I have been absent from blogging for quite a few days, I apologize. I was trying to remember when I wrote my last post, and it has been over a week! We left for our family reunion last Wednesday. I was a little worried about the 7 hour drive up to our reunion spot in Idaho, but luckily we met up with my parents and they drove Kera up there in their car so that she wouldn't be bothered by our three rowdy boys in a confined vehicle for that long. That was a blessing because it would have made for a really long drive. Those 15 minutes that they were all together before we met up with my parents seemed like forever! With Kera being so hot and irritable, everything the boys said or did bothered her.
We made it to our cabin around 7 pm Wednesday night. The cabin was great, it had an air hockey table and fooseball table for the kids along with a wii upstairs and a hot tub and fire pit in the backyard. We roasted marshmallows that night, and the weather was pleasant if not a little cool while we were there, so it was a good break from the heat for Kera. We had a lot of fun catching up with my brother's family who lives in Oregon who we only get to see once a year. Kera has a cousin, Mary, who is her age and they have a lot of fun together. Kera did her best to participate in most activities, but she also took a lot of naps and needed to rest quite a bit. One of the biggest challenges was the sleeping situation. There were only 5 bedrooms, and the kids all had a big room upstairs with two sets of bunkbeds and a queen sized bed. There was a tv room next door to it with a couch and pullout bed, but those were the only options of places to sleep, and Kera really wanted her own room and her own space when it was time to go to bed. One night she had a hard time falling asleep and at 3 am she came downstairs to my bedroom and woke me up saying that she couldn't sleep. The poor thing was awake for hours and couldn't sleep, another side effect of the steroids. That and the weight gain have been the two biggest problems we've had with the steroid pills. The poor thing has gained 15 pounds in just over 2 weeks!! That's about 20% of her total body weight! She's been very self conscious about it lately. Her little cheeks are so puffy, and her right eye has also been worse than normal. It doesn't track like the other one, and she says it scares her when she sees herself in the mirror. :(
We rented a pontoon boat one day and took it out on Lake Payette. The scenery up there is beautiful!! It reminded me a lot of Lake Tahoe. Since it had been raining on and off the few days we were there, I wasn't sure about getting in the water, but it was surprisingly warmer than I thought it would be. We rented a tube and had fun tubing on the lake. Kera even wanted to try it, and she went on the tube once with her cousin Mary, and one time with me. I loved seeing her smile. :) I even took Ryder on the tube and we drifted along so peacefully that he almost fell asleep out on the tube! I also had to try to go alone one time so I could get my adrenaline going a little bit. I was doing really good until I signaled to the driver (my husband) with a yawn as a challenge to make him go faster. So that did it. I would have stayed on except for a big wave that knocked the tube sideways and I flew off. I'm sure Dave felt very proud of himself after that. :)
I have been using my video camera like crazy, and I had it with me on the boat, so I captured video of all of us riding on the tube.
We also spent a lot of time playing games and talking and catching up with one another. My mom brought a bingo game with prizes, and Kera was very excited that she won bingo three times and got lots of prizes. I also introduced the game of bunco to everyone. Kera's cousin Mary had all of the cousins come prepared to perform a talent at the talent show. Jacob did a magic trick, Kera shared her 1st place award for a coloring contest she recently entered, winning her a $25 gift card. She also painted some ceramic fish that she brought to show everyone. Michael decided to bring his army men and show how he can play and win battles. Ryder our little musician, demonstrated how he leads the music with his "ati" he calls it. He loves to grab a straw or a makeshift conductor's wand of some kind and lead the music.
The weekend flew by and before we knew it it was time to go home. It was a great vacation, but it's always nice to get back home. :)
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