Hospital visit

We had a scary day at the park today. We were having playgroup and unfortunately it was the hottest day of the year so far. Thankfully, we were going to a park with lots of shade and we made sure to take some water. After we had been there for about 45 minutes, I went to the van to get our lunch. When I came back, Brooke complained that she didn't feel good and practically fell to the ground. I kept asking what was wrong, did anything hurt? She said her stomach hurt. Ok, well let's get something to eat. I had to almost drag her to the picnic table where she again collapsed on the ground. Thankfully, Stacey, who is a nurse was there and she came over and was talking to her and found her pulse, which was good. But she was very pale and her lips were WHITE. We sat at the picnic table for a little while until I decided it was time to go(and Charlotte had to go to the bathroom). I had to carry Brooke because she couldn't (or didn't want to) walk. Charlotte stepped in some mud on the way to the van. I was debating on whether I should take her to the doctor or not. On the way home, Brooke fell asleep. I didn't think that was good, but I couldn't exactly keep her awake. When I walked in the door of my parent's house, carrying Charlotte because she was filthy, and told my parents the situation my mom jumped out of her chair and ran to Brooke in the still running van. Her reaction scared me a bit and she agreed I needed to take her to Prompt Care. So off we went. I decided to go to the ER where there was also a Prompt Care. Wait a minute...weren't we just there last summer? I had to take Brooke to the ER last summer because she stuck a rock in her ear after playing with it at the park. She started to perk up by the time we got into the parking lot and starting asking about getting more stickers like she did last time. Anyway, when we walked into the ER, Brooke was shaking. I didn't know if she was cold, scared, or about to have a seizure. The nurses apparently thought the worst and we got right in. No waiting. Awesome. Compared to about a 2 hour wait last summer. She got to ride in a wheelchair, and she thought that was the best thing since sliced cheese. They checked her vitals, her temperature, and gave us a room. She got to wear a gown, again so cool. Several nurses came in, I told each one the story about what happened. They did an EKG, everything was normal. The doctor gave her a big glass of gatorade and wanted to monitor her for a little while. She was finally talking like her normal self and they let us go about 3:15, after only being there for about 2 1/2 hours. They said she was dehydrated and needed to take lots of breaks when playing outside and to drink lots of water. It probably wasn't really necessary to go to the ER, but I guess it's better to be safe than sorry. But she's fine now, and that's all that matters. I don't know what I'd do without my Brooke! At one point this evening she was just talking my ear off. And I decided it was better than what she went through today and scared me so much. I need to be more grateful for my children!

Here's Brooke showing off her EKG "stickers". We took some off her arms and legs, but the ones on her chest really hurt!

Showing off some of her stickers.
Charlotte showing off the stickers Brooke decided to share with her.

By the way, if it seems like I started to ramble a little bit, sorry. I'm really tired but wanted to write this all down mostly for journaling purposes before I forgot some of it.

Great Times

Yesterday we decided to go do some putt putting because we had some free coupons that we got from the summer reading program at the library. I can't say enough about the summer reading program, I just love it! We do lots of things for free because of it. But anyway, I digress. There's a place not to far from us that has putt putting, go karts, bumper boats, batting cage, soft play area, and an inside gaming area similar to Chuck-e-Cheese. It's lots of fun, but it can get expensive so we don't go too often. We drive by often though and you can see the bumper boats from the road and all last summer Brooke kept saying she wanted to go and ride them. So we knew we'd have to do that while we were there too. Putt putting was pretty funny with the girls. It was our first time taking them, although they went last weekend with Grandma and Grandpa and their cousins and had a great time. Charlotte didn't really care about it so much. She just liked carrying her club and ball around and smelling the flowers. Occasionally she would try and hit the ball, but then would just pick the ball up and walk away. Oh well, she was free. Brooke tried a little harder and actually tried getting the ball in the hole at least.Here I am with the only hole in 1 all day! That's pretty impressive because I'm really not that good. :-)
Stopping to smell the flowers.

