we were fixing it

He wanted to reel the fish in "all by myself"!

Finally it was getting to dark and a storm was getting ready to roll in. Very peaceful place to sit and do nothing.

Day out with Thomas the Train Part 2

Here are a few more pictures of my little train obsessed boy.

They had a tent set up with tons of trains. Carson kept running back to this tent even when we weren't looking. He got away from me once and I ran into this tent and look where I found him!
They had a little petting zoo set up as well. There were about 10 different animals for them to feed.

Back to his favorite spot.

Carson with his favorite. This was the engine that took up for our 20 minute ride

Back in the car. It was over and I think Carson was asleep before we even left the neighborhood.

Day out with Thomas the Train Part 1

A few weekends ago, Baldwin Kansas held a Day out with Thomas. Carson being such a Thomas the train fan, how could I resist? The day before these pictures were taken, Carson threw up and his tube came out through his mouth. So it was in in his nose, out his nose. It was certainly an unexpected site to see. Has anyone else had this happen to them?

So because of the trauma, I left it out til after we got home. Carson had a ball and weeks later is still asking to see Thomas! I have a lot of pictures so I broke them down into two days.

This is Carson sitting on the train. It went on about a 20-25 minute ride and he was in heaven!
Here is Thomas the Train engine.

I was out in the heat all day so I'm looking a little not so cute. Haha But look at the happiness in Carson.

Carson was hollering out the window "all aboard" and then he got a bunch of the other kids to holler it as well. He is such a leader. LOL

This is a picture of his tattoo. I couldn't take it off for like a week. He would constantly go to the bathroom and look at himself in the mirror to make sure it was still there.

Thomas the Train invades my livingroom!!

Well it's been another boring few days with not much to report. But that is a good thing. Carson loves his Thomas the trains and I'm thinking he has way to many. I had to move my coffee table to put all of his stations, bridges, and tunnels together. Here is my happy boy playing with his trains.

Jamming with the boys....

Nothing going on today. Coltan and Cody are with their father today. They have been with him since Friday but since we are going out of town next week, he is going to keep them a few extra days this week.

So I was going through some pictures today with Carson and he saw lots of pictures of "baby Carson". I showed him some pictures of his 4D sonograms and explained to him that these were pictures of him while in mommy's tummy. He looked at them and then to me and asked if he could see the pictures of him in daddy's tummy.

Then we were looking at some pictures of him from newborn to about 3 months old and he asked if we could have another baby Carson. I asked him did he mean another Carson and he said no, another baby. Uh, no sweetie, your the last from me!

These are some pictures that I took back in April. A lot has changed in just 2 months. Summer is here, Cody's hair is a lot shorter, I'm back to work......

That electric keyboard was mine so it is probably close to 25 years old. My dad found it buried in the basement at his house and put some new batteries in it and what do you know? It still works....great! Carson loves his new "piano" and Coltan and Cody were helping him out.

Um boys, could you PRETEND your having fun while I take some pictures? Finally, a smile from Coltan and Cody.

Cody with all of his hair.

Coltan only smiling because I told him he could go to the movies on the weekend.

Carson can also play horn real well.

Music to my ears...,,

My cute little ham!

Still no answers.

Well we went to the GI clinic yesterday and it really didn't go as I thought. The results of the EDG came back and his stomach and small intestines looks great. His esophagus did have some damage due to the acid reflux but only beginning stages. He said he wanted Carson to have another swallow study done (which pulmonary was doing back in early May and then she said she wanted to wait to see the EDG results), some more blood work to check the Nexium level in his blood (to rule out that he has maxed out on being treated with medicines), and another PH study (where they take out his NG and replace it with a tube similar but has wires on it. The wires set on the stomach and read any acid).

So hear is the frustrating part, Dr K said that if you did the PH study on two different days, it could show results that are night and day. So it really isn't conclusive. He said the next step is three options; 1. Take the NG tube out and replace with the the G-tube (mickey button??). His thoughts on this is that Carson is choking because of the NG tube going down the back of throat. Which he has been a silent aspirator for over a year so I'm doubting this one. 2. Go ahead with the fundoplication which he said is only going to be about a 50/50 chance that it helps him, 3. perform both.

Our plan right now is to get the PH study, swallow study, and blood work done and meet back in 6 weeks to look at the results and discuss the surgery and tube. So I guess it will be another 6 weeks of the NG tube. I know it won't happen overnight but I just wish we could get Carson to eat and get rid of the tube.

Here are a few pictures of Carson in Springfield MO from last weekend.