The Kids' Summer Vacation...

We all know that a vacation is not truly a vacation for the parents (or parent,in our case)...I won't say there wasn't a lot of fun. But its also a lot of extra work to be away from home, normal lives, different people's lifestyles and expectations.

That being said, our trip to San Diego was very much worth it. I can tell...because as we left, Christian got choked up at how he is going to miss everyone and questioned why we have to live so far away... that's a hard one!

Amongst some of the highlights were going to the pool and beach with cousins, having a cousins sleep over in the beach brat room, having Christian's 7th Birthday Party at the beach, trying to go to a sold-out Padres game and ending up at Hard Rock Cafe, Shawna running an 8 mile VERY hilly race through Balboa Park, going to Old Town, getting Christian's filling done without a shot (he was said to have 4 cavities and was dreading getting all of them fixed with shots to the mouth...very pleasant surprise for him), and just visiting with lots of family and friends.
So...the story behind the previous posted picture...Exactly half way into the trip, Christian decided to go bike riding on his cousins' driveway (which is a pretty steep hill) and became over zealous, the handlebars got out of control and he face planted down the hill. Apparently he knocked unconscious for a moment...but cannot still remember anything until he was on the couch, about 20 minutes later. He caught the fall primarily with his face/nose. LUCKILY, he was wearing a helmet..but still managed to get a good sized goose-egg on his forehead. That was the worst time, as a mom, that I truly felt that type of anxiety, sickness and fear all together. Seeing him all bloody and disoriented scared me to death. He did all right that night...but the next day he began worsening. He had sever neck pain, a headache, a fever, was very lethargic and nauseous. Cumulatively, we decided to take him to the ER. So instead of getting a date night at the temple, we spent many hours in the Emergency room doing all kinds of tests. Obviously, the outcome was positive...his scans cleared. He must have had a good concussion. Thanks to some good salt water and chlorine water, his wounds have healed relatively quickly and without scars.

We are so glad we were able to visit "home" for a short while. It may be a while until we are able to make it back there. It reminds us of the things we miss (while also reminds us of some of the benefits of living away for a while). I do have to say I looked forward to being home--in our own beds, normal schedules...all the benefits of being in your own environment. We did not miss the hot humidity...but its livable and will hopefully begin lightening up over the next several weeks.