I didn't get a very good picture of Nathan and Brooke on the go-karts. It was an odd angle. Charlotte wasn't quite tall enough to ride, but Brooke had a lot of fun (and daddy too)
We did bumper boats next and THAT was fun. Brooke did not want to get wet, nor did I, but we did. It was a hot day though, so it felt good. I'm pretty wet. They (mostly Nathan) didn't show me much mercy.
Then they wanted to ride in these cars and Brooke was a great driver. We had lots of fun.

Training wheels

Charlotte learned to ride a bike with training wheels today! I couldn't believe it, because she never pedals on her trikes. But she wanted to ride Brooke's bike, but it doesn't have training wheels anymore, so we have some extra bikes and Nathan put training wheels on one of them. It didn't take long at all for her to get the hang of it. The bike is a little big for her still and it's a boy's bike, but she doesn't care. I'm going to see if I can find a smaller bike at a garage sale this weekend. That's my baby! But she seemed so big when she was riding it.

Dog Days of Summer

I wish I could say that summer was in full swing here in Indiana, but I can't. It has been raining non stop for about 2 weeks. It hasn't gotten really hot yet, where we want to go swimming. It's starting to drive me crazy, all this rain. But yesterday was actually not raining and we endured the mud and went to the park. It was our first playgroup that I've been put in charge of at church. We had a great turnout! We did get a little muddy, but it was nice to get out and play with other kids (and talk to adults). At one point, Ty, jumped in a mud puddle and got Charlotte covered in mud. She wasn't really that upset.The park had a little creek that all the kids enjoyed looking and playing in.

Brooke is always doing some crazy pose for pictures anymore.


With summer, comes crazy hairstyles. During the school year, I barely have time to brush Brooke's hair, let alone put it up in a ponytail or something. Now, she tells me what she wants me to do to it and I try my hardest. I don't know where she comes up with her ideas.

Lauren actually did this to her hair, but I thought it was too cute. Here is it after we took the braids out. I know her hair is already curly, but it was all crimpy too. (Sorry she's posing again)

Poor Brooke

Poor Brooke was riding her cousin's scooter today and decided to have a fight with the pavement....The pavement won. :-(

White River State Park

Today we decided to venture downtown to the White River State Park and see what it had to offer. After all my years of living in Indianapolis, I've never taken advantage of all the city has to offer me. I've never really taken a nice walk along the canal or gone to the Indiana State Museum. Today was the day and the kids had a great time. You can rent paddleboats or bikes to go along the canal. First Brooke said she wanted to do the paddleboats and changed her mind when we got to the rental place. So we got on a surrey and off we went!


Taking a break!

A view of some of the city
A mommy duck and her babies

When we were done with the surrey, Brooke wanted to go on the paddleboats. We said we'd have to do that another day. Our legs were tired!!

The Indiana State Museum is right on the canal so we decided to stop in there for a bit and cool off. It really wasn't that exciting. Not a whole lot for the kids. Brooke and Charlotte went there at Thanksgiving because they have a train and Santa Claus. Brooke wanted to go see that, but she didn't understand why it wasn't still there.

We did a little fishing,

sat in a wig wam,
looked at the earth,

and saw some big animals.
Glad it was free!

Then we capped off our day with a dip in the pool!


Just the way to wear out the kids! It was a great day!

Park Fun

Well, we haven't been doing anything exciting yet this summer. I'm trying to keep the kids entertained, but we're on a tight budget. Usually we just end up going to the library or the park. Today we tried out a new park that I used to drive by all the time and never even really noticed it. A friend recommended it to me. It was a nice park, except for the riff raff that was there. Kids throwing sticks, chasing each other, and just plain being mean. Thankfully, they didn't stay too long. I was about to have to talk to their parents.
On Saturday we went to a park to visit with some good friends. Last time we saw them they were pregnant with this cute little guy. Don't you just want to pinch his cheeks??Yesterday it rained ALL DAY. Brooke decided to run out in it for a bit.
Monday starts the Summer Reading program at the Library. I love it! I did it when I was a kid, and my kids have done it every year too. It's great because now Brooke can read to herself and get points. She is so excited. They have great prizes. They have books, coupons to restaurants, the fair, a baseball game, bowling, and more! They also have free movies every week. If you're in Indy you need to sign up!