What a week!

We had Stephanie, Elsa and Tred visit for 12 days.  It was a lot of fun and a lot of memories were made.  Elsa and Brent got a long VERY well and Brody came to accept that Tred was here to stay for awhile and even started sharing some of his toys with him.  I don't remember the last time I laughed so much.  We really enjoyed their visit and hope that they come again someday.

We stayed busy.  Here is some of what we did...

Sunday March 27

After enjoying more of the beach and the pool, we headed home.  Seemed we stopped every 30 minutes for one reason or the other but finally made it back to the house in time to bath everyone and do 3 loads of laundry before Steph needed to pack.

It started with Elsa requesting that we pull over so she could go to the bathroom.  In true "Monkey See Monkey Do" style, my boys insisted they use the roadside as a bathroom as well.  Fun!

Saturday March 26

Destin, FL

We had plans to go camping near Panama City but those plans got changed and we ended up heading down to the beach Saturday morning and stayed in a really nice Holiday Inn right on the beach.  The weather was a bit chilly when we first arrived on the beach because the sun was behind the clouds.  The day got nicer as time went on and despite several mishaps, we really enjoyed the day.

Friday March 25

Stephanie, Elsa, Tred and I went to watch Chelsea in her last Dance Recital.  Elsa really loved watching all the girls.  Tred danced the night away standing in front of us until he fell asleep.

Thursday March 24

Ben took Steph and the kids to the National Infantry Museum here at Ft. Benning while Brent was at school and I went to a meeting.

Wednesday March 21

Montgomery Zoo

We met Stephanie's college friend, Laurie, and her 3 children at the Zoo in Montgomery, AL.  Aunt Carol joined us too.  It was the perfect day for the zoo.

Tuesday March 22

Day of Rest

Monday March 21

"Dance Party"

We had many Dance Parties here this past week.  I finally figured out Pandora on our Blu-Ray and we had some fun with it.  Notice that Elsa was usually in charge of Brent during the dancing.

 

Sunday March 20

Macon Cherry Blossom Festival

Saturday March 19

Columbus "Thunder in the Valley" Airshow

Of course all the kiddos needed baths after sweating our butts off in the almost 90 degree weather!

Visitors

My cousin, Stephanie, and her two kiddos arrived here Wednesday night.  Steph said the flight went well and we knew we were off to a good start when Elsa and Brent didn't fight that they were sitting next to each other in the car like they did last visit.  However, Tred was the victim of Brent's flying sippie cup in the car and ended up with a swollen eye.  Once we got back to the house from Atlanta, the older kids decided they needed a snack.

The next morning we got up and got ready to take a drive around post.  Tred took to Uncle Ben right away.

Friday we decided to go to the swimming pool here on post because to Elsa, vacation just isn't vacation unless you go swimming in a pool.

Tred missed all the swimming even though he was dressed in his swimsuit.

Tred loves the stairs in our house.  Steph went upstairs to dress Elsa.  I was doing laundry and Ben was busy with Brent and Brody.  That meant that noone was there to witness Tred falling down the stairs.  We have no idea how high up he got but we knew when he got to the bottom.  He now has a matching swollen eye to the one he got on Wednesday night in the car.  Poor baby.  But in true BOY style, he was over it within a few minutes of nursing on his momma.

It's been in the 80's since the Witkiewicz's got here.  We've been outside a lot.  Elsa's usually the first to ask to go out.

And Tred just hangs out inside...

It's been a great visit so far.  We have a lot planned over the next week so hopefully I'll be able to keep up with the posts and pictures.

Catching Up...

We were able to take Brent's bandages off just 6 days after surgery.  We thought he would be anxious about removing them so we had originally planned to take them off while he slept.  However, he asked to take them off that evening.  So we did.  His feet look great!  It took him a couple of days to get his stride back but we say the surgery was a huge success.  We go back in a couple of weeks for the followup.

We decided to make cookies to celebrate being able to take off Brent's Bandages.

We've come up with a reward system to try and help us get Brent potty trained once and for always.  I printed off a train with a train track.  Every time the boys go peepee on the potty, they get a star.  Brody walks around saying "Star" all day long now.  Sometimes they are very interested, others not at all.  They were told that once they fill the sheet, they could have the Thomas the Train puzzle that sits atop the fridge.

 Brent has been seeing a speech Therapist, Miss Jen, for almost 9 months now.  This past week was her last visit.  Now that he is 3, he is eligible to start speech at the Elementary School.  Brent has come to love Miss Jen and has always looked forward to her coming.  She goes to the same church service we attend so he will get to see her every now and then.  She was wonderful.

Brent also started a new "school" twice a week for 3 hours.  He really enjoys it.  The new school is more of a preschool setting where they will learn to write their name among other things.  He had no problems getting dropped off and was happy to see Brody & I when we picked him up.  He had lots to tell us.

It was in the 70's this past weekend so we decided to get some camping in.  The boys were so excited when we brought the Scamp home to load up.  We just went about an hour away to Eufala, AL. 



We stayed in a really nice State Park, along the shoreline of a large lake. The boys were constantly dirty. I ran out of socks for them (I had to keep clean ones on Brent) and they used every pair of pants I brought for them.  There was a really nice playground that the boys enjoyed.  As you can see, Brent has no issues using his feet!

Our campsite was right on the lake.  Ben was able to do a little fishing both mornings and threw in the line a couple of time Saturday night.  The boys really liked it and Brent even mastered casting the bobber into the water.

The boys had plenty to do.  We brought along their wagon and bikes which got plenty of use.  They even had some time to color on the patches of pavement.

Ben and I like to do simple camping.  We ate a gourmet meal of hotdogs roasted on sticks for dinner Friday night and the boys ate PB&J on the remaining buns the next day.  They were happy.

We then decided it was time to go on an afternoon walk.  There was a trail that circled the large campground.  It was nice to get out and walk.  It didn't take long for Brent to fall asleep.

The Walkers decided to join us for the night.  They are on a whole other level of camping.  They brought along their grill and some steaks.  Aunt Carol even baked potatoes in their camper oven.  What a nice treat.  We sat around the fire until we decided to take a walk down the street to listen to a little Bluegrass Festival that was going on.  We listened to a few songs and then headed to bed.  All that fresh air made us all tired.

It was a great weekend.  Hope all is going great with you all.  We have a busy week coming up as Stephanie and her two kiddos are coming to visit for 12 days.  Should be fun!!



Getting Around

This past week we've tried to continue with our normal routine as much as possible.  Brent has been doing so well during recovery from his surgery but he still hasn't walked.  Bandages come off tomorrow so maybe that will make a difference to him.  He's off the pain medicine and only complains every once in awhile when he hits his foot against something or if Brody steps or sits on them. 

We received "A Deluxe Fort Kit" from the Hess' (Zac, Emmy, Piper & Calder) for Brent's 3rd Birthday.  We put it to use over the weekend and turned our front room into a huge fort.  The boys had a great time, including Ben.  Ben kept having memories of when he was a kid and created forts.  We loved the way Emmy made the sheets with loops and ties.  It made it possible to build the fort so many different ways.

Ben's been trying to get Brent to walk since Saturday.  Or at least stand.  Brent's gotten very good at holding his legs up off the ground.  He did finally take a few steps this afternoon while holding onto Ben's hand.

It's been nice the past few days so we've been outside as much as we can be.  Brent figured out how to play Basketball without standing all on his own.  Brody was his personal ball retriever.  They both seemed to enjoy it.



We decided to squeeze a bike ride in this afternoon.  We found a nice shortcut to the other side of post without all the traffic.  Both boys ended up falling asleep.